CHAPTER 14: Such A Good Girl

"So, yeah. Ty said hi to me today," Rose's voice came from across the room.

I sneaked a glance in her direction, but I couldn't read the expression on her face.

"Really? What happened?" I asked as I turned my head to look back at the bare ceiling of our room.

"It was after third period. You know how I was waiting in front of the building?"

"Yeah."

"And so he has a class in there too, and he saw me waiting. And he waved and came over."

"What'd you guys talk about?"

"Nothing much," Rose said with a hint of disappointment. "Because the bell was about to ring soon."

"Oh," I said with sympathy.

Rose didn't reply. I turned my head to the side, enabling me to see Rose sitting on her bed.

"What about Stephen?" Rose asked curiously.

I sighed and closed my eyes for a brief second. Yeah, what about Stephen? I barely even thought about him today. What's up with that? I laughed quietly.

"Nothing. I'm just trying to get over him," I admitted, opening my eyes.

"But didn't you talk to him today?"

"Yeah, but…" I struggled for words. How do I put this? How can I make Rose understand my situation, when I don't even understand it myself?

"I still have those feelings for him, but…I just don't think anything's going to happen," I answered. I practically lost hope with Stephen. I would always tell myself, there is that possibility. There was that possibility. And I just kept pinning and hoping for something. Now I realize that back then, I was hoping for something that was impossible. It was hopeless. If you looked from the outside in, it would look as if I was trying to reach for a goal that would never happen. Not in a million years. But my sight was screwed up and I couldn't see the truth. But now I'm glad that I'm finally able to see and I won't have to waste my time on something that I can't change or have.

"Really?" Rose asked sympathetic.

I let out a deep breath, "Yeah."

I propped myself up on my elbow as I looked at Rose across the room. "It's obvious that Stephen doesn't like me. If he did…then things would be different. I'm just done wasting my time." And then there's that other reason I decided to keep from Rose. The fact that I started to think less about Stephen and more about…somebody else; which surprised me.

We stayed silent for a few more minutes. Just thinking. Or at least that was what I was doing. I looked over at Rose to see that she was looking at me.

"Anyways…"Rose started, giving me a sly look.

My eyebrows creased and a hint of fear came upon me. Oh gosh, what is that look for?

"What?" I asked, slightly scared. I sat up, crossing my legs.

"Well…I don't know how you'll react to this," Rose said cautiously.

"What is it?" I looked into Rose's eyes. She cocked her eyebrows, debating whether to tell me what she wanted to say. Rose was always dramatic so I prepared myself for anything.

"What is it?" I asked again, getting impatient. A few seconds past by with silence.

"I think Zach likes you," Rose said, observing my face. I chuckled. My response both surprised me and Rose.

"What?" Did I hear just hear what I just heard?

"I think Zach likes you," Rose repeated, with confidence.

"Really?" I asked surprised. Many thoughts flooded into my mind.

"Yeah," Rose replied simply. She had an expectant look on her face; waiting for me to say something.

"Why do you think that?" I asked suspiciously. A smile was threatening to spread on my face. Rose gave me a look as if I were stupid.

"The way he acts around you," she answered simply. I gave her a blank look though my insides were in chaos. My heart started to beat fast and that stupid smile was threatening to appear on my face, and the weird feeling as if Rose knew I started to think about Zach…after the whole incident that happened last night; with the goodnight hug.

"What are you talking about? He acts like that to you too," I argued back.

"Yeah, but he would only say hi to you," she retorted.

"He says hi to you too," I retorted back.

"Yeah, after I say hi to him first," she retorted back to me. My mouth quickly opened and closed, and opened again.

"Yeah, you have no comeback," Rose said with a smug smile, seeing that I couldn't think of anything else to say. "Like at lunch, he only said hi to you," Rose decided to add.

I averted my eyes from Rose. I lay back down on my bed and stared at the ceiling. But I didn't see the ceiling, I only saw the memory I tried to recall from today.

"Can you come with me? I need to go to the restroom," Cosette stated, looking at me.

"Sure," I said with a nod of my head.

We were exiting our fourth period class. Everybody was heading towards the dining hall, whereas Cosette and I headed towards the closest girls bathroom near us.

As we were walking past some of the people, I spotted sight of Stephen. We were walking in opposite directions as he was heading in the direction of the dining hall and Cosette and I were heading towards one of the bathrooms just around the corner. At that same moment, he caught sight of me. My instinct was to look away, though I don't know why. But before I could a vert my eyes, Stephen smiled and waved. I smiled back and I was aware that we were getting closer with each step.

Suddenly a girl appeared by Cosette's side, taking my attention away from Stephen.

"Hey, Cosette. Hey Crystal," Emily greeted us with a dimpled smile.

"Hey," Cosette and I replied at the same time.

