Fell In Love With My Roomy Chapter 117

I hate going to social events.

I'm so bad at talking to new people, and I always mess up my words when I'm around people I don't know well.

It's not a big deal in crowded frats or dark bars, but it's killing me at a school social. I really thought about making up some lame excuse for why I couldn't go, because I keep making a fool of myself over and over again. I'm way too shy to talk to anyone, and if someone does try to talk to me, they leave looking like they wish they hadn't.

I wish there was something to drink at this.

I look around the small event room in the historical society's wing that we've reserved. There are high ceilings and a fireplace, and a long table with finger foods runs through the middle. Around the edges, there are chairs strewn about, and I run my hands down the front of my modest black dress. It has short sleeves, a longer skirt that hangs loosely, and a tie at the hip. It's the most businesslike thing I brought with me.

I see my coworkers move around the room with ease and talk a lot. It's clear that they all have a lot of confidence in themselves.

When my purse beeps, I sigh and pull my phone out.

KENT [6:10 PM]

"What's up with the history thing?

As I write my answer, I sigh and chew my lip.

ME [6:11 PM]

"Why can't I talk to people? I'm SO bad at this!

KENT [6:11 PM] *Hahaha*

When he sends me a new text, it makes me mad, and I roll my eyes.

KENT [6:12 PM]

"Just talk about what you know, that always helps me."

*Make eye contact, talk about simple things you have in common, and ask about their families. *

I give him a quick smile. Sometimes, he's the best. I always forget that Kent is great at talking to new people because of how he was raised.

ME [6:13 PM]

"Okay, I'll try 3"

I put my phone away because I didn't want to be the only one texting in the corner. I'm walking to the drinks table to get a glass of water and trying to think of things to talk about when my heel gets caught on the ugly red and blue carpet that covers the floor of our room.

Before I can figure out what's going on, a pair of hands shoot out and help me get back on my feet. My eyes land on Adrian, and I smile weakly at him.

"Thanks." I stutter and clear my throat.

"You've got to watch out for those nasty carpets in banquet halls, Juls." He chuckles.

I still couldn't figure out Adrian. On the outside, he seemed nice, but something in my gut told me he wasn't as good as he seemed. Like a bad watermelon, you can tell it's not good to eat as soon as you cut into it.

"Sorry, I wasn't paying attention." I sigh and say it. "I have a lot to think about."

"I've noticed that you seem to be under a lot of stress." He says it in a casual way, and I roll my eyes and feel annoyed.

"Just lots to keep up with." I shrug. "I'll see you around tonight." I shuffle past him and grab a bottle of water off the table a few feet back. I unscrew it, and I feel a hand rest on my shoulder, I jump a bit and twist back to see him behind me again.

"Woah, you are stressed." He laughs, and I press my lips together.

"What can I help you with, Adrian?" I ask, feeling my frustration grow.

"I know a bunch of the people around here, I could help you introduce yourself if you want." He says quietly, his whole tone's shifted, and I furrow my eyebrows. He's being nice to me?

I debate too much all at once, I've been trying to stay friendly but far from Adrian for weeks, but by the same token.....I need help. As much of it as I can get.

"What's the catch?"

"No catch, just here to help." He insists, and I sigh.

"Alright." I mumble, and he grins. He had this All-American look to him, strong bone structure, blonde hair, blue eyes. But like he didn't grow up feeling admired, it was a recent change, and some part of that bothered him.

"Cool, let's go." He smiles, putting his hand on my back, and I clear my throat, shrugging out of it slightly.

I walk around the room with him, trying my best to enter the conversation, but it's like everyone's avoiding me. No one's meeting my eyes, and they're all far more interested in Adrian.

When I try to speak up, they all give me patronizing looks, like they're pandering to me instead of listening.

These are researchers, donors, specialists in my field. Knowing them is important; this whole community is interconnected, and if they keep shutting me out, my future's going to be a mess.

It wasn't being helped by Adrian manhandling me either, nudging me, hugging me, placing firm hands on my shoulders that I kept recoiling from.

Eventually, I have to step away. I slink back to the food feeling overwhelmed when a Northwestern professor joins me at the tapenade plate.

"What is it?" She asks, looking skeptical.

"Tapenade, I think," I mumble, unsure if this was something I wanted to be eating anyway.

"I may have to skip out on it, I've never been a fan of olives," she says, shaking her head. "Are you a student?" She asks, and I blow out a tense breath.

"Yes, well....not here, at Brown," I tell her.

Finally, someone who actually seems like they want to talk to me and is desperate to know more.

"Brown?"

"I'm here on the artifact research program," she smiles when I answer.

"Oh, with Doctor Elliot," she smiles and briefly lifts her glasses as she does so. "My name is Dr. Marion, and I work with him closely in the research department."

