Chapter 16

Lindsey
Curious was the word of the day.

At breakfast, Lindsey couldn’t help noticing that Allen had an indelible smile on his face. If she hadn’t known better, she’d have guessed he’d finally gotten laid. But her current favorite social project, ‘Operation Help Allen Lose His Virginity,’ had to be put on hold. The townies had gone too far this time in their prank-war efforts.

They’d gone to a local pet store, bought dozens of crickets, and set them free in Kirk, Allen, and Jamie’s rooms. It might have been funny, but the damned bugs hadn’t stayed in their intended targets’ rooms. The whole floor was ready to string the townies up because the crickets made it almost impossible to sleep.

Lindsey was a woman on a mission. She was gathering the troops so they could have a planning session on the roof. She found Jamie and Kirk and had them go with her to Allen’s room. The door was wide open, so they walked in.

Standing behind the bar was Alex with his head tipped back, mouth agape, looking at them with a glassy, uncaring stare.

“Are you okay?” Lindsey asked because something was obviously wrong with him.

Alex’s expression didn’t change. Kirk smirked and went to get Allen. Lindsey started toward Alex, but Jamie stopped her.

“I don’t think you want to go over there,” Jamie warned.

“Why?”

“That’s head-face. All guys get it when they’re getting a blow job.”

Then she dropped her face into an exact replica of the blank look Alex had. Allen came out of his room with Kirk in tow and then stopped and looked at his roommate.

“What the hell, Dude?! We’re paying her to clean our rooms, not polish your knob.”

Alex flipped Allen off.

Allen shook his head and followed Lindsey to the common room where they ran into their archnemeses, the townies: Veronica, Lauren, Christian, and Peter.

“Hey, girls. Why don’t you dump those losers and spend the afternoon with us?” Peter offered.

“I heard that you had to pay Veronica and Lauren to hang out with you two,” Jamie retorted.

“Ignore her,” Peter said. “She thinks I have cooties.”

Jamie stared at him like he was something disgusting that she’d stepped in.

“Correction, I believe you have the adult version of cooties: STIs.”

“The fuck!” Peter snarled.

Allen stepped between the groups as an obvious protect-and-prevent measure while Kirk hustled the girls into the stairwell to the roof. They’d all but made good their escape when Lindsey found the roof door was locked. Lindsey was a bit worried when the downstairs door opened behind them. She was relieved when she saw it was only Allen.

“It’s locked,” she told everyone.

“Use your keycard and PIN,” Allen said.

Lindsey gave him a confused look.

“It pays to have Alex as a roommate. When they fixed our door, I made sure we could still use the roof,” he explained.

Lindsey was puzzled but tried what he suggested. She was surprised when it opened. They went out and each grabbed a seat while Kirk grabbed three beers for himself and the girls and a water for Allen. They were left over from a previous night, so not very cold, but they’d do.

“What does your boyfriend think about you having guys as friends?” Allen asked Lindsey.

She glanced over at Jamie, who was suddenly fascinated with her fingernails. Lindsey had unloaded her unhappiness with her boyfriend, Finn’s, jealous streak to Jamie during girl-talk late at night.

“Finn is fine with it,” Lindsey said and then thought of a better response. “He doesn’t control me. He knows that he can trust me. Besides, he’s got nothing to worry about because neither of you is my type.”

Kirk looked a bit hurt, but Allen smiled.

“Good, ‘cause you’re not my type, either.”

Lindsey gave him a sad look. Was that the best he could come up with?

“Are you saying I’m not good enough for you?”

Allen raised one eyebrow and checked her out.

“I hadn’t really thought about it, but I bet I could do a whole lot better.”

She laughed in his face.

“Says the Virgin Boy.”

’Game. Set. Match. To me!’ Lindsey thought.

Allen got a hurt look on his face. She swore she saw his bottom lip quiver. He got up, walked to the edge of the roof, and looked off into space. Lindsey replayed what she said in her mind and worried she’d really hurt his feelings. She had to remember he was a naïve boy who’d just moved here from Cornfield, Timbuktu. He was probably in the middle of a homesick phase.

Jamie saw her concern and shook her head. Lindsey was sure it was in disgust at her for being so mean to Allen.

“Don’t you think it’s about time you cut the act?” Jamie asked, looking meaningfully at Allen.

He turned around with his hands in his pockets, head down, looking miserable.

“Yeah, it’s time,” Allen conceded.

He straightened his posture, removed his glasses, pulled his sweatshirt over his head, and faced them. The transformation was incredible; it took Lindsey’s breath away. It was better than when Clark Kent turned into Superman. Looking back at her was someone who exuded an air of easy confidence. Without his glasses and with the slightly crooked smile on his face, Allen was incredibly handsome.

Lindsey had noticed his huge brown eyes before, even behind the glasses, but she’d never registered how sexy they were. He ran his fingers through his hair, and suddenly the transformation was complete. He went from farmer-nerd to heartthrob in a matter of seconds.

“What the ... How did you do that?” Kirk asked.

“He’s David A. Dawson, the actor,” Jamie said with a degree of smug satisfaction. “I Googled him. Allen is his middle name.”

Another piece of the puzzle that was Allen—or was it David?—fell into place, giving Lindsey the complete picture. She hated how much she had to fight even to think about what she’d just found out because her mind was going in a million different directions.

“Why the deception?” Kirk finally asked.

“Fair question,” David said. “If I’d walked in as the actor, who would be my friends right now?”

“Probably the townies,” Lindsey said to finally get back into the conversation.

“Exactly! And how happy would I have been when I discovered what they were really like?” David asked.

“You knew?” Kirk asked Jamie.

“I figured it out when we first met,” she admitted.

“Don’t be mad at her. I explained why I was doing it, and she agreed to keep my secret,” David said.