A Twist in My Story

Olivia was uncharacteristically late to her composition class that following Monday. She had been e-mailing her father in the library and lost track of time, causing her to literally have to run to her class. She made it there with a few minutes to spare. Despite herself, her eyes instantly traveled to the middle of the giant lecture hall where Nick had sat the three classes the previous week. It didn’t take long for her eyes to find the dark head of curls she had admired all her life towards the end of one of the middle rows. A small, naïve, part of her had felt…special…when she thought about the fact that he had called her to take care of him Saturday morning. And that he had wanted her to stay. Which had been foolish. When he woke up, Nick had momentarily been surprised to see her there, but then his pink lips had lifted in a small smile as he ran his hands through his curls. That smile had made her feel things she was sure she was moving on from.

“Man, what in the world happened last night?” he had asked in a hoarse voice.

“Apparently you drank too much. I had a voicemail from you this morning and you sounded terrible, so I came over and helped you out,” she had responded.

He had stared at her with that smile on his face, the smile that had made a small amount of hope settle within her, and thanked her for helping him. Then he had essentially kicked her out. To say all that hope had been dashed was an understatement. The anger she had felt for him before she received his voicemail returned. She was also mad at herself for once more thinking things might be different. With a cold tone she had asked, “Are you sure you’re going to be okay?” He merely nodded and that was all it took for her to leave his room for the second time in less than twenty-four hours, crushed by Nick Jonas. She hadn’t seen or heard from him for the rest of the weekend.

He seemed to be fine, however, with Serena perched in the seat next to him, talking animatedly with him. “Man, I still can’t believe how crazy Saturday night was. You did better frosh,” Olivia heard Serena’s sickenly sweet voice saying as she hiked up the steps in the lecture hall. Her step faltered—Nick had gone out again Saturday night? Hadn’t he learned anything the night before?! Olivia felt sick to think of the influence Serena was having on him…and that he was letting her!

“Hey Liv!” Nick said with a warm smile meant just for her. He waved at her and motioned to the seat right next to him—he had made sure he saved a seat for her after the small argument that had ensued in Friday’s class.

But Olivia couldn’t even look at him; she was too disgusted with his choices. So totally disregarding his greeting, she continued up the steps a few more rows to where Carter had been motioning from. She gave him a meek smile and settled in next to him. “I was starting to think you weren’t going to make it,” he stated with a genuinely relieved smile.

“Yea, I lost track of time before class. I was sprinting all the way over here, which, let me tell you, I have zero endurance, so it was extremely difficult,” she responded in all seriousness. This got a chuckle from Carter however.

“What was that all about?” he asked after his laughter died down, nudging his head a few rows down from them. They both glanced down to where Nick and Serena were sitting—Nick was staring at her with a mixture of curiosity, and sheer confusion. Olivia quickly looked away and shrugged a tank-top clad shoulder.

“Nothing,” she responded, right as the professor walked in. She faced forward in her seat to pay attention, allowing herself one last fleeting glance in Nick’s direction. It seemed he had still been staring at them, even when the professor walked in, but Serena quickly got his attention just as Olivia’s eyes fell on them. Nick was still confused by her, however. Olivia Chadwicke had just given him the cold shoulder…she had never so blatantly ignored him before. Hell, he couldn’t ever remember her being mean to anyone! But she had completely ignored him and gone to sit next to some guy. Who was he anyway? They seemed to be well acquainted but Nick certainly had never seen him before.

“Lose the frown cutie,” Serena whispered to him a few moments into the lecture. Her tone sounded very displeased. Nick looked at her and saw that her expression was equally as displeased. He cleared his throat and sent her a small smile, focusing on the lecture—Lord knows she wasn’t going to.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“Come on, Liv, it’s going to be fun,” Carrie continued probing.

