Noah

Blushing, I turned away. I remember the incident, but not him. It could have been anyone holding my foot that day, I was too hysterical to notice. It had hurt and that blackthorn was long.

"See you at the game tonight?"

"No, I have plans."

"Plans? It's mandatory for the rushes to attend," he told me, sounding stressed. "You HAVE to be there. You HAVE to be at every game, you signed the contract, Sutton. It's part of the deal my frat has with POP. You all support us."

My stomach dropped. I didn't want to go to the game and I did NOT want to cancel plans with Justin! I'd been excited about our sort of date!

"Whatever," I sighed dismally. "I guess I'll fucking be there, then. I'll be the one with the book."

He chuckled then. "Yeah. That sounds about right. See you tonight."

I only scowled as I got up and got ready for class.

On the way to my car, I texted Justin.

'Hey, so sorry, I have to bail tonight. Found out all the pledges HAVE to go to all the games. I didn't know that before this morning. Raincheck?'

Putting my phone in my bag, I didn't expect it to chirp right away.

'NP! Need a +1 to the game?'

'What about D&D?'

'Sportsing watches with you sounds better than crowded room with men telling fart jokes.'

I grinned at my phone as I sat in my car. 'Sounds perfect then. I don't even know when the game starts, I will have to find out nd text you?'

'Tipoff is at 6:15, will pick you up after your last class to eat! Will there be pom poms?'

Giggling uncontrollably, I shook my head. 'Not for me, I won't be dressing in the school colors. I have a dress code I have to adhere to for my sorority.'

'Fancy! Oh! Can I be fancy too?!?'

'Sure, go for it!'

'YESSSS! MWAHAHAHAHA!'

Grinning, I drove to class, a lot happier now.

Thirty minutes in, I got a text with a gif of the professor from Furturama saying 'good news everyone!', then 'D&D was canceled before I even told them I was bailing! No having to listen to razzing about ditching them for a girl.'

'Hope all is well?'

'Felix's mom needed a ride to the hospital. She has an extreme and rare form of hypochondria. She has to go to the ER often for it.'

'Sounds horrible! Too bad he doesn't know someone?'

'Nope, I refuse to ever darken his door again. Last time we tried to D&D there, she sat next to me the whole time showing me her gout and her other special uglies. Nightmares. Nightmares for months. Total PTSD now, I can't even hear her name without crying like a baby.'

"Miss Adima, something you want to share with the class?" the professor asked loudly, yanking me up guiltily out of my giggling.

"No sir, sorry! It'll never happen again!"

I was horrified, slipping my phone away.

Once class was out, I pulled it out, but there was no new text. Quickly typing, a reply to his last message, I leaned on my car.

'Sorry, was in class and got in trouble. Promise I will always respond as soon as I can.'

'Ditto' was his only response.

Blinking, I wondered if he was angry. Driving to the quad, I picked up lunch and ate it, spinning my phone in my hands.

Finally, as I was headed to my next class, my phone chirped again.

'That was a fun one! Ever tried to move a hoarder out of their bed in a back bedroom on a gurney? She had to be carried out on a stretcher, mostly upright. I may need two showers!'

Oh, right. He was an EMT. Duh. He wasn't going to have time to always text me back right away. I felt like an idiot.

'Should be a non-issue for a mighty barbarian.'

'Lifting was NOT the issue! The house! WOWZA. That smell will haunt me all my days.'

'Wowza. LOL.'

'Laugh all you like, but you secretly love it and I am racking up the nerd cred.'

'I'm about to go into my Superheroes+Physics class.'

'Is that really a thing? Are you lying? Because if that's a thing, you win all the points.'

I snapped a pic of the class and sent it to him.

'So... I may have to come visit you and pretend to be a student JUST to get into that class! How can that be a real thing? That doesn't sound academic-like at all!"

'Can you think of a better way to teach physics to geeks?'

'Point taken. Tis but one battle and not the war, m'lady!'

'Dropping into stealth.'

'Roger that, radio silence.'

My heart felt ridiculously full as I sat down, smiling at everyone around me. Sitting there, I thought of something then. How old was Justin? Surely he'd been with a girl? He was hot as hell and...

I'd never asked him if he was single. What if he had a girlfriend and he was just flirting with me?

Taking my phone out, all I could think of was my father sneaking around on my mother.

'Quick?'

'Shoot, but if it's about physics you're out of luck'.

'Do you have a GF?'

'If by GF you mean a girl dog who loves me more than life itself, then yes. Why do you ask now of all moments?'

