Chapter 2

Haley James tapped her fingers on the back of her cell phone as she sat on the picnic bench in front of her dorm. She flipped the phone over to look at the time, 8:47. For once in her life she wasn't running late. She was the one who was never ready on time. She knew how much that aggravated Nathan so tonight she tried to be early. She looked at her phone again, 8:48. So much for being early.

She leaned back against the table and crossed her arms over her chest. If this was Nathan giving her a taste of her own medicine, she was going to be livid. Her newly ash blonde hair was perfectly curled and the graphic tee stating "I Believe in Happy Endings" hugged her in all the right places. She ran her hands over her jeans and looked out into the distance. Nothing.

A tall blonde guy walked up behind her and sat on the other side of the picnic table. "Waiting for something?" He asked her as he leaned over the table, "It's Sunday. Nothing's going to happen. Nothing exciting at least."

Without turning around, she laughed, "I am starting to believe you." She looked over her shoulder, "I'm waiting on someone."

"Oh." He said with a smile. "I get it. I bet… you're waiting on your boyfriend right?" Haley nodded at him. "Right, the ubiquitous boyfriend. You could have just said you weren't interested."

She turned around quickly and shook her hands at him, "No, no. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to be rude, it's just… well, my boyfriend, and yes I really do have a boyfriend," He smiled at her and she continued, "he was supposed to be here forty five minutes ago. He knows I am always running late so I figured he would be here by at least 8:15." Haley looked at her phone, "But its 8:50 and… no sign of him… anywhere."

"Well a girl like you should never be kept waiting." He said as he walked to the other side of the bench and sat down next to her.

"A girl like me?" She asked, almost laughing.

"Yeah," He nudged her, "You know, a gorgeous girl like you could get any guy on this campus."

Haley laughed, "Well thanks for feeding me that line, but I am doing just fine with the guy on this campus that I have."

"Oh… so he goes here?"

"Yeah," She looked at him, beaming, "He's on the basketball team."

"He's one of those," The guy said slowly. "I have met a lot of your kind over the past few years."

"My kind?" She scoffed at him, "A girl like me… my kind."

"Yeah, the 'dating-since-high-school-follow-me-to-college-so-that-we-can-live-happily ever-after' girls," He pointed to her shirt, "And according to that shirt of yours, you do believe in happily ever after." He narrowed his eyes at her, "Are you happy?"

She shook her head at him, "Come on, I don't even know you. I don't even know your name." She stood up and walked about three feet from the table. "I am not talking to you about my personal life when I don't even know your name."

"That was enough of an answer for me." He stood up, "A simple yes would have done the trick just fine."

Haley turned around to look at him, "Don't you even think for one second that you know anything about me." She said calmly. "I mean for god's sake, you don't even know anything about me."

He smiled at her and cocked his head to the side, "Then you have nothing to worry about right? I mean chances are, after this strange encounter tonight, we will never see each other again, huh?"

"What's your deal anyway?" She looked him up and down, "What are you, like, twenty five?"

He nodded at her and shrugged his shoulders, "What's it matter if we never see each other again?"

She huffed at him and crossed her arms over her chest. She watched him walk into the co-ed dorm that she lived in, "Where do you think you are going old man? That's my dorm?"

Without turning around he replied, "Well if you have to know, I am an RA in this dorm." He turned around slowly, "So I guess we will be seeing a lot more of one another."

Rolling her eyes, she replied, "Perfect."

"Don't sound too excited," He said as he walked into the dorm.

"Great, just great." She complained under her breath. Haley walked back over to the table and sat down. She crossed and uncrossed her legs three times before she saw Nathan from across the street.

Her head shook at him as he came closer. "Where the hell…"

"I know, I know." He tried to kiss her and she pulled away, "I'm sorry." He said, putting his hands on her hips.

"Whatever," She said as she grabbed her purse and threw it over her shoulder. "Where are we eating?"

Nathan looked at his watch and then back up at Haley, "Shit," He said almost calmly, "I didn't realize I was so late."

"Yeah, well you are." She said quickly in reply.

"I have to be back at nine thirty…"

"Nathan…" Haley said, whining at him, "What was the point then?" She threw her arms into the air, "Whatever, just… whatever."

"Hales…"

"Just go." Haley said as she slouched her shoulders and walked toward her dorm. She put her hand on the door and Nathan said, "Hales I'm so sorry, this won't happen again, I promise."

She nodded at him and walked into the door. Nathan watched her. He put his head down and walked back to the direction he had just come from.

"Well look who it is." A voice said as he got close to the street. He looked up. It was Carter. She ran her hands over the steering wheel of her Chrysler Crossfire and said, "Did someone just kill your dog or something?"

He gave her a small laugh and said, "No, it's my girlfriend…"

"Ah… the girlfriend." She drummed her fingers on the steering wheel, "There's always a girlfriend." She smirked at her comment and motion for him to get in the car, "Come on. Get in. I will take you back to you're side of campus."

Nathan shook his head at her, "Nah, its okay. I'll walk. I need to think."

"And you can't think in a car?" She smiled at him, "Come on and get in."

Nathan looked around and finally agreed. "This is a bad idea."

"Nathan, chill out. I am just a girl giving her new friend a ride back to campus. I'm not going to try and take advantage of you." She glanced over at him, "Unless you want me too." Nathan didn't even crack a smile. "Kidding, kidding. Wow, tough crowd."

"How'd you get a Crossfire?" Nathan said quickly. "I mean I haven't even seen prices listed anywhere…"

"I got it out of a Cracker Jacks box." Again, no smile from Nathan. She shrugged her shoulders, "I don't know. I got lucky I guess." She glanced at him and decided to get serious, "So, how'd you end up here?"

"In your car?" He asked, now joking, "Well you told me to get in, and promised you wouldn't take advantage of me."

She narrowed her eyes at him, "I get serious and then you start joking around, I see how it is." He smiled at her, "A smile?" She turned her head to the side, "No. I didn't even know you knew how to smile."

He rolled his eyes, "My dad's dream was for me to play division one ball… so here I am, pursuing his dream."

"Any what's your dream?" She asked without even thinking.

Nathan paused for a moment and looked at her, then back at the road. "Wow." He put his hands into his pockets, "No one has ever asked me that… well no one has asked me that so honestly."

She shrugged her shoulders, "I could care less what your father's dream is…"

"I guess I don't know what my dream is." He interrupted, "I never really had the chance to think about it."

She smiled at him and said, "Well welcome to college. Now you have the chance to think about it."

He nodded at her and got out of the car. "Hey, Carter, thanks for the ride." She nodded at him and he turned around. Nathan started to walk away but then turned around, "Hey…" But before he could finish he realized she was already gone. He smiled at the back of her car and turn back around. He nodded at the dorm in front of him. He knew he would see her again so he just kept on walking.