Chapter 8.

I love surprises.

They're a rare and fleeting thing that only lucky people get.

However, there are also some surprises that just piss you off, like a surprise school test, or the arrival of a new baby.

I didn't take it very lightly when my week-old brother Jack was brought home from the hospital. I was definitely jealous and may (or may not) have stuck my five-year-old foot in his mouth when mom wasn't looking.

But what I'm feeling right now is far from jealousy or anger. Maybe my glasses are deceiving me. After all, I threw them across the floor that night at the club... And now they have a crack.

"Nice to meet you," he says and my eyes widen even more. My sight may be very poor, but my ears never fail me.

It's him. He's the one who kissed me, then got beaten up by Tony.

I feel like I've seen him somewhere else, too, but my brain feels so wishy-washy right now that I can't think straight.

"So, April, I'd like you to meet..."

I don't let Jim finish his introductions before I pull him by the arm to a corner, stammering out an 'excuse me' to Mr Club-Kiss-Guy.

"Dude," I say to Jim, when I'm sure we're out of earshot.

"What?"

"Dude," I say, slightly more urgently.

"What?"

"Dude."

"What, April!" Jim lashes out this time and I don't even get angered. Even I've had enough of myself.

"T-that's him," I finally blurt out, as Jim's expression contorts into confusion.

"Who's 'him'?" Jim asks.

"I- The- the... At the club... With Tony... I- He- We... I was drunk ...The kiss..." My whole head is a jumble and I can hardly think straight.

Is my life a soap opera, now, or what? Drunk April is very different from sober April... I wasn't trembling this hard when I kissed that guy the other night, so why is there a huge knot at the pit of my belly?

"Real words, April. Real words. Don't stutter," Jim says slowly as he strokes my arms up and down, trying - just as he always does - to soothe me.

"He's... Th- that's the guy I kissed after I broke up with Tony," I say in one breath and I watch as Jim's expression changes from worry, to confusion, then finally to realization.

"Woah. I did not see that coming." He looks in the direction of Mr Club-Kiss-Guy and sees he's still standing there, patient as ever, scrolling through his phone. "Are you sure you're not mistaken?"

"My eyesight might be bad, but I'm not dumb. That's clearly his voice and his... his... Look, I just know it's him, okay?" I place a hand on my forehead as I recall how I threw myself all over him that night.

He must think I'm cheap.

"This is all your fault, Jim. If you'd only let me go back to New Jersey, none of this would be happening right now. But, no, you had to make this more complicated than a blind motherfucker putting on makeup."

"Ok, you better pause and stop acting like my eight-year-old cousin." Jim cuts me off and puts on a stern look. "I saved your ass from going back to your parents looking miserable. I saved your ass from looking like you can't survive on your own in this city. I dragged your ass down here so you could start a new life, when all you wanted to do was throw it all away. I even got stung by a bee in the process and you know how much I hate getting marks on my skin."

"You provoked that bee." I roll my eyes.

"Yes, April. Of course, I was flirting with the bee's girlfriend." His sarcastic voice calms me down a little.

I let out an aggravated breath. "So what happens now?" I ask.

"There's only one thing to do." He shrugs and walks back to the gate, leaving me awestruck as I follow behind him, trying not to look like a weirdo with my mouth hanging open.

"I'm sorry for my friend's behaviour, " Jim begins with a smile, stopping in front of Mr Club-Kiss-Guy. "She's not really used to strangers."

"Oh, we're not strangers," laughs the guy, glancing over at me. "I think we've met twice before, first at the-"

"No, we haven't," I blurt out, cutting across him, but regretting it almost instantly. I slap a hand over my mouth.

His eyes assess me for a minute, the way they did at the club, but this time I make out the colour of his eyes. They're as green as emeralds and I can still see a purple bruise under one of them, probably a blow he sustained from Tony.

Jim gives me a warning stare before he proceeds. "Mr Wright, I'd like you to meet April, your new housemate."

I felt my cheeks going red. Why did that name have to sound so much like 'Mr Right'?

"You can drop the formalities, Jim." He pats Jim's shoulder and smiles at me. I think his cheeks are going to fall off from all the exercise. "Call me Maverick. We're going to be living in the same house - we're not business partners."

Any other lady with social skills (and probably a body to die for) would smile back, do a hair flip and say something charming. But the chances of me doing that are about as slim as a dog's chance of doing a cartwheel.

"So that'll be all, for now," Jim says, when I don't respond to anything. "I'll leave you both to uh...You know." His eyes flicker between Maverick and me, half-mocking us, before he rushes out an "Ok, bye, April," and dashes past me.

As he brushes my left arm, I hear him whisper, "I have a feeling you'll thank me for this later."