Dylan

I wipe the steam from the mirror.  It is the last weekend before classes start back up.  I grab a towel wrapping it around my waist.  I have no idea how long I stand there before someone starts pounding on the door.  I shake my head as I open the door.  Arlo is standing there with a disgruntled look on his face.  I slide past him, heading for my room.  I heard him grumble, but I was unsure what he said.  I close the door to my room, but that doesn’t stop the loud bass from thumping from the floor below me.  I slip on a pair of boxer briefs and then a pair of cargo shorts.  I pull a dark green t-shirt over my head before slipping my feet into my trainers.  We are meeting Riley and his sister at the pub.  Luke and Arlo are the only two that have met her, and from what they have told us, she seems like a good person.  Everyone is ready to head out as I walk into the main room.  There are ten of us that live in this house.  Luke, Arlo, and I decided a month or so ago that we needed to find a new place.  We have a few newbies on the team, and they needed somewhere to live.  Riley’s grandparents bought him a house when his sister decided to attend college here. 

Riley was straight with us and told us about her and all the shit that went down with his family.  I was shocked when he told us how his father treated her.  She wasn’t biologically his, but that is no excuse for treating her that way.  It wasn’t her fault, and after what he told us, we all felt a little protective of this girl.  Lina, Arlo’s girlfriend, told us that she was a beauty.  James shuts the door, locking it as we walk towards the pub.  Thankfully it is only a 10-minute walk from the house.  Riley is at the bar when we walk in.  

“Ordering us a couple of jugs?”  Arlo asks.

“Damn straight.  Sapphire is in the back at our usual table.”  Riley says.

Lina lets out a squeal weaving her way through the crowd.  Sapphire is an unusual name.  Tanya places four jugs before us as Riley, Cullum, and I grab them.  We head for our usual spot.  Luke takes the jug from me.  It’s probably a good thing he did because I would have dropped it.  Talking with Lina is hands down the most beautiful girl I have ever seen.  Luke picks her up, swinging her around like an idiot.  She is a tiny thing.  I make my way over to introduce myself.  Riley introduces her to the ones that haven’t met her.  Sapphire, her name fits her.  I swear my stomach flips when her bright sapphire blue eyes meet mine.  She and Lina seem to be fast friends as I watch them talking.  My 6’5” frame dwarfs hers.  Considering she barely reaches my shoulders, Lina is 5’8”, and Sapphire is three or four inches shorter than Lina, making her around 5’4”.  

Riley has shown us pictures of the two of them growing up, and I remember a girl with hair so blond it was damn near white.  It is clear that she dyes her hair, and the blues in her hair make her stunning eyes pop.  

I notice a few other guys checking her out, and a wave of possessiveness flares within me.  She is not wearing anything too revealing, but her strapless top reveals the perfect amount of cleavage, and her cut-off jean shorts show off her sun-kissed legs.  The urge to slide a finger up one of those thighs to know if her skin is as smooth as it looks increases as she moves around.  

We have been here for about an hour, and no matter where she is, my eyes seem to follow Sapphire automatically.  She and Lina have been on the dance floor for a while now, and I smirk when I see them walking towards us.  They must finally be tired from all the dancing.  Someone sits beside me, and I glance over to see a head of blue hair beside me.  Her scent hits me as my heart rate increases.  She smells like jasmine after a rainstorm.

“Dylan, right?”  She asks.

“Yeah, are you enjoying your first night out here?”  I ask.

“Yes, everyone is so nice and this place is crazy.”  She chirps.

The pub is overflowing with patrons, but she is the only one I can see or hear.  She has my complete attention.  I noticed she was not drinking like the rest of us.  I asked her if she would like a drink, but she said no.  I ask why, and she says that she doesn’t like the taste of alcohol and that the one time she did get a drink, she doesn’t remember most of the night.  I don’t like that sound, and I need to remember and ask Riley about it.

“Sapphire doesn’t drink?”  Chance asks.

“No, she has never like the taste of any alcohol.”  Riley tells us.

“She told me the one time she did get drunk that she doesn’t remember most of the night.”  I comment.

“Yeah, we were at a party, and a girl she went to school with handed her a cup full of spiked punch.  The girl didn’t know, but a few guys had roofied the drink before handing it to her.  One of the guys was pissed that Sapphire kept turning him down and wanted to get back at her.  Luckily, one of my friends was near when she started stumbling around.  We figured out what was going on and got her the fuck out of there.  We also found out who it was that roofired the drink and beat the shit out of him.”  Riley explains.

I can feel the anger in me rising.  Those fuckers are lucky they are on a whole different continent.  I look around, but I can’t find her.  I quickly start scanning every inch of the pub but nothing.  I head towards the bar, thinking maybe she has stepped outside for fresh air, but nothing.  I am walking back towards the dunny when something bumps into me with a squeak.  I glance down and see a familiar head of blue hair.  The breath I hadn’t realized I was holding escapes as her blue eyes meet my steel grey eyes.  

“Oh god, I am so sorry.  I was looking at a text from my aunt and didn’t see you there.”  Sapphire gasps.

“It’s fine.  No harm, no foul, my precious jewel.”  I tell her.

Pink spreads across her cheeks when I call her that.  She falls into my arms when some drunk asshole stumbles down the hall to the dunny.  She is pressed against the wall, with my body blocking anyone storming down this way from pushing her.  My hand moves on its own, placing a stray lock of her hair behind her ear.  I go to step closer when I hear her name being called.  I step back and suck in a breath.  We turn as Luke and Riley strut down to us.  

