First Semester (Elton Hall Chronicles Book 1) Page 5

  My mom had sent me the text. I knew she was excited so I responded and told her I missed her. I wanted to call and talk to her because this was the longest we had gone without seeing each other. But I didn’t want to be late for class. I made a mental note to call her later and tossed the phone onto my bed.

  I put on a green tank top with a black sleeveless cardigan on top. I then slipped my jean shorts on and finished the look off with a pair of black wedge heels. Before I went to sleep last night, I had packed my backpack so I wouldn’t forget anything. All I needed to do was put some make-up on and do my hair. As I was not exactly sure where I was going for my class, I wanted to leave a little early.

  I brushed my hair and put some gel in it. With a little gel, my hair had beach waves, and I had always liked that look. After pulling some of the strands out of my face with a couple pins, I put my make-up on and then headed back to my room to grab my bag. Annabelle and I had exchanged schedules last night and figured out we didn’t have any classes together. I wouldn’t see her until one when we’d meet up in the cafeteria for lunch.

  My literature class was in the castle on the second floor so I headed in that direction, thankful it was near the EET meeting. I had some idea where I was going but they were in different wings so I didn’t want to be too presumptuous. I wanted to admire the castle again, but in reality, I needed to walk with a little haste. I had a feeling that being a freshman was not an excuse to be late on your first day. Luckily, the room was in the wing next to the EET classroom so I had an idea where I was going.

  Turned out that it was not that hard to find the class. I ended up getting there ten minutes early so I walked in and picked a seat in the middle of the second row.

  ***

  Generally, Elton didn’t have more than twenty-five students in a class. However, there were some classes freshmen were all required to take, like freshmen literature, and they tended to have somewhere between thirty and forty students. I looked around the classroom and there were about fifteen students already seated. A couple of them were talking to each other, but for the most part, everyone was keeping to themselves. I was going to take my phone out and text Annabelle when he walked in.

  Hercules walked to the front of the class and began writing his name on the board. Crap. He was going to be my professor. For some reason that I couldn’t explain at the moment, this just made him seem even sexier. Maybe it had something to do with the authority he held, or maybe it was the way his green tie brought out his eyes, or maybe it was because student-teacher relationships were strictly forbidden. I wasn’t always good at following rules.

  As he turned around, I got a perfect view of his chiseled ass in his black dress slacks. His clothes could not hide the muscles underneath. Once he finished writing his name, he turned around and surveyed the class. I took a deep breath and tried to look casual. His eyes fell on me almost instantly. A smile broke out on his face and he walked up to me.

  “Miss Carrington, it is nice to see you again. Will I see you there tomorrow at the EET meeting?”

  “My friend seems really into it so I will probably tag along,” I said as I tried to focus on my breathing. He had glasses on today. They were thick, dark frames and they really just made him more attractive. Hercules was not only sexy when he was in casual clothes, but he could also pull off the fresh academic look.

  “Great. Then I look forward to seeing you there.” He didn’t walk away at first. Rather, he stood in front of me as if he were assessing me. Maybe he was amused by how obvious it was that I was attracted to him, or maybe he was interested too and wanted to say more. Whatever it was kept his gaze fixed on me for longer than was appropriate.

  After what seemed like an eternity, he turned and headed back to the front of the class. I imagined it. There was no sexual tension. He did not look at me as if he was undressing me with his eyes. He was just being friendly. I repeated this in my head. If I said it enough, then maybe I would believe it.

  There was no way he found me attractive. Number one, it was not allowed, and number two, he was older. At least six or seven years older. Maybe even more. I shook my head and took out my notebook and a pen. This was going to be a long semester.

  The class only made things worse. Hercules really knew what he was talking about and he was clearly passionate. All he did was go over the syllabus but his excitement was evident. He didn’t have notes or a PowerPoint, but rather spoke from memory. As he went over the books that we would be studying, his eyes lit up and he began speaking even faster. It was as if his thoughts were coming so fast that his mouth couldn’t keep up.