'I was just thinking. Is she cute?"

'Most adorable fluffy cuddle butt in the whole wide world!'

Smiling again, I hunched down in my seat behind the huge guy who sat in front of me. 'Name?'

'Tonks, but don't hold it against me! I named her that before the JK hate debacle!'

'Love it! Pics?'

'Now m'lady wants pics? Should I be sad she only wants to see my dog?'

'I already know you're adorable.'

A pic popped up of a cute, fluffy all plack dog with big black eyes. She looked like a mutt, maybe a small Newfoundland and she really was adorable.

'Awwwe! I love her already!'

'Ok, Now I AM jealous. Also, I showed Alex your text calling me adorable and he says you need glasses.'

'Driver Alex?'

'Driver Alex. I am calling him that from now on. So what were you thinking on that had you suddenly wondering if I were cheating on someone?'

'Not you... just found out my dad was cheating on my mom for years last night after you left. Just on my mind was all.'

'Sorry to hear that, that sucks. I'm not a fan of cheaters or cheating. Oldest sister came home from her cheating husband just emotionally wrecked. Tried to end herself and I found her, saved her. She's why I do what I do now. Saw those EMT's take over, told me I did a great job and I just knew I'd found my calling.'

'Is she better now? Your sister?'

'That you asked that says everything about you, sweet lady. Yes, she's fine now. Married to a great guy with 4 kids who call me Funkle.'

'Sorry that happened to you, but glad you found your calling. Very very glad you found your calling. Funkle sounds almost as bad as your dad joke the other day.'

'Not a dad joke, an UNKLE joke :P. Not a dad yet.'

My smile slipped slightly. Did he want kids? He had to know I couldn't have kids, not after everything I'd been through and my issues now. He wouldn't ask me out of he wanted kids?

'Alex says he won't answer to Driver Alex,' he texted after a moment of me not answering.

I smiled again, then slipped my phone away and paid attention.

To my utter delight and absolute horror, Justin was waiting on me when I got home from my last class. Standing next to a jeep in a full nobles suit costume from what looked like ren fest, he looked both silly and amazing.

I loved it.

Going to him, I clapped my hands again as I laughed. "That's perfect! Oh my god! I can't believe you did this!"

"M'lady," he bowed, kissing my hand.

Giggling again, I shook my head, then barreled into him with a hug.

"Oh! Nice, I'll take it!" he chuckled, hugging me. "Good day?"

"The best," I told him, leading him inside by his hand. "I need a few minutes to put my things away and freshen up!"

"Understood. You look fantastic by the way, you don't need freshening up!"

"Polite way of saying I need the bathroom."

"Oh, yeah, by all means. My other girlfriend makes me walk her to do that. Be nice to just stand and wait instead."

"Hilarious," I told him, rolling my eyes.

"So do I get to meet your friends?" he asked, looking around at all the girls gaping at him in confused shock.

"As soon as we're near any of my friends, I will gladly introduce you!" I told him, tossing my bag on my bed, then hurrying to the bathroom.

When I came out, Justin was at my vanity, looking over the four vases full of roses.

"Someone has an admirer," he called lightly, stepping back from them.

Moving closer, I looked them over in confusion, then pulled the first card out.

'Sorry I was cranky last night. Tonight is going to be beautiful, -Mason'

Angrily, I ripped it in half and tossed it, then pulled the next card.

'Got you something to wear to the game, it's in your closet. -N.A.'

Moving to the closet, I opened it and looked at the dress hanging there, black with a gold floral pattern like the school colors. Walking back to the flowers, I pulled the third card.

'Sorry again about last night, I hope you have a good day, N.A.'

The fourth card.

'Meet me at 5 for dinner at Deluca's? -N.A.'

Tossing all the cards in the trash, I carried the vases out to the hall two at a time and set them out along the railing. Slamming my door, Justin was watching me warily.

"The basketball player? Albright?" he asked cautiously.

"Mostly," I nodded. "And one asshole who showed his true colors last night. Sorry. Ready?"

"Yeah, absolutely! I'm not, like, about to get my ass kicked or anything am I? This guy an ex, or...?"

I sighed. "I'll explain on the way," I told him, catching his hand again. I told him a very quick watered down version of my history with Noah and how we'd made a tentative peace last night, but now he was turning on the charm. How the sorority had changed and the shitty way Noah was running it.

Lastly, I sat a moment, blushing. "So... all that time being sick, I sort of... wasn't doing what other girls were doing. I was expected to die, I thought I was going to die, everyone did. I'd spend my life studying, then dying, and now here I am. I... somehow got stuck in a sorority for plastic bimbos and... I've never been with a guy."

