Out of Oblivion Read online

  "Shouldn't we have used a condom?"

  "A little late for that now, but I have some upstairs. How about we move our recreational activities to my room, and you can be my dessert this evening?"

  I smiled and bit my lip. "I think I would like that."

  *****

  I wasn't sure what time it was when we went to sleep or how many times we had sex, but I was sore when I woke. Deliciously sore. I had no idea my body could orgasm over and over like that. He didn't stop until I begged him, and by then I could barely keep my eyes open. He rolled me onto my side, and that was how I woke up in his arms.

  I rolled over carefully, so I wouldn't wake him, and watched him sleep. When I first saw him, he didn't seem very attractive, but now I knew him better, and I saw things I hadn't noticed before. His skin was smooth and youthful looking. His olive complexion made him appear to have a permanent tan, his dark hair was short, curly and so soft, and I saw gold flecks glinting in his brown eyes while we made love. His features were angular as though chiseled from stone. He was a beautiful man.

  He had a great body too. Not as muscular as Dominic seemed to be, but he was definitely fit. It was obvious he worked out and took good care of himself. A plus. And he was so smart and wonderful and caring. No man had ever cared whether I had an orgasm, and one had even asked, "Was it good for you too?" Not very romantic.

  Kurt was a man who would look after me. He was someone I could learn from and grow with. He would support me and accept me as I was, and I would happily do the same for him. In many ways, he reminded me of my father and how he treated my mother. My father always doted on her and treated her like she was the best thing that ever happened to him. That's how Kurt made me feel the night before.

  With him, I could have a relationship like the one my parents shared. At that moment, I was sure he was the man I wanted to spend the rest of my life with.

  *****

  "He does things to my body I didn't know was possible," I told Alexis. I had been going on about my night with Kurt all morning.

  Alexis lay on her bed staring off into space. "Yeah, that's cool"

  I sat next to her. "Is something wrong?"

  "Jason and I broke up."

  I gasped, covering my mouth. Here I was blathering away about how great things were in my relationship, and she was in pain over hers falling apart. "I'm so sorry, Alexis. You should have told me to stop talking or something."

  She shrugged.

  "What happened? Everything seemed so great between you two."

  Alexis rolled away from me. "I don't want to talk about it."

  "It might help if you…"

  Alexis sat up, glaring at me. "Would you drop it?"

  "I'm sorry," I said.

  I wasn't sure if Alexis heard me as she stormed out the door.

  *****

  Later that day, Alexis returned to our dorm in a foul mood. She was upset over Jason, but she had broken up with guys before. I'd never seen her act like this. I wished she would tell me what was bothering her. She wouldn't even look at me.

  "Is everything okay?"

  Either Alexis didn't hear me, or she was ignoring me.

  "Lex?"

  She turned and glared at me. I sighed and left the room, heading to the library. She probably needed space. It was as though she blamed me for her breakup with Jason. The more time I spent with Kurt, the angrier she grew. Every time I tried to ask her about it, all she would do was glare or tell me to bud out. One afternoon I returned to our dorm, after my morning classes, to find everything Alexis had ever borrowed from me piled on my bed. It was also clear she rummaged through my things. Nothing was missing except for a few things I borrowed from her and a couple shirts she gave me because she didn't want them anymore.

  I tried not to let it get to me, but when I ran into her and a group of our friends that afternoon they were talking about plans for that Friday. They wanted to do a girls' night out.

  "Hey Haleigh," Kristin said. "You coming with us on Friday?"

  I opened my mouth to say I wasn't sure what was going on, but Alexis cut me off.

  "Haleigh wasn't invited."

  Everyone grew quiet and looked away from me. Kristen gave me an apologetic shrug, and Alexis stood there with the glare that had become a permanent feature on her face whenever I was around. I went back to the dorm and burst into tears. What had I done?