  Apparently, at his position in England, he had written a textbook because he couldn’t find one that he liked. This was the book we were using. I had originally thought it was extremely arrogant and self-serving that he required us to buy the book. At least I did until he said that all profits from this textbook went straight to a children’s hospital near his childhood home. He never saw a singular royalty check and even wrote the book under a pen name. He really was perfect.

  Hercules dismissed class and I packed up my belongings. But as I did this, I watched him from underneath my eyelashes. Several female students had walked up to him and began asking tons of questions. I felt a slight flash of jealousy, which was ridiculous.

  I was sure they were just curious about the syllabus. And even if they weren’t, what claim did I have over him? I shook the feeling off and headed out the door. Before leaving, I turned and took one last look. His eyes caught mine for a brief second. Then they were back on the tall blonde who was talking to him. As I walked out the door, I felt a smile spread on my face.

  ***

  My second class, my freshman seminar, was pretty uneventful. I headed to the cafeteria to meet Annabelle for lunch. All she could do was talk about EET. Clarissa had invited her over tonight so they could go over her responsibilities and other parts of the job, and she was so excited. Her ideas were great and it would be nice to know someone on the executive board.

  We headed back to our dorm so Annabelle could drop her school bag off, which, if you could believe, was bigger than her regular giant tote, and then head to Clarissa’s. I went back to my room but was not prepared for what I walked in on.

  Lola was sitting on the floor, crying her eyes out. I threw my bag on my desk and knelt beside her.

  “Oh my god! What’s wrong?” I asked as I got her some tissues.

  “I don’t even know where to start,” she sobbed.

  “Well, what is it about?” I asked as I stroked her hair, hoping that would help her calm down.

  “He dumped me. Tyler has been seeing another girl for the last couple months behind my back. I just found out a few hours ago. I told him it was me or her and he picked her,” Lola wailed, and began sobbing again.

  “What an asshole! Can I get you anything?” I asked, hoping I could help her in some way. I had been cheated on so I could imagine how crushed she was.

  “No, I just think I am going to go to one of my friend’s. She is in the next building over.” She tried to wipe her face and pull it together. “But thanks. It’s nice to know that you are there.”

  “No problem! Text me if you need me.” She left and I settled in for the afternoon. Back home, I wrote in a journal most nights. It was a good way for me to organize my thoughts and figure out the way I was feeling. Since coming to school, I hadn’t had a spare second to express myself in writing. There was a lot I needed to catch up on.

  ***

  I finished a couple of entries and decided to call it an early night. Too bad that would not last long. At around two in the morning there was a loud pounding on my door. Confused, I crawled out of bed and pulled my robe on. When I looked through the peephole, I saw Tyler. I opened the door and noticed he was not alone. There was a small redhead standing next to him and she did not look happy.

  “Hey, Violet, is Lola there?” he asked me politely.

  I blinked my eyes a couple of times, confused
, and looked at the redhead. She sneered at me, cracked her knuckles, and then started ripping posters and signs off of the wall. I thought it was safe to say that she was in a bad mood or maybe she was trying to intimidate me. Whatever it was, she was acting really strange.

  “Um, no. She went to see one of her friends earlier today. I haven’t seen her since,” I told him as the redhead joined Tyler in front of the door.

  “Okay, thanks,” Tyler said as he turned to go.

  “Are you sure that bitch isn’t in there?” the redhead shouted at me with a whole lot of attitude. She pushed Tyler out of the way and stepped up to me.

  “Yes. It’s one room. I think I would notice if she was here,” I assured her, getting defensive.

  “I bet she is hiding. Let me in or I’ll kick your ass,” she threatened as she tried to get around me.

  “Um, excuse you? You are not coming in here. As I said, she is not here and I don’t know where she is. I also don’t know who you are but I am definitely not letting you in here,” I said as I grabbed my keys and closed the door. There was no way she was going to wreck my room or any of my stuff while “looking” for Lola.

