Chapter Twenty-Four

Celia I went to the campus police station after I left Keith at his class. He’d been worried about me walking around on my own, but I wasn’t. Let Rachel and her ‘sisters’ play their stupid games. The law was on my side.

I filed a formal complaint against her, the sorority, and the owner of the car. Keith’s security cameras had caught the whole thing and recorded it. I gave the police a copy of the file for their records and walked out of the station happier and feeling lighter for doing it. The school didn’t want to do anything, fine. I’d go to the police. If the campus police didn’t want to do anything, I’d go to the sheriff, or whoever it was that was next on the list. Something had to be done about these stupid rituals they had in place.

Because that’s all I could think that this was. Rachel wanted to be in the mean girls’ club, and this was her way of doing it. Or, the sorority had put her up to it as a hazing initiation or some bullshit like that. I didn’t know anything for sure, but I’d decided that enough was enough.

I headed to my class with my head held high, and when I got a few appreciative stares, I couldn’t help but beam with pride. Imagine, plain, little old Celia from Iowa had pink and red hair and a boyfriend that would do anything for her.

Well, I think he’s my boyfriend. We live together, although that was supposed to only be temporary. I had a feeling it wasn’t going to be, though. He was so attentive, so loving, even if he was distant sometimes. Other times, he was boisterous, romantic, and sometimes just plain dirty. He wouldn’t be all those things and yet be so kind and generous if he just wanted to fuck, would he?

He was rich some nagging voice in the back of my brain said. Maybe it’s some kind of game for him. After all, I thought as a forgotten piece of information floated back into my head, he’d gotten my number from Rachel. Technically, she’d put him up to calling me. He’d expected a fuck from what he’d said. A good time. How low-class of them both.

But I didn’t mind the reason he’d texted me that first time. Maybe because I’d responded, knowing what it would mean. He’d been blunt and to the point. There’d been no doubt about what it was he wanted. Then the texts had changed over time and now we’d been physically together for over two weeks.

It wasn’t the six months I’d dreamed about for all those years and he wasn’t a sports player, although he had the body of one. He could be a sexy nerd, though, when he had exams or something new to study. He was romantic and went for walks with me and held my hand. Oh, and let’s not forget the incredible, mind-blowing sex.

I grinned as I walked to the library to get to work. The officer at the station said they’d get back to me and that they would investigate my claims. Surely the school would pay attention, then? They’d find a way to make Rachel’s harassment campaign stop.

I frowned as I stood before the building, remembering they’d screamed something about me leaving Rachel alone, hadn’t they? The people in the car yesterday, before they’d tossed that hair dye at me. Maybe she was already in trouble?

It probably wasn’t the smartest thing then to have her friends attack me all over again I thought with a grimace.

I looked at the grass and trees around me, the buildings, the persistent noise from the cars on the streets. And at all the people walking by. Each one could be one of her friends, ready to attack me again. I turned away quickly and walked into the library. This wasn’t going to be a simple matter to get over, I knew that but I still hated how skittish I felt as I all but ran back to the employees’ break-room. They hadn’t really hurt me, I reminded myself as a sudden fear gripped me.

Sure, I could have had a very nasty, even deadly, reaction to the dye but they weren’t thinking of that. They’d just wanted to humiliate me and probably make me run back home. It hadn’t worked though. I was still here and I’d stay here, I said to myself. Straighten your backbone and get to work.

It wasn’t long before I was lost in my work, helping other students find books, replacing returned books to the stacks, and doing whatever I could to make it all run smoothly. I ignored the students that came in to do their thing in the stacks, it wasn’t really hurting anyone, and most of the time they were so quiet you didn’t even know it. I did think about putting up little notices about the security cameras in the building, however.

I’d considered inviting Keith over for a little public fun of our own, but then I’d found out about those cameras. I imagined there was some pervy security guy with quite a little collection by now. I didn’t want to be a part of that collection. Not his anyway.

I walked along the aisles, my fingers and eyes checking for straight books and properly replaced magazines. I wasn’t obsessive-compulsive about straight rows or anything, but it kept me busy and I learned where most of the book categories were from the practice.

It was a large library. Huge compared to the public library in my hometown, with two floors full of reference books. I sometimes wondered how long it would take to read all the books in the place and if it would be decades or centuries. I made my way to the section on human sexuality and made sure there wasn’t anyone watching.

