Forever Altered (11 page)

“You
were with me last night.  Your friends are going to start hating me if I
take you away from them.  Don’t you always go out with them on Tuesday
nights?”

“There’s
no way they would hate you for that.  Actually, they may
love
you for
that.” 

“Screw
them,” Leah interjects.  “Let your boyfriend take you out to dinner.”

“I
like your roommate,” he says.

“Of
course you do,” Leah has to add.

“Seriously,
though.  Leah tell him you understand my point, too.”

“I do,
but if you guys are going to date, they will have to learn to share him,
Alyssa.”  She couldn’t just agree with me and shut the hell up?

“Who
invited you in here, anyway?”  I toss one of my pillows over at her.

“I
don’t need an invitation, girlfriend.  I live here, too!”  She throws
it back. 

“Okay. 
Fair enough.  How about I take you out to dinner and then afterwards,
since you have to go to bed before dark, I’ll meet them at the bar?”

Leah’s
laughs.  “Bed before dark,” she repeats.

I
ignore her.  “How can I say no to that face?” 

He
leans over kissing me.  “Perfect.  I’m going to go take a nap
then.  Someone kept me up too late.”  Jerk.  “What time is your
class over?”  I tell him it’s over at five o’clock and he says he’ll pick
me up a little after five.  He says goodbye to Leah and heads back to his
room.

I
roll over into the space Rocco just left and feel myself sigh as I stretch
out. 

“What’s
wrong?” Leah asks getting up and fixing her bed she just wrinkled.

“I’m
waiting for someone to tell me this is all a really bad joke.  That he
really has no interest in me.”

She’s
shaking her head at me.  “Get up.  You have to get to class.”

“Thanks,
Mom,” I say getting out of my bed and doing the same exact thing Leah just did
to hers.  We really should seek the help of a professional.

When
I walk in to my Development of Theater class about twenty minutes later, the
girl Rocco was talking to outside of Cell Bio yesterday comes up to me.  I
didn’t even know she was in this class.  She has a look of disgust on her
face.  Did I do something to her?  And what the heck was her name
again?

“Alyssa,
right?” she asks. 

“Yeah,”
I answer suspiciously and continue to walk by her to my seat on the far side of
the room.  She’s following me.  Wonderful. 

 “So,
Rocco tells me that you and
him
are together
now.  Is that true?”  She is playing with her hair the same way she
was in front of Rocco yesterday.  Does she even realize she does it? 

 “Is
there a reason you are asking me?”  I’m snapping at her.  Her
attitude is very aggravating.  I don’t even know this girl and she is
standing here questioning me about my relationship.

 “Well,
I just wanted to let you know, whatever his fascination is with you, it won’t
last long.  Rocco isn’t the one girl kind of guy.  Some of us don’t
mind that kind of thing, you know,” she informs me and flips her hair over her
shoulder.

 “I’m
not concerned,” I say ending the conversation and turn to get my binder and
homework out of my bag.  She walks over to her friend two rows over. 

 “Seriously,
Carrie.  What the hell is wrong with you?”  Carrie.  That’s her
name.  She’s not happy with her friend’s reaction. 

 “That
girl needs to know her place.  If Rocco is finally going to settle down
with someone, you think it’s going to be with her?”

 “It’s
none of your business what he does with anyone.  What makes you think he’d
pick you?  Don’t forget, he’s
never
picked you.”  I have no
idea who this girl is, but I like her.  She gets up and goes to sit in a
different seat leaving Carrie alone.  That may be someone I don’t actually
mind getting to know. 

Rocco

 If
someone would have told me a few weeks ago that I would spend a night watching
a girl sleep, I would have laughed them off.  Rocco Matthews does not do that
kind of shit.  Usually when a girl falls asleep, that’s my cue to get the
hell out of there, if not before then.  Last night when Alyssa fell asleep
in my lap, it never once occurred to me to leave her.  Watching her sleep
was one of the greatest things that has ever happened to me.  She’s so
beautiful when she’s sleeping.  What I wouldn’t give to watch her sleep
every night for the rest of my life.  What the hell am I saying? 

