The rest of the week continues uneventfully, that is if you consider Seth not leaving my side except for when his own classes clashed with mine and bathroom breaks uneventful. I don't know who he thinks he is, but the way he has been hovering around my lately like a guardian angel confuses me. Don't get me wrong, I find myself loving his company, but that's also the problem, I don't want to become too reliant on him because it means it will only hurt all the more when he turns me away soon.

On Thursday, my last class of the day finishes at one and as is now a ritual, Luce and all the guys congregate in the cafeteria. Seth however, who I'd recently discovered was studying a degree in business, has a class until two.

After the first day, I'd begun making salads and other meals to take to be safe when it came to lunch, I figured a turkey sandwich would get dull pretty quickly. Today, I brought a simple salad with cucumber, capsicum and chickpeas strewn through the lettuce and to be fair, I wasn't too keen to eat even this.

I prepare to take off the lid of my salad but before I can its snatched from my hands and in its place is something wrapped in alfoil. There's a napkin with the green words 'Zambrero' on a diagonal.

Someone whips a kiss onto my cheek and as I turn I notice Seth backing away with my salad in his hands. "Eat it, love it, you'll thank me later, Doe!" He spins on his heels and runs out the doors, obviously in an attempt to make it to his class before ten past. Tingles spread through me at the name, which has grown on me. It's a bittersweet feeling the way my body warms but my heart stings every time the nickname escapes his lips.

The occupants of the table all stare at me in shock while I stare in confusion at the place Seth was a few seconds ago.

"Did that really just happen?" I ask, bewilderment written all over Mason's face. "Did Seth 'Stone' King just do something for someone else and not expect anything in return?"

Everyone around the table from the several lacrosse guys, Charlie, Luce and Mason burst into laughter but you can tell they are still in shock and to say the least, so am I. Whilst Seth had shown me that he had a kind side from the way he looks out for me and the respectful way he treats me, he had never done this before, or kissed me on the cheek for that matter.

I look around at the rest of the cafeteria and see most of them are staring at me with confusion adoring their own faces. I'd heard the rumours about Seth from Luce and Charlie, he was—is—a man-whore, has an endless line of women waiting for the opportunity to score a relationship, hell a fuck, with him. The last rumour I'd be told is that he doesn't kiss anyone unless they're fucking, and even then, it's never the lips. But that's only what I've heard, it is yet to be confirmed. I flush, oh if only I could confirm it without being thrown away the next day. I shake my head, forcing myself to stop thinking about how rapidly my heart is expanding as his warmth fills me gradually each day that passes. Soon, my heart would not belong to me anymore and that isn't the best when you've already lost your mind.

As I look around the cafeteria, my eyes catch those of someone glaring at me with such hatred in those fiery pits. I nudge Luce nonchalantly and murmur, "Who's that?"

As she follows my gaze to the dark-haired chick who continues to stare daggers at me, she sucks in a sharp breath. "Don't worry about Naomi, she used to have a thing with Seth. I could imagine she's pissed all Seth's attention has been on you the last couple of days and now he's also kissed you. It's more attention than she ever got from him. I would do my best to stay away from her though, she's drama."

"That's going to be hard..." I say slowly and as Luce turns to me asking 'why' I continue, "... because she's walking right over here."

Naomi saunters over, exaggerating the sway of her hips as she does so. It's undeniable that she's eye-catching as the guys turn their heads in unison and check out her ass in the pink lace-up skirt she wears as she passes.

I'm looking down when she reaches me, with her painted pink toes peeking out of her black stilettos, contrasting my black converse. I look up to meet her eyes, smiling sweetly, "Can I help you?"

"You can help me by staying away from my man, thanks very much." The bite in her voice shows me she's clearly pissed all over Seth, marking her territory.

"Girl, Seth isn't your property and last time I checked, you're not even together." Luce buts in and stands tall beside me.

"Naomi," I pause, "it's Naomi, right? Look, I really hate drama, and you seem like you drown in it so I'd really appreciate it if you can let me live my life in piece and take your insecurities and obsession somewhere else. Regardless of whether Seth is 'your man' as you put it, him and I are friends and I'd really like for it to stay that way. If you manage to talk to him and y'all work out whatever you've got going for you that's fine by me, but don't drag me into your business and bullshit." With a stomp of her heel, Naomi twists and storms off in the opposite direction.

"Gosh, and I thought the drama ended in high school." Luce rolls her eyes in annoyance. "Watch out for that one, she's a conniving snake."

"I don't want people to think they can walk all over me just because I'm usually timid. People who willingly victimise others pisses me off." I comment.

"Tell me about it. By the way, I really want to get a new outfit to wear on the weekend, my wardrobe seems kind of boring recently. Come shopping with me?" Luce grabs my hands in hers and pleads with me.

