Chapter 8

The sun had just come up minutes ago and it was already almost eighty-five degrees. Haley extended her leg from the red car and cringed at the miserable temperature. She wiped her dried mascara from under her eyes and took a deep breath. She stared at the dorm just steps away and let out a long sigh.

Peyton called out to her, "Hey Hales, call me if you need anything, okay?"

Haley waved her hand without turning around. She lowered her head and walked toward the building. When she heard the car drive away she slowly turned around and glared across campus at Nathan's dorm. She shook her head in disapproval.

"Bad idea," She said to herself as she put her hand on her forehead. Her head was throbbing and her heart was borderline broken from the events of the night before. She had too much wine and he never came over. Haley couldn't help but blame herself.

Creeping out from behind the clouds came the blistering sun and Haley was thankful that her dorm was just a step away. She ducked inside the door and headed for the elevator.

"Rough night?" She heard a familiar voice say from behind the counter. She cringed at the sound of his voice.

Haley lowered her head and slowly turned toward him. "No, I had a fine night, thank you," She said very precisely.

He nodded at her and looked up from his magazine, "I can tell."

She walked close to him and leaned against the counter. Looking him up and down, she retorted, "You don't look like you had the best night last night."

"Well, so what if I didn't." He watched Haley shrug her shoulders and turn away, walking back to the elevators, "I am a bartender," He continued, "Every night I work is a rough night."

Haley turned around and nodded at him, "A bartender?"

"A bartender," He replied. "At Nine Ten, that club down the street." Haley walked back toward him, suddenly interesting in the conversation. "It's a good job." He closed his magazine, "I get to see my friends…" He paused for a moment and looked her up and down, "I never see you there though."

"Yeah," She said casually, almost ashamed.

"The boyfriend?" The blonde RA asked as he stood up from his chair.

Haley looked up quickly, "What?" She ran her hands over the top of her head and then back down, under her eyes checking to see if she had anymore mascara.

"How's your boyfriend? I remember you talking about him that one night."

"Oh," She said looking down at the tiled floor, "He's okay," She said looked up and plastering a fake smile on her face, "We're good."

The RA smirked at her, "Okay." He looked back down at his magazine and waited for Haley to continue.

She slouched her shoulders and leaned against the counter, "I don't know." He looked up for a moment and noticed her dark brown eyes. He smiled at her and she slowly smiled back as she laid her head on the cold counter. "What's your name?" She asked him without lifting her head.

He laughed at her, "Jamie Browning." He watched her lift her head and he put his hand out, "And what's yours?"

"Haley James."

He took her hand in his and continued introducing himself, "You can call me JB though. I let the people I like call me JB."

She smiled, "You can call me Haley. I let everyone call me Haley."

JB laughed at her and watched her turn away. She pressed the up button and the elevator doors immediately opened. She put her arm out to keep the door open. "See ya around, JB."

"See ya Haley." He watched the doors close, the image of her slowly disappearing.

Haley leaned against the wall of the elevator and felt a smile creep across her face. Her hands turned into fists as she threw her arms into the air. She danced around the elevator until the doors opened back up.

"Haley, you never pressed a number," She heard JB call out.

Embarrassed, Haley peaked her head out, "Tell me you saw all that through your little camera."

JB nodded and Haley slowly entered the elevator again, throwing her hands over her face as she pressed the number ten button in the elevator. The doors opened and Haley quickly ran to her dorm room. She threw herself onto her bed and noticed the answering machine blinking.

"Hales, it's Nate, I'm sorry about last night, let me make it up to you tonight. I'll pick you up at 7:30 on the dot. I promise. I'll make it up to you I sware."

Haley closed her eyes and pressed the repeat button on the answering machine. She listened to his sincere sounding words play over and over again. She winced at the sound of his voice. She couldn't help it and she couldn't deny what she was feeling. As she quickly sat up in her bed she said to herself, "I am falling out of love with him." She closed her eyes tight, letting her words totally soak in. There was nothing she could do about it. She was falling out of love with him.

JB picked up his cell phone off of the desk and dialed a familiar number. He ran his Caribbean tanned fingers through his hair and waited for her to answer the phone. During the summer JB worked as a beach boy in the Caribbean. It was basically the best job ever, for JB at least. He got to sit around, clean pools, get tan, and look at tanned, toned girls all day long. It was exactly what he had hoped it would be.

Jamie Browning was nothing short of a ladies man. With his movie star good looks and charm that could woo the devil herself, he was the man all the mother's hoped their daughters would bring home and the guy all the daughters would kill to shack up with. JB loved nothing more than just being JB.

He tapped his pen on the counter getting anxious. Then, finally, she answered the phone.

"J Bizzle, what's up hottie? It's a little early to be calling. You better be glad that I am five stages beyond hung-over and haven't gone to sleep yet, period." It was Carter.

"Cart, come over here, I want you to meet this girl." JB spun around in his chair, waiting on Carter's reply.

"You met a girl at, like, seven in the morning?"

"No," He stopped spinning in his chair, "I met her the other day, but she just came in. She has been having trouble with her boyfriend and I need you to come over here and gauge as to whether or not her relationship is really over or not."

"Wow," Carter said, he could already sense the sarcasm in her voice, "You, JB Browning, ladies man himself, needs help from little ol' me Carter Dunn? Unbelieveable. Did hell freeze over?" She laughed at her own joke. "What's this lucky ladies name?"

"Haley James."

"Haley James." Carter repeated him; suddenly a light came on in her head, "That name sounds so familiar." She thought for a moment and then realized where she had heard the name, "I met her the other night at Lyndsi's cousin's apartment. Cute girl. Really cute girl. A little shy, but cute."

"Cute girl?" JB spun his chair around to look toward the elevators. "So are you come over here or not?"

"Free drinks next time I come to the bar?"

"Free drinks next time you come to the bar."

"Yes! I will be right there. I can't wait to see this chick again. She must be something for you to be giving me free drinks."

JB nodded, "She is something. I just need your help."

"I'm on my way."

The two hung up the phone and JB pressed the button to turn on the intercom, "Haley James, please come to the front desk. Haley James, please come to the front desk."