No Turning Back - Chapter 27: Chapter 27

You know there's something's wrong with you when you're staring out at 8,180 acres worth of beautiful campus and yet you can't feel at peace. Sure, I was at awe as I stared out at Stanford's beautiful, green campus but I didn't feel the peace that everyone else on the campus seemed to have. Maybe that's because I was still thinking about Jayden and our argument the day before. I know that the fight may have seemed stupid now that I looked back at it but it still hurt either way. Hearing someone say that they never cared about when they first got involved with you always stung whether they fell in love or not. Besides, he did lie to me about a big part of his life which wasn't cool at all. All of this may not seem like anything when you're looking at from another point of view but for me, it was a big problem.
"Daniel, isn't this just the most beautiful campus in the world," Melanie said from beside me. We were in one of the dining halls now since we had gotten down with our tour. My parents were off to the side talking to our student ambassador about academics or something.
"Yea," I said. "It's really pretty. I like it here."
"Yea, it's the perfect place to start our pimping business."
"Damn, I thought you forgot about that." She shook her head, smiling widely at me.
"Nope. We are going to be the hottest pimps Stanford has ever seen." I chuckled, shaking my head at her.
"You're insane."
"Yes but that's what makes you love me." She stared at me for a moment, her beautiful face falling into one of concern. "What's wrong," she asked. I shook my head.
"Nothing, Mel." She raised an eyebrow.
"Daniel, don't lie to me. What's wrong? Is it concerning your secret lover?" I sighed, glancing towards my parents who were looking to me as the student ambassador babbled on about something. I motioned to them that we were going to go out for a walk. They nodded before turning back to the student.
"Come on," I said as I pulled my best friend up from her seat. She seemed surprised but followed me on out of the dining hall. Today was sunny and a little chilly but not as bad as Chicago weather. It might as well be spring rather than winter to us here. I could tell that I would enjoy not having to deal with the cold while I was in college.
"Are you going to tell me what's wrong," she asked as we walked along one of the pathways. I nodded. "You just don't want your parents to know?"
"Yup. They can't know about my secret lover."
"Why not? I mean, they've supported all of your girlfriends before. Unless you're dating a whore...no then again there was that one girl last year who had been around and they liked her. How come they can't know?"
"Because," I started lowly. "I'm not dating a girl..." Melanie stared at me for a moment, her mind putting together what I'd said. She opened her mouth and then closed it again. "I'm dating Jayden. He's...he's my boyfriend," I said. A part of me felt weird actually admitting it out loud to someone while another part of me felt a bit of relief. It felt good to call him my boyfriend even though I was still upset with him. I had been holding it for so long so letting it out did feel pretty good. Melanie continued to stare at me, her mouth starting to gape open a bit. I raised my eyebrows at her. "Say something."
"Um...I...I don't know what to say, Danny. I mean, I think I'm surprised but I don't think I am."
"Hey, what's that supposed to mean?" She held her hands up.
"I don't mean it in a bad sense. It's just that there used to be a lot of sexual tension between you and Jayden. I saw the video of when he punched your face in and all I saw was you two fucking each other." I blushed deeply. "Besides, it was clear that you did care about him in some sense. You looked at him differently. I think I should have expected this."
"Yea...I guess I know what you mean."
"Have you slept with him yet? Does he top? I bet he tops." I blushed deeply.
"Melanie," I yelled. She put her finger on her chin.
"Or maybe he doesn't. I think you can be the dominant type when you want to be. Or do you guys take turns? That'd make more sense. Then you both can be the other's bitch."
"Melanie, we haven't slept together," I told her as I continued to blush. "We've only ever even talked about that once. Besides, that's not what I wanted to talk to you about."
"Will you talk to me about it when it happens?"
"Probably," I murmured. "Anyway, back to the subject at hand, we had a fight yesterday."
"About what?"
"Well, it turns out that he has a...past per to say."
"Yea, I mean not to sound mean but it is kind of obvious that he didn't have that good of a childhood."
"No, no, not that kind of past. I mean, like he used to be a player." Melanie raised an eyebrow.
"And you are surprised about this why?" I opened my mouth to speak but then shut it again. Why was I surprised? I mean, it wasn't like I had the cleanest record with girls either but I didn't set out to hurt them like he did with his ex-lovers.
"Because he just...he didn't seem like that type. But, he wasn't one of those players where they just date person after person. He was the kind who liked to break hearts on purpose. Then...he stole Mia's boyfriend...twice."
"Oh so you weren't the only one he took away huh?" I shook my head.
"Mia dated some guy who Jayden was friends with or whatever and Jayden violated the friend policy and whisked him away."
"Damn, are his kissing skills that good or something?" I blushed softly.
"Stay on topic here, Mel." She held her hands up in apology. "Anyway, the only reason Jayden even tried to associate with me was because he was trying to hurt Mia. He had planned to take me away from her and then break my heart – just like he did with her other boyfriend. Apparently, the girl is empathetic and she's liked me for a while and she really cares. So, he was going to take advantage of that. Our whole relationship started off as a revenge plan and I was just a small pawn in it." Melanie grabbed my hand and gave it a soft squeeze. "I know that it sounds stupid but I just...it hurts, ya know."
"I know it does, Danny. But, think of how you guys are now: doesn't he care about you?"
"I don't know," I admitted. "He told me that he loved me yesterday but I don't know how much I trust his word anymore." Melanie nodded.
"That's understandable," she murmured.
"I'm sorry. I'm dampening the mood when we're in this beautiful environment. We should be happy and meeting cool college kids."
"Daniel, you're not dampening the mood. You're just getting some feelings off your chest. I understand. How long have you guys been dating anyway?"
"Hmm, I wanna say early November but it may have been sooner than that. I'm not exactly sure."
"Wow, you didn't tell me you were dating a guy for almost four months. You've got some balls." I chuckled. "How come you didn't tell me?"
"Because I was afraid of what you might think. I know that sounds stupid but I just didn't want you to think any differently of me just because I like guys."
"Daniel, I could never think any differently of you. You're my best friend." She wrapped her slender arm around me. "At least you eventually told me," she said. She looked up at me. "So, what are you going to do about him? Did you guys break up or...?"
"I just told him that we would talk when I got back." Melanie nodded. Suddenly, I felt my phone buzz in my pocket. I pulled it out of my pocket to see that Jayden was calling me. Melanie stared at the phone before turning her eyes to me.
"Are you going to answer that," she asked. I shook my head as I hit the ignore button.
"Nah. I'm sure it's nothing important."