Common Ground (The Common Ground Trilogy Book 1) by Barry Chaison Page A
Authors: Barry Chaison
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consider good guys. They have a reputation for being more of the sleazy, self-centered and sometimes dangerous fraternity guys on campus. You know the stereotypical fraternity guy? Some of the Betas make them look like wimps.”
“To be honest with you, I’ve actually been over there before. Liam invited all of us to their Toga party at the beginning of the year, and I can definitely see what you are saying about them. I wasn’t impressed at all.”
“Wait, Liam invited you?” she asked, stunned.
I nodded. “Yeah, he and Annie are dating now. That’s who she’s been with over there.”
Simi took a deep breath and stared directly into my eyes. “Zoe, what I’m about to tell you is coming from me as a friend. But, consider it more of a warning than a friendly piece of advice.”
“Okay,” I said nervously. Simi looked hesitant to continue as she opened and closed her mouth a few times before she finally spoke again.
“Liam is bad news, and Annie would be better off staying as far away from him as possible. I’ve known him for a little over a year now, and spent all summer with him getting ready for Orientation Week. All I can say is that he has absolutely no respect for women, and some of my own sorority sisters have firsthand accounts of how low he can be. If I were you, I’d get Annie out of there as soon as possible.”
All of my worst fears had come true in one fell swoop. Something deep inside had been screaming Liam was bad news but for some reason, I couldn’t bring myself to step in and tell Annie what I felt. But if Simi, who knew him a lot better than I did, said he was trouble, there was no other confirmation I needed.
“I can’t say I’m surprised,” I said, shaking my head. “Thank you Simi, I really appreciate it.”
“You’re welcome,” she replied, as a smile slowly came back to her face. “Just make sure you look out for Annie. Liam has a way of warping girls’ minds. It’s a nasty skill.”
I grabbed my phone and looked at the clock, which read 11:50. The conversation had flown by so quickly, I almost forgot about my Philosophy class.
“I’m sorry to cut this short Simi, but I have class in 10 minutes. I’ve got to get going.”
“Oh, time sure does fly when you’re having fun, huh?” she said, as she tore a piece of paper out of her bag and jotted something down on it with a blue pen.
We both stood up and she put the folded piece of paper in my hand.
“That’s my number,” she said. “Call me if you need anything. I mean it.”
“Thanks,” I said, as I folded the paper back up and slid it into my bag. “I definitely will.”
We gave each other one final hug as I turned and left The Pit. It wasn’t even noon yet, and my birthday had already turned out to be one of the most emotionally draining days I’d had on campus.
Philosophy and math flew by almost instantly. It was difficult to focus on anything in class as my mind had been torn into two pieces. One part could think of nothing but the most recent dream involving my parents. The vision of my younger face lit up in such an ecstatic smile, while my parents stood over me looking extremely proud was engrained in my memory. A small part of me still wondered what exactly had gotten my mother so shaken up during their private discussion, but the joy I relived outweighed any other curiosities that plagued my thoughts.
The other, bigger, portion was focused solely on Annie, and what mess she had dove into. Simi’s warning floated in my mind all afternoon, but I was at a complete loss for how to approach Annie on the subject. The way she acted around him was so different than any other guy she’d dated that it was going to be a difficult task to bring up Simi’s warning without alienating her completely. I tried to shake those thoughts out of my head as the apartment came into view, where Annie waited with a birthday surprise.
I stepped inside the apartment and the door closed behind me. A delicious
“To be honest with you, I’ve actually been over there before. Liam invited all of us to their Toga party at the beginning of the year, and I can definitely see what you are saying about them. I wasn’t impressed at all.”
“Wait, Liam invited you?” she asked, stunned.
I nodded. “Yeah, he and Annie are dating now. That’s who she’s been with over there.”
Simi took a deep breath and stared directly into my eyes. “Zoe, what I’m about to tell you is coming from me as a friend. But, consider it more of a warning than a friendly piece of advice.”
“Okay,” I said nervously. Simi looked hesitant to continue as she opened and closed her mouth a few times before she finally spoke again.
“Liam is bad news, and Annie would be better off staying as far away from him as possible. I’ve known him for a little over a year now, and spent all summer with him getting ready for Orientation Week. All I can say is that he has absolutely no respect for women, and some of my own sorority sisters have firsthand accounts of how low he can be. If I were you, I’d get Annie out of there as soon as possible.”
All of my worst fears had come true in one fell swoop. Something deep inside had been screaming Liam was bad news but for some reason, I couldn’t bring myself to step in and tell Annie what I felt. But if Simi, who knew him a lot better than I did, said he was trouble, there was no other confirmation I needed.
“I can’t say I’m surprised,” I said, shaking my head. “Thank you Simi, I really appreciate it.”
“You’re welcome,” she replied, as a smile slowly came back to her face. “Just make sure you look out for Annie. Liam has a way of warping girls’ minds. It’s a nasty skill.”
I grabbed my phone and looked at the clock, which read 11:50. The conversation had flown by so quickly, I almost forgot about my Philosophy class.
“I’m sorry to cut this short Simi, but I have class in 10 minutes. I’ve got to get going.”
“Oh, time sure does fly when you’re having fun, huh?” she said, as she tore a piece of paper out of her bag and jotted something down on it with a blue pen.
We both stood up and she put the folded piece of paper in my hand.
“That’s my number,” she said. “Call me if you need anything. I mean it.”
“Thanks,” I said, as I folded the paper back up and slid it into my bag. “I definitely will.”
We gave each other one final hug as I turned and left The Pit. It wasn’t even noon yet, and my birthday had already turned out to be one of the most emotionally draining days I’d had on campus.
Philosophy and math flew by almost instantly. It was difficult to focus on anything in class as my mind had been torn into two pieces. One part could think of nothing but the most recent dream involving my parents. The vision of my younger face lit up in such an ecstatic smile, while my parents stood over me looking extremely proud was engrained in my memory. A small part of me still wondered what exactly had gotten my mother so shaken up during their private discussion, but the joy I relived outweighed any other curiosities that plagued my thoughts.
The other, bigger, portion was focused solely on Annie, and what mess she had dove into. Simi’s warning floated in my mind all afternoon, but I was at a complete loss for how to approach Annie on the subject. The way she acted around him was so different than any other guy she’d dated that it was going to be a difficult task to bring up Simi’s warning without alienating her completely. I tried to shake those thoughts out of my head as the apartment came into view, where Annie waited with a birthday surprise.
I stepped inside the apartment and the door closed behind me. A delicious
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