Page 5 of Once Upon a Fake Date

CHAPTER 2

Parker

New year, new me. At least, that’s what I’d been trying to tell myself ever since I transferred to CU. My first three years of college weren’t exactly thegreatest,but I was determined to make senior year my best year yet.

Castleton had offered me a full ride between academic and athletic scholarships, and I hadn’t been able to turn that down. I’d wanted a change and to leave Rhode Island.

So here I was.

I was going to focus on classes, lacrosse, and keeping my head on straight. My team, friends, and a social life came secondary to my primary purpose: getting my degree and starting my career. Nothing else mattered.

“Yo, man!” came the voice of my new teammate, Samuel.He also happened to occupy the room next to mine in the Lacrosse house and was constantly barging in to talk to me.

Maybe he knew I didn’t really have any friends here. That I only went to the required team practices and bonding activities, and I left the latter early most of the time. After the way last school year ended, I wasn’t exactly looking to make friends with my teammates.

“What’s up, Sam?” I asked him, leaning back on my desk chair. My textbook for my architectural design class lay open on the desk, and I’d planned to get a chunk of studying done tonight.

“We’re going out tonight. You’re coming with us.”

I frowned, looking at the book in my lap. “Why?”

He shook his head. “What do you mean,why? You haven’t come out with the team once since the semester started, Maxwell.”

He was right. I hadn’t gone out once. But that was because I had other shit to do. Studying, for starters.

“But…”

“Come on. Please?”

I sighed. This wasn’t me. I used to always be the life of the party—the easy going guy on the team. Maybe I could be that guy again. “Okay,” I finally agreed. “But I don’t have a costume.” It was Halloween weekend on campus, after all, and I’d been hearing people talk about what they were wearing to the parties the entire week in class.

“Don’t worry, bro. I’ve got you covered.” He slapped a hand on my shoulder, grinning.

Groaning, I ran my hands through my hair.

I already knew it was going to be a long night.

I’d lostcount of the amount of parties I’d been dragged to, house after house, as my teammates drank beer after beer. Finally, we’d gotten to one of the frat houses. I’d shed the stupid costume they’d given me at the last party, instead wearing my black t-shirt and flannel.

Grabbing a fresh beer from the kitchen, I wandered into the back of the house, finding a few of my teammates chatting with some girls dressed in short skirts.

It’s not that I blamed them for chasing after girls, but I’d promised the coach when I accepted being on the team here that I would be on my best behavior. My life this year was class and lacrosse—no distractions.

That didn’t mean I couldn’t look. No girl had caught my eye yet, though. There were a multitude of costumes here tonight, ranging from cute to skimpy versions of every animal you could possibly imagine.

And then I saw her. Long strands of blonde hair, like the color of sunshine. A sparkly, poofy pink dress that would have been absolutely ridiculous on anyone else. Pink heels that tied into bows at the ankles. And to top it all off, a pink witch hat.

“Who’s that?” I asked, unable to tear my eyes away. Though I couldn’t see her face, her presence lit up the entire room. Like the sun revolved around her, rising and setting based on her smile.

“Who?” Samuel followed my gaze, a smirk covering his face when he saw her. “The blonde?” I just nodded.“Some theater girl, I think. Dunno.” Sam’s voice drew me out of my trance. He shook his head. “They’re more trouble than they’re worth. Stick to the ones who aren’t so high maintenance.”

I snorted. “I won’t be doing any of that, Sam. No girls. Got enough going on this year.”

He shook his head. “Whatever you say, man.”

Rolling my eyes, I downed the rest of my beer. I wanted to go talk to her. Maybe it was the beer. I wanted to know if she tasted like sunshine.

I wasn’t that drunk, right? Fuck, I needed to cut myself off. No girls. I’d been so good this year.

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