Just Friends? Read online

  “Hello ladies. Who might you two be?” she inquires with an eloquent sounding voice.

  “Charlotte Fleming.”

  “Katerina Barrett.”

  We announce shyly.

  “Now, now, ladies, no need to be hesitant. I’m Liz, your vocal instructor. I’m expecting a small group of students so we can have lots of one-on-one time,” she states.

  Charlie and I sit and chat about how much we both love animals. It’s an interest we have in common and even though we’re not allowed any pets in the bungalow, we both wish we could have a dog or even just a fish. We’re getting along so well. She reminds me of my friends back home in Australia. She’s bubbly and energetic and even though she does most of the talking it makes me feel at ease, in the fact that she’s here with me making this transition a little easier. She seems to be happy that we’ve met as well and I think this is the start of a great friendship. I feel so comfortable around her.

  A few more students file into the classroom and they announce their names. Eventually the room has ten students, twelve, including Charlie and myself.

  “Firstly, I’d like to welcome everyone to my class. This year, we have a small group of thirteen. I note that there are twelve of you here so one is obviously missing. I’m sure Mr. Sanders will grace us with his presence at some stage.”

  We chuckle amongst ourselves.

  “Let’s get started. I’m Liz Edelstien, but you can call me Liz.”

  The door swings open and the hot guy I spotted on Orientation day struts in.

  “Nice of you to join us Mr. Sanders,” Liz says.

  “Please call me Will,” he declares, then he smiles showing off his pearly whites.

  “Will, please try to make a habit of being on time to my sessions in future,” Liz berates, while walking over to the smart board.

  “Yep,” Will dismisses with a blasé tone to his voice. He walks to the back of the room and sits next to Charlie on the sofa.

  Charlie can’t hide her smile when his leg brushes up against hers. I continue to avoid eye contact with him. He actually seems like your typical douche bag, even if he’s really good looking, with chiseled features, black disheveled hair and piercing bright blue eyes. He doesn’t care about being late and it seems like he doesn’t have much respect for anyone other than himself. I take in a deep breath. My brain is telling me not to look at him.

  Don’t do it!

  Then, as quickly as the thought enters my mind, I completely disregard it and gaze over to see Will blatantly staring directly at me. I quickly turn my eyes back toward the front of the classroom trying desperately to hide my smile. Just one look from him and my stomach flutters with a million butterflies.

  This. Is. Bad!

  I try not to look at him again for the rest of the lesson, but I fail… miserably.

  Time goes by quickly and the class finishes. Charlie and I decide we’ll go to the Campus Café before our next class for a coffee. We casually take a stroll through the gorgeous gardens.

  “Oh my God Kat, did you see? He was actually touching me on the leg. I think he likes me. What do you think?” Charlie asks while we walk.

  I can see why she’s attracted, but I know, because I can feel it, he’s not a nice kinda guy. “I think we should both steer clear of him. We can do much better than the smug and arrogant Will Sanders,” I point out.

  I hear someone clear their throat. Charlie and I turn around to see Will directly behind us with a dirty big smirk all over his face. My eyes widen. I’m completely embarrassed and I know that he’s overheard our conversation.

  “I think you can both do better than me as well,” he advises making Charlie giggle.

  She reaches out her hand and touches his arm. I roll my eyes. She’s such a flirt. I take notice of his words. They seem like a warning to stay away from him, but even while standing here, I’m staring at him and feeling totally drawn in. I don’t know what this feeling is, but it’s like a magnetism surging through my veins, making my blood heat at the very sight of him. He does something to me, deep inside. It’s like a chemical reaction and I can already feel that I could get addicted to him.

  “I noticed you ladies were in my vocal class. I gather both of you can sing?”

  Charlie nods her head and bats her eyelashes at him, while I shrug.

  “A shrug? So you’re taking a vocal class, but you can’t sing?” he asks me completely ignoring Charlie.

