06. the chapter of Christian's kidnapping

Christian

I slammed the door hard as I got into the car, what had I done to deserve everything that was happening? A mixture of feelings danced inside me. On one hand I was surprised, hurt and with my pride wounded by Alicia's attitude, on the other hand, Rose's presence could soften those feelings, since the irritation for her attitude drowned out everything that had happened. 

" Hey, watch out for Brigitte," Rose scolded before she started driving again.

I watched her profile as she drove, her thick black hair preventing me from getting a clear view of her face, as if to make things easier for me, the girl tucked her hair behind her ear, giving me a skewed look. I couldn't deny that she was beautiful, she had perfect, delicate features on her face, but to me, all that beauty was overshadowed by an aura of petulance and arrogance that dominated her bad temper.

" I'm sorry about the situation at the party," Rose snapped after driving for a few minutes in silence.

" I don't need your charity, Campbell. You don't have to pretend to care," I returned in a rude tone.

I knew I was being ungrateful; if it weren't for her, on top of everything else I'd have to walk for miles to get to campus, since I preferred to hitchhike so that I could drink my way through the party, but I couldn't keep my guard down around her.

" Not even if I were the best actress in the universe could I pretend to care about you.” She gave me a disdainful look.

" Then why are you kidnapping me? Shouldn't you be with your friend trying your luck with one of the guys on the team or something? " I muttered, watching the countryside through the window.

" First of all, she was my roommate, not my friend," Rose corrected me, "and secondly, I don't have to try my luck with anyone, those guys who would be lucky enough to be with me.”

I couldn't help but giggle incredulously at that. Does she really think it's a good idea to say something like that?

" You know what I don't understand? How you manage to get into small spaces like this car with your giant ego," I returned, receiving a smile in return.

" Besides, her attitude was ridiculous, and as your friend I can't support her.”

I frowned, turning to her and raising both eyebrows as I answered her.

" And who says I want your friendship?”

" And who said I gave you a choice? " she looked at me with a victorious expression.

That's it, she's completely crazy.

That's when something caught my attention, instead of heading towards the campus, Rose took an exit leading us to the highway, causing my confusion to grow.

" This is not the way to campus!”

" No, I have an appointment in Waterfall and you're going to keep me company," she winked at me.

This has got to be a joke!

" I'm not going.”

" Look, it's not like you have other plans or are willing to jump out of a moving car," she returned.

" Why did you decide to be my friend? I thought you couldn't stand me.”

Rose took a deep breath, seeming to organize her thoughts before she began to speak.

" And I can't stand you, you're arrogant, sarcastic, ironic, and you managed to drive me crazy that day." She leaned her elbow on the window, running her hand through her hair as she gripped the steering wheel with one hand, causing me to run my eyes down her body, unable to help but notice how sexy she was, even though she was annoying.

" Do you have a point?”

Rose tilted her head to look at me, giving a small smile before concluding her thought.

" I am arrogant, sarcastic and ironic. And that will probably cause me to throw things at you and try to run you over sometimes.”

" So you're saying that this will be a routine thing? " I interrupted her.

" But that doesn't mean that I despise you, as with Jax O'Donnel. And I hated the way Allie treated you today, it just showed me that I was wasting my time thinking that she had changed and was no longer the perfect shallow little bitch I knew in high school.”

Rose sighed, turning her attention back to the road “Of course I'm not that crazy, and if you really don't want me around, I won't insist. But if I were you, I'd show all those arrogant assholes that you're better than all of them put together.”

 I narrowed my eyes at her speech, not knowing exactly how to feel about her proposal, but I couldn't deny that it was intriguing.

" What are you planning? " I decided to probe her.

" I can see in your eyes that deep down you are just like me, Davis. I don't know what happened to you that you're holding back so much and maintaining this antisocial pose, but we can show everyone how wrong they are to underestimate you.”

" I'm not willing to join any stupid fraternities and it seems that's what matters here, it's not like high school anymore, Rose," I returned, shaking my head negatively.

" No, it isn't. But I know that it doesn't matter about fraternities and sororities, what matters is that the person is willing to do some crazy things along the way. And I know you are," she declared without looking at me.

She was right, I couldn't deny it. But I wasn't willing to surrender so quickly either.

" How can you be so sure?”

" Because you are just like me, and I know that I came to college to get my degree, but also to have that crazy experience that I will make sure to hide from my children someday so that I don't risk corrupting them.”

I paused for a second, thinking about what she was proposing to me. It was clear that I wanted my college years to be memorable, I just wasn't willing to get into a mess as serious as the one two years ago.

But I could consider her proposal, even if I wouldn't admit it out loud.

" Being your equal isn't any kind of compliment, Campbell," I muttered in reply, getting a melodious laugh in return, "besides, we don't belong to any fraternity and these parties are almost always exclusive. I only didn't get kicked out today because I proved that she had invited me.”

" Liam Van Derr Waal doesn't belong to any fraternity either, and yet he goes to all the parties," she returned.