Olivia huffed again. “Carrie, I already told Christina I didn’t want to go out. I’ll just take her out to dinner tomorrow or something,” she said, trying to return to her textbook. It was a Friday afternoon and though she technically didn’t have to focus on schoolwork, Olivia always got a head-start to her schoolwork, even during the weekends. But her roommate was making it extremely difficult with her constant persistence. It was one of their friends’ 19th birthday and Christina wanted them all to go out to a party. Olivia had instantly refused. That just wasn’t her scene—especially since she had witnessed firsthand what it had done to Nick Jonas…a boy who was raised with morals.

It was currently the end of September. They had been away at school for almost an entire month already and since that first fateful weekend, Olivia and Nick had not talked whatsoever. She had let go of her naïve hope of becoming friends with him, despite the labels put on them in high school. Instead she focused on her schoolwork and making new friends—which she had. She and her quadmates were really good friends, which she still found a blessing. Carrie, Christina, and Jamie were the girl friends she never had in high school and while the four of them were all studying different things and only ever saw each other in their quad and at meals together, they couldn’t be closer. She was also really good friends with Carter—he was the best guy friend she had never had. They hung out all the time and sometimes it still surprised her when he made suggestive comments about how much he liked her.

“But it won’t be the same if you don’t go!” Carrie continued. “The four of us have to go out together—otherwise we wouldn’t be the quarto amigas,” she insisted. Liv’s lips momentarily twitched in the makings of a smile.

“The quarto amigas?” she teased.

“You know what I mean,” Carrie swatted at her.

“Have you convinced her yet?” Jamie asked, popping her head in, two hangers clutched in her skinny, tan fingers as she looked down at the two tops.

“Working on it. I think I’m melting her resolve,” Carrie responded, speaking about her as if she weren’t there.

“Come on, Liv, it’s going to be fun, I promise,” Jamie joined in the badgering.

“Guys, you know I don’t do parties,” she insisted. Then Christina came running into the room and jumped right onto Liv’s bed, bouncing her.

“But it’s my birthday,” she whined, obviously being in on the persuading. “In fact, I refuse to take no as an answer. You’re coming out with me because it’s my birthday and I want you there and that’s that,” she stated firmly.

Olivia sighed—she had no hope of winning this battle when it was the three of them against her. “Fine, but I’m not drinking,” she pointed out. “And I’m making you all do something painfully boring on my birthday as payback,” she added as an after-thought. Her quadmates didn’t care; they were all squealing with joy that she had conceded. And after that it was all about getting ready. What outfits will they wear, what should they do with their hair, how should they wear their makeup, will they be able to make it back to the dorm if they wear heels or is wearing flats more sensible? Olivia laughed at them as they danced around to the music blasting through their quad (which wasn’t uncommon for the dorm building on a Friday, apparently plenty of people went through this process). And then it was her turn to get poked and prodded at. By nine o’clock she was in one of Jamie’s outfit’s, wearing Carrie’s shoes, and had had her hair and makeup done by the birthday girl.

“Damn Liv, you look hot,” Christina chirped merrily, already having snuck a few shots of the secret stash Jamie’s brother had given her for her birthday.

“Please,” Olivia brushed off the comment, never in her life believing her name and ‘look hot’ could be in the same sentence.

“No, really Liv, you’re smoking. Man, if Carter hadn’t gone home this weekend, I totally would have told him to come with us just so he could drool over you more than he does on a regular basis,” Carrie insisted. Carter had become friends with all of her quadmates and they often teased her about how ridiculous they thought she was for not being his girlfriend already.

“Whatever. So, are we leaving? Where’s this party?” she asked, ignoring their comments about her appearance.

“It’s at Tyson’s house,” Jamie stated, referring to her older brother who was a senior.

“But we agreed to hang out with Luke and his friends for a little while,” Carrie added, Luke being the cute boy she had encountered their first week at school, whom she recently became exclusive with.

