Coming Clean

“What are you doing here anyway?” I turned to Jaime who was looking into the lobby's mirror and fixing his tie.

“Old fraternity members always come back for the Battle of the Sexes party.” He started fixing his hair with his fingers.

As we walked out of the hotel Jaime pulled out a packet of cigarettes and offered me one “No, thank you” He shrugged his shoulders and placed one at the tip of his lips before he began to light it.

He dragged a long breath and then removed the cigarette from his mouth when he exhaled a huge puff of smoke. The smell makes me nauseated, so I turned away from Jaime pretending like I was looking at something in the distance “I've known for years...I've just never had the guts to tell my parents.”

“Does anyone else know?” I was still looking away at the tall buildings and street lights.

“Only the guys I hook up with” Jaime took another drag of his cigarette. “If my fraternity brothers knew they probably would've kicked me out a long time ago.”

“So, don't your parents ever bother you? You know, about bringing a girl home?” I was suddenly growing more and more curious about Jaime's life.

“Every fucking time I talk to them” He shook his head and looked over at me. He saw my gaze set on the city scape and looked over to admire it “There's always some girl they're hooking me up with whenever they come into town.”

“Like me” I laughed “It makes sense now why you were so mad that night”

“Yeah, I honestly didn't think I'd see you again. Which is why I acted a little more jerky than usual. And for the record, I'm sorry” He turned back towards me and mended both hands together while slightly bowing “You're actually a cool girl. And that's coming from a gay guy, so you know it's legit”

Jaime and I both laughed.

“I have one more secret” Jaime smiled with his eyebrow raised when he looked over at me “I made up that story about you getting belligerently drunk”

“WHAT!” I shouted so loud the people passing us on the sidewalk turned around

“Calm down, calm down! Nothing happened. I mean literally, nothing happened.” Jaime took one last inhale of his cigarette and threw it on the ground before he put it out with his shoe. “Your face when you woke up was too hilarious for me to not mess with you”

“So are you going to tell me what really happened?” I stopped walking and crossed my arms

“Well, you really did leave your purse at the bar. You were already drunk when you approached me. I didn't make you take any shots. When I was leaving you were standing outside crying. I, believe it or not, was concerned and asked you what was wrong. You told me your entire history with Jonah and when you were finally done spilling your guts I got you a cab. You told the cab driver you wanted to go to Jonah's place but I knew you'd regret going there drunk, so I called my friend to send his limo instead. Before you got into the limo you threw up and your shirt got dirty so you took it off. As soon as you climbed in you passed out. And that's pretty much what went down that night”

“Oh my god” I punched Jaime's arm “This whole time I've been avoiding walking past that stupid bar you told me I danced at!” I grabbed Jaime's arm where I had just punched him “But thank you for looking out for me”

As rude and inconsiderate as Jaime had seemed when I first met him, he was turning out to be the complete opposite the more I talked to him. He was finally letting his guard down.

After some time had passed Jaime decided to go back inside to the party. Kadie was busy helping Eva with the event so I called it a night. Sarah joined me since she was over the whole scene after the fiasco with Henry.

Sarah and I walked a few blocks to get some fresh air. When we turned the corner we saw a small crepes shop and our sweet tooth throbbed. We went inside and ordered a couple of Nutella crepes. There was a small table for two outside that we decided to sit at.

“Andy!” Sarah stopped in mid bite and began waving. I turned around to see him walking across the street. He came over to our table.

“Hey! Funny running into you again!” Andy said as he approached our table.

“Grab a chair and sit with us” Sarah said excitedly. “Why aren't you at the party?”

“Not really my type of party, but I wanted to see some of my old fraternity brothers again”

Sarah and Andy started catching up with each other as I quietly sat and listened. When both of them noticed how quiet I was Andy turned towards me “You said your name is Lynn, right?”

I nodded my head “Yeah”

“You have such beautiful eyes. It's almost as if they're golden” Andy tilted his head as he stared at me. He was only a couple of feet away from my face.

I felt uncomfortable so I started poking my crepe with my fork.” Uh...Thanks”

“Stop being so weird, Andy” Sarah slapped his arm.

“I can't help it, I'm sorry.” Andy laughed and got up from his chair “I really need to get going though, give me your number and we'll catch up some time” After Sarah and Andy exchanged numbers he was on his way.

We finished our crepes and Sarah called her driver to pick us up.

The next morning I decided to go for a run. Yes, a run. Something I thought I'd never do. Kadie's been forcing me into incorporating a few minutes of running into my walks so I can build up my stamina. And I have to say it's working! I can actually run five minutes straight without huffing and puffing.

I spent the rest of the weekend drowning myself in my studies.

It was Wednesday evening after our study group when Corey pulled me aside.

“Hey Lynn! Hey, wait up!” Corey loudly whispered as I was walking out of the library.

I turned around to see his lanky 6 foot figure running after me. If I didn't know who he was I would have ducked for cover. “What's up?”

Corey took a second to catch his breath, “Remember those research studies we signed up for?”

I was confused by what Corey was referring to “What studies? I don't think I signed up for any...”

“Sure you did! We signed up together at the fair, remember?”

It was coming back to me “Those were research studies?! I thought it was a mailing list!”

Corey laughed at my ignorance “I was wondering why you signed up without reading the details. Anyway, they're conducting an MRI research this weekend, do you want to come with me?”

The weekends were usually the only time I had to myself, free from school. I hesitated to respond, but Corey never really asks for much so I decided to join him. “Sure, text me the details!”

“Alright!” Corey stuck out his fist for me to pound “It'll be fun, I promise!”