  “You know what, slut?” the redhead started, and got up in my face.

  I interrupted her because, frankly, this was getting to be too much. “No! I don’t know what is going on or why you are here, but you need to back up,” I warned as I looked her dead in the eye. Luckily, Tyler stepped in.

  “Katie, let’s go. There is no way Lola would be hiding in the room.” Tyler pulled her away and gave her a slight nudge toward the door of the dorm building.

  “Violet, I’m sorry about that. It has been a pretty crazy day. Have a good night.” Tyler and Katie headed out of the dorm and I closed the door.

  I grabbed my phone and texted Lola. She needed to know what happened. About five minutes after I sent the text, Lola called me.

  “He did not go there with her!” Lola screamed when I answered the phone.

  “Yep, they were here. She was tearing all the posters off the wall in the hallway. She tried to force her way into the room and got in my face. Tyler pulled her away before it could get bad because I was not dealing with her. Is that the girl Tyler cheated with?” I asked, even though I was pretty sure I knew the answer already.

  “Yeah. She got my number and was texting and threatening me. So I told her to meet me here and we could settle this in the parking lot, but I guess she went to the wrong place. That dumb bitch.”

  “What do you mean settle this?” I asked, confused. Were they really going to get physical?

  “She wanted to fight. I’m from North Jersey, we don’t back down from a fight.” Lola sounded serious and I had to take a moment to control myself. They were going to meet in the school parking lot after dark. It was like a bad chick flick.

  “Well, they’re gone. I just wanted to let you know.” I really would prefer to stay out of this.

  “Did she threaten you or break any of our stuff? Do you want to call the police on her?” Lola asked, showing some concern.

  “No, she just got in my face when I wouldn’t let her search the room for you. Everything is fine. We definitely don’t need to call the police,” I assured her.

  “Okay. I’ll talk to you tomorrow. Sorry you got dragged into this.” With that, Lola hung up the phone.

  I shook my head in disbelief. This was not happening. We were in college! I grabbed a water bottle and curled back up in bed. I was asleep after a couple of minutes. Again, it would not last long.

  ***

  There was another loud knock on my door. I looked at the clock and I had only been asleep for forty-five minutes. Groaning, I threw the covers off again and looked through the peephole. Shocked, I grabbed my robe and threw it on. I was definitely not expecting him.

  Standing on the other side of my door was the police officer from the garden. I opened the door and tried my best to smile at him.

  “Miss Carrington?” The officer pulled out a notepad and a pen.

  “Yes?” I asked tentatively. I had never even been pulled over by the cops while driving. This was my first real encounter with a police officer, and for the life of me, I could not figure out why he was there. The flower thing didn’t count.

  “My name is Officer Finn and I’m here regarding your roommate, Lauren Zimmerman. She called us saying there was a disturbance earlier and she was concerned for your safety.”

  I let out a huge breath of relief and rolled my eyes. “It was not really a disturbance. Her ex-boyfriend came by with his new girlfriend and just asked where Lola was. Ah, Lauren, she goes by Lola. I called Lauren and told her they were looking for her. It was not a big deal,” I insisted, hoping he’d just go away.

  “Did they threaten you at all?” the officer asked me with a grave face.

  “Ah, there may have been words from the new girlfriend. But honestly, I didn’t take her seriously. Tyler, the ex-boyfriend, grabbed her and they left. Really, I’m fine. Lola asked me if I wanted to call the police and I told her no.” I tried to sound sure but the officer did not seem to agree.

  “What were her words exactly when she threatened you?” Officer Finn had his pen poised above a notepad.

  “She wanted to come into the room and I refused to let her. So she told me to let her in or she was going to kick my ass,” I muttered, embarrassed that it had come to this.

