I'M YOURS - CHAPTER 2

Status:     To be continued - Updated every Sunday
Length:    Long
Author:    Emie Faun
Rating:     G
Synopsis: A young girl moves away from her home to go to university. There, she finds out many things about herself and the world around her. But the most important lessons she learns come from a young Irish man. And she soon finds that he will become more important to her than she ever thought possible.

CHAPTER 1

This is it. Today is the day. The day that I finally grow up. 

Sitting in the car, watching all the familiar scenery fly by me, I wonder what university life will be like. Will I make friends? Will I get homesick? Will I fail? 

Oh. I suppose I'd better introduce myself. 

The name's Emie. I'm pretty much what you would call a nerd. Yes yes, I know what you're thinking. I sit in dark corners, huddled under a sheet, screaming at a television screen when online players screw me over. Well you would be wrong. Not about the screaming at the television screen part, that's kinda true. But about everything else. I hate the dark, I feel claustrophobic when I sit under sheets and I do NOT play online games. They're too competitive. And I pretty much suck at all online games. 

Also, I love love LOVE to act. Not saying I'm any good, but hey. I'm going off to university to do a degree in it. It's a passion. It's something I feel good about. 

The other thing you should know about me is that I have an extremely low self esteem. Let's just say a lot of bullying in school and extremely bad relationships. 

And talking of relationships, the last thing you should know is that I have recently just broken up with my boyfriend of a year and a half. And I'm pretty much emotionally destroyed. 

But that's over now. I'm moving on. I'm going to university and I will do well. 

I hope 

******** 

Pulling up to the halls of residence, I'm starting to get nervous. I've never lived on my own before. I'm pretty much useless in taking care of myself. Pretty much reliant on my mum. Sad huh? 

We find my room and start to unpack. I've got the only room that isn't directly attached to the rest of the other rooms. I'm pretty sure that this particular feature will grant me many blessings during my time here. 

I hear some other people coming into the flat, and my heart is pounding. I'm not very good at meeting new people. But this is something that I need to overcome. I'm going to make friends here, whether I like it or not. 

“D'you mind if I go meet my flatmates?” I ask my mother. She's kindly provided transportation for the move, since I've never actually managed to learn to drive, and is currently folding up my clothes and putting them into the wardrobe. That won't last long... 

“Of course not,” she says. “Go on. Go make friends.” 

I smile and take a deep breath. I can do this. 

I open the door and step out into the company of all the other freshers. 

Looking down the narrow hallway, I see that including my own bedroom, there are eight others. A guy is moving into the room at the end of the hall. I wave, but he ignores me. Great. 

The door to my left, however, is wide open. I pop my head in and see a blonde girl. I clear my throat and she turns her head to me. 

“Hi. I'm Emie. Nice to meet you.” 

She smiles. 

“I'm Amy.” She has a very strong South Wales accent. “Where's your room?” 

“Right next door to you.” I point to it. I don't know why. My foot is still practically holding the door open so it's pretty damn obvious. 

“Awesome! We can sit and chat whenever we want.” 

I like this girl already. Mission make friends: success. 

“Are you going to the barbecue?” 

I didn't even know there was a barbecue. But of course I lie and say that I am. She asks if we can go together. I agree. This making friends business isn't as hard as I thought. 

At that moment, I hear my mum calling me. 

“I got to go. I suppose I need to help out with unpacking.” 

“That's cool. I'll knock on your door when I'm done.” 

I smile and go into my room. I think I'll be just fine. 

*************** 

After a particularly tearful goodbye with my mother, and a very successful barbecue, we all come back to the flat. And by all, I mean me and Amy. I'd gotten a few other numbers from people that will be on my course, but none that I would be comfortable bringing back on the first night. I'm just about to go to my room, when Amy has an idea. 

“Film night. Kitchen. We can all get to know each other.” 

It's perfect. We can all introduce ourselves to each other, and then sit and watch a film and not feel obliged to talk during the film. I immediately agree. 

“Great. I'll get the laptop. You go get the rest of the house-mates.” 

Shit. Not good. 

