While he’s gone, I go in my room and throw on jeans and a long sleeve shirt. As I’m drying my hair, I start to wonder if Dominic will even come back to my room. By now, he’s gotta think I’m a complete nut job. He was probably just being nice back at the pool so I wouldn’t blow up at him again. Ten minutes pass and he still hasn’t come downstairs. How long does he need to change clothes? He knows how fast I am. Another 5 minutes pass. I sit on my bed and waited.
I’ve never waited for a guy. I’m not that girl who gives the guy all the control. So why am I waiting for him? He’s never coming back. He’s probably upstairs right now telling his entire floor about the crazy girl on the first floor.
“Forget this,” I say out loud. As I open my door to leave, Dominic’s standing there.

“Were you going somewhere?”
“What took you so long?”
He steps aside and Brandon appears, in neon green board shorts, a navy blue t-shirt, and flip-flops, his messy blond hair hanging like a mop on his head.
“Hey, Ohio.” He pushes past me into my room and plops down on my bed, putting his feet up and placing his hands behind his head like he plans to stay a while. Dominic mouths “sorry” to me, then goes over to Brandon and shoves his feet off the bed.
“Get up, Brandon. And get out of her room.”
“I need to rest a minute.” He yawns and puts his feet up again.

“I mean it. Get up. Now.” Dominic stands above him, waiting for him to move.
“I’ll get up when I’m ready to get up. And it’s not even your room, so shut the fuck up. Ohio’s not telling me to go.”
“My name is Jessica. And I’m from Iowa. Not Ohio.”
“Same difference,” he mumbles.

“Uh, no. They’re two different states. They’re not even next to each other. Never mind. Just get out of here.”
He sits up on his elbows. “You’re not very friendly, Ohio. I thought people in the middle were supposed to be all friendly and shit.”
“Get off her bed,” Dominic orders, getting impatient.
“What are you doing here anyway?” I ask Brandon. “I thought you lived off campus.”
Brandon stands up and drapes his arm over Dominic. “I’m visiting my buddy here. Ever since you came to town I never see this guy. We were supposed to spend these last few days before class getting wasted, and instead he’s hanging out with some chick from Ohio.”
Brandon’s been drinking. I didn’t notice it at first because of that disgusting cologne he bathes himself in. But now that he’s in front of me, I can smell the liquor when he opens his mouth.
“It’s Jessica,” I say forcefully. “And I’m not from Ohio.”
“Whatever, bitch.”
Dominic shoves Brandon’s arm off his shoulder, then grabs hold of it and twists it back. “What did you just call her?”
Brandon yanks his arm away from Dominic and rubs his shoulder. “What the fuck did you do that for?”
“You’ll never call her that again. Understand?”
A disgusting grin crosses Brandon’s face. “So you’re sleeping with his girl? That’s why you’re never around?”
I can feel the tension in the room as Dominic’s temper rises. “I’m seriously going to hurt you if you don’t get the fuck out of here.”
“Fine. I’m going.” Brandon stumbles into the hallway. “I should go anyway. I’ve got some tequila waiting for me at home.”
“Is he driving?” I whisper to Dominic. “He can’t drive like that.”
Dominic sighs. “I’ll go drop him off and be right back, okay?”
“I’ll go with you.” I grab my purse and follow him out into the hall.
“We’re taking you home, Brandon,” Dominic says.
“I can drive.” He yawns. “I’m just tired.”
“You had too much to drink. You’re not driving.” Dominic and I walk past him.
“I need my car to get to orientation tomorrow.”
“Then Jessica will drive it, and I’ll take you in my car. Give her the keys.”
“Shit, no! I’m not letting Ohio drive my car. There’s no fucking way. No girl drives my car.”
Dominic gets up in his face. “Then give me your keys and she’ll drive my car. Now let’s go.”
“You’re really pissing me off.” Brandon reaches in his pocket and gives Dominic the keys. “Ohio better be worth it.”
We walked down the hall and outside to the parking lot. Dominic tosses me his car keys. I stare at the keys like I’m not sure what to do with them. I’ve never driven a BMW. I’m almost too scared to drive it. What if I wreck it?
“Just follow me, Jessica,” Dominic says. He’s standing next to a red Porsche. Brandon is already inside. “His place is just a few minutes from here.”
I get in Dominic’s car and adjust the seat. Then I search for the lights and put on my seatbelt. I can’t believe he’s letting me drive his BMW. He barely knows me. This car is worth more than the house I grew up in. The Porsche starts driving off so I hurry up and follow it. We go down the main road then turn off onto a dark narrow side road lined with trees. It’s so dark that I need the brighter headlights, but I can’t figure out how to turn them on. We come to a stop at a gated entrance and Dominic says something to the guard. When I get to the gate, the guard waves me through. Dominic parks in front of a two-story condo. I was imagining a tall building filled with tiny, crappy apartments. But rich boy, Brandon, wouldn’t live in a place like that. Dominic gets out of the Porsche and slams the door shut, tossing the keys to Brandon.
Drunk boy can’t catch and searches the ground for his keys. I get out of Dominic’s car and get back in on the passenger’s side. Brandon stands up again, shoving his keys in his pocket.
“Wait ’til your dad hears about this,” he says to Dominic. “You can kiss that trust fund goodbye.”
Dominic ignores him and joins me in the car. He backs up, then speeds off, stopping abruptly to wait for the gate to open.
“Is something wrong?”
“It’s nothing,” he snaps.
“You seem really mad. We can just go back to the dorm if you want. We can skip dinner.”
“We’re not skipping dinner. Brandon just pisses me off. I’ll be fine in a minute or two.”
“If he pisses you off, why do you hang out with him?”
Dominic adjusts the rear view mirror which I moved when I was driving. “Just forget about it, okay?”
“What did he mean about your dad?”
“Jessica. I asked you to stop talking about it. Just drop it.”
I turn away and stare into the darkness. We go to the burger place and Dominic insists on eating there instead of taking it back to our rooms, but he doesn’t say anything all through dinner. He seems distant, like his mind is somewhere else. I don’t ask him about it because I’d rather not know what’s causing this. I’m hoping it’s just Brandon and that he’ll get over it soon. People are right about first impressions. From the minute I met Brandon I knew I didn’t like him. And this just confirms it. Even Dominic doesn’t seem to like the guy. I wonder why they’re even friends.