“Okay,” Liv stated, feeling slightly uncomfortable that she had no say in how their night went. But a few hours later, she wasn’t feeling so uncomfortable. They had headed over to Luke’s dorm building and had hung out with him and a few of his friends. While the rest of them pre-gamed, Liv just watched, not being able to help the laughter that rolled from her mouth—drunk people were really funny when you were sober. By eleven, they all had a good buzz going and got up to leave. It was quite a trek from the freshman dorms to the fraternity house Jamie’s brother lived in, but Liv found herself walking alongside Mason, one of Luke’s friends who she recognized from one of her classes. She had been talking to him earlier on in the night (clearly about the class they had in common) and while the rest of their friends continued to drink, he had stopped, saying he didn’t want to get wasted tonight. As they walked alongside each other, Olivia was surprised that they had moved on from their class and that she was actually talking to a boy about something besides school…and he didn’t seem bored with her!

Tyson was at the door when they arrived and after greeting his sister and the birthday girl (whom he was having a fling with) he let them all in to the exclusive fraternity party. Mason offered to get her a drink and returned with water, well aware of her decision not to drink. He held a beer in his other hand though and he sipped leisurely on it as they continued to talk. About half an hour into the party he announced that his girlfriend had arrived so he went off towards the door to talk Tyson into letting her in as well. Liv slumped on the couch they had commandeered. She had almost forgotten about where she was.

Taking a sip of the water in her red cup, she allowed her eyes to scan her perimeter. She saw Jamie dancing with one of Tyson’s frat brothers and caught a glimpse of Carrie’s heels as Luke led her up the stairs. She tried not to roll her eyes, knowing full well she would hear about their exploits the next morning—Carrie wasn’t shy about sharing. And just as she was smiling to herself at the thought, she saw Nick Jonas standing in the doorway to the kitchen with a few guys. She let out a small gasp, which was drowned out by the music anyways. Of all the parties currently going on around campus, he had to be at the same one she was at. A heat crept up her cheeks, for some reason feeling like a hypocrite for being at a party when she had secretly (or not so secretly, whichever way you looked at it) judged him for turning into a party animal in college. The heat flamed up her cheeks when his eyes collided with hers. She looked away quickly just in time to see a tall, blonde boy walking towards her. He landed sloppily next to her.

“Hey cutie,” he slurred.

“Hello,” she responded, her entire body stiffening. She hadn’t paid any mind to the leering looks guys had been sending her since she arrived, but none of them had approached her while she and Mason talked. Now she was defenseless.

“I’m Bryan. Whas your name?” he asked. He was looking at her, but his eyes were extremely out of focus—he seemed to have a hard time just sitting up!

“Olivia,” she responded slowly, keeping a wary eye on him, he looked like he was about to topple over her!

“Olive, thas pretty,” he murmured, swaying in his seat. Olivia looked up, biting her lip, hopelessly wondering if there was anyone around that could save her. To her surprise, there was. A boy even taller than the one that had sat down next to her approached them and set his large, firm hand on the other boy’s shoulder.

“Alright buddy, I think you’re at your limit. You come here with anyone?” The drunk boy pointed around, making the other guy shake his head before hauling him to his feet and escorting him out of the room—she lost sight of them.

But when she looked again, there was another boy sitting next to her. She silently huffed—this is why she hated parties, especially ones that involved alcohol! “It’s sad when they get that out of control,” he was saying, staring after the two boys she had been looking at.

“Yea,” she let out in a breath, tucking a strand of honey-brown hair behind her ear.

“I’m Max.”

“Olivia,” she replied with a tight smile.

“Nice to meet you Olivia,” he stated. He looked at her for a moment before saying, “Sorry if this forward, but do you want to dance?”

Olivia eyed him for a moment but shook her head. “I’m not much of a dancer,” she responded, trying to be as polite as possible in her mission to get rid of him.

“Aw come on, you can’t come to a party and just sit on a couch all night. That’s such a waste of such a fine body,” he groaned, eyeing her up and down. Olivia felt her skin crawl and subconsciously tugged the short skirt Jamie had forced her into down her thighs.

“No thanks,” she tried again, shaking her head and looking away from him. She caught Nick’s eye again—his eyebrows were creased as he watched them.