  I consoled myself with the date I planned with Kurt for that Friday. I would have rescheduled the date to go out with the girls, especially to patch things up with Alexis, but it seemed like none of our friends wanted anything to do with me anymore. Kristin would still talk to me when others weren't around, but that was it. She didn't understand what was going on with Alexis either. All she could tell me was Alexis felt betrayed, but she didn't know why.

  Chapter 5

  "Something on your mind?" Kurt asked.

  I sat there pushing my food around with the fork. He was half way done with his meal while I had barely touched mine.

  "Alexis has been angry with me all week, but I don't understand why. It's been that way since she broke up with Jason. I don't know if it's jealously because we're together or what, but it's getting to me. Now she's turning all of our friends against me. It's high school all over again." I bit my lip to stop the sob from escaping and waited until I got myself together again. "It's like I'm walking on eggshells around her all the time now, and it's affecting my schoolwork. I was late turning in two assignments this week, and I'm never late."

  "It sounds like you need to get out of there."

  I shrugged. I had nowhere else to go. My parents were in Hawaii, and I had no one in the area I could stay with.

  "I have a spare bedroom. You're welcome to stay with me for a while."

  As tempting as the offer was to get away from the stress, it was too soon to be moving in with a man I just started dating.

  "You would have your own space, and we'd just be roommates. We can keep our relationship separate."

  I doubted that was possible. "I don't have a job, so I can't pay rent. My parents paid for my dorm in advance."

  "That won't be a problem. As long as you help with the cleaning and cooking, we can call it even."

  "I need to think about it. My parents wouldn't be too happy about it."

  "Your parents wouldn't want you failing your classes because of undue stress."

  He had a point, but still. I would never have considered moving in with a guy I'd known for only a few weeks before. I wasn't sure I should be considering it now. It would be smarter to stick it out for now or hope there was an alternative.

  *****

  Avoiding Alexis at all costs became my number one objective each day. I took long routes to my classes to avoid the paths she would take. My library visits became more frequent and lengthy. I also stayed away from the dorm unless I was sure she wouldn't be there, or it was late, and I was ready for bed. At least I only had to put up with her glaring for the short time I took to get ready for and into bed.

  My new class routes had me running into Jason more often. Usually we just said hi to each other, but one day he stopped me and asked how I was doing.

  "Not so good, actually," I said.

  His eyebrows raised in surprise. I guessed he had been expecting the normal response everyone usually gave regardless of how they were doing.

  "What's up?"

  "Alexis has been treating me like her worst enemy. I have no idea what I did to upset her, but it's been going on since you guys broke up. She refuses to talk about it. Do you know what's going on with her?"

  Jason shrugged. "I don't. She's the one who broke up with me. I didn't see it coming. One day things were fine, the next she was breaking up with me. Dominic told me girls can be like that." He shrugged again. "I wish I could tell you more."

  "That's okay. I figured I'd ask."

  "Oh, I told Dominic what you said about staying out of your business. I didn't realize passing on his message would upset you
so much. I felt bad about it."

  "Don't feel bad. I wasn't upset with you anyway. Dominic had me upset over… other things. I overreacted a bit."

  Jason chuckled. "It's all cool. So besides the Alexis thing is everything good?"

  "Well, Kurt asked me to move in with him. I told him what was going on with Alexis and he offered me a room in his house to escape the stress."

  Jason opened his mouth and then closed it again as though he was about to say something and changed his mind. I regretted saying anything.

  "Just as roommates, though," I clarified, hoping it would wipe the disapproval from his face.

  "It's okay, Haleigh. You don't owe me any explanations."

  I smiled. At least he wasn't as pushy as his cousin.

  "I need to get to my next class, but it was good talking to you. Maybe we can go for lunch together one day." Since my friends had abandoned me, I had been getting lonely. At least I didn't have to worry about Jason turning to the Lex side and treating me like a communicable disease.

  "Yeah, that would be great! Catch ya soon."

