Chapter 4 04 | you

I took the liberty to oversleep and made good use of it, reveling in my sheets like I had all the time in the world. It was until I took a look at the clock on my bedside table that I finally got the motivation boost to drag myself out of bed.

It was past nine and I could practically hear all the assignments and reports I had due screaming my name.

I checked my phone to find an unhealthy amount of notifications already laying in wait, majority of which were from Nate. I was sure he was wondering if I'd made it through the night unscathed, mentally and otherwise. With my wariness of social contact, I would too if I were him.

I scrolled through them all as I absentmindedly brushed teeth, my head reeling with flashes from the night before. The dinner had taken a colossal amount of my energy to survive through, and dancing with Finn had taken much, much more.

Dancing with Finn.

I danced with the Finn Harris. It was definitely a step up from my mom's co workers. The thoughts sent my fingers tingling, reliving holding his. It was followed by the realization that I was never seeing him again. His world was so different from mine-glitzy, high-class and exclusive-and it wasn't like I could just bump into him on the street.

Just like Cinderella's night, some good things came to an end.

After having my bath, I dialed Ingrid as I pulled myself into sweatpants and a T-shirt, my phone on loudspeaker.

"I'm at your door right now," was the first thing she said. I cut the call and headed straight for my front door and sure enough, she was standing there, a backpack slung over her arm. Sporting a wide grin, she pushed past me, not even waiting for an invitation.

"You can come in?"

"Oh, cut the crap, Amanda. I didn't drive here all the way from campus to see your pretty face. I came here for tea that you're going to spill. Tell me all about it. Every single detail."

She waltzed across the room like it was her home and I was the visitor, sliding the doors to my balcony open. She stepped out, sat on one of the chairs I had out and dumped her bag on the table.

I suppressed an eye roll and sat beside her, hesitating to build suspense or, at least, annoy the hell out of her. She narrowed her eyes at me and brought both her hands up to my face.

"I swear, if you don't start talking I'll strangle you."

I laughed, pleased that I was able to rile her up a little. "Okay, okay. The dinner was beautiful. Professor Mallard was very nice."

"Mm. Of course. Tell me about Finn Harris. Did you meet him?"

I took my bottom lip in-between my teeth. "Yeah."

Ingrid nodded. "Okay, I think there's more to this story."

"Oh, his girlfriend was there too. She's fucking hot."

"Should I be questioning your sexuality right now?"

"I do not know." I pursed my lips, tapping my hand on my thighs. I wondered how long I could go before I told Ingrid everything.

"What?"

"What, what?"

"There's still more to this story. Stop hoarding juicy deets and spill." Her eyes were simmering now, but I knew better than to tempt her.

"He danced with me," I said, trying to keep my face as passive as I possibly could.

She was still for a moment, eyes on mine. Then they narrowed. "Voluntarily? Or you- ow!" She rubbed her arm from where I smacked her, melting into laughter. "But seriously, he asked you?"

"Yes."

"How many other women did he dance with?"

"Zero."

She looked puzzled. "Zero? You didn't see him dance with his girlfriend?"

I shook my head no, intentionally leaving out the part where I eavesdropped on them arguing over something I didn't quite understand as I said, "she just kind of disappeared later in the night. Then he asked me to dance and I swear," I leant in closer to her, "I had the same perplexed look you have on your face right now. And it was so dramatic. Everybody cleared out, leaving just the two of us on the floor."

"And you didn't internally combust being put on the spot?"

"I'm here, aren't I?"

Ingrid sat back, deep in thought. "Maybe he likes you."

She couldn't have said anything more laughable.

"Yeah, no. Even if he does, that would be disgusting from someone in a relationship."

"I never said he isn't disgusting, Ames," She smirked. "But we both know you wouldn't pass up a chance to hook up with him. I know I wouldn't."

"Can you stop talking now?"

And she actually did, because my doorbell rang and we both turned to the door leading inside.

"Are you expecting anyone?" She asked, reading the small frown on my face.

I stood up. "Not really." Nate didn't pop up unannounced often, and we kept our visits spaced on normal days.

I stopped at the front door and spied through the peephole. My sight was completely obstructed by white filling my view. Confused, I pulled the door open.

"Amanda Reed?" A delivery man asked behind a bouquet of white roses so large his head was completely hidden behind. It looked too heavy to carry, the arrangement shaking in his grasp.

"Uh, yes," I stepped aside and watched him wobble in, setting it on my table. His face was flushed as he exhaled out a relieved breath, handing me a clipboard.

I messily scribbled in my signature, trying to fathom how in the world and why roses had made their way to me. I handed it back to him and he muttered a goodbye, speeding out the door.

I stood in front of the large floral arrangement, mouth ajar. My fingers lightly teased the petals, stopping at a white card tucked in.

"Who is it?" Ingrid hollered, stepping into the living room and falling a step back the moment her eyes took in the flowers. "Whoa, bitch, that's a lot of flowers." Her eyes met mine for answers. Answers I didn't have.

"I don't know who would get me flowers," I laughed, "but there's a card." I plucked it out and read the black ink that was scribbled in neat handwriting.

Thank you for the dance last night.

My heart in my throat, I flipped the card. It had Finn Harris engraved at the top in golden lettering.

"Well, who's it from?"

The warm, fuzzy feeling that spread across my body made it hard to think. "It's from Finn."

Her lips curved into a triumphant smirk. "I called it. Fuck, he really does like you!" She edged closer to the flowers and brought her face close to them, inhaling. "Amanda."

I slid the card from finger to finger, still in my rose-induced haze. "Here."

"How does he know where you live?"

"I... I don't know." Maybe Professor Mallard had told him. She did have a car come pick me at my house last night. "Probably asked around."

"Interesting how he'd go through so much trouble to get you flowers. Pretty flirty for someone who has a girlfriend."

Right. "Yeah, well we didn't exchange contacts, so I'm pretty sure this is where his niceness ends."

"Niceness? Okay, I'm done here. I would love to ship you guys, but he has a girlfriend, and I know you're way too decent to be that kind of ugly." She paced back out to the balcony.

Ingrid was right. I wasn't going to see this as anything more than it was. I took this as a simple occurrence-someone nice had been nice enough to send me flowers on a nice day. They were too pretty and obviously cost a fortune to trash, so I was going to have them sit on the table, sprucing up my living room until they wilted.

They stood as an end of something that hadn't began.

I stopped wondering about what he and Hailey had been arguing about last night as I joined Ingrid at the balcony, because I couldn't let someone I'd never meet again occupy my thoughts.