“Okay,” I say reluctantly. She toddles off to her room and the door closes. I'm now stood on the other side of the hall, looking at all the doors. Doors that I need to knock on. Doors that have new people to meet on the other side. 

This is a bad idea. 

“Come on Emie,” I mutter to myself. “We can do this.” 

Taking a deep breath, I knock on each door. 

The first door has Dillan. A comp-sci student who's pretty shy. Very reluctant to speak to me, but accepts the offer. 

The next is a loud girl called Katie. She's extravagant and artistic and I think I'll get on with her very well. She also accepts the offer. 

The next room is empty. I suppose this one hasn't arrived yet. Or is already out. 

A little girl called Christy is next. She's shy too, but seems really friendly. She says yes, and offers to bring her DVD collection too. I like her. 

A really skinny, awkward guy is next. Stewart. He kind of accepts the offer. I think. He kinda mumbled really quietly and shut his door. I guess we might see him. 

Then it's the last door. I've nearly done it. Just one more and then I can go and hide in my room. And thank God. Directly opposite my room. Less distance to run. 

I stand in front of it, and take a deep breath. I knock. 

I hear some shuffling and then footsteps. The door opens. 

My heart stops. 

Behind this door is the most beautiful guy I have ever seen. Dark hair messily spiked up, pale skin, eyes a colour between grey and blue. Dressed in a black shirt and black jeans. I've gone to heaven. He smiles at me and leans against the door frame. 

“Hi. How are you?” Oh my God. That accent. I love the Irish. 

“Hi,” I manage to say. “We're, uh...We're all going into the kitchen and going to watch a film. You know. Group bonding session.” 

Group bonding session?! What the hell was I thinking? That makes me sound like a tool. 

He chuckles and scratches the back of his head. Yep. Blown it. 

“Sounds good. When?” 

“As soon as the laptop owner makes her way into the kitchen.” 

“Count me in. Come get me when you're ready.” 

“Sure. Okay.” 

I turn, determined to go and curl up on my bed in shame. But a hand on my arm stops me. 

“Hey, wait,” he says. I wince and turn back. “You never told me your name.” 

Idiot. 

“Oh. Sorry. It's Emie.” 

He grins and my heart skips a beat. 

“Nice to meet you Emie. I'm Glen.”


CHAPTER 2

Glen.

His name goes around and around in my head as I mentally kick myself back in my room.

Why did I have to go and act like an absolute idiot? The first guy that I've even looked at since Nick...

Oh God no. I can't start my first day in university thinking of him. I just can't.

So now I'm having an internal struggle between Nick and Glen. Can my night get any worse? Thankfully, there's a knock on the door.

“Come in,” I call.

Amy pops her head in.

“I've set the laptop up in the kitchen. Shall we go?”

I get up and follow her out into the hall. As I go along, I knock on each door. I'm not stopping again. Especially not at Glen's door. I've had enough humiliation for one evening.

I take a seat at the kitchen table. Four seats on each side. Not bad, considering we don't have a living room. Amy's stood by the laptop, that she's set up on the work surface directly in front of us.

“So, how was everyone?” she asks.

“Yeah, they seem nice,” I say vaguely.

“Any good looking guys?” she teases.

“Not really,” I lie. She tuts.

Just before she can question me any more, the others start coming in. They all take seats around us. I notice that Glen hasn't come in though. And that there's three spare seats. One for Amy, one for the house-mate that isn't here yet, and one for Glen. One of those seats is next to me. I gulp.

As the others start chatting and getting to know each other, I'm sitting there praying that one of them will move into the seat next to me. I half-heartedly answer the questions I'm thrown, faking interest in them. I really shouldn't be doing that, but all I can think about is the possibility of Glen sitting next to me. The thought alone is making me panic. What if he ignores me? What if he talks to me and I act like an idiot again? What if he...

Just then, the kitchen door opens. There he is.

“Alright guys? The name's Glen.”

Everyone greets him and he smiles. He catches my eye and his smile turns into a grin.

Oh God.

I turn around and talk to Christy. Thank you for being right opposite me.

Maybe he'll just sit the other side of the table and talk to one of the guys. Maybe he'll just forget about me and chat up one of the other girls. Maybe...