 Normally,
falling asleep is no trouble for me, but right now my eyes will not stay
closed.  I really wanted to sleep for at least an hour before going out
with Alyssa tonight, however, it’s not going to happen.  Despite being
awake most of the night, the anticipation of spending more time with my girl
tonight has me beyond ecstatic.  There’s also a small part of me that is a
little concerned over the fact that Alyssa agreed to give us a shot so
easily.  When Leah came in last night, she told me Alyssa hasn’t been
sleeping since everything with Jeff.  She thinks Alyssa is doing better in
the last few days, but I’m still worried.  I’ve been hoping she is over
her ex and not just using me to deal with her breakup.  I definitely feel
a little better about that since she slept the whole night when she was with
me.  She didn’t even wake up when I carried her from the couch to her
bed.  This isn’t just some fling for me.  It’s the first time I’m
actually interested in having a relationship with someone.   
     

 Before
I can think about that anymore, Shane and Troy are coming in from the
gym.  There is no way they will let me sleep now.  Remembering Leah
needs their help, I get out of bed and head out to talk to them.

 “Hey. 
You guys free on Sunday?” I ask them sitting down at the kitchen table.

 “Depends. 
Need
me
to keep your girl company for you already?”
Shane asks with a dumbass grin on his face.   

 “I
will never ask you or anyone else to do that, jerkoff.”

 “Never
say never.”  Maybe I should just paint the damn rock myself.

 “Leah
is in charge of the Halloween party.  She needs help painting The
Rock.  Said she’d buy dinner.” 

 “I’ll
help,” says Troy.  “I’ll ask Paige, too.”

 “Already
being asked for favors by the girlfriend’s friends.”  Shane’s shaking his
head. 

 “Just
say no.  You don’t have to be an asshole about it.  She didn’t ask
me.  I offered to help and said I’d see if you guys were free.”  I’m
getting pissed off that he’s acting like this.

 “I’m
just busting your balls, Rocco.  Chill out.  Alyssa and the girls are
cool.  Just let me know what time.  So, I guess we’re going to the
Halloween party, too?  I’m not getting dressed up,” he warns.

 “There’s
no way in hell I’m getting dressed up either.  I will definitely be going
since Alyssa will be there.”  They both look at me.

“You’re
welcome.”  I look at Shane wondering what he’s talking about.  “If I
didn’t threaten to ask Alyssa out, you would have never done it.”

 “What? 
When did you do that?” Troy asks. 

“Dude,
it didn’t have anything to do with you.  I actually forgot about
that.  It’s kind of sad you thought you’d have a chance with my
girl.”  I run my hand through my hair.  I’m not even sure how it
happened.  “It just sort of came up.  We went over this before class
earlier.  There was an opportunity to bring it up, so I took it.”

“The
other day.”  He ignores me and turns his attention to Troy.  “He
needed a little push, so I gave him a week to ask her out.  Told him I’d
ask her out myself if he didn’t.  He’s full of shit trying to say he
forgot about it.  You should have seen his face.”

“You’re
crazy man.  It’s obvious how much he’s into this girl.  You’re lucky
he didn’t kill you.”  At least someone has some common sense around here.

“I
needed a push?  What the hell does that mean?  Wait.  You
weren’t really going to ask her out?”

“Oh
no.  I was dead serious.  I probably wouldn’t have given you a full
week either,” he says grabbing a bag of chips from the cabinet.  I’m ready
to knock the smug look off of his face.  “What happened to you being so
concerned about Vicki?”

“I’m
not sure what to do about her.  For right now, I’m not going to worry too
much about it because Alyssa isn’t from around here.  Since Vicki isn’t
allowed near campus courtesy of the restraining order her father finally agreed
to, it shouldn’t be a problem.  I haven’t said anything to her about the
situation yet, so don’t bring it up.”