" That's because they know that if he goes, he'll attract a lot of girls," I muttered.

I honestly didn't understand what was so interesting about this guy, a lot of the girls I had classes with knew a lot about him and would do anything to get his attention, and they had only been on campus a few weeks.

" Then it won't be a problem, after all, girls love a mysterious guy with blue eyes. You just have to work a little harder and make an effort not to look like a maniac," she teased me.

" When you say 'the girls,' are you including yourself? " I turned my face to her with a sarcastic smile in an attempt to embarrass her.

But instead of watching her face turn red and her subject change as I had hoped, Rose laughed again, shooting me quick, amused glances out of the corner of her eyes, dividing her attention between the road and me.

" I'm sorry, but no,” I couldn't tell if I felt disappointed or not with that answer.

" Blue eyes are not your type then?” 

" Ahh far from it, your eyes are beautiful. One of the most beautiful I've ever seen. But there is a problem," she said slowly, arousing curiosity in me.

" What is it?”

" When I look at you, I feel the almost uncontrollable desire to run you over again and again, but lucky for you I would never do anything to hurt Brigitte," she smiled innocently, making me laugh.

" And I'm the one who looks like a maniac?” 

We were silent after that, and I used the time we would have during the ride to Waterfall to think about everything that was happening, surprising myself by noticing that the bad mood and dark feeling that had dominated me at that party was gradually diminishing.

" Who is Brigitte? " I let out after a while of silence.

She had already said that name twice before, but only at that moment did I notice it.

" My car," she answered naturally.

" You named your car? Are you serious?”

" What? Haven't you ever read Christine? Every car needs a name, and the most appropriate is a feminine name," she shrugged.

Great, after trying to run me over, she uses this example.

" You drive an old red car and you have Christine as your inspiration? I'm starting to worry," I teased her.

" Don't worry, unfortunately Brigitte doesn't regenerate like Christine, and my father would kill me if I came home and she had even a scratch on her," she returned with an amused look.

" Your father? " I decided to get to know her a little better.

" My grandfather bought this car as a gift for my father when he entered college, and he gave it to me when I was accepted at Dalton University," she explained.

 " That's a good story," I commented.

The two of us were silent again, and soon I noticed that we were approaching the Waterfall entrance.

" What kind of appointment do you have here? " I finally asked.

Rose pointed to the glove compartment, and I shot her a questioning look before opening the compartment door after she encouraged me with her gaze, pulling out some papers. 

" Pick one," she ordered.

I looked at the various drawings without understanding what they meant.

" What am I choosing? " I asked without looking away from the drawings.

" My tattoo," she explained.

I stared at her, not knowing how to react to this information. Is she really going to trust me to choose a tattoo design?

" Really? And you want me to choose?” 

" Why the surprise?”

" You've just met me and you want me to choose the design that will be etched on your skin forever," I pointed out, flipping through the options one more time.

Her laughter filled the room, and she gave me a quick amused look before answering.

 " What's the big deal? I like all these designs, I'm just undecided which one to choose, it's not like I'm going to risk ending up with a zombie unicorn tattooed on my forehead. I want to know what you think will look best on me," she replied.

I picked out two options that I liked the best, before asking the final question.

" Where are you going to get it done? " I asked as we drove into town.

Rose sighed, looking thoughtful. I thought she wouldn't answer me, but her answer came after a few seconds as she parked the car by the curb.

" Tell you what, pick the drawing and where it's going to be," she winked at me before getting out of the car.

I blinked in a daze for a few seconds before following her, is she really going to let me pick the place?

" Are you serious? " I had no trouble catching up with her, putting my hands in my pockets as I walked beside her.

" I'm not getting a face tattoo," she warned.

I spotted the entrance to the studio, hurrying to open the door for her. After speaking with the receptionist, we settled on a couch, waiting to be served while I thought about what she had proposed earlier.

" So, have you chosen yet? " She started to leaf through a catalog of tattoo artwork.

" What does the tattoo mean to you? " I decided to find out a little more about it.

Rose sighed, closing the catalog and placing it on my legs before returning it in an ironic tone.

" It means I have money and the tattoo artist has an open schedule. I just want a nice design.

I opened the catalog, flipping through it sloppily as I watched her body, imagining a suitable place for a tattoo.

" Will you let me pick another one? " I indicated the catalog, causing her eyes to widen.

" I don't trust you that much, Davis. “

" I'll pick the design and show it to you, and if you like it, you do it," I proposed.

Rose thought for a few moments before nodding. She had many beautiful designs, but none seemed to match the place I had chosen. I showed her a drawing of three flowers following the rib line next to her breast.

" Wow, I love it," she took the catalog from my hand, looking at it closely.

I smiled satisfied, the design would look great on her, but the main reason for my choice was to imagine how painful that tattoo would be, especially on someone so thin.

" I think it will look perfect on you," I blinked at her, knowing that I should warn her about how painful it would be, but I didn't. Yes, I had thought of something like this.

" Yes, I had thought of something like the shoulder or the thigh, but this one is so delicate," she agreed.