Chapter Five

Chapter Five

Ren

My head hurts like a bi-female dog. I blink my eyes open and let them adjust to the light. How did I get to my room last night? After eating that brownie I totally blacked out. I don't remember anything.

I sit up and a wave of pain passes through my head. I rub my temples to make the pain go away and of course, it doesn't. I manage to get up and walk to the bathroom and without expecting to meet an ugly witch with dark circles under her eyes and frizzy hair.

"Oh God," I mutter in despair. I can't believe I'm looking at my own reflection.

I strip down my clothes and get into the shower. I'm rinsing the shampoo from my hair when I hear the door outside open and Austin yelling.

"I can't fucking believe you!" he yells, "I don't care if she forced you, she's my sister goddammit!"

It goes quiet and I hear pacing around the room before I hear the door slam once more. I get out of the shower and peek outside to see if he really left the room. I get changed before checking my phone and find a missed call from Megan. I text her that I'm on my way to the café and tell her to meet me there.

Half way to the café Megan calls me and frantically tells me to get to the café quickly. She sounded scared and I heard yelling and cheering at the background so I ran.

I get to the café and see Austin punching Adam. He continues to punch him but Adam dodges and swings her Austin's jaw. I look at them in horror. I see Megan and Bianca behind Adam trying to find a way to grab a hold of him but with the wrong move they can get hit by either one of their punches.

I get in the scene and yell out Austin's name. He has Adam pinned down now and I tug on his shirt trying to stop him from hurting Adam more. I kneel beside him and shake him, getting his attention. His head snaps at my direction and I see the pain and anger in his eyes. I look him, afraid and his expression softens.

He lets go Adam and I pull him aside. Megan and Bianca grab Adam and takes him to the infirmary. I decide Austin needs some air so I take him to the park. He keeps quiet so I do the same. I look down at his fists and see his knuckles turning white from his grip.

"Austin-"

"It's none of your business."

"Adam's my friend too," I stop walking and stare at him.

He scoffs, "He's isn't your friend."

He continues to walk but I bring my hands up to his chest to stop him from doing so. "You can't tell me who I'm friends with or not," I point out. "Can you stop being such an asshole for once? We're going to be roommates for the entire school year so we're going to have to get along."

"You can talk to me," I add.

He looks down at me before clenching his jaw. His expression shows anger building up inside him. "Who says I'd want to get along with someone like you?"

My face drops and I take a step back away from him. I feel my eyes starting to water but I hold back the tears. "Why? Is it because I'm a nerd? Or perhaps it's because I'm nothing like those skanks you fool around with?" I look up at him and fail to hold my tears back. A tear comes rolling down my face and Austin brings his hand up to wipe it but I slap his hand away.

"You know what Austin," I point my index finger at him. "Screw you."

He looks taken aback from my statement. I turn on my heels and start to walk but he grabs my arm and pulls me back. "Let go of me Austin," I demand without looking back at him.

"No," he deadpans.

I turn around and meet his eyes. I yank my arm back without breaking contact. I back around and continue to walk away. I head to the direction of the infirmary to check on Adam. The nurse leads to the room he was staying in.

I open the door careful to not make any sound. I peek my head inside. "Adam?" I whisper and don't get any reply. I scan the room and see him sleeping soundly on the bed.

I get inside and close the door before grabbing a stool from the corner and planting it beside Adam's bed. I look at his face and see a couple of cuts and black eye. I grab his hand and hold it.

He stirs in his sleep before his eyes flutter open. Crap. He tries to sit up but gesture for him not to.

"I'm sorry to wake you," I tell him.

He shakes his head. "Thank you Ren for what you did back at the café," he smiles at me and I return it.

"Adam?"

"Hm?"

"Can I ask what happened between you and Austin?"

He thinks for a moment before turning to me. "Didn't you have a walk with him earlier? He didn't tell you?"

I raise an eyebrow at him. "Like I said before, the guy hates me. He wouldn't tell me anything," I say.

"Oh. Well, I can't really tell you. It's more of Austin's problem than it is mine," he gives me a sad smile. "It's not my place to tell you."

I nod, understanding. We talk some more about other things until the nurse comes in to give him medicine. The nurse says he' allowed to leave anytime from now and without hesitation, we leave.

We head to Adam's dorm to watch a movie. He suggests that we watch Grown Ups 2 but I tell him that I rather watch 21 Jump Street. He shrugs and puts the movie he wants to watch. I frown at his choice but he merely grins innocently and ruffles my hair.

In the middle of the movie, I realize how I haven't eaten anything yet. I poke Adam's arm, "Adam."

"Shhh," he waves me off. "I'm trying to watch the movie."

