Love's Not A Competition

I quickly ran to Brittney’s dorm room after I had showered and changed out of my gym clothes. She was putting on some makeup, getting ready for tonight. I didn’t say anything as I walked into her closet and looked through her dresses. I picked out a good one, cherry red, clingy and low cut. Her eyes widened as I came out wearing it.

“Are you trying to impress someone?” she asked.
“Do you think it will work?”
“Heck yes! If his mouth doesn’t drop open then there is something wrong with him.”
I smiled shyly and did my hair. I left it out, Brittney said I didn’t want to overdo it or it will look like I was trying too hard. I made Brittney change into a dress so I wouldn’t look out of place and we walked down to the lounge where we were all meeting. Eric was the only one there and his eyebrows shot up when he saw us.

“Wow, when’d you get that?” he asked.
“Oh this old thing, I’ve had it for years,” I said, smiling at him innocently.
“No wonder, it looks a little tight,” Brittney joked.
Eric had no idea what we were talking about and we didn’t clue him in. Katie was the next to arrive in just jeans and a t-shirt.
“I feel a little underdressed; I thought we were just going to the movies.”
“We are but we felt like we should spice it up a little.”

She nodded and we continued waiting for the other two. Aidan looked Brittney up and down before smirking. He wrapped his arm around her waist, pulling her against him like he was telling everyone that she was his and no one else could have her. Zeke was five minutes late and I saw him first as he walked into the lounge. I was standing slightly behind everyone so he didn’t get a good look at me when he walked over. I stepped out from behind Eric, making sure he was looking at me and nearly smirked when his eyes skimmed over me.

“Evening, Zeke,” I smiled.

He coughed and his eyes went blank. Two could play that game, I thought to myself. I thread my arm through Eric’s and I led him away, making our way outside. We decided to walk since the movie theatre was only a few blocks away from the dorm building.
I don’t know how it happened but I ended up sitting between Eric and Zeke. Aidan and Brittney were beside Eric while Katie sat on the other side of Zeke. I couldn’t even watch the movie, my whole body was buzzing from sitting so close to Zeke. His arm was against mine as we shared the same armrest, making my skin crawl. His face moved closer.

“I know what you are trying to do,” he breathed in my ear.
“I don’t know what you are talking about,” I whispered back.

I could see his smirk in the dark as he moved away. He took his arm off the armrest and placed his other arm over Katie’s shoulders. I sighed inwardly, feeling jealous despite myself. We walked back to the dorms, stopping for ice-cream. Brittney winked at me before I closed the door to my dorm room. Zeke went straight to the bathroom and I sat on the top bed, we had swapped back last Sunday night. My legs dangled over the side as I sat forward slightly, thinking. My plan hadn’t worked and he probably thought I was a little girl trying to play dress up. Zeke came out of the bathroom wearing nothing but pajama bottoms. My whole body seemed to sigh at the sight of him.

“Jasmine, you’re staring,” he smirked.
I looked away, a light blush covering my cheeks. He climbed up the ladder and sat beside me.
“I want to say something,” he said.
“What?”
“Are you not okay with me dating Katie?” he asked.
“I didn’t know you two were dating.”
“We aren’t but I was thinking of asking her, unless you don’t want me to.”
“Why should my opinion matter? I don’t care who you date. What? Did you think I liked you or something?”
“No, I was just checking.”

He jumped to the ground and I walked into the bathroom so I could change for bed. Why did he even care about what I thought? Did he know I liked him and was trying to warn me before he went out with someone else? It was all too confusing.

My head was pounding the next morning. I felt like I had a hangover without the alcohol. I heard Zeke leave for breakfast but rolled over and went back to sleep.

Brittney shook me awake. I felt horrible. My head was still pounding and my throat felt like sandpaper whenever I talked. I sat up reluctantly and Brittney made me eat some lunch she had brought up to me.

“I have cheerleading practice soon, will you be alright?” she asked.
I nodded and she hugged me before leaving. Eric visited me about ten minutes later. He sat by my feet as he chatted away about anything and everything. I listened patiently, wondering if I had ever heard him talk so much. He was just explaining some of the rules of football when Zeke walked into the room.

“You sure are lazy today,” he said to me.
“She’s sick,” Eric said, defending me.

Zeke smirked before grabbing a book and sitting down on his own bed to read. Eric started where he had left off and I tried to hold back an eye roll. He only stayed for another half an hour. I groaned and rolled onto my stomach, wondering if this would last until tomorrow. I hoped it was only a twenty four hour thing.

“Do you need anything?”

I looked up to see Zeke staring at me. He was standing on the bottom bed so he could see me properly. I shook my head and coughed loudly, slightly embarrassed.

Later that night I was freezing. My whole body was shivering even though I had two blankets and a comforter. My throat was getting worse, making me cough more. I could hear Zeke tossing and turning restlessly below me and knew he was getting annoyed. His head popped up and we stared at each other before he started to climb up the ladder. I watched with wide eyes, unable to speak, as he crawled over to me and pulled the blankets back. He lay down beside me before pulling the covers up over the two of us.

“What?” I managed to say.
“You’re cold and we don’t have any more blankets. Besides, if you are going to keep me up all night it may as well be for a good reason.”

Good reason? What was he talking about? Was he enjoying this? My nose was pushed against his chest, I was squished up against the wall and my whole body ached but I didn’t care. He was holding me and I could feel my body starting to warm up. My eyelids finally fluttered close and I fell asleep with a small smile on my face.