"You guys headed towards the restrooms?"

"Yeah," Cosette answered.

"Me too. I tried to go to the ones near the dining hall but it's packed," Emily said a bit exasperated.

"Oh," I said surprised.

"Yeah, long line," Emily replied with a smile.

Cosette turned to me and suggested, "Crystal, if you want to go eat, you can go."

"You sure?"

"Yeah," Cosette replied with a reassuring smile.

"Alright," I said, after thinking it over for a few seconds.

I was about to turn around, when I noticed that Stephen was just a few feet away.

"Hey Stephen," I greeted him, as we walked in the direction of the dining hall.

"Hey Crystal," he replied with a flash of a smile.

"So, how's school so far?" Stephen asked me.

"It's a good start. What about you?" I asked.

He half-heartedly groaned, "It's just the first week of school and I already have two projects."

"Ew."

He chuckled, "Yeah, enjoy being a sophomore. Because next year is what counts."

"Thanks for the advice." I looked into his eyes.

He gave a shoulder shrug. "Just looking out for you."

I laughed.

"I wish I was a sophomore again," he stated.

I looked at him incredulous. "You've only been a junior for what? Two days?"

"Hey," he gave me a warning look. "It's actually been three days."

I laughed, and he joined in.

"But seriously, junior year is what counts the most. No time for fooling around," he informed me. His bright eyes looked into mine.

"Yeah, that's what I heard," I replied.

"Gosh, my parents have been lecturing me and stuff about college. It's stressful."

I looked at him, and I could see the stress he has on his shoulders. I didn't know what else to say except, "I'm sorry."

He looked at me with a sincere look in his eyes.

"Thanks. But I'm sorry for telling you all this," he said.

"Why?" I asked curiously.

"I could tell that all this information about the future's bothering you," he answered. I took a deep breath before I looked back at him.

"Honestly, my parents have been lecturing me too. I'm just glad they're not here to tell me things over and over again."

"Really?" he asked surprised.

"Well, yeah. Over the summer my parents already started talking about colleges, volunteering, and a 'potential profession'," I answered quoting the exact words my parents used.

"Dang. Already?"
I sighed, "Yeah."

"Now, I'm sorry," he said. I looked at him, to see that he meant what he said. "I mean, you're only a sophomore and they're already talking."

"Yeah," I nodded.

By now, we reached the dining hall. He pulled the door open and held it open as I walked in. We got in line and quickly grabbed a meal.

"Well, how's tennis?" Stephen asked, changing the stressful subject.

"It's good. I'm playing singles," I said, failing to hide my own excitement.

"That's good," Stephen nodded with a grin.

"What about you? How's water polo?"

"Fun," Stephen said simply.

"That's good," I laughed.

He nodded. We reached his table, and he turned to me.

"See you later," he said, looking straight into my eyes.

"Yeah," I said with a smile. He gave me a smile before he sat in his seat, and I made my way to my table. I took a seat next to Rose and suddenly noticed how our table was unusually empty since this morning and yesterday. The guys were missing. This lunch, it was just us girls. Kind of weird and kind of not. I mean, we just met the guys so it wasn't like they were supposed to eat with us everyday. I took a bite of my chicken sandwich as Cosette took a seat next to me.

"The guys aren't here," Cosette stated just loud enough for Rose and I to hear. I nodded, still chewing my food.

"Oh, they're over there," Cosette informed us as she spotted them a few tables away.

Rose and I looked over to where Cosette was looking. And there they were, just as Cosette said. The guys: Hunter, Devin, and even Michael and Jacob and a few other guys were sitting at a table about six tables away. They talked with each other but were mostly busy eating their lunches.

"Don't you think it's kind of weird, that we're suddenly hanging out with them?" I asked to no one in particular as I risked another few seconds looking at the guys before turning away.

Rose nodded in agreement. "Yeah. And we just met them. But it's cool."

I smiled back, "Yeah."

"It was cool though. It was actually kind of…fun; different," Cosette added. Rose and I both turned to her with slight smiles.

"I agree," Leah said as she took her seat on the other side of Rose. Leah then added as she looked at the guys, "Can you believe how close we are to them even though it's the first week? Just wait until like…a month. We'll be even closer."

"Yeah," Stephanie agreed as she took a seat on the other side of Cosette. Then for the next minute or two, we ended up in our own little conversations with each other or with other kids in the neighboring tables. Stephanie turned around in her chair as she started up a conversation with another girl. Leah was texting on her phone as she motioned for one of our other friends, Gloria, to come over to our table.

Just when I was about to ask Rose something, I heard a voice, "Hey, Crystal."

I looked away from Rose and to the person standing on the other side of the table.

"Oh. Hey Zach," I smiled back, look up at him. Zach was standing with his tray in hand. He was about to leave, heading over to his friends at the other table when Rose spoke up.