I glanced around one last time, my eyes darting from place to place and bit at my bottom lip. I didn’t want to be seen in this section, not by my employer at least. He was on the second floor though and hadn’t come down. I glanced at the titles and frowned. I wanted a book that would give me ideas about how to make sure I was doing enough to keep Keith interested in bed but the books were all scientific studies of human sexuality. Maybe I’d have to look online.

I knew I could browse the web on my phone, and Keith had given me the Wi-Fi code for his house. I’d look one night when he was busy studying I decided and went back to work. I finished soon enough and found myself with little to do. It happened on slow days when the other students weren’t frantic to finish a paper due the next day or cramming for an exam.

I sighed a deep breath and looked around, my fingers gently tapping at the counter where I stood. I had so much on my mind, so much I didn’t want to think about but there wasn’t much to do to take my mind off things. I looked at the calendar for the library and saw we were supposed to decorate for Halloween soon. There was to be an exhibition here about the holiday and how it had grown in popularity.

I smiled, wondering if Keith and I would be invited to any parties. He knew all the party people on campus. He got so many calls asking if he was going out when we first started our physical relationship that I’d wondered if I was keeping him from a lifestyle he loved. He’d always say no and then he’d kiss me, or we’d go back to the movie we’d been watching. It was nice, it really was, but I felt restless and now that I thought about it, a party sounded like fun. Or a club where I could lose myself in the music even if I couldn’t dance. I probably wouldn’t know any of the songs though.

Maybe a party wasn’t the answer but I did wonder what we could dress up as. He’d be a swashbuckling pirate, with long black curls and a hat that would make his eyes so fantastic. I sat down because my legs went weak at the thought of him dressed up like that. With the boots and the earring, oh my, I had to fan at my face then.

Or maybe he’d be a vampire with the cape and the fangs.

I’d be his damsel in distress in need of a good bodice-ripping and a deep kiss as we sailed into the sunset. Or something like that, I thought with a stupid smile on my face.

“Miss? Can I have these, please?” A very tall girl of African descent, with deep chocolate eyes and a perfect nose, asked me.

I smiled up at her as I stood, glad to have something to do.

“Hi, Alyssa. I hope you’re doing well?” I remembered her because she came in every week.

“Hi, Celia.” She put her head down, shyly embarrassed for some reason. “I’m sorry, I didn’t recognize you with that hair.”

“Oh, this.” I touched the back briefly and smiled, shyly embarrassed myself now. “It was a long night, that’s all I can say.”

“It looks good. I like it.” She smiled as I handed her a slip of paper, a reminder of when the books would arrive from the library, we would borrow them from for her.

“Thanks. It’s taking some getting used to.”

I’d wondered if my boss would say anything about it, but he’d just rolled his eyes and went back to the task he’d been doing. Now I’d had a compliment from someone that wasn’t Keith or the hairdresser. “Keep it. It suits you.”

“Oh! That’s sweet. Thank you.” I looked away again, unsure of what else to say.

“See you next week,” she said waving her long, slim fingers at me and walked away.

I watched as she walked away, but I didn’t really see her. I was thinking about Rachel. She’d tried to break me when she cut off my hair and her ‘sisters’ had tried to finish me off. They hadn’t realized they’d made me. Not yet, anyway.

I decided I’d ask Keith about a party when I got home later, and maybe, just maybe, I’d wear some of the more risqué clothes my aunt had packed into those boxes. I’d put them in the back of my closet at Keith’s, but perhaps I’d pull them out.

I’d lost a little weight with our daily walks along with the amount of walking I did at school which also helped. Plus, I ate a lot better now and I’d almost given up my chocolate donut habit too. Almost. I still had a little work to do, but I didn’t feel an urgent need to lose any more weight.

Keith really seemed to like me as I was. I didn’t want to change too much, or he might not like my body anymore. Even though I knew it wasn’t just my body that intrigued him. We talked about a variety of subjects and sometimes we’d spend hours talking about things nobody else seemed to ever talk about. We’d arouse each other with our minds, not just our bodies, but that didn’t mean I shouldn’t be healthy.

I sat back down and went back to tapping at the desk. But part of me was still a teenager, and for once I wanted to party. Healthy could wait until tomorrow. Sexy and fun was what I wanted tonight.