Drunken Mistake

Chapter 5- The Way He Plagues Me

I wake up to the feeling of someone brushing my hair out of my face. When did I fall asleep? Once my eyes adjusted I saw that it was Xander who woke me up. I sit up, stretching as my body feels all stiff from sleeping on the couch.
"Were you waiting for me?"Xander asks with a brow raised like he seriously doubted that I'd wait for him. Which he is correct, I don't usually wait up for people and sleep is far more important to me.
"No, I fell asleep watching Deadliest Women," I sheepishly smiled knowing what facial expression he is giving me without even looking.
"Wow, yeah that's not creepy at all," he says, backing away from me as he takes his duty belt off.
"Have a good day?" I asked, standing up myself as I was now in the mood to snack.
"Eh, same old stuff. Pulled over two cars today to give tickets, other than that, nothing else happened. Though..." he pauses to look at me while leaning against the door frame to his room, "who was the guy that was over today?"
"How do you know I had company, Mr. Stalker," I nudged, shocked that he knew someone was at the apartment.
"Harper we have a Ring camera at the front door," Xander huffs out in a slight annoyance.
"It was no one, but my partner for my Geology class." I huffed back mimicking him because I know that it annoys him.
"Really, then why were the two of you arguing?" he asked, annoyed.
"Seriously Xander, you're spying on me now?" I asked I was super upset with the fact that he could hear us as I was arguing with Lucas.
"Harper, I am here to protect you and to help you out with your college life," he explains.
"Yeah, but that doesn't mean you have to act like you are my dad Xander. You are my friend, so what goes on in my life isn't your problem till I tell you it's a problem." I feel as if I am yelling as I started to pant a bit once I was finished talking. I don't usually get upset with Xander, but too much has been happening too quickly that even I don't have the time to process it.
"I know, but Harper I would like to be informed on certain stuff," his expression showed that of hurt from what I said. Lately, I have been putting up walls between me and Xander. I feel that he would be so disappointed in me now. Also, I don't want to burden Xander since he already has a pretty stressful job.
"Fine. Yes, someone was over. Lucas Thompson is my partner in my Geology class. We didn't get to pick them, they were random so don't try me on the whole change partners. I forgot that we schedule meetings together at my house during all of the crap that has happened. Plus to top it off, he was the guy I had sex with when I was completely plastered yesterday." I scream not wanting to accept the truth, but knowing that I have to. I feel the tears run down before it was brushed away by Xander. His face showed many expressions, but the main one I see is sympathy.
"Hey," Xander whispers, I look up into his eyes, "everything will be alright." I smile at how he has always been the one to reassure me. I would always be in the dark if it wasn't for him. I quickly wiped the tears from her face, "Thanks, Xander. I am honestly surprised at how well you are taking that information."
"Don't test me Harper, I am a cop so I know how to keep my cool," Xander says under clenched teeth. I give a light chuckle to Xander's response.
For the rest of the night, we talked about that night and how I didn't blame Lucas since he was drunk as well, but how I mainly blamed myself for getting into that situation. I told him my main focus is school and school alone. I didn't even realize that I had fallen asleep till I woke up to my alarm blaring at me to get up for my classes. Well, here we go again.
My first class was boring as usual since it was that required class that we had to take as freshmen. The teacher will tell us about how to figure out what type of person we are and all kinds of other crap that isn't useful to me right now. I got to relax and think about what I will have to deal with in my next class. The good news is that Lucas will want to sit with his football buddies during class. That should be good, plus he won't sit near me in our other class as well. I let out a breath, that I didn't even know I was holding, of relief relaxing my body just a little bit. I quickly walk to my Geology class, when I get a few steps from the door I feel something hit me before I fall to the ground.
"Whoops, sorry fatso! I'm surprised I didn't see you," laughed a tall jock that looked as if he didn't even know what grooming was. He had what looked to be greasy black hair, wearing a gray shirt with his jersey and blue jeans. He literally had no pleasing features and he thinks he is better than me.
"Damn, Gale! Were you trying to take her out!" Another guy that I am not even looking at, shouted. I slowly get up, ignoring all of them, to start picking up the few items that I dropped. One of them stepped on a book that I was holding since I was in a rush to get to this class.
"Aren't you going to tell him sorry," I freeze, dammit it had to be Justin, didn't it. I looked up with a glare plastered on my face to see him smirking at me. I yank my book from under his foot before standing.
