Page 3 of A Perfect World
The familiar voice zapped me out of my trance. I whipped around, the end of my ponytail needling my cheek. Vince waved both hands overhead with a bright smile on his oval face as if signaling a landing plane. That smile faded the second he looked behind me. I peeked over my shoulder.
The demi-god was still standing there.
He lookedpissed. Corded arms crossed, his washed black tee stretched tight over his muscled shoulders. My focus briefly lingered on the ink emerging from his sleeve, curving down his arm until it licked his wrist.
“Who’sthis?” Vince scoffed, puffing up his chest and slinging an arm around me. His weight on top of the box and my duffle had me wincing. Blue-eyes caught the tiny flinch; his gaze zeroed in on the box in my arms. For a second, his irises flickered silver- the weight in my arms lightened. In a blink, it vanished, his attention drawn to my face. Staring blatantly at me, his dark gold brows knit in confusion. He recovered quickly, schooled disinterest returned.
I opened my mouth to answer Vince when Blue-eyes turned to my boyfriend. “No one,” he said, sauntering past.
Tingles rushed in waves from my scalp to my toes at the sound of his voice. Vince huffed, muttering, “What a douche,” and took the box from my arms. Ignoring my boyfriend, I glanced back in the direction of the beautiful being from my visions, but he was long gone.
“Court.”
“Huh?”
Vince’s deep olive skin tinted pink with irritation as his near-black eyes narrowed at me. With an annoyed whistle through his nose, he stomped into the elevator. I followed, readjusting the bag on my shoulder. Vince jabbed the fifth floor button like it’d personally insulted him. “I asked if you knew him.”
“Oh.”
That was a complicated answer; Ididn’tknow him, but Ididat the same time. He’d haunted my visions for as long as I could remember, though I didn’t think heactuallyexisted. He was a phantom of seductive mystery that comforted me in the dark of my dusty bedroom as hunger gnawed my insides- No.He was real.
The saliva in my mouth turned gummy.
“So?” Vince prodded.
“Oh, no,” I lied. I tried years ago to explain my visions to him. He blew them off as daydreams and I accepted it as fact, never bringing them up again. It would only start an argument anyway. When I mentioned I saw a guy in them, Vince accused me of emotionally cheating. I didn’t even know that was a thing, especially over someone I considered fictional. He didn’t like me watching movies or TV starring hot guys either. “It’s a violation of our relationship. You can’t be loyal to me and eye-fuck some guy on the screen. It’s disrespectful to me and our relationship in the eyes of God.”
Him and his God. I was in a perpetual battle with that so-called Almighty. If he did exist, he had a vendetta against me over something I didn’t know I did. Maybe I was a reincarnated murderer, forced to live a life of perpetual restriction for taking away the life of someone else. Or maybe, there was no God, and I just drew the short straw.
Saved by the elevator doors opening, I was released from stifling silence. But it was short-lived. I flinched at a chorus of laughter; it was almost always directed at me. Pinching my wrist,No one knows you.I forced my legs to keep moving.
“You blew him in the shower this morning?” a female voice asked, pitching into giggles.
“I mean…” another female drawled. Rounding the corner, two stunning girls appeared. The golden one with beachy waves to her mid back howled in laughter as the petite, curvy brunette's eyes snagged on me for a moment, my stomach dropping and flipping as they continued to the elevators. My body turned involuntarily in their direction as if drawn by an unseen force-
"Courtney hurry up," Vince snapped. Shaking off the weird trance, I rushed after him as he scanned the numbers on the doors, muttering them to himself. “Here you are, 515,” he preened, waiting for me to praise him for simply locating my dorm. I’d already dropped off most of my things, but he acted like he discovered it for me. His face froze in a mask of silent demand for appreciation. To avoid a lecture, I gave him a placating smile and unlocked the door.
“Hello?” I called. Neither of my roommates had been around all morning and I hadn’t decided if I preferred them to be non-existent, or if I craved their companionship.
Vince marched to the furthest room where a sticky note hung, bubbly letters spelling my name. Boxes of my things sat neatly stacked in the closet, the cream walls waiting for the dance posters I collected. I passed my boyfriend, heading to the desk where my laptop sat charging and placed the box down on the office chair. It was much smaller than my room at home, but it wasn’t at the risk of constant ‘investigations.’
Pressed into the corner of my bedroom, I hugged myself as she blew through like a tornado, throwing my clothes, dance trophies and school books.
“Look at you hoarding all this shit!”
My bones rattled harder as she knelt in front of the dresser, reaching beneath and snagging the one thing I thought I’d hidden well enough. Throat constricting, my nails dug into my ribs.
“You greedy, fat whore, always hiding food,” she snarled, chucking the emergency protein bars at me like bullets. I gasped as one whacked my cheek, curling in on myself.
With a shaky breath, I shook off the memory. I was free of her now.
Oblivious to me spacing out, Vince nodded appreciatively at the room, flashing me a rogue grin. “I’m definitely staying here most nights.”
The urge to scream climbed through my stomach, up my esophagus and sat at the back of my throat. I tossed my duffle on the mattress, eyes trained on it. I saved every penny all summer for this dorm to be my personal haven. I even splurged on cozy bedding and hated the idea of it covered in sweat and jizz.
Swallowing the rant on my tongue, “I have to wake up early every day.”
He shrugged, wrapping his arms around my waist. “Well, we’re making love in here,” he murmured, kissing my cheek. He always called itmaking love. Maybe it was, but I didn’t understand the hype. In movies, it seemed so romantic and sensual; in reality, it was a ten minute means to an end.