"Hey, Zach."

"Hey, Rose," Zach greeted her. Suddenly Grant came up behind him with his own tray. He noticed Zach standing still in the middle of the aisle between tables. Grant looked at where Zach was looking and immediately took us in. By this time, Leah was looking up at Zach and Grant.

"Hey guys," Grant greeted with a smile. We smiled back though it surprised me to hear Stephanie say, "Hey guys." Zach and Grant smiled before heading off to the table with their friends.

"That was only today," I said after remembering what happened this afternoon.

"So," Rose said stubbornly. I sat up in my bed and gave her a look.

"Besides, I can tell. He likes you," Rose continued to argue. I was about to open my mouth to object when she interrupted me.

"Don't try to deny it."

I sighed and rolled my eyes.

"Well…what are you thinking?" Rose asked after a few moments. I can feel so many different emotions running through me but the two top emotions that were evident were excitement and disbelief.

"Well, I don't know. But I do think he's cute," I admitted. "Like, when we first met the guys I always thought Zach was cute. And I did know that I wanted to be friends with him." Before Rose can reply, somebody knocked on the door.

I was glad that our doors had locks on them because that meant people didn't go trespassing into other people's rooms but I also hated it because I really didn't want to get up. I opened the door which revealed Cosette, Rachel, and Leah.

"Hey guys," I greeted them as I moved out of the way. They smiled as they entered the room.

"What are you guys up to?" Leah greeted us as she took a seat next to me on my bed.

"Just finished our homework," Rose answered.

"We still have lots of time before dinner, and we're so bored," Rachel stated, taking a seat next to Rose. Cosette took the seat on my other side.

"How about we go over to see Jacob?" Leah asked with a grin.

"Where is he?" Cosettte asked.

"Probably at his dorm. I could call him."

"I have nothing better to do. We could go hang out with Jacob and Michael," Rachel suggested.

"Let me call Jacob," Leah stated as she took out her phone. As Leah was calling him, Cosette looked at me.

"I heard we're picking our lab groups tomorrow," she said.

Then Rose added, "Yeah, that's what I heard too."

"Yeah. That means we have to be in the same group," Cosette told me.

"Okay. Then don't arrive late to class," I stated with a laugh.

"I'll try not to. But just try to save me a spot, kay?"

"Alright," I smiled.

"Jacob's in his dorm. Let's go," Leah announced, putting her phone in her pocket.

~*~

We arrived at the boy's lobby. There were guys watching TV, playing video games, and boys flirting with the other girls there.

"Jacob's in his room," Leah stated as she headed over to the stairs.

"But we're not suppose to go up there," I instinctively said before I could stop myself. I caught up to Leah who was just a few feet away from the first step. Leah turned to me with a bored look on her face.

"Oh, Crystal," she started, as if talking to a naïve little girl. I rolled my eyes, ready to hear what she was about to say. Rachel, Cosette, and Rose stood around us with amused faces.

"You're fully aware that nobody listens to that rule," Leah stated looking me in the eyes. And just on cue two girls passed us and walked up the stairs. Then only a second later a girl and a guy chatting with each other, passed by us and up the stairs. Leah gave me a pointed look and started up the stairs, thinking those two examples explained it all.

I looked at Rachel to see her raise her eyebrows at me. Cosette and Rose shrugged their shoulders at each other. Apparently, Leah has been the only one out of us, to have broken the rule. This isn't much a surprise since she's a boy magnet. Rachel followed Leah up the stairs. Then Cosette, then Rose.

From the fifth step of the stairs, Leah turned around to stare at us. Leah observed that Rachel as on the third step, Cosette on the second, and Rose on the first. I was the only one who hasn't moved. Or at least, looked like I haven't moved. Honestly, I was going to follow after Rose after she advanced to the next step. But no. That's not what Leah thought.

Leah dramatically sighed heavily and said a bit disapprovingly, "Crystal, you're such a good girl." Then a smile formed on her face, to show that she was half serious and half fooling around. With that she ascended up the stairs with us following after her.

"Jacob's on the second floor," Leah informed us as we followed her. We passed by the first floor, and I observed girls and guys coming and going through the different rooms. We arrived on the second floor and followed Leah down the hall, to the second to last door on the left. Leah knocked on the door. Jacob opened the door, and put a smile on his face as he saw us.

"Hey, Leah," he greeted her with a hug. From the doorway, I peered into their room to see that their room layout was the same as ours. After their hug he greeted the rest of us, "Hey guys."

"Hey Jacob," I greeted. We were about to walk into his room when I heard a voice call Rose from the other side of the hall. Rose and I looked to see Ty at the end of the hall. Rose and I sneaked a quick glance at one another, slightly surprised.

