Free Misunderstandings by Tiffany King

of a closet to begin with. With two extra people we were packed like sardines.
    “So, Rob and I will be back in a minute,” Melissa said, dragging a confused Rob from our room as she ignored the daggers she knew I was glaring at her.
    I swung my legs around and sat up on my bed, trying not to dwell on the fact that Justin wasn’t exactly catching me at my best. My hair probably looked like a bird’s nest and I was wearing an oversized UW T-shirt with no bra and my favorite Victoria’s Secret sweats.
    “What are you doing here?” I demanded, taking out my discomfort from the situation on him.
    “We have a date,” he replied. He plopped down on Melissa’s bed, looking unfazed by my tone.
    “We
had
a date. I sent you a text,” I stated, holding up my phone for emphasis.
    “That’s right, and if I remember correctly, you broke it off so you could study,” he said pointedly, looking at the game that was still open on my phone.
    “I was giving my fried brain a break,” I lied.
    “What’s the deal, Brittni? I like you. A lot. I’ve made that clear, but I can’t keep chasing you if you don’t want to becaught,” he huffed, running his hand across the light layer of scruff that covered the bottom half of his face. “I mean, what do you want from me? Are you really not interested?”
    I sighed heavily. How could I articulate my feelings without sounding like a jealous half-wit? “It’s not you . . .” I started.
    “Oh, please. Tell me you’re not trying to feed me the ‘it’s not you, it’s me’ crap. I’m not sure I’ll be able to stomach that.”
    “Fine. It
is
you. Well, not you exactly. It’s who you’ve banged,” I snapped, jumping to my feet so I could pace the room.
    “Who I’ve banged? Are we at that point in this relationship where we’re handing over our lists?”
    “No,” I said, shaking my head. “You want to think it’s ridiculous, that’s your problem, but did you really have to sleep with Kara the Twat-Face?” I sank back down on my bed and dropped my face to my hands.
    “Kara the Twat-Face?” he questioned, prying my fingers from my face.
    “Fine, that’s not her real name.”
    “That’s a relief, but I’m still drawing a blank here.”
    “It still doesn’t change the fact that you dated the one girl I can’t stand, Kara Bellmont,” I said, wanting to puke.
    “Kara Bellmont? In that bitch’s dreams,” he shuddered.
    “You didn’t date her?” I asked. What a relief if he was telling the truth.
    “Hell no. She was in my Bio Chem class last year. She tried, believe me. Always talking about how she ‘can’t keep any of the formulas straight,’ and ‘could we get together to study.’ Study, my ass,” he said.
    “And you never fell for her sweet-Southern-girl bullshit?” I asked skeptically.
    “Look. I’ve dated lots of girls. You know this, but that chick is bad news. Too much damn fake drama for me.”
    “Give me a break. The Barbie twins you were with the first day I met you were about as fake as they come.”
    “Fair enough. I never said I was perfect. Besides, who really caught my attention that day? Oh yeah, that’s right, it was you. I told you, I’m not a player, Brittni. You’re going to have to believe me or this thing between us is never going to work,” he said, putting the ball in my court. “And you have to stop jumping to conclusions about me.”
    He was right, of course. From day one I’d been too harsh where it concerned him. “I’m just scared,” I finally admitted.
    “Why would you be scared?” he asked, reaching for my hands.
    “Because I suck at this whole relationship thing.”
    “So do I. We can learn how to be good at it together,” he said, pulling me to my feet. “I think we should practice with kissing,” he added.
    “Kissing sounds like a good place to start,” I whispered as his lips claimed mine.

9.
    Present Day
12:55 PM
    “I’m starving,” I grumbled, checking my iPhone for the millionth