"No, I didn't bump into him. He slammed into me when all I was trying to do was get to class and he had the audacity to insult me on top of that. So no Justin, I will not apologize to you friend." I say firmly. Justin's face hardened, telling me that he did not enjoy my reply, but I didn't really care. I walked past them entering the classroom to grab a seat in the front roll. A minute later the professor walked into class with a bright smile on his face.
"Alright class, I have had a wonderful idea that I believed would have helped students in the previous years." He claps his hands, "You will from now on, be sitting next to your partner for the rest of the semester," he announced. I looked straight ahead in pure horror at what this man had just said. You could hear groaning from all over the classroom. I stayed frozen in my seat as I heard chairs being moved and people complaining about this decision that the professor made. I feel the presence moving close to me before sitting in the chair right next to me.
"Hey," Lucas says under his breath, I look up to make eye contact only to glare at him as if this was all his fault even though I knew that it wasn't. The professor continued on with the class once everyone was seated with their partner. The class droned on and on, but no matter how hard I tried to concentrate I couldn't. Lucas kept bumping his leg against mine or would do light accidental touches. I am so aware of his presence that I feel suffocated. The hour went on like a forever cycle that you wish would stop but would make you end up wanting to throw up. My mind was racing a race that didn't exist, another touch equal to a twitch on my part. Is he doing this on purpose? I give him a quick glare which I receive a smile, I quickly look away and focus back on the lecture.
"Alright, we have about ten minutes left. I would like for you all to have a discussion with your partner," the professor smiles brightly at our demise before taking a seat. I sat in my seat stiffly as I didn't want to talk to Lucas, I just wanted to ignore him. I feel a hand gently touch mine, jerking my attention to him.
"Hey, I tried to do as you asked. Until I realized we didn't say if we were spitting them or not." He whispers so that only my ears could hear what he was saying.
"Oh, um I guess we can do half of them since there were six of them we can do in threes. I can do bedding planes, planes of foliation, and dykes and sills if you want," I didn't actually expect him to actually want to take part.
"So I got fractures, faults, and folds? Why do I feel like I got the easy ones," he laughs.
"Well there are different components to them, so you have to cover all different parts and the causes of those different variations," I explained.
"Hmm, so not as easy as I thought," he hums to me.
"No, not as easy as you thought. You can get as much information as you can and then tomorrow we can meet and discuss our findings," I said firmly as I got through the points in my head as I was now in work mode.
"Are we meeting at your house again?" He asked. I froze for a bit, should I let him back into my house? I look to stare at his eye to see if there was something behind that question, but I see that he is actually being genuine.
"Yeah, that's fine," I say, not long after we hear the bell that goes off every thirty minutes. I got up quickly so I could go to my next class, when I was just about to get to the elevator I was grabbed by the wrist. Ugh, is this a habit of his or what? I turn to give him a glare.
"What," I said sternly because I don't have much time.
"I just wanted to say sorry," he looks down.
"Sorry for...." Before I could say what, I knew exactly what he was saying sorry to.
"Listen. You were drunk and so was I. We don't remember a thing so just drop it like it never happened," I huffed as I thought we already had this conversation once already.
"..But I do remember.." he mumbled enough for me to hear.
"What?" I glared, did he target me?
"I'm a football player, Harper, we drink a lot and do parties all the time. So I do remember what we did..." he trails off.
"First off, don't call me Harper," my voice raised, "second off, did you target me for some kind of bullshit game."
"No, I was still really drunk, Harper. I am just saying that I remember," he retreats trying to make sure I didn't misunderstand.
"Stop calling me by my name Lucas," I growled.
"Why does it matter if I call you by your name?" He asked.
"Because you have no right to! I hate you Lucas so I never want to hear you say my name when all you have ever called me was Piggy! Now leave me alone, "I half yelled before storming off to take the stairs instead of the elevator. I quickly rush to my class, checking my watch to make sure I'll make it on time since Lucas wasted my time once again. I made it to my English 101 class with two minutes to spare. I quickly take my seat next to Liz.
"Girl, where did you go on Monday?" She asked. I let out a sigh because I was tired of talking about that night and wished I never went to that party in the first place.
"Nothing worth mentioning," I smile, hoping that will drop the subject long enough for the teacher to come into the class to start.
"Oh, I know it wasn't a complete nothing. I saw you go upstairs with one of the football players," she whispered.
"Look, I really don't want to remember that night, so could we please drop it?" I asked hoping she would leave it be. I'm also pissed that the teacher hasn't come yet. He harped on us on not being late for your classes on Monday, but here you are late to the second class of the year.
"Yo, they didn't rape you, did they," she whispers in a panic, now extremely worried for my well-being.
"No, like I said nothing happened worth mentioning," I repeat.
