Truth or Dare - Danielle Allen Page 0,54

donation from his parents. But when we were randomly selected to critique each other’s final essays, I realized that he was incredibly smart and witty.

I liked him when I read his essay.

But I fell for him when I read his critique of mine.

I had hoped to have a conversation with him at the next, and final, class of Advanced Creative Writing I, but his mother was being honored in Paris—where he ended up spending the summer.

I didn’t know much about him until the night of the final when I got wine-drunk and did some research. He was described as a reincarnation of his father, but with his mother’s heart. They called him a womanizing player, but a loyal friend. They said he was insanely good-looking and deeply vain. They portrayed him as a rich snob who was too good for anyone or anything. They called him a dumb privileged kid who was kicked out of his old university for excessive drinking and partying. He was described in numerous contradicting ways by people who didn’t seem to know him personally.

But to be fair, I didn’t know him that well either.

But the man who wrote the essay I’d read, who anonymously donated thousands of dollars to local charities, who quietly paid for the funeral of a student who died on campus, wasn’t at all what the media made him out to be. He may have looked like his father, but he wasn’t tearing through his twenties like his father did almost thirty years prior. But looking at articles from various magazines and bloggers, Aiden as the sexy bad boy captured a bigger audience and got the most clicks and shares online. So, I’d closed my laptop and vowed to get to know him if and when he returned for our senior year. I knew, at the very least, we’d have one class together.

Advanced Creative Writing II was every Wednesday and Friday. When Aiden walked in the late afternoon class, I made a point to catch his eye and smile. He’d smiled back and took the seat next to me. We talked during class and continued the conversation for a few minutes after class. Each time getting to know each other little by little. When he mentioned going to the Pi Rho Omicron party, I mentally committed to going to a party I didn’t want to go to with people I didn’t want to go with. In my mind, even though I was going with my housemates as part of a plot to prank Dakota’s boyfriend, Trevor, I’d been given an opportunity to get to know Aiden.

And it’d worked.

Even as I pumped my arms and dodged low hanging branches, the thought of Aiden’s hand on my skin stole my focus. I’d made it over the makeshift bridge and continued hoofing it around the widest part of the lake. I didn’t realize how distracted I was by my thoughts until I reminisced about our first kiss. All it took was that one second memory to flood my brain and throw me off. I tripped over something and fell hard, rolling into the hefty trunk of a massive tree.

I winced, stifling the yelp through clenched teeth as I pushed myself back to my feet. Hot tears burned my eyes as pain lanced through me. I didn’t care about how much it hurt. With a deep breath, I continued sprinting through the darkness until I couldn’t take it anymore. I was so tired that I didn’t know exactly where I was. As I stood huffing and puffing, I realized I was on the far side of the bell curve of the lake. I was three-quarters of the way around and I knew if I just kept moving, I’d make it to safety.

I couldn’t stop for long. I’d never run so hard or so fast in my life and for me to make it around the lake, I couldn’t take a break. I braced myself against the back of a tree for a moment and every muscle in my body felt like mush. I let my eyes close for a second as I fought the urge to cry. Turning to the lake, my panting stopped as I peered through the brush and looked toward the frat house. Shock flooded my system as I took a step closer.

My heart was racing. The blood rushed my ears, so I never even heard the police sirens as I was running. But the blue and red lights were unmistakable. Even without