  “I love singing and hopefully my voice will be good enough for it to lead somewhere.”

  I know my voice is good, and to be honest, I’d love to see where it could take me.

  He smiles and walks over. “So what other classes are you taking?” he questions, his full attention on me. Charlie frowns.

  “Why do you care?” I query abruptly.

  “Wow, sorry for asking,” he says raising his hands in defeat. “Just wanted to know a little more about you, that’s all.” He raises his eyebrows, smirking.

  “Why me?”

  “Why not?” he asks with another smirk.

  I roll my eyes.

  “Thanks for the chat. Have a good day,” I say, trying to get him to take the hint and leave.

  “You too. Oh, and if you’re free Friday night you should come to the Campus Café’s open mic night. I hear one of the campus’ best musicians is playing,” he calls out as he starts to walk off.

  “We’ll be there,” Charlie exclaims trying to get his attention.

  He smiles at her. She blushes as he turns to run across the yard.

  “We’ll be there?” I question.

  She nods. “Yes, we already said we were going, remember? And Brooke is coming too,” she reminds me with a beaming smile.

  “Okay, fine, we’ll go, but we need to steer clear of Will. There’s something about him that makes me feel uneasy.”

  “Huh? Really? I think he’s super hot and we’d be perfect together,” she replies.

  I shake my head. We walk into the Campus Café and take our seat in the booth.

  Chapter Two

  I walk out of my first acting class and it was more fun than I thought it would be. I think the theory will be a bit boring, but the practical was great. If I don’t make it in singing, maybe I could pursue acting, it seems to come naturally to me and I love it so far. V is in my class so I sat with her. She seems to be coming out of her shell a little more each day. Today, we had to do a monologue and hers was of the famous scene from Hamlet and it was very… deep. She’s emotional, but it works well for her on stage.

  “Hey V, do you want to come to the Campus Café tonight with Charlie, Brooke and me? It’s an open mic night and we thought it might be nice to hang out together. What do you say?”

  “No,” she says.

  I smile at her and nod. We make our way back to our bungalow and walk inside. Charlie and Brooke are waiting for me so we can get ready for our big night out.

  “I know he’ll be there, so you guys have to help me look perfect,” Charlie says.

  Brooke and I sit on my bed watching while Charlie parades around in various outfits.

  “Charlie, listen. I think you should give Will a wide berth. He seems like a player and they’re never a good mix,” I say making Brooke laugh.

  “Well, I think I’m perfect for him,” she snaps, making me shake my head.

  “Okay, but don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

  She tries on another tight fitting short strapless pink dress.

  “Perfect,” we all say in unison.

  We head off to the Campus Café to have dinner. They serve organic cuisine, which Brooke is really into. We eat our meals and the Campus Café starts to fill with more students. It seems like all the newcomers are here trying to be social and mingling making new friends.

  We’re chatting amongst ourselves as the mic check takes place.

  “Testing one, two,” a young woman says while tapping the microphone and then it squeals loudly making everyone wince.

  “G
ood evening everyone and welcome to the first open mic night for this year.”

  Everyone cheers and claps.

  “So tonight we have a talented young man, who plays the guitar and sings exceptionally well. Please, everyone welcome to the stage Will Sanders,” she announces and the room applauds.

  Charlie jumps in her seat and I sit back and roll my eyes.

  Will walks up on the stage with his guitar and sits down in front of the microphone. The applause dies down and I can’t help myself, I look over at him. Our eyes meet and he smiles, a dazzling smile and then he winks. I huff and shake my head. Charlie glares at me and looks away.

  “Thanks for coming everyone,” he announces. He looks down at his guitar and starts to strum. I recognize the song instantly, it’s The Cure’s “Friday I’m in Love”.

