Page 49 of The Devastation You Reap

"No one says college has to mean parties and hangovers."

"Or kissing hot guys in the hallway," I add, but regret it the second I think back and the tingles reemerge.

"Or that. It can be whatever you want it to be."

"He's invited me to a party Friday night," I blurt out, knowing that he probably won't be impressed because he's been inviting me to weekly parties just as much as Charlie has.

"You going?"

"Um…"

"It's okay if you are."

"I told him I would."

"Do you know which party?"

I shake my head, feeling silly for not even asking.

"Charlie is going to be pissed. She's been desperate to corrupt you since the beginning of the year. I don't think she ever thought she’d lose the chance, especially to a football player. A football player she was seconds away from fucking Sunday night, I might add."

"Don't. Trust me, I'm not likely to forget about that."

"Imagine if you didn't walk in. You might not have met him."

Despite the fact I hate that I first came across him while he was otherwise engaged with Charlie, I can't deny that the thought of us not colliding into each other doesn't sit right with me.

"You really like him, don't you?"

"I don't really know him. I think it's too early to—"

His expression cuts my words off.

"Sometimes, I think you just know."

"Like we both know that it's going to end in disaster," I say with a wince.

"You don't know that."

"Don't I?"

He opens his mouth to respond but I continue before he gets a chance.

"I'm just going to enjoy the ride. See where it takes me. I might even learn a thing or two about myself along the way."Like the fact I'm not totally boring and maybe people do actually see me in the shadows.

11

Leon

"And here I was thinking you were going to make this hard for me," Letty says with a knowing smirk when I walk into the coffee shop she works in twenty minutes after leaving Macie .

"Thought I'd save you from chasing after me."

"I'm finishing in five. Grab a seat, I'll make you a drink."

The place is dead with only one other customer as I lower myself to the booth in the back of the small seating area.

I watch Letty as she moves around, cleaning up as she goes and chatting with the other lady who's working tonight.