Chapter Two

Chapter Two

Ren

I can't breathe and I feel like I'm about to die. I try to open my eyes but it burns when I do. I crawl down from my bed and give myself two seconds to open my eyes. I open them and see green smoke. I cough as my eyes start to water. I breathe in the air stinks, smelling like cow poop. I crawl towards the door and keep my arms out to avoid bumping into any furniture.

I find the door and turn the knob. I get out and fill my lungs with clean air. I rub my eyes and open them to see three people in front of me.

"Stink bomb," Travis smirks.

I cough and try to stand but my knees buckle and I fall back down. Adam offers a hand and I take it. "For the record, I wasn't part of any of this. I just got here the moment you got out of that door," Adam tells me.

"Good morning princess," Austin smiles.

I glare at him and punch on the stomach and as expected, he doesn't flinch. I punch him again and it's hurting my hand more than it's hurting him.

"Give it up princess," he says. "With these rock hard abs, you can't hurt me."

I narrow my eyes at him. "Are you always this cocky?"

He shrugs, "If I have to be."

I roll my eyes and turn to walk away when he grabs my arm and spins me around. "What, no thank you?"

"And why should I thank you?" I ask him. "I almost died in there!"

"You're exaggerating," Travis rolls his eyes at me.

"You should thank me for not going with Travis' plan," he tells me. "He wanted to chop off your hair but I decided against it. So, you're welcome."

I shake my head and walk away. I take the elevator and go down to Megan's dorm. I don't even bother to knock, I barge in and find Megan's roommate, Trish, already up and changing.

She nods at me and I nod back. I turn to Megan who is still fast asleep. I look at her nightstand and notice the pill gone and the glass empty.

"She woke up an hour ago and fell back to sleep," Trish says before leaving. "See yah."

I sigh and shake Megan up but she doesn't budge. I poke her but she groans and throws a pillow at me. I clench my jaw and pull her blankets off. She immediately curls into fetus position and shivers. She sits up and glares at me.

"WHAT DO YOU WANT?" she growls.

I smile at her innocently, "Rise and shine lightweight."

She rolls her eyes at me, "Shut up and get out Harper."

"Not leaving Hines."

She groans and falls back in bed. She pauses for a moment and sniffs the air. "Is it me or do I smell poop?" she asks.

I bring the collar of my shirt (Well, Megan's shirt) up to my nose and take a good whiff. I cringe at the smell. Great, now I smell like cow poop thanks to Austin's stupid stink bomb.

"Austin threw a stink bomb in our dorm this morning," I tell her.

She raises an eyebrow, "Should I ask why?"

"I don't even know why," I shake my head.

"Well. Guess we're both going to have to shower," she says.

Megan hops out of bed and tosses me an air freshener. "Use it and go take a shower," she says.

I mockingly salute her and head for the door. "Oh and Ren?"

I turn to look at her, "Yeah?"

"Stop using my clothes," she deadpans.

I smile and salute her again. I get back to my dorm and find it clear. Weird. I go inside and smell the room and it smells like clean air. What the actual hell?

I shake my head and head for the shower. I change into casual clothing and sit on my bed as I dry my hair. Megan comes in a few minutes later but heads directly to the bathroom. She gets out and I give her a look but she gestures that it's nothing.

*buzz* *buzz*

We look at each other and shake our heads saying that it isn't ours. We look around and we hear the buzz again. Megan finds it under the pillow and turns out, its Austin's phone.

Megan shows it to me and grins widely. "We can't invade his privacy," I tell her.

She scoffs, "If you won't then I will."

I sigh and watch her tinker with his phone. She groans when she realizes there's a passcode. "See? Passcode. We don't know his password so just-"

"Got it," she says.

"What?" I ask taken aback.

"Four zeroes," she states.

Megan walks across the room and sits next to me. She scrolls through his messages and I find that he doesn't open any of them. Some of them are unknown messages and others are named Sorority chick with big boobs or Bookworm with big ass. Apparently, he isn't good with names so he goes for something he can remember them by.

The phone buzzes again and it's a message from Travis. Dude where are you? Adam and I are looking everywhere.

I tell Megan to return his phone but she continues scrolling. Suddenly, the door bursts open and Megan quickly puts the phone under her thigh.

"Austin, where-oh, hi Ren," Adam sheepishly waves at me.

I wave back, "Hi."

He looks around the room. "Have you seen Austin?"

Megan and I shake our heads. "Room was empty when I came back," I tell him.

"Room's stink bomb free now, huh?" he smiles.

"You did that? But how?"

He shrugs, "It's nothing, really. It simply takes knowing someone with an air vacuum thing that cleans the air."

I smile, "Thanks Adam."

He smiles back and I nod my head towards Megan, "This is Megan, by the way."