Suddenly, my stomach growls and Adam turns to me with his eyes wide open. He bursts out laughing and I join him. "What was that? Was that your stomach?"

He continues laughing and I hit his chest lightly. "I was supposed to eat back at the café, but I got...distracted," I tell him before standing up. Adam follows and puts on his shoes.

"Come on," he straightens up and opens the door for me. "I can't have you starving all day."

We head down to the cafeteria and got ourselves some pizza. We sit down at a table by the window and start eating. We talk while we eat and when we finish I notice how Adam checks his phone every minute.

"You okay?" I ask him and his head snaps up and looks at me with his eyes wide.

He shoots me a quick reassuring smile. "I'm all good," he lies.

I roll my eyes at him. "Please don't tell me you're waiting for Austin to text or call like a high school girl," I pout mockingly.

He narrows his eyes at me, "Don't call me that."

I lean over to his side of the table and grab his phone. I shove it in front of his face. "Then call him," I order.

He scoffs, "He won't answer."

"You don't know that until you call," I shake his phone and he grabs it.

"What do I even say?"

I shrug, "Say that you're sorry?"

He runs his fingers through his hair, "Easy said than done."

"You're going to have to talk to him some day, so why not now?"

He sighs, looking down at his phone. He unlocks it and clicks on Austin's contact. He stands up and walks away from the table. He starts talking which is good, meaning that Austin answered. Adam is pacing around the room and he glances at me. I throw him a thumbs up and he smiles slightly. He talks for a few more minutes before walking back to me.

"So?" I ask as he stands across from me.

"I have to meet him," he retorts.

I nod, "That's good!"

"Like right now," he adds.

My face drops. I sigh, "Then go."

Adam furrows his brows, "I can't just leave you Ren."

"I'm heading back to my dorm anyway," I stand up. "Go make things right with your best friend."

The corner of his lips curve into a smile. "Thanks Ren," he says. "I'll call to tell you how it went."

"You better," I tell him and jogs out of the cafeteria.

I get back to my dorm and change into short shorts and a tank top. I get in bed and pull out a book. I keep reading until I drift to sleep.

I shuffle in my sleep then I hear my stomach growling. Again? I sit up and frown at my stomach. Do I have to be hungry at...I turn to look at my clock...two in the morning?

Luckily, the café is open twenty-four hours. I grab a hoodie and put on some shoes before heading out. I exit the building and hear the familiar sound of a motorcycle roaring to life. My head snaps to the direction of the sound and I spot a man next to his bike.

"Austin?" his head snaps to my direction and he sighs loud enough for me to hear.

He turns his bike off. "What are you doing here, Ren?" He runs his hand through his hair, looking anywhere but me.

"I was going to get some food in the café," I wrap my arms around myself. We stop talking and keep quiet. I decide to break the ice and turn to leave. He doesn't want to talk to me and I'm quite hungry, so I better just leave.

"Wait."

Well, that was unexpected. I turn on my heels to face him. I raise my eyebrows at him and he continues, "I was a dick a while ago." He rubs the back of his neck.

"You were a dick from the very first day till now," I correct.

He chuckles lightly then clears his throat. "Yeah and I sort of want to make it up to you?"

"Sort of?"

"No," he shakes his head and looks at me. "I want to make it up to you."

I walk closer to him and the closer I get to him the higher I tilt my head up to look at him. "What's with the sudden action of kindness?" I ask curiously.

He shrugs, "Can't a man do something nice without be questioned?"

I cross my arms over his chest and furrow my brows. "Should that man be you, you will always be questioned, Lancer." I point out and his lips curve into a smirk.

"A girl once told me that I could talk to her," he starts. "And I can't bitch to my two best friends so why not talk to her, right?"

I bite my lip and look down at my feet. He brings his hand up to my chin and tilts it up so I'm looking directly at his eyes.

"Besides, I do have to get along with her," he adds. "So why not get along now?"

I smile slightly at his gesture and he smiles back. His smile. "You should smile more," I tell him and his smile fades.

He backs away from me and heads to his bike. He hops on it and grabs an extra helmet and hands it to me before putting his own on. I reluctantly put the helmet on before sitting behind him. Austin starts his bike and it roars back to life. I put my hands on Austin's shoulders and grip hard. I feel him grab my hands and transfers them from his shoulders to his waist.

"Hold tight princess," he tells me before kicking the stand and driving off.

I can't believe I'm on a motorcycle with Austin. Then it hits me. Me. Motorcycle. Austin driving.

"I'm going to die!" I hug Austin tight for dear life and press my cheek against his back.

He chuckles and his whole body vibrates, "I'm not going let you die princess."

I close my eyes. This is going to be one heck of a ride.