“If
you’re really going to try to make something of this with Alyssa, she needs to
know,” Shane says.

“I
know and I’ll tell her.  Just not now.  I don’t want to scare her off
before we even have a chance to get started.  No one has even seen the
bitch since the last incident.  Her parents sent her on some extended
vacation.  Hopefully, she’ll stay wherever they sent her.” 

“You
should tell her sooner rather than later.”  He’s right, but I’m not ready
to chance it.  “All kidding and psycho bitches aside, I’m really happy for
you.  Don’t screw it up because I won’t hesitate to jump right in
there.  I’m sure as hell not the only guy you need to worry about either.” 
I shake my head at him.  Even if I didn’t ask Alyssa out, there’s no way
she’d date Shane anyway.  He’s not good enough for her.  Damn, I’m
not even sure I’m good enough for her.

“What’s
going on later?  You guys heading to the Village?” I ask.

“Logan
and I were thinking about hanging out here since neither one of us feels like
going.  There’s a hockey game on.  Want to grab some beer and order
takeout from somewhere?”   

“Sounds
good.  I’m going to run out for a quick dinner with Alyssa.  I’ll
grab beer on my way back.  Order whenever you guys get hungry.”

“I’ll
grab it.  I have to go out anyway.  You actually coming back
tonight?  Or will you be too busy?”  Shane raises his eyebrows. 

“Shut
the fuck up, Shane,” Troy advises him turning on the TV.   

“Okay. 
Okay.”  He’s still laughing, though.  “Is she coming back here with
you?”

“Get
her to come over, Rocco.  This way Paige won’t give me a hard time about
coming here instead of me going over to the party.  If there is another
girl here, I might have a chance.  I’m really getting tired of her
sorority sisters.  Especially Carrie.  I’m so sick of listening to
her whine over you.  Shit!  Does Carrie know about you and
Alyssa?  I’m definitely not going over there.”  It sucks that Carrie
gives Troy so much shit about me, but I really can’t stand that girl. 

“I’ll
ask her, but she has class at seven tomorrow morning.  She might not want
to.”  Noticing the time, I get up to get ready.  My phone is buzzing
letting me know there is a text message.  Alyssa is on her way back and
wants to know where we are going.  Seeing her name on the screen of my
phone does shit to me that I didn’t even know existed. 

After
throwing on my boots and grabbing a jacket, I say goodbye to the guys and head
around the corner.  Alyssa is coming out of the stairwell when I pass it.

“Hey.” 
She smiles at me.  “I’m not late, am I?” 

“No,”
I say taking her bag from her.  “I just left because you said you were on
your way.  Figured I’d meet you at your apartment.  Besides, I missed
you.” My hand goes around her waist. 

She
stops just in front of her door and peers up at me.  “You missed me even
though you just saw me two hours ago?”  I shrug my shoulders and smile at
her.  She reaches up on the tips of her toes to kiss my cheek before
opening the door and heading in.  There’s that damn feeling again.

Within
ten minutes, we are in my car driving away from campus.  It feels so good
being alone with her outside of school.  There are always other people
around and I feel like they are preventing me from really getting to know
Alyssa.  It’s obvious she keeps some stuff tucked away because she doesn’t
want everyone to know certain things, but I want her to be able to talk to me
about anything.  I want her to know that she doesn’t have to keep things
from me. 

“Are
you going to tell me where we are going, yet?” she asks.  Even though it’s
dark in the car, I can still see the sparkle in her eyes when she looks at
me. 

“Well,
it’s not somewhere I’d ever think to take my girlfriend on our first date, but
I’m limited since she has a time limit on a weeknight.”  The look she gets
on her face when I tease her makes me want to do it all the time.  It’s a
mix between her trying not to admit that she loves when I do it and wanting to
punch me in the face.  It makes me laugh every time.  “Think of this
as a pre-date.  The next time we go on a date, I’m going all out.”

