The Avoiding Series Boxset Read online

  Him.

  The next day after her secret was revealed, Lexi found herself sitting at her usual table with her friend, Olivia, for company. “Well, what do you think?” Lexi asked as she flipped through her introductory philosophy class notes, skimming through the most recent lecture on Empiricists.

  “You’re right. He is pretty hot,” Olivia confirmed, running her fingers through her bleached blonde pixie cut, letting the tiny strands of hair fall effortlessly back into place.

  “I meant about Locke.”

  “He’s dead right?” Olivia asked uninterested.

  Lexi rolled her eyes. “No, I mean...what’s his idea about knowledge?” she asked, trying hard not to glance up at him while Olivia blatantly ogled the eye candy.

  “Honestly, I don’t care. I hate this stuff. I might just drop the class altogether. I don’t get it,” Olivia said, shrugging her shoulders at her own indecipherable notes. She glanced back up at the guy working the counter. “Him, I can fully understand. You should give it a shot.”

  Lexi brushed her off, feeling the weight of her gaze uncomfortably. “No, what I need to shoot for is an A on this test.”

  Olivia rolled her eyes dramatically. “Whatever, you know you’re going to get an A, but don’t you want to at least meet him? Know his name?”

  It was Lexi’s turn to shrug. “Yeah, I guess,” she conceded.

  “Have you ever even had a boyfriend?” Olivia asked, giggling a little at that inexplicable possibility.

  “Of course I’ve had a boyfriend,” Lexi retorted defensively. “I’m just not looking for one now.”

  “I didn’t say you wanted or even needed a relationship. We’re freshman. We’re just supposed to have fun and make mistakes anyway. So you should at least meet him and hang out with him,” she uttered persuasively. Lexi shrugged noncommittally returning to her notes.

  After a pause, Olivia changed topics, “So, anyway, are you coming to Nick and Neal’s show tonight at The Theatre?”

  “Yeah, I should be there,” Lexi confirmed.

  “Good, I’ve been helping them plan this for a month. I need as many people there as possible.” Lexi just nodded since she had heard this same rant nearly every day since Olivia had decided to become their publicist. “I’m going to get myself a drink from sexy Coffee Guy.” She added a wink just for good measure. “And then I’m going to head back to the dorm to get ready for tonight. You comin’ with, doll?”

  “Nah, I’m going to finish here,” she said, gesturing to her notebooks sprawled on the table. “But I’ll meet you later,” Lexi said, scribbling a quick note into her study guide.

  She watched Olivia slink over to the counter to get her coffee. Lexi quickly averted her eyes to avoid watching her shamelessly flirt with the guy she was interested in. She figured it didn’t really matter that much anyway. This guy was no one to her. He was just a pretty face in a sea of pretty faces in the crowd or at least that’s what she tried to convince herself.

  A few hours later, Lexi, Olivia, and fifteen other people they had managed to drag out of the dorms were casually standing in front of the stage at The Theatre waiting for Nick and Neal to begin their set. The Theatre was a large open space with couches positioned around the perimeter and for smaller shows, like tonight, on the main floor.

  As the time passed, the room gradually filled with regulars and other locals. Considering this was Nick and Neal’s first real performance, the crowd was relatively large. A unanimous bounce began as the throng of people fell into rhythm with the flow of the music that Nick was spinning, Neal’s original lyrics filling the room. Lexi sang along with some of the words she remembered from hanging out with them.

  “You’re not bad. Maybe you should show them how it’s done,” someone said to her.

  Lexi laughed out loud letting her curls bounce lightly. She turned to address whoever had addressed her and was face to face with him. She froze mid-laugh.

  “You think so?” she asked, trying to recover from her shock at seeing him here, standing next to her, talking to her.

  “Honestly, no,” he said with a sly smile.

  “Well, thanks. I’m very offended right now.

  Lexi placed her hand over her wounded heart.

  “So...do I know you or do you always just insult people when you first meet them?”

  He bent down so he she was better able to hear him. He smelled like a heavenly combination of soap and sexy cologne. “I think you study at the coffee shop where I work.”

  She turned her head up to face him. His brown hair fell neatly across his eyes as he looked down at her. She had never noticed just how clear blue his eyes really were until they were set intently and solely on her.

  “I think you might be right,” she confirmed giving him a coy smile.

  She was having a hard time breathing with him looking at her so intently. She could practically feel the energy crackling between their bodies at his nearness.

  Trying to ease the sexual tension she was feeling, she asked him, “Are you much into college boy rap?”

  His laugh was easy and sincere and she loved the musicality of it. “No, not really, but this guy’s not bad. Is he a friend of yours?”

  “Yeah, he lives in my dorm.”

  She cringed realizing she had just given away her youth. She had no idea how old he was or whether he would consider a freshman to be worth his time.

  “Nice. Those guys over there.” He gestured with his thumb to three guys clustered behind him. “They lived on my hall last year in the dorms. Which one are you in?”

  Lexi let out the breath she hadn’t even realized she had been holding. “Um...Russell.”

  “That’s where we were,” he said smiling bigger. “Fifth floor east. You?”

  “Five north,” she told him.