To be completely honest, I had toyed with the idea of dressing up for the party, if I decided I was going. It would be nice to let loose and pretend to be someone else for a change, even if only for a few hours. I smile at Luce and her own smile begins to transform on her face as I say, "I'm in."

At the mall, Luce and I browse through multiple stores looking for the perfect outfit. She picks out a couple crop tops, skirts and high-waisted jeans, but says she wants a dress to really amp it up. In the end, she settles for a black body-con dress which has red racing stripes down both sides. It's simple but clings to her body in all the right places, emphasising her curvy figure, ass and boobs.

"That looks amazing on you," I comment in all honesty and laugh when I think of how Charlie will react, "Charlie is going to salivate at the mouth."

"Or lock me up, I won't mind either way," she winks, cheekily. She turns to one of the dresses in her pile, picks it up and hands it to me, pushing me in the direction of the changing rooms. "Now don't complain and go try this on." She whips the curtain closed and I can hear the tap of her feet on the floor as she waits impatiently.

As my hands feel satin I stare down at the dress in my hands. It's beautiful in an understated way as a slip style mini dress in a rusty colour that somehow looks gorgeous with the type of material. I hold it up to my body with one hand and drag the other down the material. Before meeting Luce, I would have never dared to even consider wearing this kind of dress, let alone any dress at all.

"Yo! I don't hear changing in there, hurry up," Luce yells, threateningly "otherwise I'll have to come in there and change you myself..."

That spurs me into motion and I strip out of my jeans, hoodie and top, slipping the dress over my head afterwards. I stare at myself in shock, I actually look decent. My boobs are nothing compared to Luce's, but something about the dress gives the illusion that I have more cleavage. It doesn't cling to my body but the curve of my hips shapes the dress nicely. This dress makes me feel bold and confident, like I could conquer the world.

"Hurry up, I want to see." Luce drags out the 'e' in a whine. I laugh and pull the curtain back, stepping out to have a look in the larger mirror outside with the better lighting.

"Wow," she gasps as her draw drops, "Seth is going to shit a brick when he sees you, girl you're fucking stunning!" While I tell myself dressing up isn't about impressing Seth, deep down I'm jumping for joy at her words. I'd love to see the look in his eyes when he sees me in something other than black and white oversized clothes.

"Who cares about what he thinks," I chuckle nervously, blatantly attempting to fool her.

"Hunny, you're not fooling anyone with the way you stare at him so 'Doe'-eyed," she winks at her use of his nickname for me and I feel my cheeks warm.

"Don't tell him, he doesn't need to know because he doesn't feel the same and I'd rather not ruin what's only just beginning." I tell her seriously. When everyone you love leaves you, you try really hard not to love anyone else so you don't have to go through that pain again. But some people just have a way of creeping into your soul and taking every single piece for themselves so that you're only a shell of a human. I can already tell that if either Luce or Seth turn their back on me, my heart which is already only a half of a whole, will deteriorate even further.

The night of the frat party finally arrives and no one is more excited than Luce. "Lil, we're going to have the best time. I know you've been cautious about it but I promise I'll be right by your side the whole time." She smiles, genuine and I know that she's one of the reasons I agreed to go because seeing her happy makes me happy in return. The second reason of course is Seth. As much as I'd like to deny it, I'm keen to see his reaction to my outfit and every minute that brings me closer to seeing him, makes me warmer in anticipation.

While Luce paired her dress with the standard sock boots, her hair in a slicked back, high pony, I paired my own outfit with nude heels and my hair in half up in a fishtail crown braid. After watching Luce do her makeup, creating an earthy coloured eyeshadow look with yellow liner in the crease and some Stila product I'd never heard of on the lid, I begged her to do my own makeup. After what felt like hours, and in reality, wasan hour, Luce had created a purple and orange eye with a light pink toned shimmer on the inner lid. As she applies false lashes she states that because the eyeshadow is quite dramatic, she'll stick to a nude lipstick, also applying a gloss over top. I stare at my reflection and restrain myself from ruining her work of art by crying.

"Thank you so much, you made me beautiful." My eyes are glossing with tears.

"Lil, you were already beautiful, I just exaggerated your features: your high cheekbones, gorgeous hazel eyes, and naturally small button nose." She taps it for good measure. "Don't be so hard on yourself all the time, it's not necessary."

"Thank you, I'm so glad that I met you. If I hadn't, I'd probably still be a recluse right about now." I chuckle.

"Probably, but we're changing that tonight. Let's go get our drink on!" She takes my hand and we grab last minute things like our purses and phones making our way out the door and head towards the frat where Luce deemed we would have 'the time of our lives'.

