Stupid Girl(18)

Me: Not a good idea, Brax. Thanks, though.

Brax: C’mon, Gracie. It’s dinner. Not a marriage proposal. And why not a good idea? You think too much, maybe.

Why not? How about because you’re a kappa phi sophomore man slut, for starters. There’s just no rational reason for you to want to go to dinner with me. And the bald fact that there’s something strangely attractive about you makes me react in ways I don’t want to react. And, I don’t trust you. How’s that for why not?

Brax: My clothes just went out of style. Are you in the bathroom or something?

A grin tugged at my lips. Okay, so he had a sense of humor. Still …

Me: There have to be a thousand other girls you could take to dinner, Brax.

Brax: There is. But I’m asking you, Gracie.

Staring at the words, I tried to make sense of them. Why did I have to deal with this so soon after arriving to Winston? Never, ever did I expect this. I didn’t want this, no, I really didn’t. I liked the way he called me Gracie. No one ever called me that. But, he was still a guy, and I didn’t know a thing about him. My heart thumped heavy against my chest. Not all guys are Kelsy Evans, Olivia …

Me: If it’s because you ran over me on the lawn today and humiliated me, forget it. A mercy date isn’t necessary.

Brax: I never mercy date. Ask anyone. And I’m sorry I humiliated you. It wasn’t intentional, although I admit I’m glad it happened. The kiss was unavoidable. Just like the next one will be. Seven?

I swallowed hard. Holy God.

Me: No way.

Brax: Give me one good reason.

Me: You don’t know me.

Brax: That’s the reason for a date, see? Another reason.

Me: You have a bike.

Brax: It has a big seat. Don’t worry, your skinny ass will fit. Seven?

My mind whirled for a few seconds. All in the space of one day, I had arrived at my first day of college, got plowed into by the school’s most infamous bad-boy starting pitcher/womanizer/party animal, and that same said crazed bad-boy had kissed me and was now asking me out. It sounded like a movie, a romantic comedy from the ‘80s. I’d managed to make it through my senior year of high school despite the harassment and rumors. I’d kept my grades up, secured an academic scholarship, and … hadn’t dated anyone since the incident. Now, the most opposite of opposites had asked me to go out to eat with him. I was insane for even considering it. But I was. Considering it, not insane. Well, maybe both. As long as we just kept things friendly. That was the only way I could make myself comfortable enough to go out with him. Friends only. I had no room in my life right now for anything more than that. I wasn’t ready to face anything else. And unless my radar was wrong, Brax Jenkins certainly wasn’t looking for a relationship with me. Sex, maybe, but not a relationship. And while part of me balked at the thought of a date, the other part couldn’t shake the feeling of Brax’s lips on mine. And he did make me laugh, even if I hid it.

Me: Okay. As friends.

Brax: I got plenty of friends, Gracie. See ya at seven.

Me: I’m not stupid, Brax. Your charm will not turn me into a blabbering soupy pile of mush like most of the silly girls running around campus. Believe it or not, I’m really and truly here for my education. My future. I don’t have room in my life for anything else. Friends only, or I won’t go.

Brax: Shit. That’s the most you’ve said all day. But okay. Friends it is, although I hope to change your mind. And I’d never think you were stupid. L8R

Me: Bye

I closed my phone and set it on the bedside table. Had I just agreed to go to dinner with Braxton Jenkins? Why had I said yes? This was too much distraction. I should text him back and cancel. I stared at my cell, but my hand didn’t move.

I shook my head. I had a date with the very guy I’d been warned not once, but twice about, in the same day. I closed my eyes, and Brax’s image came to mind. Those peculiar eyes, staring at me in a way no one else ever had. His mouth against mine, no matter how brief, had stirred something inside of me. Was I that starved for attention? Redemption? Love? In any form, even if just sex? I pushed it away and heaved a sigh. I’d sleep on it and see how I felt in the morning.

Friends. That’s the way it would stay.

I couldn’t afford it not to.





“Holy shit. Seriously? Have you lost. Your. Fucking. Brains?”

I gave a half-grin, mostly because she was right. “Yeah. Probably so.”

Tessa’s reaction was nothing less than I’d thought it would be after telling her I was probably meeting Brax for dinner the following night. I’d just finished showering and was lying on my bed in a pair of gym shorts and a tank top, hair wrapped in a blue and white striped towel. We had our own bathroom, which was a nice privilege. Had my scholarship not been so lofty, I would’ve been sharing with three other girls in a community shower. Depending on the girls, that could be a disgusting disaster. I wasn’t obsessive compulsive, but I was definitely a neat person. I had a suspicion, though, that my present roommate was not.