First Semester (Elton Hall Chronicles Book 1) Read online

  “Oh, I have no shame. I am sure within the next year we are going to see a whole lot of each other.” She laughed as she grabbed some clothes out of her closet. I was glad I convinced my mother not to hang clothes in her closet the other day. “We’re headed out to get some dinner but we’re going to a party tonight over in another dorm. You should come. We can get to know each other a little,” Lola offered.

  “Yeah, that sounds fun. I am about to run across the hall to see my friend, but we could meet up with you later.” As soon as it came out of my mouth, I realized that I just invited Annabelle to Lola’s party. “Do you mind if I bring my friend?” I added.

  “Of course not, it’s a party,” Lola said as she slipped her clothes on. We exchanged phone numbers and agreed she would give me the details for the party later. She and Tyler went to the cafeteria and I headed to Annabelle’s room.

  ***

  “Want to go to a party tonight?” I asked as Annabelle opened the door. She looked at me a little funny and then moved aside. The last time I saw Annabelle’s room it was covered in storage containers. Now there appeared to be a method to her madness. Most of the storage bins had been placed under the bed. The remaining were next to the head and foot of the bed and served as nightstands. It was organizational furniture.

  She had wire rim baskets hanging on the walls and they were all packed with school supplies and other random things. In between the baskets were pictures from home and beach scenes. Annabelle patted a spot on her bed, indicating I could sit on the paisley bedspread. I told her about Lola and Tyler and she just laughed.

  “Wow. I am pretty impressed that you didn’t scream. I would have freaked out!”

  “I know. I wasn’t really sure how to react! But she seems nice. I think we should go to that party. It could be fun,” I said, hoping that she would want to go.

  “We can give it a try. I mean, it’s in a dorm, right, so we could just head back here if we wanted.” The idea that it was only a few buildings away relaxed me too. Obviously, I had never been to a college party. I was excited but still a little nervous.

  In the meantime, we looked up some of the comedians on the computer and eventually ordered a pizza for dinner. We had gotten through three of them on the list and I had a definite favorite. Her name was Carmen Holly and her father was in the Army. As a result, she told jokes based on all the different places she lived. She played up stereotypes but totally attacked New Jersey. That irritated Annabelle, a true Jersey girl, which, of course, made it funnier.

  ***

  Around eight, Lola texted me the details of the party. It was now going to be in a few of the apartments on the other side of campus. I wasn’t so sure about this anymore. Neither of us had ever been to the apartments and we wouldn’t know anyone but Lola and Tyler.

  Annabelle flat out said she wasn’t going until she got a text from Clarissa. Apparently, she and Nat were hosting a party in the apartments and they wanted her to come. They told her she could bring a friend if she wanted. It was also an open party.

  “Do you think they’re the same party?” I wondered as Annabelle read me the message.

  “Probably not. I mean, the college is not that small,” Annabelle said. “We could go to that one and then head over to Lola’s party after if we still want to.”

  “Yeah, we could do that. Now we just have to figure out what we’re going to wear. You first since you take longer,” I insisted as I asked Lola for the address of the party.

  “Rude! But you make a valid point.” Annabelle texted Clarissa back and after four outfit changes, she finally picked something. She was wearing a blue tank top with large white flowers and blue jeans. She put a white cardigan on top and believe it or not, she also had a matching blue and white Mary Poppins size tote. She came into my room and smiled when she looked at the pink bedspread.

  “I cannot handle how you just walked in and he was lying shirtless on the bed. Did it cross your mind that he could have been a stripper or a hooker?”

  “No,” I stammered, and started laughing. “If he was a stripper or a hooker, then I would hope he’d be lying in my bed. That would be a pretty high maintenance hooker for him to bring his own sheets.” I was going through my closet to figure out what I wanted to wear. I had been a big fan of purple for a couple of years now and my closet completely reflected that.