“Thank god, I was worried when I couldn’t find you.”  Riley says.

“I had to use the bathroom.”  She admits. 

Lina shoots me a look as we make it back to the table.  I shake my head as we all settle back in.  Sapphire sat by me the rest of the night, and I felt like I won the lottery.  I can tell that Riley is surprised but happy that we all get along with his sister and that she took to us as she did. 

Damn, it is way too early to be awake, but this was the only time this class was offered.  The fact that I woke up late and didn’t have time to stop and grab some coffee has made my already shitty mood worse.  I slump into the chair, waiting for this damn class to start.  This was the last class I chose mainly because it is an elective.  It was one of the few left and the only one that sounded remotely interesting.  

I am no Davinchi but I am an okay artist.  I picked this class because it would be an easy A, not paying attention to what time it started. 

“Coffee?”  A familiar voice asks.

I look up to see Sapphire standing there in shorts and a tank top.  She has a light jacket on since the fucking school keeps the rooms cold like a fucking freezer.  She sits down next to me as I take the coffee from her.

“How much do I owe you and you didn’t need to get me coffee.”  I tell her.

“I had no idea you were even in this class until I saw you sitting here.  They messed up my order but gave me this one so I didn’t pay for it.”  She responds. 

I take a sip of the coffee.  A groan escapes because, damn, that is just what I needed.  I look at her as she focuses on the front of the room.  She has her hair up in a messy bun, and it takes every bit of self-restraint not to lean over and kiss her bare neck.  I am not like most of the guys.  I don’t have a different girl in my bed every night; that is not to say that I haven’t had a few one-night stands.  That shit got old fast; after freshman year, I was more than over it.  I damn near jumped out of my seat and let out a loud whoop when the professor told us that we would pair up for the semester and that she was picking our partners. 

“Well partner what should be do first?”  I ask.

“We should decide what we want to capture.”  Sapphire answers.

The gods must have been on my side because the professor paired me with Sapphire.  This photography/art class just got more interesting.  I am not happy when the class ends.  Sapphire showed me her schedule, and damn, she has some rough classes, but this is the only class we have together.  We part ways as I watch her walk away, which is a pretty damn good view. 

“What has your panties in a bunch mate?”  Luke asks.

“Piss off, I am starving.”  I growl.

“Damn, someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed.”  Riley mumbles. 

These assholes need to piss off.  I  have been up before the fucking sun even cracked the surface, and I haven’t seen Sapphire since our only class together.  I will admit that her being in that class made it worth getting up at the ass crack of dawn worth it.  I grab a burger as the others go off to order food.  As I am walking back, a flash of blue catches my eye.  I change course and take a seat next to her.  I laugh when she jumps as I sit down.

“Not funny, you scared the shit out of me.”  She hisses. 

“Sorry, little gem, that was not my intention.”  I tell her.

She hands me a bottle of water which I gladly take.  I had forgotten to grab something to drink.  The team nutritionist would murder me if he saw me eating this burger monstrosity, but it sounded good.  Our spot wasn’t as hidden as I thought since some other guys found us and sat down.  Lina joins us after a few, and there must be three or four conversations simultaneously.  Once lunch is finished, we head off in different directions.  It just so happens that Sapphire’s next class is in the same direction as mine, so I get to walk her to class.  As I reach for the door handle, a person approaches me.

“Hey Dylan,”  Karli says.

She has her hand on my chest.  This is the last person I want to see or be around.  She is my ex, and I want nothing to do with her.  We dated for a few months at the beginning of last year.

“I have been calling you but you haven’t returned the calls.”  She adds.

“I blocked your number.  I have nothing to say to you and you are the last person I want to be around.”  I growl.

“Ummm I am just going to head to class.  See you later Dylan.”  Sapphire says.

I watch as she walks away, and my anger with Karli increases.  I step around her and go to leave.  She isn’t taking the hint and catches up to me. 

“Seriously, her.  She is a freak and has nothing to offer you like I do.”  Karli hisses.

“Watch your mouth.  She is Riley’s sister, and I know he will be pissed if he finds out you’re talking shit about her.  He hates you and would have no problem telling that to your face.”  I tell her. 

I storm past her and to my class.  I drop down into the seat beside Arlo and Chance.  

“You look like someone might die.”  Arlo comments.

I tell them about my little run-in with Karli—none of the guys like her.  I dumped her skanky ass when I walked in on her and an ex-teammate fucking.  A few guys had tried to tell me she was cheating, but I was too stupid to believe it.

“Think she will cause any problems?”  Luke asks.

“She had better not.  She hasn’t shown her face around here since we ran her out.”  Malone points out.

I was not even that upset when I found the fucking.  I think I had been over the relationship for a while but was trying to figure out a way to break it off with her in a friendly way.  That ended fast when I walked into her riding his cock like a fucking jockey.  I hope that our little run-in didn’t run Sapphire off.

Besides class, my gem has more or less avoided me.  Karli has tried talking to me a few times since, but that should stop now.  I ripped into her yesterday.  I even made her cry, which I don’t feel bad about.  She had it coming.  If it weren’t for our class, I don’t think I would even see Sapphire.  I smirk when I walk into the library.  I see a head of blue hair hiding in one of the corners.  I nod at a few people I know studying here as I approach her.  The entire area in front of her is covered in books and papers.  I pull the chair beside her, ensuring the feet scrape against the floor.  Her face jerks up as our eyes meet. 

“Hey there, my precious jewel.  Care to explain why you have been avoiding me since Tuesday?”  I ask.