Page 22 of Dare to Fall

I raised my brows at her. “I was just wrapping up some dishes. Don’t be so high maintenance.”

She rolled her eyes at me and dropped a pink-and-white overnight bag to the floor. Turning toward the living room, Paulina stopped and stared where Drema was pouring over the same canvas she had been working on for the art exhibit.

Paulina turned back toward me and whispered, “What the fuck is she doing?”

Crossing my arms, I gave her a look telling her not to start in on Drema. Paulina never understood why I enjoyed photography so much. I tried to explain it to her on multiple occasions, but she wasn’t interested in learning more about that side of me.

I hated when she brought Drema into it, though, always picking on her and making fun of her behind her back just because she was different. I could handle when she had made disparaging comments toward me when I had declared my art minor, but I wouldn’t tolerate her doing the same thing to someone she barely knew and who happened to be the nicest person I’d ever met.

Paulina raised her shoulders, her hands turned up toward the ceiling with an innocent look on her face.

“Be nice,” I whispered back and gave her a light slap on her arm.

Picking up her duffel bag, I gestured for her to follow me to my room. I tossed her bag onto the twin bed and started rummaging around in my closet for something to wear tonight. Paulina jumped onto my bed, landing with a heavy sigh.

“You don’t have to be so mean, you know. Drema is really nice, and I think you’d like her a lot if you were willing to get to know her,” I said, glancing at her over my shoulder as I swiped through the hangers.

“She just looks strange. And she’s always obsessing over her art. Seriously, Eva. Every time I walk in your door, she’s in the living room, bent over some picture. And she never says hi to me, so why should I be nice to her?”

Frustration boiled in my veins. “She doesn’t say hi to you because you made fun of her outfit in front of everyone last year, and the whole group laughed at her.”

“It’s notmyfault that she wore fucking overalls to a nice restaurant, Eva.” Her tone dripped with disdain, and it only fueled my anger toward her.

“Since when did you become so consumed with how people look?” I asked, no longer trying to keep my frustration at bay.

Her face twisted as though she were actually offended by my question. “I’m notconsumedwith how people look. I just don’t understand her. She seems weird.”

“Well, she’s not weird. And she’s my friend, so please be nice.” I turned toward her. “It wouldn’t kill you to apologize, too, you know. Maybe then she would say hi to you when you walk in.”

Paulina rolled her eyes and fell back onto the bed, throwing her arms above her head dramatically. “I’ll consider it,” she sighed.

Grabbing my phone off the nightstand, I shot a text to Connor, telling him I was excited to see him tonight. It had been a while since we’d gone out together, but we always had a blast when we did. I was looking forward to finally putting the past two weeks to rest and spending some quality time together. Granted, he would probably refuse to dance with me, instead choosing to sit back in his corner booth with Brent and watch me dance as he sucked down top-shelf vodka all night. I didn’t mind, though. Dancing had always been something that Paulina and I did together while the rest of the group got hammered.

My phoned pinged. Connor replied, saying he was excited too. A flutter hit my chest, and my lips curled into a smile. Things were going to get better between us. I could feel it.

“Is that Connor?” Paulina asked.

I nodded.

“How are things between you two now?”

Tossing my phone onto the bedside table, I climbed onto the bed with her. “They’re better…I think. I know he’s been really stressed lately about medical school applications, and his parents are putting a lot of pressure on him to get into a good program. I think he was just taking some of the stress out on me. But things seem to be a bit better.”

“Tonight should definitely help. You two always have a good time when we go out.” She waggled her eyebrows at me, and we giggled.

“Oh my God!” she screeched. “I forgot to ask. Did you hear about that professor and her student? Someone caught them making out by her car, apparently.”

“Yeah! I heard some people talking about it at the courtyard. Is she getting fired?” I asked as the memory of the three girls gossiping in front of the campus lake played in my mind.

Paulina looked at me, confused. “Why would she get fired? We’re all adults now. It’s not like she’s sleeping with an underaged student.”

My face scrunched. “Because he is herstudent. I’m pretty sure that’s illegal—or at least a major conflict of interest.”

“Well, I think it’s romantic.” She flopped onto her stomach and started playing with her long brown hair. “I mean, just imagine if our biostats professor came on to you. He’s hot and distinguished. And the older guys always know how to please a woman.”

My mouth dropped open. “And how wouldyouknow about that?” I asked teasingly.

She shrugged her shoulders, and a coy smile tugged at her lips. The only guy I had ever seen Paulina gush about was Brent. She rarely ever mentioned having serious interest in anyone other than him. And it was frustrating to watch her struggle over the years, fawning over someone who was very much with someone else. But he always had a way of flirting with Paulina just enough to keep her interested and hopeful that he would forget about Caroline and move on with her.

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