Bad Rep (Bad Rep #1)(3)
Author: A. Meredith Walters

“Okay babe. Well, I’ll be at Randall’s this afternoon. Come by if you can. I’ll catch up with you later.” No assurance of when I’d hear from him again, just a vague ‘see ya.’

Before I could reply, the line went dead. Okay then. Riley emerged from the bathroom, a waft of steam following her into the hallway. “You didn’t use up all the hot water again, did you?” I complained, grabbing my robe from the back of my bedroom door.

Riley shrugged. “Should be a bit left, no promises.” I groaned and closed the door to the bathroom.

I took out the tweezers and spent a few minutes plucking the crazy bushes I called eyebrows into some semblance of shape. I pulled the skin at the corner of my eyes and stuck out my tongue. I was pretty, even I could admit that. With dark brown hair that stopped just below my shoulders and even darker eyes. I was slender without being skinny and was pleased with the way I had curves in all the right places. Despite my attractive appearance, I had gone largely unnoticed in high school when it came to the opposite sex. So it had been quite a shock when I came to Rinard College and discovered that guys actually liked me. Desired me even.

As a result of this new self-realization, I discovered that I liked to date, and date often. I had had a string of sort of serious boyfriends on and off since I was a freshman. None of them lasted longer than a month or two. Now that I was entering my junior year, I had every intention of continuing on my semi-monogamous path.

I was by no means a delusional romantic. I was 100% into every guy that I dated, but I had never experienced real “love.” Sure, I had lost my virginity mid-way through my first year of college to a guy I swore was the cutest boy I had ever seen. But two months later, I found myself being dumped for a hot sophomore with double D br**sts in his biology class. Sure it had hurt, but I got over it. I always did. That’s how I knew the love bug hadn’t bit me yet. Maybe I was a bit behind the curve in that department. I thought about Eli and almost laughed at the thought of him being my “one.”

No way in hell.

I rushed through my shower, finding that the water turned frigid after about four minutes. Damn Riley! I hurriedly got ready, forgoing blow drying my hair in favor of a quick and sloppy bun at the back of my head.

I threw on a knee length black cotton skirt and teal tank top. Dabbing a bit of lip gloss on and I was ready to go. Grabbing my brown leather handbag, I followed Riley out of the apartment. We ran into Eli’s cousin Randall as we were making our way to Riley’s beat up Volvo. He was lugging a huge guitar amp out of his trunk. “Hey, Maysie. You comin’ by later?” Randall asked in that stoner way of his. His eyes were bloodshot and a little unfocused, making it obvious a wake and bake had been part of his morning routine.

Riley rolled her eyes and got into her car without greeting our neighbor. I smiled politely and shook my head. “Can’t. Have to find another mode of gainful employment. But I’ll try and stop by this evening. Will you guys be around?” I asked, glaring at Riley as she gave the car horn a quick toot.

Randall started rolling the amp toward the apartment building. “We’re heading out to the lake for a party tonight, should be killer. Swing by if you want.” I tried not to growl in frustration. Eli hadn’t mentioned anything about a party. Reinforcing that a serious relationship is not what we had.

I plastered a fake smile on my face. “Yeah, maybe. See ya around.” And with that I got in the car. Riley gave me a look as she pulled out of the parking lot. “What?” I asked defensively. Riley pulled a face.

“Why do you insist on hanging out with those losers? They look diseased.” I groaned.

“Jeesh, judge much? They’re nice, alright? And have you looked at Eli lately?” I muttered, picturing his cut abs as I turned on the radio. Riley just shook her head as she pulled out into traffic, heading toward downtown Bakersville, where Barton’s Pub was located.

“You can do so much better than that mouth breather. It’s bordering on gross,” Riley quipped, turning the radio station from the pop I had chosen, to a band that sounded more like screaming than actual music.

“Look, can we not talk about Eli? I know how you feel about him, but the last time I checked, it was my life,” I said with irritation. God, I loved her Riley, I really did. But her moral superiority was a little hard to swallow at times.

Thankfully we pulled up to Barton’s and further discussion about the matter was essentially brought to an end. I got out of the car and looked up at the building. Barton’s was a favorite with the Rinard crowd. I had spent many a night procuring underage booze and getting wasted within its four walls. The establishment was more liberal than most bars in their carding system, so it was very popular with the younger college set.

Riley and I pushed open the door and walked inside. The smell of stale beer hit me in the face as we made our way inside. During the day, Barton’s was a run of the mill restaurant but it couldn’t hide its seedier watering hole side.

We approached the hostess stand and waited. “Maysie! Riley! What the hell are you doing here?” a girl squealed from behind us. I turned around to see my friend Jaz Digby, decked out in her official Barton’s polo shirt and short black skirt.

I had completely forgotten that Jaz was a part-time waitress here. Jaz had lived on the same floor as Riley and me freshman year and I had remained friends with her despite not having hung out socially in a long time. Riley thought she was obnoxious. Though, the truth was Riley found most people to be obnoxious, so her feelings about Jaz weren’t surprising.

Jaz was beautiful in an exotic way. Her mom was Japanese and her dad, American so she inherited the best parts of both heritages. “Hey, girl! We’re here to fill out applications,” I said, giving her a quick hug. Jaz beamed at me.

“That’s awesome! We’ve been shorthanded for weeks! I’ll go get Moore,” Jaz said, going toward the back of the restaurant. Riley sat down on the bench by the front door and I followed suit, crossing my legs and bouncing my foot.

Jaz came back out a few minutes later and sat down beside us. “Moore’ll be out in a minute. It would so cool if you guys worked here. The tips are fantastic.”

“That’s what I need to hear,” I said, smiling with the promise of fiscal relief.

“I thought you were working at that shop in town,” Jaz commented, turning to me. I shrugged.

“Needed a heavier cash flow, so a second job it is.” Riley snorted beside me and I ignored it.

“Well, whatever, I hope you get the job. I’ll put in a good word for you,” Jaz promised, squeezing my hand. Jaz suddenly started straightening her shirt, pulling the neck down so that her cle**age was more pronounced. She discreetly smoothed her straight black hair and rubbed her finger across her teeth.