  *****

  I looked for Jason after my second morning class the following day to see if he wanted to go to lunch, but instead I ran into Dominic. At first I thought he might be looking for Jason too, but when he spotted me, he headed in my direction. I bit my lip as he approached. He wore snug jeans that left little to the imagination and a tight black t-shirt that showed off his perfect form. I couldn't help wondering why he wasn't the one to like me, then I scolded myself. I had a boyfriend, and shouldn't be thinking thoughts like that, but I couldn't help myself.

  He stopped right before me and smiled. "Hi Haleigh. I wanted to apologize for sending my cousin to pass on the message about Kurt. I didn't think you'd want to see me again after our last meeting, and I thought you should know about him."

  The last thing I wanted to discuss was Kurt, but at least he apologized. He gazed at me for a moment, and I realized I'd been standing there gawking at him.

  "Sorry, you caught me off guard. It's okay about that night. I overreacted."

  "No, you didn't. I should have come to you in person. I'm an introvert, so it seemed easier to get Jason to speak to you since you see each other at school, but I realize now it was quite rude. Let me take you to lunch to make it up to you."

  I didn't think it was necessary, but I didn't want to turn him down either. Part of me realized why he was here. So much for Jason staying out of things. I didn't think he'd come all this way for an apology, but my curiosity got the better of me. Or it could have been my hormones.

  "Okay, but I can't be long. This is one of the two days I have time alone in the dorm before Alexis gets back, and I there's a lot of schoolwork to catch up on."

  "We'll just go to the little diner up the road. They're pretty fast."

  He wasn't kidding. Even at one of their busiest times of the day, we were seated, ordering and eating within fifteen minutes. It helped that we both ordered burgers, which are quick to make anyway.

  "So how is school going?" Dominic asked.

  I paused in the middle of taking a bite of my burger. This was not what I expected we'd be talking about. I finished taking a bite and swallowing my food before I answered.

  "It's going okay, I guess. I've been having issues with Alexis and the stress has caused me to fall behind, but I'm getting caught up now."

  "That's good. I hope you and Alexis are getting things sorted out."

  "Not really. She won't speak to me or tell me what's wrong."

  Dominic frowned, but he didn't seem surprised by the news. "I'm sorry to hear that."

  I shrugged taking another bite of my burger, more relaxed now. If he was just going to talk about normal stuff, I could handle that.

  "How's your web design business going?" I asked.

  "Slowly, but I'll get there. Finding new clients is the hardest part, but I've got a couple good ones. I'm hoping to get referrals once I'm done with the work I'm doing for them."

  I wished I could give him some advice, but I understood nothing about marketing and promotion. "Well, I wish you good luck with it. I hope it works out for you."

  "I'm confident it will." He smiled. "Are you feeling any better about graphic design as a career?"

  "I'm not sure. Still iffy, I guess." It surprised me how I longed for him ask me on a real date now, but I would say no anyway. I wouldn't hurt Kurt like that. Why had Dominic not shown this interest in me at his brother's house that night? I might have never gone out with Kurt if he had. I shook the feelings away. It didn't matter now, and I still doubted he had any real interest in me. He was being nice because he felt bad for upsetting me.

  When I gazed up from my plate, I saw Alexis watching us from the window, with a look of pure hatred. I gasped. Dominic turned just in time to see her stalk off.

  "What was that all about?" he asked.

  "No idea. This is how she's been acting for the last few weeks. It started right after she broke up with Jason, and I get the impression she is blaming me. I wish she would talk to me. It's getting hard to live with her like this."

  I said more than I wanted, but at that point I was upset over what happened. If I thought I could get Alexis to talk, I would have gone after her right in that moment, but I was sure she would blow me off again.

  "About that," Dominic said.

  I sighed. Here it came. I knew there was more to this than an apology. When would I trust my instincts? They were rarely wrong.

  "I heard you were hoping to move out of your dorm."

  "I was considering it, but I've made no decisions yet," I told him, trying my best to keep my tone neutral. The same ache I experienced at Alexis' party creeped up on me.

