Target on Our Backs
Page 15

Not to say I don't love my life, because I do. I love it. But I don't love some of the things that happened. I don't love all of the memories that haunt me here.
I just always wanted a normal life.
None of this is normal.
I've been sitting here for about twenty minutes when something catches my eye. Familiar blonde hair bounces my direction as people weave along the path. Melody. Smiling, I tug an earbud out and am about to call for her when someone beats me to it, someone standing nearby. The voice is all male with a strange sort of accent, almost like they don't really have one. Weird.
Turning my head, I spot a young guy.
A gorgeous young guy.
Holy shit.
I watch as Melody turns to him, her expression brightening, eyes lighting up like the Forth of July. And I know it instantly, just by the look on her face… that smitten, speechless, one of a kind expression.
Leo.
Tubby mountain man motherfucker he is not.
He looks like something off of a runway.
He's tall, and skinny, but not lankily so. Broad shoulders and tanned skinned, a sharp jawline and dark, dark features. His hair is as black as midnight, and his eyebrows might be a tad bit bushy, but he rocks them like it's the latest thing in fashion.
And hell, what do I know?
Maybe it is.
His teeth are so white they're dazzling as he flashes a smile at her. He's wearing jeans and a black button down, the sleeves shoved up to his elbow, which come on, is the hottest thing imaginable.
I love Naz. I do. I love him more than anything in this world. The first time I laid eyes on him, the man left me speechless, and looking back, I knew that moment that life as I knew it had been over. Naz is the kind of guy that, once he walks into your world, he throws it off its axis, so even if he walks back out, nothing spins the same anymore.
I love him, despite everything, with every fiber of my being.
But Leo.
Whoa.
I can appreciate beauty when I see it.
That's the kind of face women would go to war for, I think.
They approach each other, and he wraps an arm around her, pulling her to him for a hug. It's brief, but I can see the blush on her cheeks from him doing it. When he pulls back, he says something to her, chatting for a moment, but they're too far away for me to hear any of their words. The more he talks, though, the more her eyes light up, before she eventually nods enthusiastically. He kisses his fingertips and presses them to her lips. The action is so quick I barely catch it.
He's gone then, walking away, looking back at her once and smiling before disappearing into a crowd of people. Melody stares at him, waiting until he's out of sight before she lets out a loud squeal.
She jumps up and down in place, like she's having a fucking fit.
"Melody?" I call out.
The sound of my voice stalls her. She swings my way so fast she nearly falls over. "Karissa!"
She jogs over to where I'm sitting, wordlessly shoving me over on the bench. I make room for her, shifting my bag out of the way so she can drop hers by our feet.
"That must've been the infamous Leo," I say, motioning the direction he disappeared. "Gotta say, Mel, I totally get it now."
She grins, shoving me excitedly. "Told you! Isn't he everything?"
"Yeah, he's something, all right."
"He just asked me out," she continues. "Like, really asked me out, and not just for coffee. I'm talking dinner and a movie. A real date."
"That's awesome! When is it happening?"
"Tonight." The moment she says it, her expression drops. "Oh my god, it's tonight! What time is it? I gotta go! I've got my hair to do, and makeup, and oh shit... what am I gonna wear?"
"Whoa, calm down," I say. "It's like, one in the afternoon right now."
"That only gives me six hours to get ready!"
I laugh to myself, amused by her panic, before she grabs ahold of my arm and yanks me out of my seat. Reaching down, she grabs both of our bags, pulling me along with her. "Let's go!"
"Whoa, wait, I've got class in a bit."
"Jesus Christ, Karissa, class can wait! Didn't you hear me? I have a date!"
I'm not sure if she realizes she rhymed there. Usually she'd point it out, like she's some kind of rapper in training, but I think she's too frazzled to find the humor in it right now. "Okay, okay, relax, Dr. Seuss. I'll go with you. Just... give me a second."
She stops pulling on me, and I take my bag from her, situating it on my back before motioning toward the path. "After you."
Melody still lives in the dorms, the same room we used to share together, back before I moved out and, you know, got married. A sense of nostalgia hits me when we reach the thirteenth floor, and I stare at the door as she unlocks it, smiling. 1313.
So many memories happened here, but unlike the classroom, these are mostly all happy.
My smile dims, though, the moment she pushes open the door and my eyes fall right upon her latest roommate. It's her fourth since me… they never last long. The new girl turns, her eyes narrowing, and she glares at us as we enter, the kind of hostility you shouldn't ever get from a stranger. Slamming her book closed, she snatches it up and storms from the room, brushing right past us without saying a word.
Melody seems, for the most part, unaffected. I watch as the girl goes straight for the elevators, slapping the button for it like the damn thing offended her. She's a pretty girl—ginger with green eyes and freckles—but the scowl on her face is kind of ugly.
"Trouble in paradise?" I ask, stepping into the room behind Melody and shutting the door.
She sighs dramatically. "They can't all be as understanding as you were."
"Uh-oh, you didn't pick up a guy in a flight suit at Timbers and bring him home to screw, did you?"
Shit. Shit. Shit.
The moment the words come from my lips, I instantly regret them. I'm an idiot. Of course I'd bring up Paul at a moment like this.
She frowns, flopping down on her bed... or what appears to be just a gigantic pile of clothes currently. "She says I'm messy."
"Yeah," I say, looking around. Melody's side of the room is, as usual, akin to a natural disaster. "So?"
"So she says I'm careless, and loud, and ugh, she says I snore. Can you believe that? Me? Snore?"
"Well, uh... only when you've been drinking."
"I haven't been, though. I've done nothing to that girl! But all she wants to do is sit here in silence and eat her frickin' protein bars and meditate. Do you know she's never been to Timbers? Who hasn't been to Timbers?"
"I guess she hasn't, whatever her name is."
"Kimberly," Melody says, her face scrunching up. "Kimberly Anne Vanderbilt. Rich snob of a name if I've ever heard one."
I refrain from pointing out that she's a Melody Priscilla Carmichael, which isn't any more common-folk sounding. I can tell she's getting in a funk now, though, so I change the subject. "Now, about this date..."
It's like a switch is flipped. That quick. The spark is back in her eyes as she lets out another squeal.
Man, I still envy how she bounces back so easily.
She's off the bed again, digging through her closet, flinging more clothes onto the mountain on the bed.