"Nice meeting you, Julianna Macey." When I smile, her face moves a little. As I watch her warmth go away, my stomach drops.

"Oh, I need to be somewhere else. A good party always drains me," she gives me an embarrassed smile, and I bite the inside of my cheek.

"Does everyone keep doing that to me for some reason?" I can't hold back my irritation any longer, so I ask her. I'll find out what's going on one way or another. "Everyone is trying to stay away from me like the plague. Did I do something wrong? Because I'm a student working hard to pay for school and study what I want, and I love learning about the past and doing research. I have an interesting thesis and work to show, but no one seems to care about me."

She looks at me quickly, with her lips slightly open, and I sigh, feeling bad that I took out all of my anger on someone who didn't deserve it.

"I just...look, I don't know how to tell you this, but I've heard rumors about you," she chatters. "About your work and the fact that you're..." She won't throw it up, so I chew on my cheek.

"What?"

"That you're not doing enough," she lets out a sigh. "That you're making things worse for the team."

As soon as she finishes her sentence, I feel as cold as ice. Even though it's not her fault, you might feel defensive and angry at her.

"Every day, I've stayed in the lab way past the time I was supposed to leave to do extra work. I'll show you my notebooks and computer logs to make up for it."

"Really, Julianna, you don't need to do that," she sighs, and I smack my lips together because I'm annoyed.

"Is that what Doctor Elliot says?" I ask quietly, feeling every bit of pride leave my body as I watch this poor woman deal with the aftermath of my world falling apart.

"No," she sighs, and I try not to cry.

"Who is it then?"

"I'm sorry, I have to go. Take care of yourself, Julianna, and you might have a chance before your time with us is up." She says this with a weak smile, and as she walks away, I sigh.

I quickly go to the bathroom to get away from the noise and people. As soon as I walk in, I stop in front of the sinks, grab the edge, and look in the mirror.

Why would someone say that about me? I work harder than anyone else in the world, and I've had to in order to compete with the rich, spoiled students in my group.

"Is everything okay?" When she comes out of the stall to wash her hands, a blonde girl asks. She seems worried about me and sad for me. She's beautiful and maybe my age.

"Yes, my bad." I try not to cry as I mumble.

She turns on the faucets at the sink next to me and smiles weakly at me. "Do you go here? I'm pretty sure I've never seen you before."

"No, I... I go to Brown. I'm here for the artifacts group." I mumble, trying to get my thoughts together. She uses a paper towel to dry her hands and stays at the sink with me. She looks nice. Her hair is curled.

"Oh, you're here for our get-together, huh?" She says it with a smile, and I just nod. "What's your name?"

"I'm Juls." I sigh and worry that she will leave because of it.

"My name is Thea." She smiles back and puts out her hand. I give her a weak smile and shake her hand. "Pleased to meet you."

"So do you." I tell her, feeling relieved. "Everyone's been avoiding me all night."

She pauses for a moment and narrows her eyes in a curious way. Then, her face suddenly changes into a look of realization, as if she had just thought of something.

"You and Adrian are on the show." She sighs, and I slowly nod my head. "Yeah."

"I think I know what might be making you so mad." She whispers, and I bite the inside of my cheek.

"Because I don't do anything right and I'm a slacker?" I ask this in jest, and she gives me a sad laugh.

"Of course not, no." She says in a positive way. "Even though I've heard that."

"How could that be? If it were my professor saying it, he wouldn't have chosen me." I moan, and she just nods.

"May I ask a question?" I say yes when she asks. "Has Adrian...made a pass at you? Tried too hard to be nice to you, walk you home."

"Yes!" I hiss. "Like always, he won't get the message! I've told him more than once that I have someone at home, but he's always in my business."

"He treated me the same way when I applied for an honors program with the same professor last year." She quietly says. "He wouldn't stop asking me to do things with him and telling me how nice I looked. I told him I had a boyfriend, but he wouldn't leave me alone."

"What went on?"

"He told my professor that I had started writing papers for other people in my class, giving out my notes, and cheating on finals to get the grades I had." She sighs and ruffles her blonde hair with her hand. "There was a big academic investigation into me, and even though it didn't find anything, my professor still didn't want to work with me. He got chosen."

My eyes get bigger, and her lips come together.

"I'm from Oregon and I'm here on a scholarship. I've had to work so hard to stay here. Because of Adrian, I almost had to quit school and start over."

"S-so, he's treating me the same way." I figure it out, and she puckers her lips.

"Adrian's parents have a lot of power, he's strong, and the board really likes and respects him. From their point of view, what he says is true." She says so.

"But you......you're still here?"

She sighs and gives a short nod. "My boyfriend Brody really helped me get back on my feet. We have our own place, and I asked a different professor to help me with my thesis." At least Adrian left her alone, which made me feel a little better. "He wants what he can't have, and too often an attractive female student is competing with him for attention."