The chair next to me moves. I glance over and see him sitting down next to me.

Shit!

Luckily, he turns to Stewart and starts talking to him. I have never been so grateful for anything in my entire life. I continue talking to Christy, who it turns out it pretty damn similar to me. She likes anime and games and all kinds of nerdy things. Amazing.

Before I know it, Amy has switched the light off and we're watching the film. Awkward moment over. Thank you Christy.

                                   *************

The film ends and everyone comes to the mutual agreement to all go out as a group. We're freshers. It's kind of the ritual.

We all quite quickly get ready. An amazing feat to be honest with you, seeing as most of the other girls seem like the type to spend forever getting ready. I, on the other hand, take about 5 minutes to get ready. Not used to the whole 'going out' scene. I know, I know. Lame. Got it.

There's a knock on my door. I open it and see Christy there.

“Ready to go?” she asks. I smile.

“Let's go.”

We all head out the door and down the stairs. Three stories high...that will be interesting in a drunken mess.

Heading on out to the Student Union (we've been told that's the place to go for freshers on the first night), I wonder what it will be like. I come from an area that has one club. And I've stepped into that club once in my lifetime. And to be honest, I wasn't impressed. Or very sober at that...

I see Glen ahead of me with Amy. Oh great. That's a hook up just waiting to happen. Typical. The best looking guy in the flat will be hooking up with the most confident girl in the flat. Right next to my room. Wonderful.

I don't know why I'm complaining though. It's not like I ever had a shot with him. Plus, I'm pretty much emotionally fucked up. He wouldn't want to waste his time on someone like me.

No. Stop it Emie. Confidence. Forget him. Forget men, in fact. Just go out and have fun. I smile to myself, and strike up a conversation with Katie.

I will get through this.

                        *********

The club is heaving. It's ridiculous. I've never seen somewhere so full, and so loud, and so warm. It's quite scary actually.

Glen and Amy are straight to the bar, and we all find ourselves a nice little corner to talk in. I can barely hear a thing. I lean right in to everyone to try and hear them, and have to shout my replies back. This is yet another thing that I need to get used to.

Amy comes back, followed shortly by Glen. He's carrying a tray full of shots.

“Shots all around!” shouts Amy. And so it begins.

A couple of shots later, and some of the others have gone off to dance. Amy's now moved her attention onto a random guy in the crowd. I seem to be the only on who isn't dancing.

“You alright?” I hear in my ear.

I turn and see Glen stood next to me. Oh dear. I nod.

“Not your kinda scene, huh?” he shouts. I shake my head. He takes my hand and leads me into the other room. A much quieter room with sofas and tables. He sits down and pats the seat next to him.

“Come on, maybe this is better,” he says. I smile gratefully and sit next to him.

Well this is awkward. I can feel him looking at me, expecting something. I just don't know what.

“So, tell me about yourself,” he says eventually.

Oh crap.

“What do you want to know?”

“Anything.”

“That doesn't really narrow anything down.”

He grins.

“Alright then. What course are you doing?”

“Drama and Theatre Studies.”

“Me too.”

What? Oh God, really? Could this get any worse?

“Cool.” Smooth Emie, smooth.

There's silence again. Why can't I talk to him? I feel him staring again. Then suddenly he gets up and walks away. Oh great. I've scared him off.

I sit there, alone for a while. I'm such an idiot. I come to university to change and look at me. I can't do anything right. I can't even talk to a guy on my course.

“Here.”

I look and see a drink in front of me. I think it's a vodka and lemonade.

“I don't know what you were drinking before. It looked like this, so I thought I would give it a shot.”

I look at him. He's staring at me, almost like he's waiting for approval. He went and got me a drink?

“You...” I start. I clear my throat. “You didn't need to get me a drink.”

“I know,” he grins. “But in my experience, alcohol makes you relax. And since I've met you, you've never seemed relaxed. I think it's about time you did.” He takes a swig of his drink.

I can hardly believe it. I grin.

“Just so you know,” I warn him, “when I drink, I drink quick.” He smirks.

“Challenge accepted.”

“And I talk. A lot.”

“I look forward.”

I laugh and start drinking.