  I love this song, it’s so catchy. Definitely an oldie, but a goody. Will gazes directly at me while he sings; I blush as it is obvious that he’s singing this for me. I look around the room and everyone is watching me while he sings. Charlie huffs and crosses her arms slouching over in her seat. I suddenly feel like I’m the only one in the room. Everyone else fades away while he sings to me with his gorgeous masculine husky voice caressing the words.

  The song finishes and I feel like he’s cast a spell over me. I can’t look away and neither can he. My smile brightens and the audience claps. He eventually takes his eyes from mine breaking the spell and I finally look away. I turn to face Brooke, who’s grinning from ear to ear.

  “He likes you,” she teases, as Will starts to sing another song.

  “No, he doesn’t,” I deny as Charlie looks at me and sighs.

  “What do you have that I don’t?” she asks, looking me up and down.

  “Charlie you can have him,” I proclaim and then take a sip of my drink.

  “He only has eyes for you, Kat. Can’t you see that?”

  I frown and pat her on the leg. “I’m sorry Charlie.”

  She laughs. “No, it's fine. He isn’t that great anyway.”

  We turn our attention back to Will, who’s staring at me while he sings U2’s “With or Without You”. There it is again, that magnetism he has over me. It’s almost like he’s the Pied Piper entrancing me with his music. I look at him and everything fades away. The only thing I’m aware of is the overpowering feeling of butterflies in my stomach. I sit enthralled while he continues to play for the next half an hour. He finishes the last song of his set and walks from the stage. We clap and cheer while he disappears with his guitar over his shoulder into the back room. I take a deep breath while my butterflies calm.

  The next singer is introduced as Olsen. He gets up on stage and seems cocky and full of himself, a bit like Will only worse. He’s well built with blonde hair and green eyes, extremely good looking. All the girls are swooning, even Brooke, who normally seems unaffected by the opposite sex. He starts to sing Rick Springfield’s “Jessie’s Girl” and he too looks straight at me.

  What the hell is going on?

  ~ WILL ~

  Four Days Earlier

  I wake up in bed to see the blonde from last night still here wrapped around me. I sigh and push her off. It’s funny how last night she seemed attractive, but this morning she just seems like another slut who isn’t good enough. When we were fucking last night it wasn’t her I was picturing. It was that redhead from Orientation, the one who was standing with that ditzy blonde. I don’t know how one woman can stick in my mind for as long as she has. I don’t even know her name. But what I do know is the blonde in my bed right now has to go. I get out of bed and pull on some shorts and nudge her trying to wake her up.

  “Morning, baby,” she mumbles as she looks over at me.

  I cringe at her term of endearment and try not to obviously look like the asshole that I am. I smile and pick up her blue lace panties and throw them at her. She catches them and looks at me with a smirk.

  “You don’t want to go again?” she questions. She raises her eyebrows looking at my crotch while I stand next to the bed.

  I cringe again and shake my head.

  “No, right now I need to get ready for class, I’ll call you,” I lie and walk out of my bedroom to the bathroom. I lock the door because she seems like the clingy type and would probably follow me into the shower, and I don’t want that. I just want her gone.

  I have my shower as hot as I can get it; I clean myself and wash her smell from me after last night’s romp. I definitely won’t be revisiting her again, whatever her name is. I stand under the hot water as my mind wanders to a certain flaming redhead. Thinking about her tiny frame and those luscious tits, I saw from across the field, on Orientation day. I’m instantly hard and I take my time in the shower thinking of her and jerking off.

  When I finish my extended time in the bathroom, I make my way to the bedroom and notice the girl has gone.

  Thank fuck!

  I leave for vocals class late, even though I know I should really get to my first vocals class of the year on time. I took way too long in the shower thinking of her, the gorgeous redhead and it’s put me behind. But, then again, I don’t really care if I’m five minutes late. They probably won’t even notice.

  I walk into the room and Liz has already started.

  Shit! She won’t be happy with me.