"I'm going to kill him." She laughs when I mumble.

"Just do what we're good at and show them why we belong here with losers like Adrian." When she smiles, I smile back and feel a lot less down. "You seem bright, Juls. I'll tell everyone I see how great you are."

"Many thanks." I smile because at last, someone is on my side.

"I have to go, but I hope to see you again sometime." She says it nicely while putting her hand on my shoulder. She walks back out of the bathroom after I nod, giving me time to think.

I won't let him ruin me for this. I need to show why I was chosen for this. I'm here because I deserve to be, and I won't let some little motherfucker ruin it for me.

I'm not sure if I should call Kent for help or just to let him know, but I know it will upset him, and he'll be on a flight out here in a few hours. I won't tell him right now because I'm too upset about it.

I put my phone back in my purse and leave the bathroom. I might go outside to get some fresh air and then at least text him. He always makes me feel better when I text him.

I haven't changed my mind about using my boyfriend. I told Adrian I did, but it was mostly to get him off my back. After our fight, he said I could take some time to calm down, and then we could talk about it when I got back.

Now I just wish I had talked to him about it sooner because I know that what we're doing is a relationship, and I need him so much right now. I might just need to give him a call and tell him what's going on. But it wouldn't be the same as being able to see him.

I feel my feet move for me as I walk through the lobby. I need to get some air.

"Juls!" I hear that voice, and it almost makes me lose my balance. He owned it.

I snap my head up and almost pass out when I see Kent in his suit walk through the second set of double glass doors with a desperate look on his face. I can feel my lips parting and my feet going numb. I can't believe it.

"Baby?" He laughs, as if he doesn't understand why I'm just standing there, and I feel a rush of relief as I run to him. He comes to where I am and picks me up, giving me a safe hug. I can feel tears in my eyes, and he lets out a sigh.

"What do you want to do here?" I say it softly.

"Hello to you too." He teases, and I pull back to look at his face. He won't put me down, just holds me tight, staring into my eyes. I lean in to kiss him on the lips, and he laughs. I've missed him too much for him to feel good right now.

"How on earth did you find me?" When I ask, he laughs.

"Do you think there's more than one Arts mixer tonight?" He laughs as he asks. I had to just ask around.

"I'm so happy to see you." I mumble something as I stay close to him, and he nods. "Kent, everything is a mess." When I whisper, he puts his hand on the side of my face.

"How? What went wrong?" He looks confused and asks.

"That jerk I told you about has been talking about me." I whisper as a tear rolls down my cheek. "He told people I wasn't doing my job and that I was holding the team back.

"What?"

"And everyone believes him. Everyone has been looking at me funny all night, and I don't know what to do."

"Juls." He says it softly, and I feel a knot in my stomach. "Breathe in." He sighs and helps me stand up on my own when I nod. "You know what you're doing, so don't let him get you down."

"But people all think."

"You always care what other people think." He whispers, kissing my cheek and I nod. I've always agreed with him. "You know what you're here for and what you can do. Show them how." I think about that for a second, but it's hard to change the story. "I've seen the look in your eyes when you have faith in yourself and what you can do. Get that look back. I'm here, and I'll stay here all night until everyone agrees that you're great."

I feel myself relax, my heart starts to warm up, and I smile as I lean up and kiss his lips. He grabs me around the waist and pulls me close, making me shiver. About how I feel when I'm with him.

I love him a lot.

He puts his arm around my waist and leads me forward. A lump rises in my throat, and I take a deep breath.

"Tell me where we're going." He whispers, and I sigh, leaning closer to him and pointing in the direction we should go. "Juls, we've got this." He reminds me, and I feel myself get a little straighter.

"Okay." I sigh, and he laughs right next to me.

As soon as he hears the noise, he doesn't need me to tell him what to do. Instead, he helps me get the courage to go back inside the mixer by putting his hand on my back. He always makes me stand up a little straighter and feel a bit more sure of myself.

As soon as he walks in, heads start to turn. His winning smile and dimples are easy to see. Kent was always the center of attention. Wherever he went, people were drawn to him because of how he looked. I knew best after all.

"Let's go get some food, I'm starving." He mumbles as he walks with me to the table where the food is, and I smile.

"Why did you fly so far?" I ask him quietly as he takes a roll and bites off the end. "If you'd waited just two more weeks, you could have saved the money."

"Because I wanted to see you." He gives a final answer. "We both know that my family has plenty of money to book a flight at the last minute. I know you've been working hard, and since I was tired of FaceTime, I wanted to spend some time with you."

"Your Spidey sense must have been right on," I mumble. "I couldn't have needed you more than I do right now."

He gives me a worried look, puts his lips to my temple, and squeezes my hip. I enjoy having him close.