  “We are going to post an officer outside your door for the night to make sure that they do not come back. If you hear from them again, then let the officer know,” Finn insisted with an air of both authority and arrogance. I had a feeling he was going to be the officer stuck babysitting the annoying freshman.

  “I really do not think that is necessary. I’ll be fine,” I asserted as I tried to brush off the officer. This was going to be extremely embarrassing for me.

  “Miss Carrington, this is not a request I am willing to ignore. There was an incident in the parking lot earlier. Miss Zimmerman does not want to press charges but we are still concerned for your safety. On top of that, we are actively looking for the young lady so that we can ensure she has left the campus.”

  It took a second but my heart stopped. “What kind of incident?” I all but screamed at the officer, ignoring what he said about pressing charges.

  “I am not at liberty to discuss all of the details.” Finn closed his face off.

  “Just tell me if Lola is okay or not,” I begged. I knew we literally just met but I felt a need to make sure she was all right. It may have been the concerned look on my face or the slight shake in my voice but Finn finally decided to take pity on me. His face changed and became more relaxed. He leaned forward and whispered close to my ear.

  “Off the record, she is in the hospital but is stable and should be coming home tomorrow.” He then leaned back against the wall outside my room and turned his head to me. “I will be here until you go to class. Have a good night.”

  “Thanks. Uh, have a good night too. Let me know if you need anything. I mean, I have water and, like, five different kinds of cereal in case you get hungry,” I offered, feeling pretty bad. I didn’t have class until ten so he was going to be there for about seven hours before I headed to the classroom.

  The officer smiled and looked back at me. “I will be fine. Remember, I’m always willing to do something nice for a pretty girl. If you need anything, I will be right here.” I thought I saw him wink at me but I must have imagined it. After all, it was really late.

  I closed the door and texted Lola to try to check in. I didn’t think she would respond but I needed to at least try. She had sent the officer here to make sure I was okay after all.

  ***

  After tossing and turning all night, I fell back asleep minutes before my alarm went off. I crawled out of bed and grabbed some clothes. I pulled on my jean shorts and a cream V-neck t-shirt. I was about to grab my make-up kit when I remembered there was a police officer outside my room. I grabbed a granola bar and opened my door.
Officer Finn was still standing there. He had circles under his eyes but he was still awake.

  “Good morning, Miss Carrington. Don’t you look nice,” he offered, and smiled. I could tell he was tired but his stance still provided the necessary amount of intimidation. However, his eyes showed stress and fatigue.

  “I know last night you claimed that you were fine but I thought you might want a granola bar or something. I’m just going to head to the bathroom and get ready to go to class so I guess you’re off the hook,” I said.

  “Well, last night you offered me cereal. If you’d said you had granola bars, that would have been different,” he joked as he took the bar. “I’ll be outside the bathroom door if you need anything.”

  “Oh, no, you really don’t have to stand out there while I am in there. I mean…” My sentence faded off as I tried to think of a less humiliating moment in my life. So far, a young police officer standing outside of a bathroom while I went in to take care of my business seemed to top my list.

  “Don’t worry! The walls are thick and I won’t hear you talk or whatever you need to do in there. I’m not willing to let you go in there and risk you getting hurt because of a little pride.”

  My cheeks burned bright red. I was flattered that he was going to look after me but still humiliated that this had to happen. At the same time, I still thought it was unnecessary.

  “Um, I don’t think Tyler and Katie are going to accost me in the bathroom.”

  “You never know what people will do. I like to be prepared.”

  Seeing as I was not getting anywhere with Finn, I headed into the bathroom. I handled my business, brushed my teeth, and put a light layer of make-up on. It was going to be a long day. I had two classes and the EET meeting later. I just really hoped an officer was not going to follow me around all day. That would definitely send the wrong message to my teachers, classmates, Trent, and Hercules.

  I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. It was time to face the day. As I came out of the bathroom, I saw the officer on his walkie-talkie. He looked up at me and smiled.