  It only took me two outfit changes before I decided to slip on a purple sun dress. It had cap sleeves, an empire waist, and it fell at mid-thigh. It also showed off the girls. Annabelle and I bonded in the bathroom while we did our make-up and I straightened my hair. Looking in the mirror, we determined that we looked good enough to go out in public.

  ***

  The apartments on the other side of campus were where the upper classmen lived. There was a path through the campus that led there from the dorms. The castle was on our right, and even in moonlight it was stunning.

  Most of the lights were off but there were a couple of windows lit up. I wondered if one of those lights belonged to Hercules. I could picture him going over lesson plans late at night with his brow furrowed in concentration. He would be murmuring to himself as he wrote down brilliant lectures and prepared for the next EET meeting. I wondered what would happen when I saw him again on Tuesday.

  It was about a ten-minute walk to the apartments and we were by no means alone. All sorts of students were walking to and from the apartments. Apparently, this was a pretty well-traveled path. There were street lights but they were pretty far apart from each other. It seemed they were just close enough to keep you out of total darkness but not close enough to completely illuminate your way. Annabelle and I took out our cellphones and used them as makeshift flashlights.

  We got to the cluster of apartments and began trying to find Clarissa and Nat’s place. The setup seemed to be idiot proof. The buildings were in alphabetical order from left to right and then had numbers for each apartment. The even numbers were upstairs and the odd numbers were downstairs. This I could manage. Clarissa and Nat’s place was apartment C10. Annabelle texted Clarissa and told her that we were outside.

  I was not prepared for what I saw when Clarissa invited us in. An apartment where four people lived now managed to hold around twenty-five. I recognized a lot of them from the meeting earlier but there were still several strangers. Clarissa walked over and greeted Annabelle. The way her eyes were lit up and her movements slightly uncoordinated led me to believe she was already slightly drunk.

  “Annabelle! I’m glad you could make it. We have to get to know each other since we’re going to be spending so much time together.” Clarissa put her drink down and grabbed Annabelle’s hands.

  “Thanks. It looks like you guys are already having a lot of fun,” Annabelle commented, looking around the room. “Oh, and this is Violet. She is also going to join EET,” she said as she nodded toward me.

  Clarissa turned to me and then took my hands. “Oh, I remember you! I’m sure we’ll spend a lot of time together too.” Clarissa then let go of me and brought us to the kitchen. Nat was in there with a few other people, including Trent from the EET meeting. When I saw him my mouth went dry. He was even better looking up close. How had I not noticed during the meeting? I turned to Annabelle and the look on her face told me that she thought the same thing. Clarissa brought us over to Nat and introduced me.

  “Can I get either of you a drink?” Nat asked us.

  “What do you have?” I asked. I had never really had alcohol before but I kind of wanted to try it.

  “We have Jell-O shots, some beer, and vodka,” Nat responded as she opened the fridge.

  “I’ve never had a Jell-O shot before.” I smiled, a little embarrassed, and looked at Nat.

  “Well, then let’s take one. I’ll show you how. Annabelle, what about you?” Nat said as she grabbed two Jell-O shots out of the refrigerator.

  “No, I think I am okay for now. Maybe just a soda, if you have any.” She looked a little nervous. I had a feeling she
didn’t drink either.

  “I have some in the mini fridge in my room. Follow me,” Clarissa told Annabelle, and she grabbed her drink on the way out. Annabelle looked at me as if to say, “Have fun,” and followed Clarissa.

  “Okay, so basically you run your finger around the outer rim of the plastic cup to loosen the Jell-O. Then you kind of suck it out.” She handed me the shot and took one herself. “Ready?” she asked as we both took a big breath.

  “Yes,” I said, and did as I was told. I took the shot down and tried not to gag. It tasted pretty good at first and then I felt the alcohol hit my system. It was almost like an electric shock and I started to cough a bit. Nat patted me on the back.

  “Good job for your first one. You downed that whole thing,” Nat praised as she pulled out a beer from the refrigerator. “Here, try this as a chaser. It will help the alcohol go down easier.” She handed me the beer and we took another shot.

