Chapter 80

Chapter 4 A pair of arms suddenly wrapped around my waist while I was standing in the university quad, looking at my phone. I nearly jumped at the sudden contact, but I was used to Grayson doing it unexpectedly. "So," he said, resting his chin on my shoulder. "There's this party tonight..." "Another one?" I interrupted. "This is, like, the third party in two weeks." "That's university," he said. "So, want to go?" I sighed. "Grayson, I told you, I'm not a party person. That and I have homework to do." "Already?" Grayson asked. "Yeah," I said. "I have a huge assignment that's due in two days and I plan on doing a whole lot of it tonight." "Just one party?" Grayson asked. "It's supposed to be the best party ever and I want to go with my girl with me." I sighed again. "Grayson, I seriously can't. If I don't do any of the work tonight, I'll be really stressed tomorrow and when I'm stressed, I can't get anything done." Grayson walked around me and stood in front of me, taking my hands in his. "Oh, alright. At least you're taking university seriously. Would you mind if I go?" "No," I said. "Like I said, I have a huge assignment, so it won't be like we can do anything together. But... Don't you have the same assignment? It's for Intro to Biology." "I started during a break I had," he said. "I'll finish it tomorrow. Well, I have the my last class of the day to get to. I'll see you at home." He kissed my check before heading off to the university building. I had some time to kill before I wanted to start working on the assignment, so I decided to head to the cafe Grayson was always talking about. Surprisingly, I had never been there yet even though it was between my apartment and the university. I walked in, being greeted by the sweet aroma of freshly baked cookies. This was definitely going to be the new cafe Grayson and I went to, especially because it was walking distance from our home. The other one we used to go to was a long drive. After getting my order, I sat down at one of the tables and pulled my laptop out of my bag. I knew I didn't plan on starting for a while, but there was really nothing else to do. And the more I got done today, the less I had to do the day before it was due. "Poppy?" a voice asked. I looked up and saw Thalia Scott, a friend of mine. She moved back to Miami during our senior year and didn't like me that much since Grayson was her ex and she still had feelings for him. However, she was finally able to let go of him and she had a very loving boyfriend, Roland. "Hi," I said with a smile. "How are you?" "I'm good," she said. "Do you go to MDC?" I nodded. "I had no idea. I go there to!" "No way," I said as she sat down across from me. "How come we haven't seen each other around campus?" Thalia shrugged. "It could be because we have different career paths. I'm doing fashion design." "That would explain it," I said. "I'm doing marine biology. And honestly, it's getting really boring. I have an assignment due in two days. My professor's really giving us no time to complete it. So, is Roland going here as well?" Thalia nodded. "Yeah, he wants to be a journalist. He takes it very seriously. Is Grayson here?" "Yeah, he's going into veterinary," I said. She raised an eyebrow. "Wow, I honestly can't picture that. Grayson Prince as a vet... Nope, can't see it." I chuckled. "I know. He wanted to be a lawyer at first, but he decided that he wanted to be a vet instead since he is a huge animal lover." "I guess I really don't know him at all," Thalia said. "I never knew he wanted to be a lawyer or a vet. It's shocking, really. Well, I should be going. Roland is on a writing kick and needs some coffee. I'll see you around." "Bye," I said with a smile as Thalia got up and walked to the counter to get coffee for her boyfriend. Not even five minutes later, Belle walked into the cafe and sat down across from me. "Poppy, you wouldn't believe it," she said. I furrowed my eyebrows. "What wouldn't I believe?" I asked. "You know the so-called mystery guy that Mina likes?" Belle asked and I nodded. "It's Grayson." "Grayson?" I asked. "As in my Grayson?" Belle nodded. "Yes, your Grayson. We were at the cafe last night when Grayson walked in. Mina squealed and she pointed to him saying that's him. That's the guy I like." "Really?" I asked. "Did you tell her he has a girlfriend?" "I tried, but she wouldn't let me talk," Belle said. "Huh," I said. "You know what I find funny? She told me that the boy she liked is better looking than my boyfriend, so technically she was saying the Grayson is better looking than Grayson." "Yeah, that made no sense," Belle said. "Anyway, I kept trying to convince Mina that her crush on Grayson will go nowhere. She basically snapped at me and told me that it will go somewhere. I just had to wait and see. Mina hasn't seen you and Grayson together yet? You guys are like glued to each other's side when you're not in class." I shrugged. "I guess not." I then turned back to my assignment. "Are you going to tell her?" Belle asked. "Nope," I said