Irresistible

When Aiden had cleaned himself up and gotten changed into a fresh pair of clothes, he stepped out of the room with Charlie and slipped his key in his pocket. Charlie led him through a discussion of his hopes for the next year, academically and romantically, and how he planned to achieve the goals he had set. When asked about his own, Aiden didn’t know what to say; his only target was to graduate an A student, and to impress his family. Aiden’s personality had been altered drastically since his leave of high school, and now that everything seemed a lot more real to him, and all of his dreams didn’t look to be so out of reach, he knew he had to start taking his life seriously and immediately following his arrival during his first year of University, his attitude began to change to that of a man in the making. Aiden had grown up, and even thought his sisters didn’t like to admit it, they saw it too.

Charlie and Aiden took the elevator down fourteen floors until they landed on the ground floor and stepped out into the now calm entrance way. Some new students were still trying to get up to their rooms with anything they had left in their cars, but there was no longer a line-up leading out onto the street. The two boys exited through the back doors walked into the quad, where groups of students, new and returning, chatted and laughed and enjoyed the performances of last year’s intermediate band.

“Well, at least it’s not as much of a zoo as it was last year,” Charlie observed.

“That’s probably because everyone’s at the carnival,” a deep voice from behind jumped in and when they turned around, they came face to face with their three other good friends, Dean McAlister, Chaz Whitfield and Aaron Bustamante. The voice belonged to Dean, a fellow athletics major that had been Charlie’s closest roommate in his first year. Chaz and Aaron were both in different programs as Charlie and Aiden, but they became friends from living on the same floor and sharing the complaints of the excessive noise and hands-on female drinkers that roamed the halls at night after student parties. Aaron and Chaz were very scholarly and erudite, so they weren’t nearly as outgoing as Dean or Charlie tended to be but since they were all boys that enjoyed pizza, video games and women, bonding was no problem at all. Over the years, their differences just brought them that much closer because they were so diverse that they always seemed to learn things from each other that they could bring home. Aiden couldn’t list all the things Aaron had taught him on his fingers and toes combined, because there were too many. In addition to taking the same courses in University, Dean and Charlie had known each other since their high school years, so getting into the same post-secondary institute was just a bonus.

“Hey!” Charlie laughed, giving his friend a handshake and then a hug. “I haven’t seen you all summer, man. Where did you disappear off to?” he asked him.

“Oh you know, I was around,” Dean grinned. “Travelled Europe with my family, so I went to Italy, Spain, Vatican City, Switzerland . . . it was great, and man are there ever some hot chicks there.”

“I can imagine,” Charlie agreed, giving his friend an impressed nod. Aiden should have joined the conversation then and talked about how he’d love to be as free-spirited and sexually liberated as they were—and wasn’t that how he was supposed to be thinking at his age?—but he couldn’t do so because his mindset was the complete opposite of theirs. They could handle getting together for a short period of time with numerous women but Aiden refused to let himself do so. If he was going to meet a girl and be with her, it would be official and it wouldn’t be for less than four months unless the girl was the one to call it off. What was the point of getting to know a woman only for the purpose of having a quick talk—at which point he would learn nothing whatsoever because he would be staring at her breasts or wondering what she looked like naked—and then hooking up with her in a public bathroom or somewhere much less traditional or romantic? As much as Aiden wanted to be like the other guys in his group and have the same way of thinking as they did, he had too much respect for the female population. Living with a stepmother and two sisters who brought their friends over all the time had taught him all about it over the years, and now it was drilled in his brain that anything less than a full-fledged commitment was disrespectful.

Aiden kept his mouth shut while his four friends described their summer encounters with beach goddesses and the girls next door, and shoved his hands in the back pockets of his navy jeans. He looked around the open courtyard for a few minutes but suddenly, his eyes were drawn to a creature of impeccable beauty. A girl. Long brown hair, wide smile, green eyes; it wasn’t just Aiden’s head she had turning. She was fairly tall, more legs than midsection, and sun-touched skin that glistened in the light. She threw her head back and laughed at what her female friend had said to her and touched her arm in a friendly manner. Finally, she looked up and spotted Aiden, who was embarrassed to have been caught staring at her so obviously. The girl smiled to herself, flattered and turned back to her friend to continue their conversation.

Aiden had never seen her before, but if he hadn’t been caught in the act, he surely would have watched her for even longer just to take in how stunning she was. Not once had he laid eyes on someone who had such an effect on him, one that literally left him breathless. He had a feeling that would be his only encounter with her, however short and without words. Because really, how could he ever have a chance with a girl like that?



Aiden grabbed a drink from one of the volunteers handing out beverages to those with money, and thanked them for it. Just as he was turning around, he saw the girl stepping through the crowd. She waved at the people she recognized and said hello to the others that were within hearing distance. Aiden felt his heartbeat speed up unexpectedly and took a deep breath. He didn’t even know her name and yet she was having this effect on him? He felt silly. He started to walk past her, nearly safe until she stopped and put her hand on the side of his arm. His skin burned from the contact.

“Hey, you’re Aiden Hawthorn right?” she asked him with that warm smile of hers that he had only witnessed from a distance. He was shocked, rendered almost without any proper knowledge of how to form a sentence. She actually knew of him? “I’ve read your articles in the school newspaper for the past three years and I have to say . . . you’re a fantastic journalist.”

His response was stuttered. “You, uhm . . . I’m sorry, I don’t know you.”

A look of self-idiocy came across her face. “Right, I’m being very rude. I’m Joanne.” She offered her hand to him, which he generously took to shake. “You’re probably wondering how I knew your name and face.” He nodded. “You’re fairly close with Aaron Bustamante, right?”

“You know Aaron?” he asked.

“He’s my brother’s best friend from childhood, actually so I know him pretty well,” she replied. “When I asked him if he knew who you were, he just pointed you out of the crowd. It was last year though, so it was a little harder to recognize you this time around . . . you’ve gotten taller.”

“Oh.” Aiden chuckled, knowing this was his opportunity to say something clever and witty. “Yeah, I’ve really changed since last year.” Nice move, smartass, he thought sarcastically to himself. He felt ridiculous, until Joanne’s laugh rang out through the silence and that sound alone made him forget about his own stupidity.

“Well I just really wanted to introduce myself. It was nice to meet you, Aiden,” she said and walked past him. It was then that he realized he had forgotten something.

“Hey!” he called to her and she looked over her shoulder. “I don’t get a last name?” Joanne only winked, before she disappeared into the crowd. Aiden frowned and walked back to his friends, who were sitting down on the grey bricks around a blue ash tree. Aiden sat beside Aaron, determined to get some answers. He nudged him and got his attention.

“What can you tell me about that girl?” Aiden asked him, pointing to Joanne across the quad.

“Oh.” Aaron put his drink down and rubbed the palms of his hands on his thighs. “That’s Joanne Moutavelis. You don’t know her?” Aiden shook his head and Aaron pursed his lips, preparing for an explanation. “She’s asked about you a few times. She’s really interested in your writing. Apparently you’ve got a fan. Anyway, she’s actually a pretty big name around here. She’s a psychology major, and really good at getting into people’s heads. But guys kneel at her feet just to get a date with her. You have no idea how many times she’s turned them down. No one knows why but she will not accept an offer for it. She barely even has friends that are boys. I’d stay away from that one, if I were you.”

He could have guessed that Aaron’s warning was with good reason, but that didn’t stop Aiden from getting curious. He was still a guy, and after all, everyone experiments in University.