  She tells me off and then I see her, the redhead I’ve been fantasizing about for the last couple of days. She’s sitting in the back with her blonde friend and I can tell she’s purposely trying very hard not to look at me. So I decide to make things a little more interesting. I make my way to the back and sit down next to her little blonde friend who’s smiling at me pathetically, like all women do when they see me. But red, well, she’s keeping her eyes down and I shake my head slightly at her stubbornness. It’s actually quite the turn on. I know she wants to look at me and eventually I win and she looks across. When our eyes connect something foreign flows through me. I don’t know if it’s lust personified or a major attraction, but something makes my cock twitch and my chest ache. I’ve never felt this before and it’s exhilarating and petrifying at the same time.

  She looks away and I feel the loss of her eyes, but then she seems to be concentrating on the class, which I should probably do too.

  Red and Blondie walk out of the class so quick that I don’t get to say anything to them. I’m stuck here with Liz, who’s berating me for being late again, but I’m not listening to her. I’m too busy thinking about all the ways I could bend Red over and fuck her senseless. Eventually Liz lets me leave. I race out the class and to the campus grounds where I see them walking away. I jog up behind them and I hear her talking about me. I grin and listen while I walk quietly behind them.

  “I think we should both steer clear of him. We can do much better than the smug and arrogant Will Sanders,” Red says.

  I smile and cough gaining their attention. The look on her face is priceless. She’s so embarrassed and her face is now as red as her hair. I want to laugh, but I don’t. Instead, I try to gain some information about her, but it’s like talking to a brick wall, stopping me at every turn. She’s feisty and I love it. Most girls gush and fall at my feet like Blondie here, but Red, no, she’s not like any girl I’ve ever met. I’m getting nowhere with my questions, so I invite them to the Open Mic Night at the Campus Café on Friday and Blondie quickly agrees. I just hope Red comes along for the ride.

  ~*~

  Present Day

  Friday night finally arrives, thank fuck, because all I’ve been doing is daydreaming about Red. I’m pretty sure she’ll be at the Campus Café tonight, so I get ready and walk there with Olsen, my best friend and roommate. On the way, I tell him all about this mysterious redhead from Australia and he lets me know that her name is Kat. He found out ‘cause she’s in his acting class and he noticed her too. We arrive at the Campus Café and make our way to the back room so we can set up for our performances. I didn’t notice her when I walked in, so I can only hope she’s there when I go on s
tage.

  I hear Calissa make the announcement for me to take to the stage. I take my guitar and walk out. My eyes go in search of her and I find her instantly in the crowd of people.

  Our eyes meet and I smile my usual panty dropping smile, and then I wink at her. She huffs and shakes her head. I inwardly chuckle at her sassiness. It’s so fucking adorable.

  “Thanks for coming everyone,” I say and then look down at my guitar and start to strum. I have a normal set that I go with, but tonight I’m winging it. I start with The Cure’s “Friday I’m in Love” and I gaze directly at her while I sing. She blushes and that’s the exact reaction I was looking for.

  I finish my set knowing that Olsen is playing after me. I look over at Kat one more time before leaving the stage. She’s mesmerizing with that bright red flowing hair and her alluring green eyes. She’s captivating and for some reason I have to know her. Why I chose to sing “Friday I’m In Love”, is a little baffling to me. Yes, it’s Friday, but it’s not a usual song I would sing and especially not to a woman. I guess Kat has caught my attention and I want her so badly that I’ll sing anything to get in her pants, even if it’s singing about being in love. I take my eyes from hers and leave the stage walking into the back room. I store my guitar in its case and for the first time in a long while, I feel fucking nervous talking to a woman. They never normally have this effect on me, but I like the way I feel when she looks at me and my cock likes it as well, while making himself known.

  I make my way back into the Campus Café adjusting myself. Olsen is singing the song that usually gets everyone singing along, Rick Springfield’s “Jessie’s Girl”, it works every time. There are students dancing, but, I notice that he’s staring directly at Kat while he sings.