Better than...

Ryan hopped out of the elevator as fast as he could. The whole experience left the hairs along the back of his neck standing on end. Shaking his head, he jammed his thumbs into his eyes and worked them around in circles until he saw a golden pattern form in his vision. He opened them up, blinked twice and turned away from the stainless steel doors.

The hallway to his room was just another example of institutional planning at its best. The white walls blared underneath the long tracks of flourescent lighting. Most of the doors were closed, except for Derrek's, but he had his face planted so far into his computer he didn't even wave when Ryan passed by.

He took out his keys and unlocked his door. The surrealness of the morning started to fade when he saw Alice still tucked underneath the covers. A few blonde strands of hair drifted in the breeze from the heater. Sucking in a deep breath, he went over to her and pecked the top of her head. Her hair smelled like canned peaches.

A hand snuck out and pulled the comforter higher over her head, turning her into a lump. "Go away. Haven't you had enough?"

He smiled, despite himself. "Oh I can never get enough of you. Especially when you first wake up, didn't you know that?"

The blanket came down an inch and one red-rimmed eye peeked out. "Flattery? This early in the morning? What's the matter? Did Martins drop another quiz on you?"

"No, just had a wierd morning." He plunked down on the edge of the bed, close enough to Alice's legs to feel the heat coming from them. "Or at least I've had a wierd twenty minutes."

She cuddled next to him, wrapping her legs across his back. "Oh, poor baby. You really need to lighten up though."

"As you keep telling me. I think I'm pretty light, though. It really was a wierd twenty minutes." He stretched, laying down next to her feet.

She sat up, staring down at him with that crooked half-smile she always had before she said something smart. "We're not talking about your skin tone, buddy. Really though, you get rattled by the strangest stuff. It's like you have this great plan of how everything is supposed to go and when it doesn't you fall to shit. Happens every time."

Ryan groaned, sitting up again. He couldn't explain the elevator too her, or that wierd look Christy gave him. "Sure, sure. So don't you have class?"

"Skipping it today. It's too nice of a day to waste not sleeping. But I got to get back to my room. So are you going out tonight?" She hopped out of the bed and stood in front of him. She still had her "sleeping clothes" on, which consisted of a T-shirt and boxers. Right then, with the sunlight playing with her hair and the smirk on her face, she was beautiful. Ryan's heart cramped in his chest. For a second, he almost loved her more than he loved Math.

Then she giggled. "You know, I never have to worry about you though. I can always tell what your thinking." She leaned down and pecked him on the cheek. "And I love you too."

"You really shouldn't skip class though."

"Nope your right, but I'm going to anyway." She winked as she sauntered over to the door, pulling it open and walking right out.

He collapsed back into the bed. A smiled stretched across his face. She really was better than he deserved, but he was glad he had her. Running his hands across the blankets, he soaked up her smell.

"She's cheating on you."