35
Kevin.
I whirled around, saw him, and actually screamed.
Not loud, and not long, but seeing him standing there scared the hell out of me.
Probably because of what I was thinking about Derek. The scream was partially from guilt, like I was subconsciously afraid Kevin could read my thoughts.
He stepped away from the duffel bag lying on the floor next to our locked dorm room. In his hand he had a dozen wilted roses wrapped in cellophane.
“Kevin?!” I said, absolutely astounded.
“Hi,” he said sheepishly, then handed over the flowers. “Sorry they’re wilted… but I’ve been here awhile,” he said, adding in a little passive-aggressive kick at the end.
I took the roses apprehensively. “…thank you…”
Shanna bolted through the door and into the hall, eager as a little kid trying to catch a glimpse of a Christmastime mall Santa.
As soon as she saw him, though, her expression turned to shock.
I knew what she was thinking. Kevin was cute, but nowhere close to hot. He had an unruly shock of brown hair and was pretty thin. He was maybe a half-inch taller than me, which meant I didn’t wear heels around him often. It made him feel short and self-conscious.
He was a nice-looking guy.
But he was no Derek Kane.
Kevin saw Shanna and immediately his expression frosted over.
“Is this the roommate?” he asked me as he looked her over with obvious distaste.
“‘The roommate’?!” Shanna said indignantly.
It was rude referring to her in the third person like that, especially to her face. Not to mention examining her like she was a thing.
But I knew why he was reacting that way: it was all the sex and debauchery stories I’d told him at the beginning of the year… before I’d learned better.
I ignored the freeze between him and Shanna. “What are you doing here?!” I asked in astonishment.
“I… I was a jerk,” he said, and put on his best set of puppy-dog eyes. “I came to apologize.”
“You drove fifteen hours to apologize?!”
“Dude, pick up a phone,” Shanna snarked.
Kevin glared at her with unbridled hatred, then turned back to me with a self-righteous glint in his eyes. “I did. Somebody didn’t call me back.”
Shit.
He had been leaving texts and phone messages the last couple of days… but I hadn’t returned them.
Not because I was angry about the breakup, but because I was busy.
And feeling horribly guilty.
Both courtesy of a certain six-foot-tall someone who shall remain nameless.
“I’m sorry, I should have returned your calls,” I apologized, more out of habit – and my guilt over Derek – than anything else.
“Yes, you should have,” he said petulantly.
Shanna was looking at me like she could not be-lieve what she was hearing.
Then she rounded on Kevin.
“DUDE, you broke up with her! She doesn’t owe you jack shit!”
Kevin started to lose it. “Can we go talk somewhere private without the foul-mouthed slut?”
“FOUL-MOUTHED SLUT?!” Shanna roared.
Kevin stepped back, eyes wide. He obviously had not anticipated the fury he had unleashed.
“You ball-less, dickless a*shole – oh, and speaking of balls, dicks and a*sholes – ”
I knew exactly what she was thinking of: Derek. Her little rant had just reminded her of the whole rubber ball escapade in the grocery store.
And I knew exactly where she was going with this.
She was going to ‘out’ me .
I grabbed her arm.
“I’ll handle this,” I whispered to her.
“…okay,” she said, stunned – and then she winced. “Just – leggo, will you?”
I didn’t realize I was holding on that tight.
“Sorry,” I said as I released my fingers.
“Damn, that’s gonna bruise,” she muttered as she shook her wrist.
Kevin was looking at us like we’d been replaced by pod people. “What’s going on?”
“What’s going on is you’re going to apologize for calling her that,” I said sternly.
He smirked. “I’m not going to – ”
“Or you can go get in your car and drive back to Syracuse.”
“Yeah,” Shanna nyah-nyahed before I shushed her with a look.
Kevin stared at me. I didn’t normally take stands like this, and I’m sure it was throwing him for a loop. “Are you serious?”
“As a heart attack.”
“I left at six o’clock last night, spent $30 on a crappy hotel room, skipped all my classes today, and drove fifteen hours to see you, to be with you – ”
“And to apologize, right?” I snapped.
He looked sheepish again. “…yeah.”
“Well, you can start by apologizing to Shanna for what you called her.”
He erupted in outrage. “She called me a ball-less, dickless – ”
“Yeah, after you called her a slut.”
“A foul-mouthed slut,” Shanna added angrily.
Kevin looked unhappy about it, but he mumbled, “Sorry,” as he averted his eyes.
“What? Couldn’t hear you,” Shanna said, cupping her hand around her ear.
Kevin looked at me like Come ON.
I crossed my arms. “She couldn’t hear you.”
He gritted his teeth, and I could see he was actually considering getting back in the car.
Then he looked her dead in the eye. “I’m sorry I called you that.”
Shanna glared at him, but she seemed satisfied.
“Now can we go someplace to talk?” he asked in an irritated tone of voice.
I looked over at Shanna.
She sighed loudly, like she was the most put-upon person in the world. “Fine. It is Friday night… I could hook up with somebody and crash at their place…”
Kevin raised his eyebrows at me like WHY did I have to apologize, exactly?
“HEY!” Shanna shouted and pointed at him. “Stop judging me!”
“Judging you for being… what, exactly?” he asked snidely.
“Keep it up, a*shole, and I’ll stay here all night – in my room, in my bed – and listen to the loudest, crappiest music I can find on the internet!”
His face went pale.
“Okay, sorry,” he said hastily.
Actually, I was kind of hoping she’d stay in all night and listen to loud, crappy music.
That might forestall the inevitable ‘talk’…
…and reunion …
…and sex.
“Fine,” Shanna seethed, then unlocked our room. “Let me get ready.”
The bang of the door as it slammed shut behind her was loud, brutal… and final.