"Adam," he introduces himself to her and Megan gives a small wave.

He pulls out his phone, "Travis, he isn't in his room." He pauses, "Yeah, I call him."

Our eyes widen and Megan quickly looks around to cover the phone other than her thigh but she's too late when we hear the familiar buzzing of the phone. Adam looks at us with his confusion.

He approaches us and follows the buzzing. He finds the phone and pulls it out from under Megan's thigh. He shows the phone to us. "Why is his phone with you?" he asks.

"Whoops, did I sit on his phone?" Megan acts poorly.

"Stop lying," Adam orders and she shuts up. "Where is he?"

"I wasn't lying when I said I found the room empty when I got here," I tell him. He still holds the phone up and I sigh in defeat. "We heard buzzing and found his phone. We got curious and scrolled through his messages-"

"We only looked. Nothing else. Swear," Megan adds.

Adam sighs and nods, "Okay and don't worry, I won't tell Austin."

"You won't?" I furrow my brows in confusion. "Why not?"

Megan nudges me with her elbow. "Do you want him to tell Austin?" she says firms.

"He threw a stink bomb in your room with you in there and that was wrong. Plus, you merely scrolled through his phone," he shrugs. "No harm, no foul."

"Any who, I got to go find Austin," he says.

"Wait."

He stops and I plant a kiss on his cheek, "Thank you."

He smiles, "Anytime."

He leaves and we head down to the café for some coffee. I wonder how Adam can stand guys like Austin and Travis. Adam is nice and friendly while Austin and Travis are bullies.

On the way to the café, all Megan can talk about is Travis. She talks about how hot and how much he looks like a Greek god. Honestly, I'm not really listening to what she's saying. I'm merely nodding to what she says.

"Basically, all I have to do is bump into and make him fall for me just like I've fallen for him then we'll fall in love and get married," she says as she apparently imagines it in her head. "And voila! We will be the next fairy tale."

We enter the café, order some pastries and two coffees. We take a seat at a booth by the window and start eating. Half an hour later, the guys come in. Adam sees me and waves hello while I wave back. Megan keeps her eye glued to Travis while surprisingly Travis does the same.

Adam and Travis chooses the table right next to ours and Austin sits on the chair that faces me. I glance his way and he smirks, "Hi sweetheart."

Megan swoons and kicks my leg. "He called you sweetheart," she gapes.

"And I don't care," I tell her.

We finish off our breakfast and coffee before leaving. I pass Austin's table and I suddenly feel a sharp pain in my right butt cheek. As if on autopilot, my hand flies to Austin's face.

He grabs my hand before it collides with his face. "Let go!" I yell.

"You were going to slap me," he states.

"Because you slapped my butt!"

He shrugs, "Your ass was asking for it."

My jaw drops and I want to strangle the life out of him. But that's what he wants. That's what he's expecting. So, I don't give him the satisfaction. I walk out of the café without another word with Megan tailing behind me.

She grabs my shoulder and stops me from walking, "Ren, you okay?"

"Why do you ask?" I growl.

"Well, you stormed out of the café right after Austin slapped your ass and you seem pissed."

"WELL DAMN RIGHT I'M PISSED!" I exclaim. "THAT GUY IS A COCKY SON OF A GUN THAT DOESN'T RESPECT WOMEN. HOW CAN GIRLS LIKE HIM? HE'S DISGUSTING AND RECKLESS AND ANNOYING AND STUPID AND UGH!"

Megan stays quiet and I'm thankful for that. I let everything out and finish with a frustrated sigh. Megan walks with me and we stop at a big shady tree. We sit there just to keep my mind out of things and it helps.

Megan's phone buzzes and she checks it before shooting me an apologetic look. "Go," I tell her.

She shakes her head and shoves her phone back in her pocket. "Nope," she says. "I'm not leaving you."

I give her a reassuring smile, "I'll be fine, Megan. Just do what you got to do."

She smiles and nods. "Call me, okay?"

I nod and she leaves. I sit there watching the people playing Frisbee. "I guess it's just me now," I mutter to myself.

"And you're talking to yourself," Adam says as he sits down on the grass beside me.

"What are you doing here?"

"After what happened in the café I thought I should check on you," he says.

I offer a small smile, "Thanks."

"Austin's a dick."

I laugh and he laughs with me. "You can say that again," I say.

"You know what?" he asks, standing up and lending me a hand.

I take his hand and he pulls me up to my feet, "What?"

"You deserve some fun tonight," he says.

I smile but it falters when I realize where this may lead. Adam sees my expression and quickly recovers. "No! It's not what you think," he exclaims. "It's more of an adventure."

"Oh," I say and shrug. "I'm game for an adventure."

"But no more parties. I'm done with that for now," I tell him.

"Of course no."

"So have anything in mind?"

He grins, "Yes I do."