  If she had only been a year older, she could have lived on the same hall as him for a year. Her head swam with the thought.

  “Small world.”

  “Yeah, it is. How exactly did you hear about the band? I mean, if you don’t really listen to the music,” she couldn’t help but ask.

  He reached into his back pocket and pulled out a folded piece of purple paper. He opened it revealing the PR flyer Olivia had been relentlessly handing out for the past two weeks.

  “I believe a friend of yours gave this to me,” he said pointing to Olivia over the crowd of people.

  Lexi giggled. That little devil. Olivia hadn’t been flirting with him when she had gone to get her coffee earlier that afternoon. In fact, she had been helping her by convincing Coffee Guy to come here.

  “Well, yeah, that’s Olivia for you,” she said, shrugging, making an attempt at nonchalance. “Oh, I’m Lexi, by the way.”

  She extended her hand out to him.

  “Lexi...hmm...I like that,” he said, taking her outstretched hand firmly in his. “Jack. It’s nice to meet you,”

  Silence fell between them as the show progressed. The hip-hop beats blaring in the background made it difficult to carry on a conversation. The crowd filed outside for intermission when the set was complete, allowing the main act time to set-up on stage. Several people lit cigarettes as soon as they exited The Theatre, but Lexi steered clear of them. She watched as some of her friends made their way to the back entrance of the black building to meet up with Nick and Neal. Lexi waited awkwardly with Jack at the front of the building waiting for Olivia to surface.

  A few second later, Olivia exited through the doors covered with a collage of torn flyers advertising upcoming shows. She bounded up to them humming one of the songs she preferred. “Hey, sweetie,” she said kissing Lexi on the cheek. Her eyes were glazed over a little and her low cut blouse smelled strongly of beer and secondhand smoke. Before Lexi had a chance to respond, she stumbled along after the rest of the group.

  “I guess she’s a bit drunk,” Lexi commented, shrugging her shoulders as she let her gaze land back on Jack.

  “A bit?” he questioned with a smirk. “Hold
on one second.” He directed his attention on his friends hovering behind him. “Hey guys, I’ll meet you at Chamber. I think Chasity said she was working.”

  Nodding, the three guys disappeared down the street leaving Jack and Lexi alone.

  Lexi assumed Chasity was a bartender, but refrained from asking. She had no desire whatsoever to know how they knew each other...or how well.

  “I’m not sure what my friends are doing,” she said, glancing around the corner. The group she had arrived with were stumbling around outside with Nick and Neal at the center. “But by the look of things, I’m going to have to carry half of them home.” At only a couple inches over five feet, that really would be a feat. “I should go catch up with them before they get into any trouble,” she said concerned.

  “My friends are probably lost without me too,” he said jokingly.

  “Are you working tomorrow?” she asked not anxious to leave his presence.

  “Are you studying tomorrow?” he countered flirtatiously.

  “Yeah,” she confirmed, thinking about the daunting stack of homework on her desk.

  “Then I should be there.”

  She stood with him another second taking in his near flawless appearance. He wore dark snug-fit jeans, a black button-up rolled to three-quarter length, and worn navy Chuck Taylor’s. He was taller than her by more than half a dozen inches with a well-toned muscular physique. She figured she wouldn’t be able to reach his lips if she stood on her tiptoes, but he was strong enough to pick her up to them. Quickly pushing the idea out of her mind, she snapped herself back to reality.

  “Guess I’ll see you there.”

  “Sounds good,” he said, as she turned and began to walk down the alleyway toward her friends.

  After a moment’s hesitation, he called out to her and jogged down the street after her. She turned on her green high heels to find him standing before her again.

  “I know you have to study tomorrow, but what are you doing Friday?” he asked hesitantly.

  She paused giving enough time to make it seem like she was considering her schedule. “I don’t have any plans,” she finally responded, fighting the uncontrollable silly grin contorting her features.

  “Do you want to hang out?”

  She nodded. “I thought you’d never ask.”

  Friday night Lexi found herself pacing her tiny dorm room twining her dark curls around her fingers. The room was nothing special, but she and Jennifer made it look the best they could with the space provided.

  Two beds were lofted on opposite sides of the room. A black futon rested under Lexi’s; two mini fridges and a tiny tube television sat under her roommate’s. A red and black print rug covered the tile floor and red curtains blocked out the view of the other high-rise dorms surrounding them. Lexi’s side of the wrap-around metal desk held her black laptop and a selection of her favorite books and textbooks. The wall adjacent her desk held a collage of photographs neatly arranged. Jennifer’s desk was a mess of multi-colored paper clips, geometrically shaped Post-It notes, and furry-topped pens. The walls were lined with sorority initiation paraphernalia that made Lexi roll her eyes every time she glanced over there.

  “Jen, do you think I look okay?”

  Jennifer gave her an once-over. Lexi wore black, slightly worn, skinny jeans, and a pale green camisole with lace-trim and black thong sandals that strapped around her ankle. Her hair was pulled up into a high ponytail with the dark bouncing curls streaming out of the rubber band. A light coat of black mascara brushed her eyelashes and a hint of shimmer lip-gloss adorned her lips.

