Chapter 12

I opened the door to my dorm room with a wide-ass grin on my face but came to a halt as soon as I noticed the black-haired girl dressed in MY shorts and tank top, sitting on the couch of MY dorm room, eating MY favorite Cool Ranch Doritos. I whimpered and her eyes found mine.

"That was the last packet I had", I whined and Cassie showed me her toothy grin.

"Ooopsiee", she said and then went back to munching my favorite chips and lounging in front of MY TV watching some kind of show. Her hair was up in some kind of bun and her face makeup-free. I went a little further into the living room to take a better look at what she was watching and---

"Why are you so obsessed with me?", Cassie said turning to me while raising an eyebrow.

"Oh, God! You've got to be kidding me!", I groaned out loud. "Vampire Diaries? Again? And I swear this is the one-four-five-ninth time, you have quoted that on me. I should just file some kind of report against Ian Somerhalder for ever saying that", I muttered the last part as I went to the kitchen.

"Girlie", she purred from the living room. But since we don't have any partition between the living room and kitchen, both are pretty much the same. "Say whatever you like, but that man is hella H-O-T."

"Uh-huh", I said filling my glass of orange juice. Why am I drinking orange juice in almost the middle of the night? Fuck, if I know.

"So, what are you doing here? And why are you wearing my clothes?", I asked making my way to the seat next to her.

"My roommate is on some kind of sex marathon. I could have easily ignored them with some earphones but I didn't want to stay there while they were bouncing around in the next room with paper-thin walls like rabbits."

"Hmm. And clothes?", I asked but might as well be talking to the air as she was busy hanging on Stefan's every word like it was her last ray of sunlight.

After Stefan's part was over and Caroline started speaking, Cassie looked at me. "Sorry, what?"

I nodded to the clothes she was wearing as I took a sip, "Clothes?"

"Oh, THAT", she said and then shrugged, "I liked them."

I shook my head at her and went to my room, calling over my shoulder, "You're going to return them to me in the same state, you took them out of my drawer."

I can hear her faint voice, "Yeah, yeah", as I came into my room. Cassie is not much of a cleaner but she knows my obsession with keeping everything clean and in order, so it's needless to inform her that she can lose a finger or two if she kept the dirty clothes back in my drawer.

In my room, I went through all the nightly rituals. Removing makeup, brushing my teeth, and getting into my sleep shorts before getting on my bed. I was just about to take my e-reader out from my nightstand, my phone started ringing.

I looked at the caller id and an instant smile spread around my face on seeing Brian's name. "Hey", I called softly.

"Hi, baby", Brian's sleep-mussed voice came through the speaker and I can't help but laugh at it. Every single time. "Tell me about your day", he demanded.

"Oh, no buddy. Today it's your turn to tell that first", I said and he groaned.

"I was hoping you'd forget that", he grumbled and then started telling me about his day. His was the same as he always tells me. Workout at the break of the dawn, then college and football practice afterward, his friends bothering him to go to some kind of frat party that sometimes he goes to and sometimes he doesn't. Today he was too tired to move even his finger, his words, so he stayed back.

"You should sleep then. You sound awfully tired too", I said worrying about his health. He works too damn hard.

"Hell no", he growled on the phone, "I need to know how my girl is doing first."

I smiled at his relentlessness and started telling him, "Well, mine was rather uneventful than yours."

"Not possible", he said slowly as if he was trying to control sleep.

"So, I talked to my mom today; she told me she missed me. And then I went out with Drake to---"

"You went out? With someone?", Brian asked tightly, all the traces of sleep gone from his voice. His brusque tone caught me off-guard. Brian has never talked to me like that. And then it dawned upon me, what I had said.

"Oh, no! No, it's not like that", I rushed out, "A professor in one of my classes had hooked me up with him to complete a work. So, I went out with him to complete that. I swear. It wasn't a date."

Brian was silent for a moment too long, enough for me to start pacing up and down in my room while attacking my bottom lip. He huffed out a breath as he said, "I'm sorry, babe. I just worry 'cause what I have is so beautiful that anyone would die for to have it."

"You know I hate it when you talk about me like I'm some object you possess", I grumbled.

"It's not like that, babe, you know it", he paused and then said, "What name did you say, by the way?"

I hesitated. "Um..... Drake. Why?"

"Nothing. Just asking", he brushed off but something about it didn't bode well with me. "Okay, babe. I'll call you tomorrow. You need your beauty sleep and I just remembered I have some stuff to do. So I will let you go. Miss me and I love you."

"But you were going to sleep, right?", I asked.

"Yeah, I am. I'm just going to sleep."

"But you just said----"

"Babe", Brian purred seductively, "Go to bed before I decide I want to facetime you."

"Oh, uh, um, guess I'll talk to you tomorrow then. Night Brian."

"Night, Grace", he said and then hung up.

Six months and I am still a little skittish to face Brian. Now I have lost count of how many times he has proposed that he will fly down here to meet me. But every single I can't bring myself to agree to him. It's not like I am afraid of him, in fact, I have been happy in this relationship. I just need some more time.

"Who were you talking to?", Cassie asked suddenly filling my doorway and scaring the shit out of me.

I held my hand to my chest with a gasp, "Crap, don't do that again." I shook my head and settled leaning against my headboard.

She came inside with a bottle of beer in her hand and sat on the opposite end of the bed from me, crossing her legs. "Where did you get that from?", I asked gesturing to her beer.

"Laura offered me one and don't think I didn't notice you trying to change the subject. Who were you talking to?"

"Didn't work apparently", I said under my breath. "Um...No-one?"

"That didn't sound like no-one", she said raising an eyebrow.

I gave her a hard stare, "Don't tell me you were eavesdropping."

She shrugged casually, "More like hearing your muffled voice, can't catch even a single word. So, spill out."

I kept looking at her. My best friend doesn't know about my boyfriend and even though I love her like a sister, this is something I don't plan on telling her. Not anytime soon. With valid reasons though.

"Um...it's a boy I have been talking to online", I said being as vague as I can.

Cassie's face light up as if I gave her, her favorite candy in a hefty stock. She leaned towards me a little with a wide grin on her face, "Is it serious?", she asked.

"No?"

Her face fell a little and she muttered under her breath, "Damn." But then light up again as probably a new idea came to her, "How does he look like?"

Oh, god. I hate lying to Cassie and something tells me that she is going to disown me as her best friend if she ever found out that I had been lying to her about my relationship this whole time. That would be terrible but not more than what could probably happen if I told her the truth.

"Um...cute?"

Cassie frowned, "Why are you posing everything as a question? There is some guy or not? Or you are just conning me?"

"Okay", I groaned and gave her the partial truth, "His name is Brian and he is a football player with dark hair and chocolaty eyes. Now, go figure out the looks."

"In short, hot as hell", Cassie moaned and I cringed.

I am not a jealous kind of girlfriend but still, it affects me if some other girl drools on my boyfriend. I know Cassie has Dan, but her lusting over Brian's image bothered me more than I will ever admit.

That made me wonder, Do I love Brian? Or am I just feeling territorial?