"Good baby, I'm glad to be here." He whispers as he eats the last of his roll.

He smiles as another professor rolls up to the food. Kent is better at acting like he's sure of himself, and he's always up for another chat. "How are things?" He asks Kent.

"Not sure." Kent shrugs. "I would say to stay away from the dip."

"Understood." The man laughs as he looks at the nasty-looking dip in a ceramic bowl in front of him. "Hello, I'm Dr. McKay from the History Department."

"Kent Chavez, nice to meet you." Kent says as he puts out his hand for a nice shake. "What kinds of classes do you give?"

"Most of mine are about war history, and I teach a seminar about Winston Churchill that our fourth-year students love."

"Very interesting. My first year at Brown, I took a history class about World War I, and it taught me a lot."

"You don't go to Northwestern, do you?" Doctor McKay looks confused as he asks.

"No, I'm just here to look around. You should talk to Juls, who is my partner, about history." He says this while smiling. "She does a lot of research in the field of Early Modern Studies, which is really cool."

"Juls?" He asks, and I smile and hold out my hand.

"Nice to meet you, sir! Last year, I used one of your articles in a class I taught." When I smile, his whole face lights up. "The one about how many colonial monuments were built after World War II."

"Ah, you got a good one." He smiles. "That was a part of my dissertation for my PhD."

"I enjoyed it quite a bit." I say yes, and he agrees.

"Why did you choose Northwestern?" He asks.

"Doctor Elliot and I are in your program to study artifacts." I answer while not taking a breath. His face looks like it's thinking about that and trying to figure out who I was.

"Juls is also still taking her other classes from home at the moment." Kent speaks up. "She is always in the lab so late at night that she only has time for short phone calls."

"Oh, is that the person who turns off the lights there every night?" He looks interested and asks. "My office is right across the hall, and I spend a lot of time there late at night grading papers. Every night, I see a young woman turn off the lights."

"Yes! That's me, I use your microfilm readers." I admit. "I get a lot done here because it's nice and quiet."

"Yes, I do." He answers with a smile that grows. "Tell me more about what you're working on, Juls. I want to know what you're doing."

I feel too excited to finally get some of it out, someone's finally listening to me. I tell him what I've been working on, and the whole time he seems genuinely interested.

"Well, Juls, I'm excited to see what you do and sad that you'll be leaving us at the end of the month. We need more people who work hard like you." I almost cry when he says that, but I keep my cool. He gives me and Kent a nice wave and then walks away, leaving us alone to talk.

"Oh my god!"

"See?" Kent asks. "Sweetheart, you have everything you need to do this. No jerk is going to screw it up for you."

"It was helpful." I mumble something, and he laughs and gives me a kiss on the cheek.

"How many more do you think we need to win over?" He asks, and I give a quick smile. "I'll stay as long as it takes."

"You are great." He laughs and pushes my hair off my forehead as I smile.

"You look so beautiful tonight." When he smiles, I get cold all over. "I like business Juls."

"I like her too." When I whisper, he takes my hand and walks with me around the room.

My night changed a lot when Kent came over. He always seemed to get people on my side. People were much nicer, and I knew that once they started talking to each other, my image would change in the big picture.

Even Doctor Elliot, who seemed happy to meet Kent and hear about his studies, talked to us for a while. Everything is going well until I sense something coming toward our small group.

"Hey, y'all! How much do you talk tonight?" Adrian asks, and I tense up and give him a hard look.

"Adrian, have you already met my boyfriend tonight?" When I ask Adrian, my six-foot-four, ex-football player, gym rat boyfriend, he moves back a little, which looks like fear. I really like how scary Kent is.

"No, thank you. Nice to meet you, sir."

"Sorry, I can't say the same for you." Kent speaks up. "Every night, my girlfriend calls me for 20 minutes. Why does the first thing she always say to me be how hard you hit on her, Adrian?"

Adrian just stops moving. Kent is much bigger than him, and Kent's voice is getting a lot scarier.

"W-we just work together," she said. He says, pulling at the collar of his shirt. "I don't."

"How is that possible when you've told everyone I'm a bad worker?" Doctor Elliot jumps right into the conversation when I ask.

"I'm about done with you, Adrian. You and your nonsense are driving me crazy." He warns, and I tighten my grip on Kent's hand. "It was nice to meet you, Mr. Chavez. If you don't mind, I need to talk to you,"

"Of course." Kent says this, and we both watch him leave with Adrian. He has a strong hand on his shoulder, and when I sigh, I feel a weight lift off my shoulders. He'll finally get what's coming to him.

"How long has it been since I told you that you're my hero?" I ask Kent as I put my arms around him.

"Not enough of the time." He chuckles. "Come on, baby, let's get out of here and get some real food to eat."