“Ugh, whatever,” Max grumbled before getting up and walking off to the next unsuspecting girl.

Olivia heaved a heavy sigh and gnawed on her inner cheek, her throat suddenly constricting. She felt so out of her element. There was a reason she didn’t like parties—not that she had ever been in situations where guys had leered at her…that had never happened before—but she didn’t like being in uncomfortable situations and parties always ended up being uncomfortable situations. Whether they were twelve year old sleep overs or college parties, she just couldn’t seem to belong in them.

“Looks like boys just won’t leave you alone tonight, huh?” She looked up and saw the second boy that took away the first smiling down at her—way, way down. He sat down to even out the obvious height difference. “That first one was out of line,” he added.

“Yea. Thanks for that, by the way,” she said, shoving her hair out of her face again.

“Not a problem. It’s my job around here. Most guys don’t want to mess with me when they see me coming,” he shrugged off her gratitude.

“Oh, you live here?” she asked, still wary of all guys, though this one didn’t seem so bad.

“Yea, I do. And as a host, I am obligated to ask, do you want another drink? Yours looks like it’s getting low.”

She looked down at her nearly empty cup. She had been taking small sips of the water to make it look like she was drinking, but this guy didn’t know what was in her cup and she didn’t want to look stupid if he brought back an alcoholic drink and she refused to drink it. “Oh, no, I’m okay, thanks,” she replied in a feeble voice.

“Ok. How about a dance then?” he asked. Her body instantly tensed, thinking of the other boy that had asked her to dance and how angry he had seemed when she denied him.

“N-no thanks,” she stuttered, her breath hitching in her throat. This boy had wrapped his arm around the back of her seat, leaning dangerously close to her.

“A tour of the upstairs then?” he whispered huskily, his breath fanning against her neck, sending a shiver down her spine—and not in a good way. His breath reeked of alcohol and the arm that wasn’t behind her was resting on her exposed thigh. She gulped and eyed it as it rubbed her thigh.

“Dude, get your hands off my girlfriend,” a familiar voice sounded, cold menace dripping from it. The guy, who hadn’t even given her a name, instantly pulled away and Olivia looked up at her savior. She may have been pissed at him these past few weeks, but she had never felt happier to see Nick Jonas in her life.

“What?” the other guy mumbled dumbly.

“I said: get your hands off my girlfriend,” Nick repeated slowly, as if he were talking to a toddler. The guy seemed hesitant at first, but then he looked at her and she was sure he saw the blatant relief and adoration she had for Nick at that moment that he stood up and backed away without saying a word.

“Thank you,” Olivia sighed with relief as Nick sat down next to her. She shook her head at him when he offered her a red cup.

“It’s just water,” he assured. “And I bet it’s cooler than the one you’ve been drinking all night,” he stated, his lips twitching as he fought a smirk. Olivia eyed him warily before taking the cup and taking a gracious sip.

Nick had been surprised when he saw her arrive with a rather large group for a fraternity house—they were usually very picky about the people they let in; you had to know someone who lived here, otherwise there was no way you were getting in. But regardless of how she got in, the fact that Olivia Chadwicke was at a frat party had blown his mind—and that was before his male mind registered the outfit she was wearing. Her lower half was covered in a short, black skirt that looked like it was painted on, a loose orange tunic exposing a large portion of her back, and black high heeled boots that came up to her ankles. He had never, ever in his life imagined he’d ever see Olivia dressed like that, leading him to believe one of the friends she had arrived with had leant her the outfit. But his buzzed mind couldn’t complain—who would have thought a body like that was hiding underneath all the layers she wore?

She could hide behind the clothes, but he knew her, and every time he looked over, she looked uncomfortable in her own skin…especially when the friend she had been talking to left her defenseless against the hormonal guys that had been staring at her all night. She had been able to avoid the advances of the first two, but when the third one started touching her, she looked like she was going to have an anxiety attack, so he came to her rescue (which a part of him had been itching to do all night).

