“Sooo…? Who was the hottie you left with last Friday?” Jen asks, dropping down next to me on the cafeteria bench.

I scowl at the unpleasant memory her question brings forth. “Someone awful. I hope I never see him again.”

“Uh okay… But won’t that be hard when he’s from our university?” Her eyebrows raise in an unspoken question, but I ignore it.

“He’s in architecture.” Meaning: it won’t be that hard to avoid him. IT and architecture are in different buildings on opposite sides of campus, so reckon we won’t bump into him too often.

“Oh?” A smirk begins to form on her black-painted lips and my frown deepens. I know that look. “You say you don’t want to see him, but you know what department he’s in?”

She knows me too well. I usually never remember anything about my one-night stands, so me remembering his department is unusual. I don’t want to tell her I also remember his name.

“Just leave it Jen. I only remember so I know how to avoid him,” I say in an attempt to brush her off.

“Hmm…” Her smirk doesn’t fade, and I fear she’s going to start a whole thing about this. I better distract her with something else. “How was your date? It was this Sunday, right?” I ask and breathe relieved when she takes the bait. Her face lights up immediately.

“Oh, that was great actually! So, his name is Christian, and his parents are from Europe and…” she begins, and she barely has time to eat any of food, being too absorbed with telling me the story. Finally she looks at her phone and gasps. “Oh shit! I’m late for class!” She always does this.

“Sorry Mona, I got to go. See you later!” In a flash her sandwich is gone and with cheeks stuffed like a hamster, she gets up and storms off. I chuckle as I watch her nearly bump into several people on her way. My class after lunch has been cancelled, so I’m in no hurry and I pick out my phone to listen to some music while I finish my lunch.

While I sit there, gazing out the window and in my own world, I suddenly feel a light tap on my shoulder. I’m violently pulled back to reality when I whip my head and recognize Aaron. Son of a b… Just as I claimed we probably wouldn’t bump into each other. I should’ve thrown salt over my shoulder, but I guess it’s my fault for lingering too long in the cafeteria.

“Hey” he grins, and I give him a deadpan expression. Just go away, would you? But no, apparently he wont. He takes a seat next to me.

“Look,” he begins, “I just wanted to apologize if I made you uncomfortable the other night.” Uncomfortable? It was humiliating. I turn away and amp up the volume off my music. If I ignore him, he’ll probably go away. Or not. I hear him say something over the music and then he suddenly pulls out one of my earbuds. God damn it, just leave me alone!

“What?” I snarl.

“Hey, I just want to talk to you, is that so bad?” his expression is irritatingly innocent and pleading. I glance around us and notice a couple of stares and people whispering.

“I don’t have time for this.” I don’t want all this attention – neither from him or anyone else – so I grab my tray and get up, but he catches my hand. “Get off me” I snarl at him, but he doesn’t let go.

“Come on, you don’t have to leave” He looks at me with the worst puppy-dog-eyes. Jesus fuck. Just leave me alone you imbecile.

I give him my best glare and snarl: “I am leaving, and you are letting go.”

He sighs and glances at my hand with a resigned expression. Then he lets go. Without looking back I leave him behind and make my way to the trash bin to empty my tray, but as I turn around, there he is again.

“How about I walk you to class?” he asks. Jesus, does he just not get it at all? Is he stupid? No, if I’ve judged his type right, he knows exactly what he’s doing. He’s probably reveling in the fact this annoys me, actually. I guess the best I can do is ignore him, so I start walking out of the cafeteria, my earbuds firmly in place. But he follows right behind me.

“Did you get home alright that night?” I barely hear his question above my music. Fuck off dude, I think to myself, though I keep the words unspoken and just quicken my pace. Stepping out onto campus grounds, the air is warm and fresh. We probably won’t have many more summer days like this one and I can’t even enjoy it when I’m followed around by this ridiculous human puppy. I don’t have class for another hour and the lush grass fields, soft sunlight playing with its strains, calls for me to take a seat. But I’m pretty sure that if I did, he would too. So, I guess I need to shake him off and find somewhere in my department building to read my homework.

However, following the familiar trail he suddenly grabs my arm and pulls me down a narrow side path. “Hey, what are you-“

He slams me up against a building behind a big bush, hiding us from curious passersby. Though it’s not too violent, it’s definitely surprising and it stuns my protests.

“You know, the more you run, the more it makes me want to chase you.” He trails my face with a finger and a sly smirk adorn his features. His blue eyes almost make me feel trapped for a second and his touch gives me shivers, but anger simmers under the surface. This behavior is shameless.

“I don’t care” I tell him defiantly. He chuckles, but that just fuels my rage.

“You know, this is borderline harassment.” I slap away his hand, and his smile finally fades, probably recognizing that I mean it. He takes a step back, his eyes falling down to his feet.

“Uh, sorry…” I raise my brow. Don’t tell me he wasn’t fully aware of the kind of behavior he just displayed. “It’s just… I can’t forget about that night – about you” he adds, and unbelievably his bashful look actually seems sincere.

“What should I do to be able to see you again?” His pleading tone seems equally so.

I stare at him suspiciously. Is that his play? First harass me and then act all bashful and innocent? I should just refuse him and get on with my life… But…something about him stirs me up. He’s just the kind of pretty that’s one in a million, and this desperate behavior… If it’s real… Maybe I could use this chance to make him the subservient one…?