Glancing up at the clock on the wall, I watch as the hands continue ticking, counting down the time until class starts. Call it a nervous habit, but I’m always in the room at least ten minutes before my first lecture starts. I’ve never been late a day in my life and it’s because I can’t afford to miss a single second of being here.
Wyncote University was literally the most random college that I could have chosen. Coming from the West Coast, I never saw anything outside of California until I moved away for school. I never felt the snow or the coldness on my skin. Only the warmth and the salty, ocean air.
I would be lying if I said that I didn’t miss it. The ocean was the one place that I felt at peace, even though it was something that could easily end my life in one swift sweep of its angry waves. My mother inherited the house that we lived in and it was right along the coast, with the beach in our backyard.
It was weird that we never traveled, considering the fact that my family was well off, but as I got older, it all made sense. My father was always taking his business trips, but we were never invited along because his extra seat was already saved for his assistant. I was fifteen when I found out about their long-standing affair. I had just been diagnosed with ADHD at the time and was struggling with balancing medications. Finding out about the affair did not help my stress levels.
My mother knew of it, but she was locked into his financial security, so she never bothered to challenge him on it. She grew up poor in the city with a single mom. She wasn’t going to jeopardize what she had in life just because my father was too busy with other women. As long as we were provided for, my mother didn’t care.
That didn’t stop her from developing severe anxiety. It was almost as if she were afraid to leave our home in fear that my father would take it all away from us. He was never a malicious man, despite their marital issues. His career was always more important than family time, though, hence why I had never been outside of California’s state lines.
When it was time for me to go to college, my parents were thrilled when I wanted to study medicine. My father tried to map out my entire life, picking a school for me that would offer the best pre-med courses. Wyncote University wasn’t on that list, so I made sure that it was the one that I picked.
It was still a prestigious and decent school, but it wasn’t the one my father wanted, so that made it even more appealing. The fact that it was in Vermont was even more ideal. Being as far away from the toxicity that lived in the walls of our home was something I needed. Coming here was like a breath of fresh air.
It was an adjustment, but I’ve been here for two years now and have settled in with a life of my own. When it comes down to it, my studies always come first. I don’t care much to partake in the partying that some of my friends indulge in. A drink or two is enough for me before I’m ready to crawl into bed with a good book.
As I arrange my things on the table in front of me, other students begin to file into the classroom. Soon, most of the seats are filled, except for the one to my left. Glancing over to my right, I smile as Delilah sits down next to me. I met her my freshman year and we’ve been friends since then. She’s studying pre-med too, but she has a little more of a wild streak than I do.
Delilah yawns as she drops her head onto the desk. “I wanna go back to bed.”
Laughing lightly, I shake my head at her. “Late night?”
She lifts her head, nodding. “I ended up going to that party I was telling you about. You were smart to stay home because I am so hungover right now.”
“Yeah, I can’t say that I envy you.”
“One of these days, I’m forcing you to come along and you’re going to actually get drunk,” she tells me, her bright blue eyes searching mine. “And don’t even try and tell me that it’s happened before. At most, I’ve seen you get a buzz. You need to have at least one drunken night during your college years and I hate to break it to you, babe, but you’re running out of time.”
My eyebrows tug together as I scrunch my face at her. “Hardly. We still have two more years and then med school too… so I will have plenty of opportunities for it to happen.”
“Come on, Aspen,” she groans, propping her elbow on the table as she drops her hand down to it. “You know that I am all for taking school seriously, but don’t you think that you take it too seriously sometimes?”
I shrug, feeling uncomfortable under her gaze. “I don’t know. Maybe.”
There’s movement to the other side of me and I glance over, noticing as Cameron Sawyer takes a seat next to me. My eyes widen slightly, my heart pounding in my chest. I’ve had different classes with Cam since freshman year, but we’ve never had a single conversation. And he’s never taken the empty seat next to me.
“Aspen,” Delilah nudges me as I look back at her, quickly recovering from my shock. “You need to lighten up a little bit.”
“I’ll try,” I tell her, honestly meaning the words as I speak them. I don’t try to be uptight, but she is right about taking school seriously. It’s mainly because I don’t want to live like my mother did. I want to be able to provide for myself and not need someone else. Self-reliance is my ultimate goal.
The professor walks in front of the class as she begins to scribble some things on the board, diving directly into what we’re currently learning in biology. Grabbing my notebook, I flip it open to a fresh page and stare directly ahead, listening intently as she begins to go over new material.