  As soon as I swallowed the shot, I took a big swig of beer. She was right, it helped, and I actually kind of liked the beer.

  “Better?” she asked once she finished her shot, and I nodded. “Here, let me introduce you to a few people.” She told me the name of everyone in the kitchen. As she started talking about some crazy professor she had to take again, Clarissa and Annabelle came in. I was going to walk over to see them when I noticed I was standing next to Trent. I looked up at him and he smiled down at me.

  “So you’re a freshman? How did you get here?” he asked before taking a sip of some dark brown drink that smelled like cleaning solution. I assumed it was vodka mixed with something.

  “I met Nat earlier today at the EET meeting,” I said, trying to keep from swooning. His blue eyes were crystal clear and he was looking straight at me. I had no choice but to return his gaze.

  “Are you going to join? It’d be nice to see some fresh faces.”

  “Yeah, it sounds like fun. It’s really cool that you get to meet the comedians and the musicians.” I took another sip of the beer, finally breaking eye contact. His gaze was a little strong and I had to look away.

  “Of course. We have this big signing and photograph session usually before the show. That is the part I set up. I am in charge of helping the talent and making sure they get everything they need. It’s very cool,” Trent assured me as he leaned a little closer. He smelled amazing. I was not sure what kind of cologne he used but it had its desired effect. I was interested and I wanted to breathe it in a little more.

  “Aww, I am jealous. That sounds like the best job. Have you met anyone interesting?” I asked as true excitement began to flow through my body. I had a bit of a fascination with famous people and was subscribed to two different tabloids. Trent listed a couple of comedians I obviously didn’t know and then he said it.

  “I also met Denny Lopez last year.” Lopez was a huge pop artist with several number one hits. He was also one of my favorite singers.

  “Shut up,” I shouted as I pushed his arm. “I absolutely love him!”

  “Yeah, I like him a lot too. He was really nice. I have a couple of extra signed CDs in the EET office. If you are interested, I’ll give you one.” He winked at me and inched even closer.

  “Really? That would be amazing. I’d be so grateful,” I gushed as I looked up into his eyes. I was inches away from his face. Now that I was a little closer, the alcohol was all I could smell. It was definitely not a turn-on, but his light eyes distracted me so I almost didn’t even care.

  “Oh really? How grateful?” he asked as he brought his face even closer to mine.

  I looked down for a split second and noticed his lips. They were full and smooth. I was dying to know what they tasted like. My head was spinning and I could not figure out if it was because of the alcohol or my attraction to Trent. It might have been a little bit of both.

  I was going to respond with a good old-fashion sexual innuendo when there was a heavy knock on the door. It seemed to bring us out of our trance and we both jumped a little and looked at the door.

  There was a short guy there and I had a feeling he was not there for the party. He had dark tanned skin and was wearing and Elton Hall shirt with tan slacks. Clarissa and Nat ran over to the door. I started to inch over to see what was going on but Trent pulled me back. He wrapped his arm around my waist and moved me out of the sightline of the door.

  “That’s Randy. He’s their RA and is trying to crash the party. If he sees you and realizes you’re a freshman, then you may get written up for drinking. Stay back here.” Trent rushed over to Randy. A cold sensation went through my body after he let me go. I silently cursed Randy for ruining my fun.

  “What’s going on? Is it getting a little loud? I told them charades were a bad idea,” Trent teased as he clapped hands with Randy and they gave each other the bro hug.

  “Yeah, charades. Okay, Trent,” Randy chastised as he turned to Nat and Clarissa. “Ladies, I need you to shut the party down. I know there is drinking and it’s getting really loud. I know everyone just moved back so I will just give you a warning this time. I’m going to leave, and as long as everyone clears out within five minutes, I’ll let you all slide,” he decided, and then turned back to Trent. “I’ll see you tomorrow at Greek Council.” Then Randy headed out the door.

  I remembered how to breathe and started to walk out of the kitchen.