“Two
important rules you should know about me are I need to get a certain amount of
sleep and I need to eat before I get hungry.  If either one of those things
fails to happen, I give a whole new meaning to the word bitch.”  This
makes me laugh even harder because I cannot believe for one second she has it
in her to be a bitch.  She is so sweet and innocent.  “Go
ahead.  Laugh all you want.  You’ll be sorry if you ever have to
witness either event.”  She crosses her arms over her chest and turns to
look out the window.

“You’re
so cute when you try to be serious,” I say reaching over taking her hand. 
She doesn’t fight me.  “I have to admit, it would be very interesting to
see that side of you.  Just not directed at me, of course.”  This
makes her smile.   

“It’s
not pretty,” she confirms.  Then she starts to chuckle herself. 

“The
guys are staying in our apartment tonight to watch a hockey game.  They’d
like you to stop by when we get back.  Actually, Troy wants me to beg
you.  He said he’d have a better chance of his girlfriend wanting to come
over if she knew she wasn’t going to be the only girl.”  I’m trying to
hide how disappointed I’d be if she says no. 

“The
guys
want me to stop over?” she asks with a little bit of disappointment
in her voice. 

Damn. 
That’s wasn’t how I intended for that to come out.  “Well, that or I’m
crashing at your place until you kick me out.” 

Her
smile returns.  “I’ll come over for a little while, but don’t forget I
have class earlier than you.  Oh and don’t be mad when I’m not cheering
for your team.”  She nudges my arm with her elbow. 

Doesn’t
it figure the girl I actually like is a Philadelphia fan?  My old man
would not be happy.  “How can I get you to switch teams?”

“How
can I get
you
to switch teams?” she counters.

“Guess
we’ll just have to agree to disagree.” 

When
we pull into the parking lot, she looks at me with a smirk on her face.  “You
talked to Leah, didn’t you?”  This makes me laugh.  How’d she guess?

“She
may have mentioned something about this place.”  Alyssa just smiles and
jumps out of the car before I can get there to open her door.  “Will you ever
wait just two seconds for me to get the door for you?” I ask. 

She
wraps her arm around mine pulling me towards the door.  “Don’t forget
important rule number two.  You need to feed me before I get
hungry.” 

Surprisingly,
there is no wait when we walk in.  It’s a little upsetting because I was
hoping to prolong this night as long as possible.  After sliding into
opposite sides of the booth, the hostess hands each of us a menu.  Alyssa
puts hers to the side without even opening it.  “I thought you were
hungry.  Aren’t you going to look at the menu?” I ask opening mine.

“I
don’t need to look at the menu.”  I look up at her.  “I know the
whole thing by heart.  Besides, I always get the same thing.”

“Every
time?”  She nods.  “Guess I better hurry up then,” I say glancing
down at the menu. 

“I’m
not rushing you.  I’m not starving.  Yet.”  She winks at me when
my eyes glance up to hers.  It takes a few minutes before either one of us
looks away.  The only reason I do is because the waitress stops by introducing
herself and asks what we want to drink.  We are left alone again after she
rushes off.  Glancing back down at the menu and picking something quickly,
I close my menu and direct my attention back to my girlfriend.  She’s
watching me when I look up.  “Tell me something about yourself that I
don’t already know.” 

“Like
what?” I ask her.

She
shrugs her shoulders.  “Whatever you want me to know.”

“There’s
a lot I want you to know about me,” I admit.  “Where do I start?”

“We
have plenty of time for you to tell me everything.”

“It’s
going to take more than one meal for me to tell you everything.”

“Like,
I said, we have plenty of time.”  She gazes over my shoulder at something
with a smile on her face.  “Hmm, tell me about your mom.  That’s a
good place to start since I’ll be meeting her soon,” she says bringing her
attention back to me.