Stubborn

The music was loud, yet soft enough to speak over. I sat across from Emma and Aaron in the bar, my head swivelling from side to side, marvelling out how different this was compared to the club. This was my place. Humid rooms with half naked bodies everywhere kind of disgusted me now that I thought about it. A bar was sanitary and let you have your own space. Emma’s hand was in Aaron’s as they took simultaneous swigs of their beer.

“Do you always have to invite them when we go out?” The ‘them’ I was referring to were the few guys from the Pittsburgh team that usually agreed to a night out in the town. Aaron tended to become a little obsessed when he met new friends. Soon, he’d move on to others and they would be our go-to bar buddies. It’s not that I minded the guys from the team...well, not all of them. Just seeing Jordan made a rage bubble inside of me that I didn’t even know existed. I was a realist, but he brought me back even further into reality; the reality that guys pretty much got to do whatever they wanted and were still adored. The reality that women were considered stuck up. I hated it.

“They always get us tickets for the games,” Aaron said and Emma nodded in agreement. “The least we could do is ask them to come out with us.”

I folded my arms over my chest and leaned back in the wooden chair. The doors of the bar swung open, revealing a few of the guys from the team, and Jordan. Of course Jordan had come. He walked behind Tyler Kennedy as they all came and sat at the long table we had saved. Suddenly, the room had grown a lot louder. I scooted over with my chair, allowing enough room for all of the guys to fit. Once Jordan sat across from me with that cocky smile, I stood up and walked to the bar. A few drinks would definitely calm my nerves down a bit. I asked for a beer, and then scanned the room before noticing Jordan walk up to me. I sighed and turned to grab my beer.

“You kinda look like a loner here,” he said, leaning against the wooden bar frame. I leaned back too, our stances mimicking each other, and stared out at nothing in particular.

“I like being in peace and quiet,” I replied. Not my best comeback.

He chuckled softly, his husky voice near my ear. “Well, it’s a good thing you came to a bar then,” he said sarcastically. I took a swig of beer. “Did you get the book I left you?”

“Yeah,” I said simply. “Thanks.” My thanks might have sounded a little tight and unnatural, but it was the best I could do. I looked out to the other end of the bar, noticing a guy looking at me. All my life I’d never had guys falling all over themselves for me and now that Jordan comes along I can’t keep them away. Was this some guy to guy sonar? The more I pulled away from Jordan, the more I pushed my way towards them?

“Aren’t you going to go say hi?” Jordan said with a hint of bemusement in his tone. I looked at him, scowled, then turned around to face the bartender who seemed almost too involved in cleaning glasses. “The bet’s still going on.” As if I’d forgotten. That was the primary reason why I didn’t like going out these days. “At least smile.” With a sigh, I turned around to the guy and gave a small smile, knowing that Jordan wouldn’t leave me alone if I didn’t. “That wasn’t so hard, was it?”

“That was probably one of the hardest things I’ve ever done,” I mumbled with my lips against the mouth of the bottle and Jordan chuckled. “So,” I began, hoping to change the subject. Jordan shifted, as though anticipating what I had to say. “You seemed to leave a strong impression on Casey.” I smirked, knowing that Casey was still probably trying to figure out who Jordan was.

Jordan ran a hand through his hair and asked the bartender for a beer. “I could say the same about you.” I looked at him, searching his face for any hint of a lie. “You should have seen his face light up when I asked for you.” He took a sip of his beer and turned his head towards me. His hair was different today. As opposed to its casual messiness, today it had a hint of gel in it, keeping it up in a neat style. His eyes glimmered with the lights above the bar. “And you should have seen it fall when I said I had a present for you.”

I gave him a swift slap against his bicep. “You’re horrible.”

He swayed to the side a little, laughing as he did so. “I’ve never seen a dude’s expression change so fast,” he said, still laughing. “It was like I told him his dog died.”

I pursed my lips at him. “How about we agree not to get involved with anyone in each other’s lives?” I asked, hopefully. “This bet is stupid enough as it is, we don’t need to drag others into it too.”

Jordan just smiled. “Looks like it’s a little late for that.” I furrowed my brow, not sure what he was talking about. I followed his gaze over my shoulder at the two men approaching us. One of them was the guy I had reluctantly smiled at. Jordan slid a little farther away from me, as though indicating that he and I weren’t together.

