"You're kidding," I said aloud.
"Yeah, he was in love with her and wanted to make this grand gesture. I guess it really pissed her
off. She humiliated him in front of his entire dorm. I mean, I wasn't in Wesley Hall last year, but I
saw the video." James stuck his hands in his pockets and looked embarrassed. "This may sound
awful, but at the time it made me feel a little better about what happened to me."
"There was a video?" I asked, still unable to wrap my brain around the idea that Marc had been in
love with Cheyenne. I knew he had done a story on her, but how was this possible? How could a
guy like Marc even afford all those roses? It just didn't add up.
"Yeah, some guy in Wesley took it with his HDcam. I still have it on my notebook," James said.
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"Yeah?" I felt my cheeks redden, but I knew what I had to do. "Do you think... I mean, would you
mind..."
He smiled. "It's okay if you want to see it."
I nodded and followed him back into the dorm. I couldn't believe he was being so solicitous, but I
didn't mention it. I didn't want him to change his mind. And there was no way I was going to
believe this without visual proof.
James ushered me into the common room off the lobby of Drake House. I hadn't even realized
how frozen I was until I entered the saunalike space and felt myself thawing from the inside out.
There were a couple of guys in the corner studying, and they shot us curious glances as James
whipped out his laptop from his backpack, setting it up on one of the coffee tables.
"Have a seat," he said, gesturing at the plaid couch behind us.
Okay. He was being way too polite considering our history.
"Can I ask you something?" I said as he sat next to me, but at a respectful distance.
"Just did," he joked, reaching for the touch pad on the notebook.
"Seriously, though. Why are you being so nice to me? After what I did-"
"You didn't do that. That was Noelle. I know she made you do it," he said pragmatically.
My skin burned. "Yeah, but I could have said no."
James snorted a laugh and pushed his glasses up on his nose. "No, you couldn't have," he said.
"You were new. A sophomore.
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