Walking Disaster

“Help me out here, would ya? I’ll behave, I swear.”
    A French fry came hurdling toward my face.
    “Get your lips outta my girl’s ear, Trav!” Shepley said.
    I backed away, holding my hands up to highlight the most innocent expression on my face that I could manage. “Networking! I’m networking!” I walked backward a few steps to the
door, noticing a small group of girls. I opened the door, and they swarmed through like a herd of water buffalo before I could let myself out.
    It had been a long time since I’d had a challenge. The weird thing was, I wasn’t out to fuck her. It bothered me that she might think I was a piece of shit, but it bothered me more
that I cared. Either way, for the first time in a long time, someone was unpredictable. Pigeon was the total opposite of the girls I’d met here, and I had to know why.
    CHANEY ’ S CLASS WAS FULL. I TOOK THE STEPS TO my seat two at a time, and then waded through the bare legs crowding my
desk.
    I nodded. “Ladies.”
    They hummed and sighed in harmony.
    Vultures. Half of them I’d bagged my freshman year, the other half had been on my couch well before fall break. Except the girl on the end. Sophia flashed a crooked smile. It looked like
her face had caught fire and someone had tried to put it out with a fork. She had been with a few of my frat brothers. Knowing their track records and her lack of concern for safety, it was best to
consider her an unnecessary risk, even if I was habitually careful.
    She leaned forward on her elbows to make better eye contact. I felt the urge to shudder with disgust, but I resisted.
No. Not even close to being worth it.
    The brunette in front of me turned around and batted her lashes. “Hey, Travis. I hear there’s a date party coming up at Sig Tau.”
    “No,” I said without pause.
    Her bottom lip formed a pout. “But . . . when you told me about it, I thought you might want to go.”
    I laughed once. “I was bitching about it. Not the same.”
    The blonde next to me leaned forward. “Everyone knows Travis Maddox doesn’t go to date parties. You’re barking up the wrong tree, Chrissy.”
    “Oh yeah? Well, no one asked you,” Chrissy said with a frown.
    As the women argued back and forth, I noticed Abby rush in. She practically threw herself into a front-row desk just before the bell rang.
    Before I took a second to ask myself why, I grabbed my paper and popped my pen in my mouth, and then jogged down the steps, sliding into the desk next to her.
    The look on Abby’s face surpassed amusing, and for a reason I couldn’t explain, it caused adrenaline to rush through my body—the kind that I used to experience before a
fight.
    “Good. You can take notes for me.”
    She was utterly disgusted, and that only pleased me more. Most girls bored me outta my gourd, but this girl was intriguing. Entertaining, even. I didn’t faze her, at least not in a
positive way. My very presence seemed to make her want to puke, and I found that strangely endearing.
    The urge came over me to find out if it was really hate she felt for me, or if she was just a hard-ass. I leaned in close. “I’m sorry . . . did I offend you in some way?”
    Her eyes softened before she shook her head. She didn’t hate me. She just
wanted
to hate me. I was way ahead of her. If she wanted to play, I could play.
    “Then what is your problem?”
    She seemed embarrassed to say what came next. “I’m not sleeping with you. You should give up, now.”
    Oh yeah. This was going to be fun. “I haven’t asked you to sleep with me . . . have I?” I let my eyes drift to the ceiling, as if I had to think about it. “Why
don’t you come over with America tonight?”
    Abby’s lip turned up, as if she’d smelled something rotten.
    “I won’t even flirt with you, I swear.”
    “I’ll think about it.”
    I tried not to smile too much and give myself away. She wasn’t going to roll over like the vultures above. I glanced behind me, and they were all glaring at the back of Abby’s head.
They knew it as well as I did. Abby was different, and I was going to have to work for this one. For once.
    Three doodles of potential tattoos, and two dozen 3-D boxes later, class dismissed. I slid through the halls before anyone could stop me. I made good time, but Abby had somehow ended up outside,
a good twenty yards ahead of me.
    I’ll be damned. She was trying to avoid me. I quickened my pace until I was next to her. “Have you thought about