while I worked on it. "She isn't that fond of me right now anyway, so I doubt she would want to listen to a single word I say. She'll find out when she finds out." "Got it," Belle said. "So, what are you working on?" "The assignment for our Intro to Biology class," I said. Belle was in that class as well since Grayson, Belle, and I were all going into a career in the biology department. "It's due in two days and I didn't even start it." "Oh, that's right," she said. "I still have to do it. Mind if I work here? Devon is still in class and I'm too lazy to walk home right now." "Not of all, of course," I said. "And that way, we can help each other if we need it." Belle smiled as she took her laptop out of her bag and set it on the table. "So, are you going to that party tonight?" Belle asked. "No, I hate parties," I said. "That and I really want to work on this assignment today so I don't have too much to do tomorrow." "Makes sense," Belle said. "Devon is practically dragging me to this one. He keeps saying he'll know nobody there and he'll be all alone." I snorted. "Yeah, sure. Grayson's going. They're friends now." "Really? Grayson's going?" Belle asked. "Without you?" "Yeah?" "Aren't you a bit worried?" Belle asked. "I mean, there's usually alcohol at the parties and from what Devon told me, Grayson used to be a heavy drinker. And if he gets drunk, he won't be in control over what he does. And there's usually some girls who won't care if he has a girlfriend." I looked at her, my eyebrows furrowed. "Are you thinking that he'll just hook up with random girls when he's drunk?" "Alcohol does crazy things to you," Belle said. "Belle, I trust him," I said. "One hundred percent. He's not only my boyfriend, but we're promised to each other. He would never hurt me." "I'm just saying," Belle said. "It's a party. Who knows what will happen? Do you want me to keep an eye on him?" "You don't have to because like I said, I trust him," I said. "There's no way he would ever do something like that to me, even if he gets drunk. And it actually hurts that you think he would." Belle sighed. "I'm sorry, Poppy. I'm just looking out for you. I don't want you to get hurt." "I appreciate it, but I won't," I said. "And I know you're always looking out for me. So thank you." "I'm still going to keep an eye on him," Belle said. "I'll push away any girl that hits on him." I sighed and rolled my eyes, knowing that she wasn't going to take no for an answer. However, she was my best friend and she wanted to look out for me, so I wasn't going to stop her, even if I did trust Grayson. "Fine, whatever," I said. For the next hour, Belle and I worked on our assignments. It was definitely harder than high school assignments. I wasn't even halfway done. Mina suddenly walked over to us. "Hi, Belle!" Mina said. "Poppy." She said my name in a sort of hateful tone, but I didn't really care. I just continued working on my assignment. "Hi, Mina," Belle said. "Look, there's something I really have to tell you about the guy you like." "Speaking of, he should be coming here," Mina said as she sat down beside Belle. "He usually comes here after the class we have together." "Stalker-ish?" I muttered under my breath. Luckily, Mina didn't hear me. "That's great, but..." Belle began, but Mina still didn't let her finish. "I know I was harsh on you when you said we would get nowhere, and I'm sorry," she said. "It's just... He's so amazing. Everything about him is amazing." "You know he..." "It kind of feels like I've known him for a long time," Mina said. Why didn't she ever let Belle finish? Mina was right when she said Grayson came here after the class they had. He walked in, immediately spotting me. He walked up to the table. "Scoot over," he told me. "I'm doing my work," I said. Grayson gently pushed me over and sat down beside me. "How far along are you?" he asked. "I would be further if you didn't interrupt me," I said. Grayson then looked at Belle and glared at her. "Devil spawn." Belle sighed. "Hi, Grayson." "Hi, Mina," Grayson said. "Hi," she said back in a bit of a flirty tone. Why did some people always go for the unavailable guys? It made no sense. "Flower, can I have a bite of your cookie?" Grayson asked. I gave him a flat look. "Did you seriously ask to share my cookie? My cookie? I don't share that with anyone, not even you." "Ouch," Grayson said. "Fine, I'll get my own cookie." He stood up, giving me a quick kiss before walking over to the counter. "Is that your boyfriend?" Mina asked. "Yup," I said, keeping my eyes glues onto my computer. I had to get at least half of this assignment done today. "And how long have you been dating?" she asked, still having a hateful tone in her voice. "'A year and five months," I said. "Great," she said. "Well, I'm going to go now." She left, looking quite pissed off. Belle snorted. "And that was the reaction I wanted to see." I had a feeling that things were not going to go well with Mina. I already went through it once with Thalia. I did not want to go through it again.