Delilah follows suit and I see her out of the corner of my eye, jotting down notes of her own. She might be more of party girl than me, but when it comes down to it, she’s here for the same reasons I am and I know she isn’t going to risk messing any of that up. Most of the students here in pre-med are relatively serious about their studies.
Glancing to the other side, I notice Cam not writing anything down with his gaze fixed on the side of my face instead of at the board at the front of the class. Swallowing hard, I attempt to ignore him as I focus on our professor’s voice and the words she speaks. But I can’t shake the unsettling feeling, knowing I’m pinned under his gaze right now.
Tearing my eyes away from my notes, my gaze slices to his. “What?” I whisper, my voice harsh as I stare back at him.
“Can we talk after class?”
My face contours and my grip tightens around my pen as my stomach flutters. I stare back into Cameron’s dark green eyes, fighting the urge to scan his features. I’ve studied him over the years and God was good to him when he sculpted his face, like a perfectly chiseled sculpture. “About what?”
There is absolutely nothing that Cameron Sawyer and I would have to talk about. We live two completely different lives. He’s one of the hockey team’s star players and I’m the nerdy, pre-med student. Cam is always hanging with his friends, hitting up all the parties, while I’m tucked away in my apartment with my nose shoved in a book.
We’re polar freaking opposites. And not to mention, we’ve never had a single conversation so we are nowhere close to even being friends.
“I need your help with something,” he says quietly, his voice only to be heard by me. My heart races as the sound slides like silk over my eardrums. “But no one can know.”
The butterflies in my stomach flutter their wings, scratching against the inside of my stomach as I tear my gaze away from his and look back to the board. I attempt to focus on the professor and begin writing my notes again when I still feel Cam’s gaze on the side of my face.
I try to ignore it until I can’t anymore.
“So, is that a yes or a no?”
Whipping my head to the side, I cut my eyes to him. “If I say yes, will you shut up?”
A smirk forms on his lips, his bright eyes shining back at me. “Yes.”
“Is there something you would like to share with the class, Miss Rossi?” the professor calls out, her eyes pinned on mine. Abruptly glancing at her, I all but shrink under her gaze as I shake my head. “Very well,” she nods. “Please keep it down because some of the students are trying to hear what I’m actually saying.”
“Sorry,” I apologize, my voice sounding as small as I feel. A heat creeps up my neck, rapidly spreading across my cheeks as I drop my gaze back down to my notes in front of me as everyone’s wandering gazes look back to our professor.
Delilah glances over at me and I look up at her as she raises an eyebrow. She doesn’t dare utter a single word, but I know that I’ll be interrogated by her later. Especially after the way her eyes look past me to Cam, widening slightly before her gaze meets mine again. A ghost of a smile plays on her lips and I roll my eyes at her.
“You didn’t give me an answer,” Cam whispers, leaning close enough to me that the smell of his cologne overwhelms my senses.
Oh my god, he is relentless. And he smells so good.
“Yes. Now shut the hell up,” I growl at him, my voice barely audible.
Cam chuckles lightly, finally pulling out his own notebook and pen as he begins to listen along to the lecture. He leaves me feeling unsettled and unable to focus on a single thing happening at the front of the room. All I can focus on is the lingering smell of his cologne and the sound of his voice rattling inside my brain.
Class ends sooner than I realize and for the first time ever, I’m practically the first one exiting the room. Leaving Delilah behind, I rush out into the hallway, looking for somewhere to hide—somewhere to catch my breath. I know I’ll see her later in the day and will have to answer for my unusual behavior.
I’m barely down the hall when I hear his voice and my name rolling off his tongue like that’s exactly where it belongs.
“Aspen!” Cam calls out after me, hot on my heels as he jogs in my direction. “Wait up!”
A defeated sigh escapes me when I realize that there’s no possible way to escape him. Instead, my only option is to face him head-on and see what exactly it is he wants. Slowly turning around, I cross my arms over my chest as Cam comes to a halt in front of me.
His cheeks are flushed and his chest rises and falls with each rapid breath that he takes.
“What do you want, Cameron?” I question him, my tone clipped as I tilt my head to the side.
“Can we talk somewhere a little more…” He pauses for a moment, glancing around the hallway nervously as students shuffle past us. “Private?”
Shaking my head, I stand my ground. “Here is good.”
Cameron’s throat bobs as he swallows hard and nods. There’s a nervousness about him, something I can’t quite put my finger on. He usually exudes confidence, but with the way he’s running his hand through his hair right now, he looks anything but. He’s flustered as hell, shifting his weight on his feet.
“I need your help.”
