He started popping up, after that. In the library first, or the student dining hall, but then he became bolder and began sitting next to her in classes that he wasn’t even scheduled in. That was when he’d started talking to her.
“Law student, huh?” he’d asked casually, glancing at her notes. “Me too. Though you don’t strike me as the ruthless type.”
“Wanting the truth isn’t ruthless,” she’d countered, her face red. “It’s justice.”
“Ah,” he’d chuckled. “So you’re one of them.”
He’d stuck to her even closer after that. It wasn’t long before he’d tried sleeping over, or stealing a kiss or two. But Claire wasn’t the type to fool around, and he wasn’t the type to remain faithful to just one girl.
Until he did.
“What is this?” Claire had asked him after finding a hand-written letter in her chemistry textbook.
“My proclamation of love,” he’d replied, deadpanned.
And, so, they’d started dating.
It’d been nice, surprisingly. Chad had only increased his random acts of devotion and gifts of affection, and in return, Claire had begun locking her dorm door with him on the inside. Everything was perfect, really.
Until it had became glaringly obvious that Chad was embarrassed of her.
“Claire—”
“You blew me off!” Claire had fumed, picking a fight with him in the middle of a busy hallway.
“No, I just—”
“Your friends don’t know, do they?” It was the only explanation. “They were so surprised when I approached them, especially when I said I wanted to talk with you in particular.”
Chad had thrown his hands up in the air, huffing. “Well, what do you expect?” He’d gestured to her. “You think they’d thought that we’d run in the same circle?”
That had hit harder than anything she’d expected him to say. Sure, she was a scholarship student, but she was also perfectly average. She wasn’t a size two, like the rich girls Chad was normally surrounded by, not with her curves and padded stomach. She was more a size sixteen or twenty-two, not that the sweaters and pants she wore gave it away. She was modest, and middle-class, and—apparently—not a person that Chad Michaels should’ve been talking to, let alone dating.
“Well, then let’s not give them a rude awakening,” she’d replied, hugging her books to her chest. That was why she was in school, after all—to learn, not to date. “As of right now, we’re strangers.”
“Claire, wait!”
But she had just pushed past him, the tears blurring her vision. He hadn’t even tried to give chase.
“Here we are,” Chad said, pulling her out of her thoughts as he opened the car door for her before Ainsley could do it. He stepped out, holding it open as he motioned for her to follow. Now that Claire had her heart under control, her brain was back up to speed and she was left wondering why the hell she had allowed herself to get into Chad’s car.
“Actually,” she said, climbing out after him. He tried to take her hand and help her, but she dodged him. “I’m over my little, ah, shock, so if you could point me in the direction of the nearest bus station—”
“What?” Chad asked, frowning. He slapped his hands on her shoulders, speaking into her face. “Claire, I didn’t bring you here because you were feeling upset. You’re here for your own safety.”
“Chad,” she said, suddenly reminded of his dramatic tendencies. “It was a mugging, not attempted murder.”
“That you know of,” he said, stepping back. “Now come on, Ainsley needs to bring the car around so that he can retire for the night.”
Glancing at the smiling old driver, Claire bit her lip and started up the walk after Chad.
Chapter 2
The building before Claire could only be described as a mansion, and she as she stared at the ornate windows and balconies, she decided that it must be at least three stories high. It was the kind of grand home that she’d always imagined Chad would find for himself.
Before they’d even made it to the top of the marble steps, one of the front double doors opened and a woman stuck her head out.
“Mr. Michaels!” she smiled warmly. “Welcome home.”
“Mrs. Anderson,” he laughed. “I’m afraid I have a last minute guest tonight—would you mind freshening up the first guest bedroom for her?”
Mrs. Anderson raised her eyebrows in surprise. “The first…? I mean, yes sir, right away,” she said, stepping back to let them in. She closed the door behind them, then stepped past them to bustle down the hallway. Claire watched her go until she finally disappeared around a corner.