Their Paid Girl

Their Paid Girl - Part 8

          As soon as my seminar was over, I made sure not to drag behind this time, but to exit the Lecture Hall along with everyone else. I’d had enough empty auditorium encounters to last me a lifetime.

          I emerged into the sun outside, squinting at the sprawling campus before me. People were finding friends, stretching after sitting in at a class, couples were making out like they hadn’t seen each other in years, and others were unwrapping lunches or settling underneath trees for a nap.

          I’d been dreading this moment all day. Because right now I was scanning the scene before me, looking for one particular person. I spotted Joel afar off, his golden hair catching the sun as he flirted with several girls at once.

          He stood in the midst of an enormous group, mostly consisting of third-years and seniors. Thinking back to two days before when Adam had cornered me in the empty auditorium, I remembered him mentioning Joel.

          I wasn’t aware that they were friends, but it was worth a shot.  Besides, it was the least the guy could do for me anyway, seeing as he’d shown our fake picture and advertised me to the biggest jerkhole in the entire campus.

          The closer that I approached Joel, the more I realized what a massive group he had. Football jocks, cheerleaders, artistic types, good-looking addicts – they all milled around, mingling and flirting like there was no tomorrow. I frowned; well this was hugely atypical.

          Since when was a jock interested in drama students who wore shirts proclaiming “To play or not to play? What a stupid question!”

          I wasn’t sure how long I stood there, staring in confusion at the variety of social classes in front of me, before a couple moved out of my line of sight, and I saw him.

          The scowl slipped onto my face but I pushed it off, attempting to look humble and apologetic. I tried for contrite.

          Adam Ferrell still hadn’t seen me, sitting at one of the courtyard tables while a hoard of juniors stood behind him, snapping photos. He didn’t seem to care and continued to twirl a football in his hands, the sexiest picture of boredom that I’d ever laid eyes on.

          Raising his own shattering blue eyes, he caught a glimpse of me before we were separated by three cheerleaders coming to stand in front of him, giving him an excellent close-up view which required little use of the imagination.

          Sighing in annoyance, I sidestepped them so I was directly in front of him.

          He looked up at me from his seat where he lounged, shooting me a cold glare. Yep, I could already taste the dust that I’d be inhaling because that look clearly screamed at me “grovel or die.”

          So I tried to erase the irritation in my forced smile as I got closer to him, ignoring the outraged expressions on the three cheerleaders behind me.

          Quite suddenly I was acutely aware that I had everyone’s attention. And I mean, everyone’s. The activity and flirting that had just been in full swing was very deceiving, because how was I supposed to know just how freaking attuned all of them were to Adam?

          As soon as something out of the ordinary happened to him, all attention snapped to him. Even when something completely mundane was occurring – like him sitting in a chair – he still had the attention of the majority of people around him.

          And it wasn’t just the girls who stared at him, either. While the girls were obviously attracted by his outward appearance, the guys couldn’t help but admire his toned physique and rugged features. Everyone idolized him which was normally only mildly irritating. But now, when I wanted to talk to him? Grovel at his feet?

          That was just embarrassing.

          Walk away, my common sense shouted at me inside my head. But there was a challenge and provocation in Adam’s smouldering eyes that I just couldn’t walk away from.

          “Adam,” I said into the still silence.

          Adam didn’t bother to acknowledge that. Clearly, he was going to be difficult.

          “What time on Friday?”

          Most of the girls gasped and I heard an outbreak of frantic whispering. I hid a smug smile, knowing how that had sounded.

          Adam looked over at me, his blue eyes a frozen ice colour. It was the prettiest ice I’d ever seen, though.

          “What are you talking about,” his voice fell flat, not even bothering to question me but dismissing my claim. Oh, so he was going to make it sound like I was begging for a date instead of the other way around, huh?

          “Adam, baby,” I faked concern, “I had no idea I hit your head too, when I gave you that bruise,” I pointed at his face, making my eyes go wide.

          Someone let out a bark of laughter. “Look, ho, he got that bruise from football practice.”

          I didn’t bother to spare the jock a glance. “Actually, he got that one from me, walking into a door.”

          Several guys snickered, but the rest of the crowd remained stonily silent, glaring at me. Talk about a tough crowd – what on earth had Adam done to them, that they were this loyal to him and wouldn’t risk a single snigger at his expense?

          I frowned, quickly losing my apologetic intentions. “Are you denying the fact that you asked me out for this Friday?”

          “Yes,” Adam replied in a monotone.

          I glared at his blatant lie, but the next moment, I sneezed hard. His fault that I was sick, too.

          “Sorry,” I apologized, wiping my nose, “I’m allergic to bullsh*t.”

          Adam raised an eyebrow at me. “And I’m a little busy,” he said in a bored voice, “Can’t I ignore you some other day?”

          I smirked at him. His loss. I could just find some other person who needed me more, and offered an even higher price. Couldn’t be that hard, right?

          “Adam,” I announced, giving him a compassionate look, “There’s only one game you’re good at, and guess what? You just lost. If I thought about you at all, I’d probably hate you. But now that I do think about it, there’s really only two things I dislike about you – both your faces.”

          It most definitely wasn’t the best insult in my book. But I had another sneeze coming, so I turned and walked quickly away, the crowd parting to let me through.

          Infuriating jockh--!

          Was all I got to before I sneezed. The sound still carried and people snickered behind me.

          “Roberts,” Adam’s voice called after me, “You made a really big mistake today!”

          “So did God when he made you!” I threw back over my shoulder, continuing on walking.

          “You’re going to regret this,” he threatened, sounding really angry.

          I smirked to myself. “I already do,” I retorted, not at all sorry.

          And then I walked away.

          So much for four hundred bucks. Now I just had the sexiest and most powerful guy on campus for my enemy.

          Life seriously needs an undo button.

Note from ella:

So much for the grovelling, huh? I know this is rushed. But I have to head off to school and then work. Sorry, better and longer chapters are in store - I've got a huge chunk written, I just need to get to that part of the story. Please vote anyway! :S