“Hi,” said the one guy.

I smiled meekly, unsure of what to do. “Hi.”

He flashed a perfect smile and quickly looked at his friend before meeting my gaze again. “We were just wondering which on us you were smiling at.” My mouth fell open slightly. Great! As if smiling at one of them wasn’t hard enough, now I had two lost puppies that wanted a bed to sleep in tonight.

I looked over at Jordan who seemed to be trying to hold back his laughter. He gave me a look, indicating that I knew what he wanted me to say with this stupid bet going on. I sucked in a deep breath and turned back to the guys. “Uh...both of you.” It felt like a punch in that gut saying that. Both the guys smiled and looked over at Jordan, thinking up ways to kill him and make it look like an accident.

~

My eyes stung as I awoke the next morning, most likely from the little sleep I had gotten. As I flipped the covers off of me and staggered to the washroom, I made a mental note to never go out on a weekday. Whoever said Thursdays were the new Friday were seriously mistaken. Almost in a haze, I brushed my teeth, combed my hair and got dressed for my three hour class. Luckily, this class wasn’t too far from my dorm so I could easily leave ten minutes before and make it on time.

Emma was fast asleep in her bed next to mine; the covers bunched up over her head. She didn’t have class all day. The lucky bitch. I gave the room one last look, making sure I hadn’t forgotten anything, then picked up my binder and walked out. The morning sun was bright, making me feel slightly more awake. The air was crisp and cool. I breathed it in slowly then began walking through the quad to the sidewalk. Just when I thought my morning was starting to get better, I noticed Jordan walking towards the dorms with his hands in his pockets and a tuque covering his blonde locks.

Determination and anger overtook me and I marched towards him, the binder tight in my grasp. Once he saw me he smiled slightly. I continued forward until I reached him then gave him a hard slap on the arm. Sure, I might show up to class late, but physically injuring Jordan was definitely worth it.

He cringed slightly and moved his arm away from me. “You’ve gotta stop doing that,” he moaned.

“You’re an asshole,” I replied sharply.

“What?”

“Thanks to you,” I began, raising my hand to give him another slap, but thought better of it and put it down, “I almost ended up in a threesome last night.”

Jordan flashed a broad smile. “You’re welcome.”

I shook my head, hopelessly, and ran a hand through my hair, flipping my bangs to the other side. Nothing you could say to Jordan would faze him or make him feel guilty. I licked my lips then looked over at my dorm. “Aaron’s not at my place,” I said through gritted teeth.

Jordan looked at my dorm then back at me. “Oh.” I spun around and began walking to my class, only to feel his presence directly behind me. “Come on,” he said and I ignored him. “You can’t tell me you aren’t having fun acting like a guy.”

“I’m not,” I snapped, looking over my shoulder at him. He increased his speed so that he was now walking next to me. “Why is it that when girls act like that they’re considered sluts, but when guys do it they’re called players? A praise-worthy term.” I looked at him, wishing he had an answer that would make me feel better.

He just smiled and took off his hat; his hair in disarray. “Are you worried about your reputation?” Of course I was. What kind of question was that? But I wouldn’t let him know that something like this fazed me.
Instead, I said, “I just hate falling under the stereotype; that girls have to be delicate and fragile and unable to open their own doors.” Our footsteps were kept in sync as we continued down the brick pathway to my lecture hall.

“Speaking of,” he said and I turned to look at him. He grinned. “Carry your books?” He stretched out his hand and looked down at my binder. When I didn’t say anything or make a motion to hand it to him, he nodded once, indicating I should just give it to him. I just sighed and gave him the binder.

“This is ridiculous,” I said. Two girls walked passed us, both looking Jordan up and down with giant smiles on their faces. He gave them a look and winked. I rolled my eyes. This seemed like a daily routine with him. “Don’t you have practice or something?”

He turned back to me. “Most girls would consider it an honour to have me walking them to class.”

I shrugged. “Well, I’m not most girls.”

“I know,” he replied simply. I turned my face to look at his, searching for any mocking smile or sarcastic eyebrow cock. There was nothing. I stared in front of me, unsure of what to say.

