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hot.”
    I
shoved him and he laughed. “Go!” I said mortified. Maybe I had slept with him.
Alexander said I slept with most of them. I was beginning to really regret the
girl I was.
    The
next morning I woke up early. I was determined to start over and have a good
day. I knew I wouldn’t be able to forget everything I had learned, but I wasn’t
going to try to find out anymore. I was just going to act like a normal college
student.
    I
walked downstairs and my mother already had breakfast on the table. She didn’t
say anything, but I could see how worried she was. I didn’t know why she was so
worried. I felt better today than I had since waking up.
    After
breakfast I stepped out into the cool late summer air. James was waiting for me
on the porch just outside my door. “Hey,” he said smiling.
    “Hey,”
I said as I walked down the stairs and started walking toward campus.
    “You
look better today,” he said as he followed me.
    “I
feel better,” I said and smiled. “I think I am going to go to the movies
tonight. Do you want to come?”
    He
smiled. “Ya that sounds like fun.”
    As
we walked toward campus I made it a point to talk about classes and the town. I
didn’t want to talk about anything serious. James played along, but I could
tell he thought it was amusing. He was acting like I was playing a game. I
didn’t care. I was going to keep pretending until it felt normal. I wanted
normal more than anything.

 
    Our
first class was European History. We found our seats near the back. Alexander
walked in soon after we took our seats. He scanned the classroom. His eyes
landed on me and he smiled. He was obviously relieved that I came back to
school. The thought of just staying home had crossed my mind, but I was trying
to be normal and staying home all day wasn’t normal.
    The
class was relatively uneventful. My mind was on my next class which was
chemistry. I knew how Dorian felt about me pretending I was normal. I was
almost positive he was going to corner me in class. Once Alexander’s class
ended I followed the herd of students out. As we approached the chemistry
classroom I decided I didn’t want to face Dorian. I was in too good of a mood.
I snatched James’ hand and pulled him in the opposite direction.
    “Where
are we going?” he asked amused.
    “Anywhere
but here,” I said as I pulled him toward the exit.
    “Are
we skipping Dorian’s class for a reason?” He had to know the reason. He knew
Dorian; so I knew he could figure out why I wanted to skip.
    “I
want to go have fun. I don’t want to listen to him tell me how much of an idiot
I am,” I said quietly.
    He
laughed and slung his arm around my shoulders. “Let’s go have some fun.”
    I
was glad he wasn’t against it. I needed to have fun. “Where can we go?”
    “I
know the perfect place,” he said amused. He guided me toward the woods near the
school. “Tag you’re it,” he said playfully then took off running once we
reached the woods.
    I
ran after him. He was a lot quicker than me. He ran through the woods dodging
trees and jumping over logs. There was no way I was going to catch up with him.
It wasn’t long before I lost sight of him completely. I came to a clearing by a
lake and stopped. I looked around and he was nowhere in sight.
    “Ok,
you win, where are you?” I called out.
    I
was suddenly tackled, and we went rolling into the soft grass by the edge of
the lake. He pinned me and grinned down at me. “You aren’t very good at this,”
he teased.
    I
shoved him off me. “I never said I was good at tag. I am going swimming,” I
said amused as I climbed to my feet. I stripped out of my clothes and he laid
on his side and watched me. I was a little shy about undressing in front of
him, but he claimed I slept with him so I undressed anyway. “Are you coming?” I
asked as I tossed my panties at him.
    He
grinned as he caught them. He jumped to his feet and quickly undressed. He ran
at me and I squealed in excitement