“Yeah, a little bit. It’s definitely not what I’m used to, but you guys helped out a ton with showing me around the other day. I think I should pretty well know my way around by the end of the week without getting too lost.”
“That’s good,” Zoey replied. “You think you want to go out with us tonight? Callie met some guy who wants to meet up at the Campus Pub, and she thinks I always need to tag along to be her wing woman or something.” She rolled her green eyes, and Callie nudged her with her elbow.
“Oh, please Zee. You know you love being my wing woman, and we always have fun. Don’t be such a Debbie Downer. You have to come Della, there are always hot guys there.”
“I don’t know, I should probably be studying or something so I can keep up with my grades. My grandparents are being a little strict, to say the least, about them being above average.”
“C’mon, Della. Everyone knows the first week of school is a blow off week. All we’re getting are syllabuses and boring speeches. You’re old enough to make your own decisions, just as long as you keep your grades up, your grandparents don’t need to know what you are doing every minute of the day. Besides, everyone deserves to have a little fun. Please?” Callie pouted her pink lips at me, lacing her fingers together dramatically like she was sending a prayer that I would agree to go.
“Fine, I’ll go, but I’m not staying out too late. I don’t want to miss class tomorrow.” Callie broke out into a wide smile, doing a fist pump in the air.
“Calm down, Callie. We don’t want to -” Zoey stopped midsentence, stiffening slightly.
“What’s the matter, Zoey?” I turned around to see what she was staring at with an icy glare and came face to face with Nash who had an amused smile on his face.
“Hey, Della. I finally found you, mind if I sit?” I nodded my head slightly, even though I could tell Zoey was uncomfortable by him being there for some reason. Callie gave me a big wink, wiggling her eyebrows, which I assumed meant she would be grilling me for details later on why and how I knew Nash.
“Sorry, I wasn’t around yesterday. I had some errands to run for my mom before I moved back to campus. Did you get everything moved in all right?”
“Yeah, I really didn’t have a ton of stuff, so my grandparents helped me with most of it. Where are you living at?” I was hoping he wasn’t going to say with that girl I had seen him with.
“I live over at one of the houses right off campus with a few guys. You should stop by sometime to check it out, but let me warn you, the place is never clean. Did you still want to get together to hang out?”
Before I could respond, Callie piped in, slightly nudging me out of the way. “Actually, the three of us are going out tonight if you wanted to join us. We’re going over to the pub around nine.”
“That sounds awesome,” he replied with a bright smile before tapping me on the nose. “Hopefully, we can catch up some more then. I bet I can still beat your ass at pool.”
“Oh, please,” I snorted. “I used to let you win so you wouldn’t run off pouting to your mom like a little baby because a girl beat you.”
“Right,” he dragged out before standing and looping his arms through his backpack. “We’ll see about that. I’ll see you ladies tonight.”
Zoey and Callie stared at me in wonder and didn’t start grilling me until he was out of ear shot. “What.The.Hell?” Zoey crossed her arms tightly over her chest, raising one brow at me. “What?” I asked in confusion.
“Please explain how exactly you know Nash Griffin. You seemed a little too chummy for just meeting today and he made plans with you. Nash doesn’t talk to any girl besides that bitch of a girlfriend of his, Mariah. So spill it.”
“Nash and I grew up together during the summers,” I explained. “We lost touch when I moved to Connecticut, but we saw each other a few days ago when I got back into town. He’s basically the best friend I’ve ever had.”
“Uh-oh, looks like Mariah finally has some competition then,” Callie commented. “He couldn’t keep his eyes off of you the whole time, and he seemed pretty damn excited to meet up with you tonight. I wonder if he’ll tell her where he’s going tonight,” she added in a sing song voice.
“Oh, no. Trust me, I’m not looking at getting in between their relationship. Nash and I are strictly friends. What’s the problem with Mariah? Nash was always such a nice guy, I can’t imagine him being with some ice queen like you seem to be implying.”
“Well, I just don’t like her because Zoey doesn’t. You know friends need to stick together and all that shit. Zoey here can explain exactly why Mariah is her arch nemesis,” Callie let out a little giggle but was cut short when Zoey gave her an evil glare.