We continued walking until I stopped in front of the grey building. Jordan stopped with me and turned his body so that it was directly in front of mine. “This is my class,” I said meekly. He nodded and stared down at me. His eyes seemed extremely blue in the sunlight, like something you would see in a paint store. Unnatural.

He licked his lips then ruffled his hair slightly. “You know, for someone who hates me, you really seem to enjoy my company.”

“And what makes you say that?” I asked with a scoff.

“That goofy smile on your face,” he replied. I immediately let my face fall, realizing that it was, in fact, in a goofy smile. This wasn’t good.

“Okay, well I gotta go,” I ran my hand through my hair nervously. Just then, I felt a hand on my shoulder, urging me to turn around. Once I did, I noticed Lindsey, a girl I had met my first week of school. What could be said about Lindsey other than she was a friend that I didn’t like. She was one of those people that was nice on the surface, yet somehow sneaky and mean beneath it all. Even though she never said anything to my face, I knew she judged me from time to time. “Hey...” I dragged out the last letter as a fake smile spread on my lips. She smiled at me quickly then looked over at Jordan. I narrowed my eyes, realizing her expression, and frowned. I knew what she was thinking probably sooner than Jordan did. I looked over at him as he gave her a friendly smile. “This is my friend Lindsey,” I said, beginning the introductions. “Lindsey, Jordan.” Jordan stuck out his hand to shake hers and she obliged with a broad smile.

This wasn’t allowed to happen. Lindsey wasn’t allowed to just waltz in and throw herself at Jordan. It was like she never had any consideration for others. What if Jordan and I were dating? Shouldn’t she have at least asked or waited before turning on her seduction. Lindsey’s boy craziness was really starting to get on my nerves.

“You’re from the Penguins, right?” Lindsey asked, her voice somehow going up a few octaves to sound more feminine.

Jordan smiled and nodded. “Yeah. Do you watch hockey?”

Lindsey twirled a strand of mousy brown hair between her fingers. “Oh, yeah. All the time.” Lies! I knew it, she knew it. This was what Lindsey did; agreed to everything a guy liked just to date him. It all came crumbling down in the end as the lies unfolded, but I wasn’t going to let it get that far. Sure, Jordan was a cocky bastard that loved to annoy me. And sure, we tended to spend more time together arguing rather than actually getting to know each other. But he was my annoying, anger-inducing, cocky bastard.

“That’s cool,” he replied then flashed his gaze towards me. I wondered what shade of red I had begun turning. “I should probably let you guys get to class.” From the corner of my eye, I noticed Lindsey bite her lip and cross her arms over her chest, making her breast more visible in her v-neck shirt. “I’ll see you later,” he said to me as he handed back my binder. Lindsey watched as he gave me my books, as though surprised I’d have that much contact with him. I gave her a surreptitious look then, without hesitation, I stood on my toes, wrapped my hand around the back of Jordan’s head, and pulled his face towards mine. Our lips met and I immediately felt his hands shoot up to my hips, pulling me into him. Even though this went against everything I was or said to Jordan, it felt good knowing that Lindsey was probably watching us with her mouth hanging open.

His lips were warm and comforting in the chilly air, making all of this a lot easier. I parted his lips with mine, adding to the faux passion that was supposed to show between Jordan and I. Somehow, he had managed to slip his tongue into my mouth, making it all that more believable. To say that I completely hated what was going on would have been a bit of a fabrication. Kissing was always nice, even if it was with someone that tended to get on my nerves. And his good looks didn’t hurt either. If I could suspend reality and forget – for a moment – everything that Jordan and I had been though, then I could actually make this kiss look completely and undeniably real.

Finally, with all the breath from my lungs gone, I pulled away and slid my hands out of Jordan’s shaggy hair. I stared up at him for a moment and noticed his blue eyes boring into mine with an intensity I never thought I’d see behind his mischievous exterior. I turned to Lindsey. “Are you ready to go to class?” Lindsey just nodded, lost for words, and began walking to the doors. I smiled triumphantly then snuck a glance at Jordan. Chewing on his bottom lip, he rubbed the back of his neck and waved slightly. At that particular moment, as heat began rushing to my ears and cheeks, it was difficult to say that what just happened didn’t feel real.



Banner by candykat101 on quizilla