Chapter 1: Jack Corrode
Allison pushed a loose strand of hair from her eyes. She stared down at the last question on her last final before Christmas break. She clenched her teeth in frustration. Allison had spent the previous two weeks studying for every class. Except for this one.
"Alright class... please put down your pens. The TA's will come by and pick up your tests. I hope everybody has a nice holiday. It's been a pleasure!" Allison's professor, Ms. Stein, was annoyingly cheerful. As if she hadn't just put the entire lecture hall through hell and back.
Allison closed her eyes and exhaled. Whatever, I tried my best and that's all that matters. A guilty thought of her ex, Mark, burned in Allison's mind. She had figured despite being broken up, maybe a little bit of sex would help her relax. Mark was a lazy, selfish piece of shit, but he had the amazing ability to stroke Allison just right. Allison mentally replayed Mark fucking her from behind. She felt an excited chill run up the base of her spine.
See? You didn't really try your hardest. You were having sex with that idiot, Mark, when you should have been studying.
Ugh. Allison hated how shitty she made herself feel when she didn't live up to her expectations.
The lecture hall was beginning to empty. Allison shoved her pen into her bag and got up from her chair. She waited patiently in line to exit the lecture hall. Once outside, she pulled her phone out to see if anybody had texted her.
Two... no...wait... three messages from Mark... and one from Mom. Great.
Allison briefly considered reading the messages from Mark, but thought better of it. She selected all three of his messages and pressed delete. She read the message from her mom:
Good luck on your last final, Sweetie! Your father and I are so excited to see you in 3 days!
Allison sighed and smiled slightly. Her mom was great, but she still treated Allison like a child. She opened her bag and threw her cellphone in.
"Hey... ummm...hi," a voice spoke to Allison.
She whipped around in surprise. It was late-dude. Allison had nicknamed him after he had been late to every lecture the first three weeks. He had dirty blond hair and bright blue eyes. His hair was a little disheveled and his clothes were a little wrinkled.
Allison stared at him with surprise, her mouth slightly open.
Late-dude continued talking, "I have been wondering all semester... if maybe you'd like to grab a cup of coffee or something... I dunno if you have any other finals or whatever... but I figured it was now or never...Sorry! I'm Jack by the way, Jack Corrode."
Jack stuck his hand out. Allison shook it.
"I probably should have opened with that..." Jack chuckled slightly, a small smile played itself out around the corners of his mouth.
Allison thought to herself for a moment. I definitely don't want to go see Mark, and all my roommates have already gone home... ehh what the hell!
Allison smiled slightly in response, "Hi Jack, I'm Allison Stewart. And...yeah... sure, coffee sounds good. You know any places around?" Allison wanted to kick herself. She sounded like one of those ditsy high-school girls. They were on a university campus. There were coffee shops practically every five feet.
Jack laughed a little again and smiled, "Yeah I was thinking we could go to the one by in the Student Union Building, sound good to you?"
***
The University of British Columbia campus is huge. It's more like a city than a school. The walk from the lecture hall to the Student Union Building passed awkwardly. Jack and Allison made a little small talk.
They didn't start chatting until they had ordered their drinks and sat down. Allison couldn't help but notice how attractive Jack was.
Who is this guy... and how the heck did I not notice how fucking cute he was all semester?
Allison sipped gently from her coffee cup. Jack was talking animatedly about how he managed to miss the bus every day they had class. He used this to explain his chronic tardiness. Allison laughed a little at his imitation of trying to run after the bus. He seemed nervous or maybe just a little shy.
Jack pulled his phone from his pocket. It was buzzing loudly.
"Shit, I'm sorry. Do you mind if I take this real quick?" He looked to Allison for her permission.
She nodded and smiled, "Not at all, go ahead, I'm not going anywhere!" For a moment their eyes met, and Allison blushed.
What the fuck?! 'I'm not going anywhere'... I might as well have just said, 'Hey Jack, why don't you unzip those jeans and let's do it right here?' Jeeze, I sound like I'm 16.
Jack smiled and stood up. He walked away a little and started talking on the phone.
Allison traced his profile with her eyes while she sipped her coffee. He wasn't big like Mark. Jack was a little more narrow in the shoulders and a little more trim overall. Even though his appearance was a little wrinkled, Allison liked what she saw. Jack turned to her and smiled and put the phone back in his pocket.
"Spying on me, eh?" He chuckled.
"What?! Me? Nah! I was just making sure you weren't going to abandon me." She smiled a little and caught Jack's eye again.
"Well..." Jack's demeanour had tensed up a little, "I actually do need to go somewhere..."
Allison's heart sank. You have only known this guy for an hour and you are already attached to him, are you kidding me?!
"Oh no, I mean if you have to go somewhere I totally understand, I was just teasing! I can go back to my place." Allison hoped she didn't sound as lame as she felt.
Jack smiled slightly at Allison trying to backpedal. "Easy there! If you had let me finish I was going to say, I have to go somewhere real quick, but would you like to come with me. My roommates are all out tonight, so I have the place to myself... We could maybe talk there for a bit..." There was a mischievous glint in Jack's eye, and he couldn't hide his boyish grin.