“I have to say, I never thought I’d see you at a college party; let alone a frat party,” he stated after a while, leaning close enough that she could hear him over the music but far enough away that she’d still be comfortable.

“It’s one of my quadmates’ birthdays. And another one has a brother who lives here,” she responded, raising her voice as well. Well, that explained that matter.

“Clearly you’re not comfortable being here, so why?” he asked.

She shrugged. “Chris wouldn’t take no for an answer,” she replied. “What about you? Where’s Serena?” she asked, her tone a little less casual than she had hoped for. Olivia had noticed that she hadn’t seen Serena all night and was extremely curious as to where she was.

“Not here. I’m here with my roommate and a few friends,” he responded, motioning to the dance floor—Olivia saw a couple of the guys she had seen him standing in the kitchen with. She bobbed her head in a nod of acknowledgment. She didn’t look at him after that and just continued to watch the people dancing around the living room they were in. She may have been grateful for him getting rid of that last guy, but that didn’t change how she felt about him. For all she knew, he could have gotten up and left, but she knew he hadn’t because no other guys were approaching her…and she could still feel his body heat next to her.

Nick had leaned back against the back of the sofa and watched as she sat with her back perfectly straight, perched at the edge of the couch as she people watched. He knew he was slightly buzzed (he was only sipping on his fourth beer and had pre-gamed a little before leaving) but he couldn’t help the confusion he was feeling, sitting there staring at her exposed back. He felt extremely curious about her—something he had never felt before in all the years he’s known her.

“So tell me, exactly what sorts of lines were all those guys using on you?” he asked, his lips right against the back of her ear. Her cheeks instantly flooded with color, and despite her plan to ignore him for the rest of the night, she answered his question. And from then on it was history. He laughed at their lame and rude attempts to make a move on her and even got her to laugh about them too. Then their topic of conversation changed, and then it changed again, and soon enough Nick Jonas and Olivia Chadwicke were having their first real conversation and laughing like they were old friends.

Olivia was amazed at how easily he got her to loosen up with his unique sense of humor, something he had always been able to wield against her, whether he knew it or not. And Nick found himself feeling flabbergasted—he had never spoken with Olivia like this before. He was blown away at how much he enjoyed it! He enjoyed spending time with Olivia Chadwicke!

Neither one of them realized how long they had been sitting on that couch talking until Jamie showed up in front of them; teetering on her heels (they had all worn heels out, even Olivia, despite her protests). “Livvvvv,” Jamie called. “The keg is kicked. We’re leaving.”

“What does that even mean?” Olivia mumbled to herself, getting up to follow Jamie who had dashed to the door.

“It means they’re out of beer here. People usually go to other parties when that happens, but it’s getting late, so,” Nick stated from behind her, having gotten up to follow her.

“So I should round up the crazy mess I call friends and get them back to our rooms,” Olivia responded making it to the hallway. She looked both ways and saw the group she came with walking out the front door along with the rest of the people that remained at the party. Olivia hastened her step to go after them but when she got outside, she couldn’t find them—everyone that had been walking out the door was suddenly running in a mad dash and she heard people yelling ‘cops’! She stood on the porch, paralyzed with fear at the sound of that word, as people bumped into her in their dash to get away. She saw cops running out from a house next door as well and her heart hammered in her chest—she couldn’t move her feet!

And suddenly they were moving. And a warm hand was wrapped firmly around her wrist, tugging her into the mess of scattering bodies. She looked up and realized it was Nick. He had a determined look on his face and was running too fast for her to keep up with him, especially in the three inch heels she was wearing. But he ran his hand down until it was clasped firmly around hers and tightened that hold, making sure they didn’t lose each other in the scramble. He jerked her arm all of a sudden and they squeezed in between two houses, the dark space so narrow their chests were right against each other, each heavy breath transferred through their bodies.

“What’s going on?” Olivia asked breathlessly, resting her head against the back of the house to look up at Nick. He didn’t look as scared and confused as she felt, but then again, he had done this before and she hadn’t.