                        ***************

A few drinks later and I'm pretty tipsy. And I'm talking. A lot.

“You know what I'm saying? It's a really amazing thing. You look at it and think to yourself 'Wow. How did I get through life not knowing that?' I see it all the time, now that it's been pointed out to me. You will too, you know. Now that I've told you. You'll never stop noticing it, and you'll probably curse my name every time. But that's okay. Because you'll know that you'll be able to annoy someone else in your life with that information and that they will curse your name too. And you'll think to yourself 'Yeah, I did that.' You know what I mean?”

I look at him. He's leaning against the table, cheek on his hand, with a big grin on his face.

“What?” I ask.

“Nothing,” he says.

“No, come on!” I nudge him. “What's so funny?” He sits up and downs his drink.

“Want another drink?” he asks and gets up.

“No, you tell me what's so damn funny!” I get up with him. He laughs and makes his way to the bar. I grab his arm and follow him.

“What d'you want to drink?” he asks me. “Same again?”

I don't answer him. He laughs at my grumpy expression and orders some drinks. This is really annoying.

“Why were you laughing at me?” I ask again. He turns to me and ruffles my hair.

“You were right about the drink,” he says. “You do talk. I've not heard you say so much all night.”

I feel like I've been punched. I've talked way too much. And he's sick of it. And he thinks I'm an idiot.

“Hey,” he calls me back. “Don't worry about it. I like it.” He holds out a couple of shots. “Here we go.”

“What are they?”

“Shots.”

“No shit. Shots of what?” That grin again.

“Does it matter?”

“Yes. You could be drugging me.” He laughs.

“You're funny. I'm not that kind of guy. Just drink it. Or would you like to swap?”

I seriously consider it. He grins again and raises one of his shots.

“On three?”

                        ****************

My vision is blurry. I can't stop laughing. And I've got an equally drunk Irish guy dancing with me in the middle of the dancefloor.

What is going on with me? I've never felt so alive. I've been drunk before, but this is completely different. I don't feel like I'm going to throw up. I don't feel like I'm going to embarrass myself. I feel really quite confident.

Glen hasn't left me all night. This is amazing. I've managed to catch the interest of easily the best looking guy in the entire club. Massive confidence boost or what?

He's jumping around in front of me, laughing along with me, screaming out the lyrics to the cheesy music we're dancing to. I've never felt so lucky in my life. He really is an amazing guy. We've just clicked. Sure, I fancy him. But even if he doesn't feel that way about me, I can easily say that we're going to be friends. I want to be friends.

That's when I make the decision. No men. No relationships. Whatever happens, happens. I'm not going to tie myself down. I'm going to live my life like it's my last day on Earth. I'm going to have fun.

That's when I notice that Glen has gotten closer to me. A lot closer. And I don't care.

I grin up at him and put my arms around his neck. He smiles back and puts his hands on my waist. We're so close now that the tension between us is just incredible. He rests his forehead on mine and closes his eyes. I sigh and close my eyes too. This just feels so good.

The crowd around us seems to just fade away. It's just me, Glen and the music. We move together, enjoying each other's company...

I feel a tap on my shoulder and I'm pulled out of the moment. I turn my head away to see who it is. It's Amy, with a massive grin on her face.

“Having fun there guys?”

The moment is gone. I realise now that all he's probably after is...My arms fall away and I take a step back from him.

“Aww, come on! Don't stop just because of me!”

“No, it's alright,” I say. “It was just a dance.”

I notice that Glen's hands are still on my waist. I wish he would just let go.

“We're heading off now anyway,” Amy tells me. “Heading back with us?”

I look at Glen. He doesn't say anything.

“Yeah,” I reply. I turn away from him and follow Amy out the door. I don't even know if he follows.

How could I have let my drunken mind think like that? I very nearly let some stranger take complete advantage of me. On my first night. What the hell was I thinking?

I've kept myself a few steps behind the rest of the group. I don't want to bring the mood down. It's not fair on all of them.

I hear footsteps catching up to me. Glen. I keep my head down. I don't really want to talk to him right now. He doesn't say anything either. We just walk in silence.

TO BE CONTINUED..