  “Mmm,” Jennifer murmured tilting her head to the side before turning back to her Latin homework spread out across the futon.

  Lexi placed her hands on her hip exasperated. “What does mmm mean?”

  Jennifer shrugged. “You should probably pull your hair down, run a straightener through it, and put on a cute dress,” she said as a matter-of-fact. She hadn’t even glanced up from her five-subject notebook. “I have this perfect purple ensemble that will do wonders to detract from your plain brown eyes.”

  Lexi was starting to get used to this behavior. Jennifer was remarkably honest, to a fault. But she was also incredibly judgmental which made her blatant honesty not as flattering.

  “I think we’re going to be outside though,” Lexi told her, turning to face the full-length mirror hanging on the back of their door.

  “It’s like seventy degrees outside,” Jennifer said. Her gum smacked against the roof of her mouth as she spoke. “You can still wear a dress.”

  Jennifer thought everyone should wear a dress, all the time, for every occasion, even when it was freezing. Lexi was pretty certain that the only time Jennifer went without a dress was when she showered. She was even lounging in a dress while studying Latin!

  Both her parents came from old southern money dating back pre-Civil War. The Country Club, where they resided, played host to a number of stars. She had once complained about missing Halloween away from home, because that year a certain male rapper had actually answered the door to pass out candy.

  “Well, it could be colder tonight,” Lexi grumbled, snatching her cell phone off her desk and cramming it into her plum purse. “I’m going to see Olivia. Have fun studying.”

  Lexi darted down the hall as her phone trilled inside her purse. Opening the cold metal clasp, she retrieved the cell and answered. “Hey, do you want me to come upstairs?” Jack asked from the other line.

  “Nah. No point in making you try to get past security. I’ll be right down.”

  Lexi scrambled down the four flights of stairs as fast as she could, making it to the landing before the elevator dinged. Racing down the steep hill that led to the street below, Lexi recognized his little silver sports car waiting with the hazard lights blinking. She slipped her hand under the handle to pop the door open and slid smoothly onto the black leather seat. He let off the clutch and slung the car into gear as soon as he heard the latch click.

  “So, where are we going?” she asked relaxing back into the soft material.

  “It’s a surprise,” he said, shifting gears as they picked up speed.

  “Hmm...I like surprises.”

  “I thought you might.” He glanced at her briefly before turning left.

  Lexi hadn’t been sure whether or not to treat this as if it were a date. He had asked her out, but when they talked on the phone, he had acted as if it was no big deal. She didn’t care to agonize over it though. She didn’t know him yet, so as far as she was concerned the status of their relationship, if you could even call it that, was hardly relevant. One step at a time.

  John Mayer’s acoustic cover of Free Fallin’ filled the silence as Jack drove them away from the center of town. Jack tapped his fingers against the steering wheel in time with the guitar chords.

  “Do you play,” she asked watching how well his fingers moved.

  “A little,” he said with a sexy smirk.

  “Oh yeah? What instruments?”

  “Just guitar, bass, piano, saxophone, and some drums, but I’m really rusty.”

  “Jesus! All I can do is sing.”

  “Oh, and I sing,” he smirked, as he hit the break at a red light.

  “Well don’t you seem to be good at everything,” Lexi said, staring up at him through thick dark lashes.

  She could tell that he was watching her out of the corner of his eye. “You just wait and see.”

  “I look forward to it.” She giggled turning back to the road. Something about Jack seemed to just fit. The flirting, the desirous looks, the uncomplicated conversation was all so easy between them.

  Lexi’s eyes widened as they turned onto a stretch of university property that until now had been empty fields. Instead, a bright twirling Ferris wheel had been erected in the center of the field with an array of carnival rides and booths displayed around the centerpiece.

  “I didn’t know a carnival was coming through town!”

  “One night on
ly,” he said wiggling his eyebrows up and down. “The university sets up celebrations like this throughout the year. Since you’re new, I thought I’d take you to the first one of the year.”

  A plump older man in an orange vest holding a light stick directed them into a makeshift parking spot on the lawn.

  The couple trekked across the muddy terrain toward the vinyl ticket booth. Handing over their student identification cards, the student association representative slid the cards through a reader. The machine dinged each time authorizing their authenticity.

  “Have a good time and don’t forget to grab a complimentary t-shirt on your way out,” the woman said, handing them back their cards with one hand and gesturing to a display of boxes containing hundreds of bright green tees.

  “Thanks,” Jack said, grabbing Lexi’s arm and racing through the entrance.

  They made it only a dozen feet before unexpectedly running into Jack’s roommates, Seth, Luke, and Michael, who were with two of their other friends, Clark and Hunter. Each looked more excited than the next. Between them they were counting out what looked like several hundred orange paper tickets like little kids in Chuck E. Cheese.

  Seth snatched up a handful out of Clark’s palm and deposited them in his pocket. “Hey, what the fuck are you doing?” Clark cried, launching himself onto Seth.

  Seth chuckled as he sidestepped Clark’s advances. “You don’t need all of those,” he said tauntingly.

  “You took all of my goddamn tickets, jackass,” Clark yelled, grabbing at Seth’s pocket as the rest of the guys burst out laughing.