“Cops troll the streets and bust parties all the time. Frat parties are different because they usually get licenses to throw parties, so cops can’t bust them, but apparently the house next door was being busted, and since everyone left the house we were at, they were fair game,” he explained.

“Fair game?” Olivia whispered.

Nick nodded. “Yea, if you get caught, you get cited. Drinking underage is illegal you know,” he replied, his tone teasing. Olivia didn’t feel like this was a humorous situation, however. She was nearly caught! Then something occurred to her.

“But I wasn’t drinking, so I couldn’t have gotten in trouble,” she explained.

Nick looked down and shook his head. “You were around underage drinking, so you would still have gotten in trouble,” he explained.

“That’s so unfair,” she gasped. Nick shrugged and gave her a meek smile. Cops tended to be assholes, regardless of how innocent you were in a situation. And Olivia had just been standing there, moments from being captured by a cop running up the alley next to the porch. He didn’t tell her about the surge of fear that shot through him when he saw the scene play before his eyes. “So, have you been caught yet?” she asked curiously, adrenaline now pumping through her.

Nick fought the smirk that threatened to form on his lips at her curiosity, even though he suspected she didn’t approve of his habits. “I tend to find an escape route as soon as I get to a house, just in case,” he stated. “So, no. But then again I’ve never had to use them—this is the first time cops have shown up to a party I was at,” he added.

“Oh,” she breathed, out, her breath hitting his face. He took in a shaky breath and looked towards the street; he couldn’t hear much shouting or scurrying feet anymore, so he wiggled his way out from around Olivia and walked over to the opening leading out to the street. The coast was clear, so he motioned for Olivia to follow him.

“Is…is it okay if I walk you back to your dorm? I don’t…I mean, I wouldn’t want you walking alone around these parts,” he mumbled as they ambled down the street.

“Oh, yea, that’s fine,” she agreed. This was the Nick Jonas she knew Denise raised—a gentleman who walked a girl back to her room.

Their walk was quiet for the most part until they reached her room. She put her key in the slot and turned it; opening the door, being greeted by darkness…Carrie wasn’t back yet. Hopefully none of her friends got caught in the scramble! She flipped the light on and turned to face Nick to thank him for all his help. He had been letting a group of people walk past him, meaning he was pressed close to her when she turned around, her nose barely grazing his neck. She took a quick step back, and looked up at him, neither one of them saying anything about the awkwardly intimate moment. Olivia’s breath hitched in her throat—if this were a movie, Nick would lean forward and press his lips to hers: they had spent the entire night talking and he had even saved her from getting in trouble…it was plausible. But of course this was real life, and in real life Nick Jonas wrapped his arms around her in a blink-and-you-missed-it hug, pulling away with a small smile.

“Night Liv,” he murmured before turning.

The adrenaline must have still been pumping through her, because Olivia made a bold decision and latched onto his firm forearm, preventing him from walking away. “Uhm, would you mind staying with me for a little while longer? At least till my quadmates get back? I’m still kind of shook up about…about tonight,” she mumbled.

Nick gave her another small smile but didn’t even hesitate in agreeing like she thought he would. Carrie never came home that night and Nick ended up falling asleep on Liv’s bed with her while they waited, talking every now and then to pass the time. Olivia curling up next to him in his sleep woke him up a few hours later. Her arm was resting on his chest and her head on his shoulder. He sat up a bit straighter and then stilled, fearing he’d wake her. When she didn’t stir again, he relaxed. The digital clock next to her bed read a little past five in the morning. He knew he should have gotten up and left—this was hardly appropriate—he and Liv didn’t have this kind of relationship! But she looked so peaceful with her honey brown hair covering her left eye, the sweet color reflecting her personality, and the dimpled smile that remained on her face as she dozed on. He would wake her up if he got up to leave, so with that excuse in mind, he stayed put and drifted back to sleep. He’d worry about the awkwardness in the morning.