  “So, I guess if you want to see that CD, you’ll have to see me again,” Trent said as he leaned against the kitchen wall.

  “I guess Denny’s signature is worth it,” I teased as I ran my fingers through my hair. I had great hair and I liked to use it when I flirted. It must have worked because Trent followed my hair as it flowed back down my shoulders and over my chest. He reached over and tucked a couple of strands behind my ear.

  “Violet!” I jumped again and looked over to see Annabelle. “We gotta go,” Annabelle ordered as she grabbed my hand and pulled me to the door.

  I looked back at Trent and he smiled as we headed out.

  ***

  “Nice timing,” I told Annabelle as we were headed back down the path to our dorm.

  “I know! I’m sorry but you two were taking too long. We needed to leave before we ended up with underage drinking citations,” Annabelle said as she hiked her tote bag up onto her shoulder.

  “I just met him! What did you want me to do? Jump his bones right there in the kitchen? We could have gone at it on the counter. I’m sure no one would have minded.” Actually, I probably would not have minded, but I wasn’t one for big public displays of affection.

  “No, I just mean Clarissa and I were trying to figure out when you were going to kiss. I lost a dollar betting on you!”

  “Big spender! We were not that bad,” I said as I tried to keep from smiling.

  “Oh, okay! Whatever you say,” Annabelle said as she heard her phone go off. “Oh my god! You have to see what Clarissa said.”

  Annabelle showed me her phone and I got really excited.

  Clarissa: So, Trent wants Violet’s number. Can you ask her for it and then text it to me?

  “What do you want me to say?” Annabelle asked. We had both stopped walking and were currently standing in the middle of the path.

  “Give her my number. You probably dragged me away before he could ask for it.” She sent her my number and we headed back to the dorm. We had decided there was no point going to Lola’s party since the one we went to was busted.

  We had just gotten back to our dorm building when my phone went off. I pulled it out of my wristlet and sure enough it was from an unknown number.

  Hey, Violet. It’s Trent.

  My heart stopped. That was pretty fast. I had hoped he was going to text me but I really didn’t think it was going to be tonight. I showed the phone to Annabelle and we headed upstairs to my room. Lola wasn’t there yet so we had it to ourselves.

  “What are you going to say?” Annabelle asked as we both sat down on the bed.

  “I think I’m going to go with Hi or so
mething like that,” I suggested as I laughed.

  Hi. What’s up?

  I figured I would keep it simple but my heart was racing a mile a minute. I got up to get a bottle of water so I had something to do besides wait for my phone to go off. I grabbed Annabelle one also and returned to the bed.

  “So, do you like him?” Annabelle asked after taking a big swig of water.

  “I don’t know. I just met him, but I think I could like him.” I started thinking about our conversation. “He told me that he has an extra signed CD from Denny Lopez he could give me. I about fell over. He is one of my favorite singers. Basically, I would worship the ground he walked on for that CD.”

  “I was never a big fan but I know he was pretty popular.”

  My phone went off again and we both stared at it sitting on the bed between us. After his last text, I turned the phone on full sound. Ironically enough, the ringtone was one of Denny’s latest hits. Annabelle looked sideways at me.

  “Really? He is your ringtone?”

  “Yes! What part of I would worship the ground Trent walked on for one of the signed CDs did you misunderstand?” I said as I picked up the phone and opened Trent’s next text.

  Did you make it back to your room okay?

  “Aww, look, that’s cute. He cares.” I showed Annabelle the text. “When the RA came, he hid me in the kitchen so I wouldn’t get caught for underage drinking. Where did you go?” I asked, realizing she hadn’t been hiding with me.

  “Oh, Clarissa told me to go into the bathroom. She and Nat are both twenty-one so they were fine.”

  “That was lucky.” I sent a reply to Trent.

  I did. Thanks to you. My hero ;p

  “Did he mention if he was single?” Annabelle asked me.

  “Uh, I hope so. We didn’t really get that far.” I was starting to feel a little guilty about the flirting. I didn’t know if he had a girlfriend.