By the time we made it to the party, two hours late, many people had already arrived and the house was thumping with the music. There were people both sitting and standing on the porch either drinking, smoking or just talking. Luce pulls my past them and into the mayhem of the party inside. Like I'd expected there were bodies everywhere and it felt like at least every couple of seconds someone was bumping into me. I glance around looking for any familiar faces, but who am I kidding I'm only looking for one but I can't spot him. Luce continues to lead me towards the bar and when we reach it, pushes two guys hovering around the bench to the side so she can organise our drinks. She four shots, two of vodka and two of tequila, offering me one of each. "Bottoms up," she yells over the music as she tips the shot glass to her lips and downs each in them swiftly.

I look at the liquid in the glass and debate whether this is a good idea. I know how too much alcohol can affect me, how it can make me feel anxiety free for a while, but afterwards I'm ten times worse than I started off. Before I can think more about it I say, "to hell with it," and down them in quickly before I can change my mind. I stick my tongue out in disgust afterwards and groan already detecting this was a bad idea, but Luce just pours us each a cup of beer and leads us outside towards the pool.

It's there that we find the stars of the party surrounded by girls and guys alike—shirtless of course—because what else could you expect from a bunch of frat boys. Charlie is the first to notice us, or Luce, and I smile at the way his jaw drops when he notices his girlfriend. Although his chest was on display, he was still wearing a flannel shirt but he quickly whips it off and jokingly urges Luce to put it on. She just laughs in response and pulls his mouth down to her in a fiery kiss that makes me warm even with the soft breeze.

Distracted by them, I hadn't noticed the bull that had begun charging at me from where Charlie had been seconds ago. Seth storms over to me and drags me inside and upstairs into a room that must be his if I consider the business textbooks and lacrosse related posters. He sits me on the bed and begins pacing the room, dragging his hands through his hair.

"What in the hell are you thinking wearing something like that?" He stresses harshly as he continues to pace.

"I was thinking that I wanted to look nice and there's other girls wearing worse, and less, than me," I exclaim, annoyed that this is far from the reaction I had wanted from him.

"Doe, you always look fucking amazing and that's when no one can see how gorgeous your body is under your hoodies, sweats, and jeans. Now they can so please understand that I'm literally dying inside thinking of how everyone is going to be thinking what I'm thinking right now." He stops in place and rubs his hands over his face and I see the amber in his eyes burn bright in the moonlight seeping through the windows.

"And what are you thinking...?" I ask gently, extremely curious about his answer.

"About how all I want to do right now is kiss you and see whether you taste as sweet as you look." He resumes his pacing but with a newfound strength I stand and grasp his hand as he passes. He halts.

I move my hands and clasp his cheeks, my eyes searching his looking for an answer to a question I yearn to ask. Instead, my lips form the words, "There's only one way to find out..."

Without any need for further encouragement, Seth pulls my hips towards him as his lips capture my own in a sweet but passionate kiss. The way his lips coax and tug on mine spur me on and my body ignites under his touch. One of his hands travels up the length of my body to eventually entangle in my hair as he deepens the kiss and my own hand comes to rest over his chest where I can feel just how fast and hard his heart is thumping.

What feels like several minutes later we pull apart but only enough space that there's a breath between us. My lips brush his as I speak, "That was the best first kiss ever."

"How would you know if it's your first?" He laughs and the sound fills me up.

"I mean I can test the theory with someone else if you'd like..." I tease and I smile at the lightness in his eyes.

"Don't you even dare." He pulls me closer so that my head rests on his chest and his arms wrap around my waist in a hug. We stand like that for several moments before we decide that we should return to the rest of the party. I want to ask what this means. I want to ask if he likes me, even if it's just the slightest amount or if he just wants something else, but I don't.

Luckily Seth, clearly a mind reader, clears it up for me. "Stop overthinking it. We are both clearly attracted to each other, but I also don't want to rush things. Let's try and take things slow and be friends, friends who kiss."

"Do friends kiss?" I ask, a smirk forming on my face.

"These friends do." He smiles so wide that a dimple I'd never noticed before forms on his left cheek and I can't help myself, I poke it. "What was that for?" He asks in shock.

"You had a dimple and it was so cute I had to touch it." I shrug my shoulders.

He leans down and kisses the tip of my nose, "You're adorable." And with that, he takes my hand and opens the door to his room that I hadn't even noticed he'd shut. As we exit we bump into Naomi and once again that fire returns in her eyes as we pass, but Seth doesn't notice at all and continues down the stairs.

I turn my head and notice that familiar glare, but what unnerves me, even more, is the evil-looking smile that begins to form on her face as she shakes her head.