  "I see. Well, I wanted to tell you I know someone, a girl around your age, who is looking for a roommate. It might be a safer option than moving in with someone you've just started dating."

  Well, we were beyond the dating part, but that was semantics. Still, how was moving in with someone I never met better than moving in with someone I at least knew a little? I was certain, as far as he was concerned, it had nothing to do with that at all. This was just another attempt to keep me away from Kurt, and I didn't understand why he cared either way. If he liked me, he should say so. We weren't even friends, so he had no right to interfere in my life. At least I was telling myself these were the reasons I was angry. Deep down I knew it was the disappointment.

  I pushed my plate away, suddenly repulsed by the thought of taking another bite, and stood. "Thanks for lunch, but I need to go."

  "Haleigh, wait!"

  I ignored him as I ran out of the diner, wiping furiously at my tears.

  Thankfully we hadn't gone far from the campus. I ran straight to my dorm room intending to get into my bed for the rest of the day and pretending the rest of the world didn't exist. It would even be easy to ignore Alexis if I buried my head under my pillow. When I opened the door though, I couldn't breathe. My whole side of the room had been ransacked. I was sure it was Alexis. She probably headed back here after she saw me at the diner and did this. Not even my schoolwork had been spared. She tore all my notes and sketches to shreds.

  I fell to my knees and cried out in anguish. There was no way I'd catch up now, and I wouldn't get those notes again. I'd have nothing to study for my tests. It was a good thing Alexis wasn't here, and I didn't want to be here when she got back. I pulled out my cell and called Kurt.

  "Hey baby, how are you?" Kurt said when he answered.

  I choked back some of my tears. "Not too good."

  "Why? What's wrong?"

  "Alexis trashed my stuff, including my schoolwork. Can you come and get me? I'll move in with you tonight if that's okay. I can't stay here anymore."

  "Okay, just hold tight. I'll be there as soon as I'm finished with my client."

  "Please, hurry."

  "I will and don't worry. Things will work out. I'll see you soon."

  Kurt hung up, and I stared at the m
ess for a moment. Where to start? Well, standing there wouldn't get my stuff packed. Unfortunately, it looked like Alexis had made good use of her scissors. Pieces of my bags laid scattered around the room. I needed something to pack my stuff in. I headed to the utility closet down the hall, hoping I'd find garbage bags. There were two boxes, so I grabbed the open one and headed back to my room and stuffed everything I owned into bags, stacking them by the door. It was a good thing I owned so little.

  Chapter 6

  When I finished packing a half an hour later, I carried the bags, one in each hand, to the front door. It took only two trips, but the narrow stairway made it awkward, especially when it forced the other annoyed students to edge their way around me. Once I finished, I had nothing left to do but wait for Kurt and hope Alexis wouldn't show up. Thankfully, I didn't have long to wait. Kurt was there within ten minutes.

  "How are you holding up?" He said as he wrapped me in his arms.

  "I just want to get out of here." My eyes blurred, so I bit my lip.

  Kurt grabbed two bags and carried them to his car. "I hope you didn't have to wait long. I got here as soon as I could."

  "No, not long at all. I was packing most of the time." I told him she destroyed my bags, hence the garbage bags.

  "They'll do. We're not going very far."

  Once we loaded everything into his car, we were on our way. By some miracle I avoided Alexis, and I would have the weekend, now, to get myself together before I would have to face her on Monday. Right now I was hurt and confused over her behavior. We'd been friends, best friends, for over a year. I thought nothing would ever tear us apart.

  The drive to Kurt's house took only fifteen minutes. I was eager to get into my new room and stay there for the rest of the night. Kurt helped me carry my things to the spare room on the second floor. After dropping the last of my bags on the floor, Kurt pulled me into his arms and kissed me, while rubbing his body against mine.

  "Kurt, I'm not in the mood right now."

  I attempted to pull away from him, but he held me tight and deepened the kiss. He inched me toward the bed and lowered me onto it as he climbed on top.

  "You need this right now," he told me. "You need to feel loved and cherished."