"What did you sleep with a guy you hate or something?" She asked only to get a glare at my reply because I am starting to get a bit angry with her.
"Oh, shit no way. Okay, I understand. I wouldn't want to remember that shit either." She replies leaning back to her spot as the teacher enters the room. Really, you come five minutes late to class. The class begins to drone on as he talks about a reading sample he is wanting us to read and do a report on. I started to tune him out midway as I felt like I already had an idea of what he wanted us to do for the class assignment. I think back to earlier when I yelled at Lucas, mainly at his facial expression when I told him I hated him. He looked as if I hurt him, but I don't know how since I knew he hated me as well. Why even show a hurt expression when you know I won't believe it?   I never could understand Lucas, when we first met he was super nice to me. After a while I just thought we were friends, that was until I heard him laughing with his friend while they were making fun of me.  I was hurt because I thought I finally found a friend that was my age. Since then he always acts like he is kind to me, but as soon as he is with others he is like a completely different guy. I just don't want to deal with that type of energy anymore, so once this semester is over I plan to move to another University if possible. If that doesn't work then I'll try my best to stay clear of him. My train of thought was cut off when I felt Liz touch my arm.
"Hey, there you seem so lost in thought that I thought to tell you that class has ended." Liz smiles.
"Wait, it's over! What time is it?" I asked.
"Oh, it is eleven forty. Why?" she asked.
"Fuck!" I quickly grab my things up, "I'm going to be late." I wave goodbye to Liz as I run out the door. I ran as quickly as my legs could take me to my Child Development class. I feel my eyes get weak and my body burns as I haven't eaten yet. The buildings aren't that far from each other, but I still didn't give myself enough time. I ran past many students that gave me a weird look before minding their own business. By the time I got to the classroom, I was barely able to breathe as I basically flopped down in a seat.
"Wow, she has guts sitting next to a hottie like that," I hear a girl from behind me whisper. I ignore the insulting jabs that other girls make at me since I was young. I get my notebook out with some pens as the professor gets their stuff ready for the lecture.
"You must have been in a rush," said the voice that never leaves me alone. I look to my left to see that I sat next to Lucas. I wish I could smack myself, but I give up on the thought and Lucas as soon as the professor started the lecture. The whole time I was in class I didn't even acknowledge that Lucas was beside me. He isn't as close as he was in our last class so it made it easier to ignore him. Once class finished I quickly got up and left. I didn't want to give him a chance to talk to me like I did last time and I was basically starving. I had enough time to hang out in the dining hall before I had to go to my last class of the day.
The rest of the day dragged on, I was able to get some of my assignments done plus I got to get my meal and a snack. I was feeling good by the time I went to my Drawing class. I enjoy this class because I could lose myself as I draw. The professor only talked for a little bit before letting us go. She wants to see what we can do first before diving in further. I enjoy that about her, so I would just put my headphones in and listen to music as my hand guided across the paper. The only bad thing is that I am not in control of what I draw, it is almost like a blackout. I mostly draw scenery, but as the two hours passed, I saw that it was a portrait of the one person who occupies my mind the most. I glared at my poster, it was obvious that the man I drew was Lucas, but why? The charcoal covers my hands and apron from the effort I put into the piece.
"My, you are quite talented, aren't you?" My professor says from behind me as she examines the portrait.
"I didn't even know I could draw portraits," I say aloud.
"Hmm, well this person must be on your mind then," she smiles.
"Kind of, he's been plaguing me quite often even when I wish not to," I glared once again at the portrait as if it was like I was talking to Lucas as well.
"Well dear it looks as if you have a conflict, at least one big enough for you to draw him in such perfection," she says.
"What do I even do? I don't want to think about this person," I don't know why I am being so honest with this professor, but she gives off the vibes that Xander often gives out.
"Hmm, well dear I won't be able to give a hand in that, but I do feel that you will figure something out," she smiles while patting my back, "it's time to clear up and go home. Maybe a night's rest will help you a bit with these troubles."
I clean up the mess that I had created and place my portrait in a safe place like the other images. I headed home thinking about what she told me. She was pretty vague with what she was saying, but it also made her seem very wise as well.
When I got home, I made something quick for me and Xander to eat before getting ready to hit the hay.
"Is everything alright today? You seem pretty out of it," Xander asks with a worried face.
"I'm fine, I'm just really tired," I reply with a smile.
"Alright, well night kiddo," he says.
"Night Xander," with that I went to bed. My mind had been racing all day until Drawing class. Since then I feel as if I can relax, maybe she is right. It will all work out in the end.