Rose waved. Then I saw Damien appear behind Ty. I just knew Rose wanted to talk to Ty. I mean, if I were in her position I'd rather talk to my crush than hang out with Leah and her little crush.

So I said, "Hey Damien." I walked over to him and Ty, and I could see Rose walking with me.

"Hey Crystal," Damien greeted me with a warming smile and a hug.

"What are you guys doing here?" Ty asked, looking at Rose.

"We were really bored," Rose answered with a smile.

"Yeah, us too," Ty agreed.

Then Damien said, "Let's hang out in our room."

"You guys are roommates?" I asked.

"Unfortunately," Ty answered with a chuckle. Rose and I laughed at the mock hurt expression Damien put on.

"Whatever," Damien laughed too.

"We're actually on the third floor," Damien informed us as he made his way up the stairs.

I could hear Rose and Ty talking from behind me, following us up the stairs. I walked a bit quickly to catch up to Damien, so we were walking side by side. We arrived on the third floor, and it was just as crowded as the other two floors. When I say crowded, that is a bit of an exaggeration. But there were girls and guys going through the different rooms. Some of the doors were open and some were closed.

Damien's and Ty's room was just the second door to the left. Damien stopped in front of the door and pulled out his dorm key card. He put it in the slot and opened the door. I followed Damien into the room and said, "Wow. It's actually neat."

"Ha, ha," Damien said humorlessly and shot me a glare. I laughed. Then Ty and Rose entered the room.

"You guys have a TV. in here?" Rose asked surprised as she stared at the flat screen on the wall. I looked over at where she was staring, and my mouth fell open.

Ty laughed at our expressions, "Yeah."

"No fair, we don't have that," Rose whined, turning to look at Ty.

"Oh, yeah. Well, we just got that this morning. I guess the school is putting up TV's in the rooms," Ty informed us.

"Hopefully we get ours soon," I said to Rose.

"Yeah. Wait, so do all the guys have TV's in their rooms yet?" Rose asked, looking at Damien and Ty.

"They only got finished with the third floor. Tomorrow they're probably going to start working on the second," Damien answered. That explains Damien's room had a different layout than Jacob's. Jacob's layout was just like the girls' layout. The difference between Damien's room and the rooms without TVs were the beds. Instead, the beds were on the same wall. On the opposite wall was the flat screen TV—where the second bed was.

"Lucky," I muttered. I spotted the remote on a desk and I turned on the TV.

"Hey, hey, hey," Damien said, taking the remote from my hand.

"What?"

"This is my TV.," Damien said with a smirk on his face.

"It's ours," Ty corrected him.

Damien flipped the channel to a sports channel and put the remote back on the desk, ignoring Ty. Ty just rolled his eyes.

"Change it to MTV," Ty suggested. He made his way over to the remote. But Damien took the remote away, "No way. I want to watch this."

"Yeah, change it to MTV. None of us wants to watch this except you," Rose said.

He looked at Rose with a glint in his eye, "Too bad. If you want to watch MTV, you go find your own TV."

Rose made a face and said, "You're so stubborn."

"You guys. I really want to watch this," Damien's tone changed to one of innocence; practically whining. I looked at him to see a sincere look on his face.

"Fine, we'll watch this," I said grudgingly.

"Good luck sharing the TV with him," Rose joked as she looked at Ty.

"Thanks, I'll need it," Ty laughed. Rose and Ty took a seat on his bed, and I took a seat on Damien's bed. We watched for at least ten minutes before somebody knocked on the door. My eyes shifted from the television to the locked door.

Nobody in the room moved a muscle until the person on the other side knocked again—a bit more urgently too.

An amused smile formed on my face as I shifted my eyes to glance at Rose, Ty, and Damien. We were all looking at one another, silently protesting to move from one's spots to get up and open the door.

The knocking came again and I let out a laugh with Damien and Rose as Ty groaned and said, "Fine. I'll be nice and get the door."

My eyes followed Ty as he made his way to the door. I glanced at Rose and Damien following Ty too. I looked back at the door to see Ty open it revealing a person on the other side. I couldn't see who exactly it was but I was able to see the top of the person's head who was an inch or two taller than Ty. I was able to make out it was a guy and I couldn't help but hope it was Zach. I was about to lean over, enabling me to see who the guy was but I didn't have to because the guy outside of the door spoke up.

Author's Note:

I really hope you guys like this chapter. I promise you guys will LOVE the next two chapters!
Ah! I can't wait for you guys to read those.
If anything's confusing or something, just let me know.
Let me know what you think of Crystal's friends and the guys.

Review so I could post up the next chapter!

:D

Shout outs to peacelovebooksx107, lydd, swimgirl080 for reviewing on the previous chapter! I really appreciate it.

Swimgirl080: I updated this chapter and the chapter for My Life Can't Get Any Better for you. I don't want you to DIE without them. Haha.