"Like... at all? But, you're freaking stunning, and..."

"Only nineteen," I shrugged.

He flinched a little then and I had been watching for it.

"So I guess, you've been with a girl?"

"I've been with a few," he shrugged, blushing. "I've had three girlfriends. Highschool sweetheart broke up with me because a football player asked her out. College girlfriend broke up with me when I wouldn't party with her all the time, studying instead. Last girlfriend, I broke up with her, I knew she wasn't the one. We were too different. Friends set us up and we had nothing in common but... you know. Great sex. That was two years ago."

"So..."

"Twenty nine," he answered before I asked, giving me a crooked smile. "I mean, I knew you were a freshman in college, but somehow you don't think of teenagers when you think college, you know?"

"Dealbreaker?" I asked, feeling butterflies of sadness swarming my stomach.

"Not a chance! The virgin thing, maybe," he chuckled.

"It's my sincere hope it won't be an issue much longer," I told him, trying to build my courage up.

"That so?" he asked, suddenly going very still after parking at the restaurant. A mom and pop pizza place. "Anyone I know get saddled with this particular quest of yours?"

"Maybe. Guess we'll see how things go."

"Wowza," he whispered, his eyebrows high. "That is a tall order I am very enthusiastic about filling. When you're ready. How about now, is now good? Kidding. Unless you say yes, then I'm totally not kidding."

I laughed, getting out of his jeep.

Eating dinner with him kept me light hearted and laughing the whole time, even walking into the huge gym before the game felt right, holding onto his arm.

"THERE you are!" Cicely screeched when I came in. "Why aren't you in the dress he got you? What in the hell is that?" she demanded, looking at Justin in absolute horror.

"This is Justin," I told her, smiling. "My date."

"You don't get to date anyone unless they are from Iota Omicron Nu!"

"How the hell is that NOT an academic frat?" I asked in disbelief. "How nerdy is ION?"

"What?" she screeched as Justin chuckled. "He can't be here!"

"It's not in the contract that I HAVE to date ONLY ION," I told her. "Just that if I wasn't, I would still be on the roster. I read the whole thing this morning after my first class."

"Just... he can't sit with us! We're sitting in the first row!"

"Contract says I have to be here, but doesn't say I have to sit with POP. Just have to show support."

"Where's the dress he got you?"

"In my closet, I was already dressed and I had plans."

"Fine! He can sit with you, but... make him take that all off first!"

"You'd rather he be naked?"

"Just a t-shirt or something! Uhhh! You're ruining EVERYTHING! Hurry up, he's going to be pissed if everyone isn't out there on time! He keeps asking where everyone is and your the only one left! Hurry up!" she raged, dragging me behind her into the gym and down into the stands. All the way down to the first row, behind the bench.

She'd hardly sat me down, Justin sitting next to me when Noah was there, looking furious. "Who is that?"

"My date," I told him, wrapping around Justin's arm.

"Is this a game to you, Sutton?" he hissed.

"Yes? A basketball game? This is where I'm required to be, right?"

"You said you were bringing a book!"

"I had a date and I was going to cancel, but my date came with me instead."

"Sutton, can we talk alone for a minute?" he asked, trying to pull me up.

"No, no thanks. I've said all I need to say to you, Noah. I meant every word, now leave me alone please. I'm here like you demanded."

"Sutton! Didn't... did you get my notes? And the roses?"

"There were roses," I nodded. "The ones from Mason stand out. He was sorry about what he said last night, but he couldn't wait to get his hands on me tonight."

Noah's nostrils flared as he turned, his eyes searching out Mason.

"Good luck with your sports ball, good sir," Justin piped up.

Noah turned his glare on him, then recognition hit. "You're the medic! What the hell, Sutton? He's like... twice your age!"

"No he isn't, he's in his twenties just like you," I told him, rolling my eyes.

"Sutton, are you doing this to hurt me? Make me jealous? It's working, ok? Just... make him leave."

"Wow, you arrogant asshole. I'm doing this because I want to be with him. We had a date planned and you said I HAD to be here so he came with me instead of our other date we had planned. It has nothing to do with you at all. Nothing I do has anything to do with you, because I don't see you that way. At all. You're nothing but a complete waste of space asshole to me! So get over yourself and leave me alone!"

Noah grit his teeth, looked from me to Justin and back again. Finally, his gaze settled on Justin. "You lay one hand on her and you fucking die," he growled, then turned and launched the basketball in his hand across the court with a roar of rage.

"Holy shit," Justin squeaked jokingly. "He always that fun to be around? Me thinks, dear lady, we should go have a chat with the authorities. He's... a little off his nut for you and what he's manipulating your entire sorority into doing is basically sex trafficing or prostitution or something."

"Sorry he threatened you," I mumbled as Cicely moved around to bend in front of me.

"What did you do to him?" she hissed in my face. "What did you say?"

"That I wouldn't be his girlfriend," I told her flatly, making her blanch back. "That's what all of this is about, Cis. He's using you, stop letting him use you, stand up to him and tell him to fuck off. He's been coming at me for fifteen years, literally. Won't take no for an answer, no matter what I say or do. The way he treats girls so shitty? All because he's pissed at me. Tell him to fuck off, YOU run POP. You'd do so much better than him and none of you would have to be whores for them anymore. You can get up and walk out right now, all of you. All of us. You don't need him, there are a hundred guys out there who would treat you like a queen, be a real daddy to you and not just a jaded asshole who uses everyone."

"Shut up! He likes me!"

"He likes you to get him off. The other day when you were blowing him in your room? The day of the pool party? He came to you hard that way because he'd been in my room with me and he got excited. He has a thing for my feet and he was painting my toenails, got a huge hardon. Came to you and you took care of it for him, didn't you? Didn't you wonder why he was all excited for no reason?"

"He said he'd seen a snippet of porn as he walked by a room, some of the girls were watching it."

"Does that sound even remotely real to you? Girls watching porn with their door wide open?"

Cicely blushed, then looked over her shoulder at Noah angrily. "We stay. You stay. Stop upsetting him! That guy needs to go!"

"He goes, I go."

"Hey, I bought a ticket," Justin smiled, shrugging.

"Hey man, can we get some selfies with you?" a man asked, coming up behind Justin, all of them wearing chest paint. "That outfits fucking awesome dude!"

Justin took a selfie with them, amused at how badly it pissed Cicely off.

I was laughing as a string of people lined up to get selfies with him and he was having a blast, posing and declaiming as only a DM could. The line didn't let up until the game started and Justin sat down, his cheeks pink. "That was both fun and alarming. So much BO on all those dudes! People make fun of US for smelling bad and being gross. Wowza. D&D geeks have nothing on sports fans! They somehow think I'm a new mascot? Is that a thing? I can understand if I were wearing something greek pertaining to Trojans, but this?"

"Don't try to understand them," I teased.

Grinning, he put his arm around me as he looked down at me and I looked up at him. We stayed there like that for several long moments as cheers went up. When a collective quiet went over the room, we both looked out on the court.

Noah was staring right at me, rage on his features.

"Maybe we should leave?" Justin asked softly as the ref led a man off the court, holding his bleeding nose.

"Maybe," I began as the whistle blew again.

Noah was still staring daggers when the ball hit him in the chest.

"Albright, get your head in the fucking game!" a man in a suit yelled, cutting off Noah's line of sight to me.

I looked back up at Justin, feeling a little off. Stressed.

"You cool?" he asked.

"Probably," I told him. "It could pass, it might not."

"Should I get you out of here?"

"Best to sit still a minute if it's going to pass. If I move it's a guarantee. Your eyes... are so pretty. Are you Irish?"

He chuckled in amusement, wrinkling his nose when he did. "It absolutely kills me that the hottest chick ever keeps telling me how cute I am. Not used to that."

"Maybe I am about to pass out. So are you?"

"Not even a little. Disappointing?"

"No. Just curious. People think of red hair and green eyes and they think Irish."

"Nope. 100% Scottish."

"Oh... what's the difference?"

"Holy shit! You WOUND me, m'lady! One's from Scotland, the other Ireland!"

"I KNOW that, I mean, like, the main differences in the two? Genetically speaking."

"Ahh, genetically speaking, I know my pop was from Scotland and he came over with his family. My dad went to visit family and came back with a wife."

"From his family?!?"

"No! She was a neighbor, actually."

"So why no accent?"

"Because I worked years and years on hiding it. Love my heritage, but hate the Irish bastard everyone tries to turn me into. "Mr Smith, would you like to lead the St Patty's parade? Mr SMith, would you like to sing us a nice Irish shanty? Mr Smith, would you like to come to our school and talk about Irish folklore? It would be like if you went across the pond and everyone spoke a bad Canadian accent at you and asked you all about hockey and syrup and wanted to know things about Canada."