Meant to Marry Me

Chapter 15: Not Your Love Song

With her backpack slung over her arm, Bree hurried down the hallway to her dorm room. She’d

forgotten her Chem book, and she’d need it that day for a quiz. Professor Cross always let them use

their book when he gave them a quiz, and she’d need it since she’d been out late the night before

playing in a local club with Sam and hadn’t had time to study.

Dropping her backpack by the door, she grabbed the doorknob, thinking it should be unlocked because

Melissa didn’t have class right now. When the door was locked, she was surprised but pulled her key

out of her pocket and stuck it in the hole.

The door still didn’t want to open all the way, but Bree was in a hurry and shoved against it anyway.

Pushing the door open, she suddenly realized why Melissa had the door locked—and there was a

towel shoved under it. Two heads popped up on her roommate’s bed. “Oh, God! Sorry!” Bree averted

her eyes, realizing her roommate was tangled in the sheets with a guy, but then, Bree stopped and

considered exactly what she’ d just seen as the two of them scrambled to cover themselves.

“Wait--what the hell?” she asked. There was no escaping the situation. “Sam?”

Melissa sat up while the man next to her hid under the bedspread. “Huh? Oh, no. It’s not Sam. I know

he looks like Sam… but this is a guy I met last night at the club. Name’s… Ram.”

“Ram?” Anger boiled up in Bree’s blood, and she could feel her face turning red. “Samuel William

Fowler! Get your head out of that blanket right now, or so help me God, I will take one of those pillows,

shove it over your face, and squeeze the life out of you!”

“Okay, okay!” Sam sat up, the sheet falling down around his waist. “Bree, I’m so sorry. I can explain.”

“It’s not what it looks like,” Melissa said, one of her breasts showing where she hadn’t quite secured the

blanket.

“Really?” Bree demanded. “Because it looks to me like my roommate and my boyfriend are having sex!

That’s what it looks like to me!”

“No, no. It is what it looks like, but I can explain….” Sam said again, a pleading look in his eyes.

“Save it, Sam! You’re an asshole! And you!” She pointed at Melissa. “I never trusted you, you slut!”

“Hey! How dare you call me that!” Melissa said, jumping up and pulling the sheet away from Sam who

scrambled to get the blanket in place, not that Bree hadn’t already seen his tiny package. “I was just

satisfying his cravings, something you couldn’t do!”

Realizing she was going to be late to class and couldn’t deal with the situation at the moment, Bree

grabbed her book off of the stack by her bed and shouted at Sam, “We’re through!”

“No, wait, Bree! You’ve got to give me a chance to explain!”

“Screw you, Sam!” She glared at Melissa, thinking she’d have more words for her later, and headed off

to her class.

Tears were streaming down her face as she walked to Chem, but she did her best to stifle them. She

didn’t want to let Sam have the satisfaction of knowing she was so upset. At least she hadn’t moved in

with him. Of course, if she had, Melissa wouldn’t be her roommate. Thus, Sam likely would’ve never

met her. But… he would’ve found someone else to cheat with. A cheater would always find someone to

cheat with.

Bree arrived in class and held her emotions in check long enough to get through her quiz. As soon as

class was over, she headed back to her room, done with school for the day. She prayed that Melissa

wouldn’t be there. The last thing she wanted was to see that lying bitch.

She was there, though, sitting on her bed, watching videos on her phone. Bree didn’t even want to talk

to her. She had nothing to say, and the other girl didn’t even look up when she walked in.

The stench of their sweaty bodies lingered in the air. Bree picked up a bottle of Febreze she had in her

closet and doused the entire room in it.

“What are you doing? It smells like a goddamn flower garden in here.”

“Don’t you have class? Ever?”

“Bite me,” Melissa said, going back to her phone.

Bree didn’t want to yell at her because she realized Melissa wasn’t worth her time, but she couldn’t

help it. “I cannot believe you did that. I thought we were friends.”

“Please. I don’t need you to be my friend, bitch. I don’t have any friends that are girls. And now you

know why.”

She wasn’t even sorry. “You’re a horrible person.”

Melissa just shrugged. “I’m not sure why you’re so upset. He’s not even a good screw.”

“He was a lot more than that to me, you stupid bitch.” How in the world was Bree supposed to live with

this person for the next two months before Christmas break, let alone the entire spring semester?

Melissa didn’t even acknowledge her. She just continued to flip through her phone.

Grabbing her guitar, Bree went out to the lounge. Something told her, she’d be spending a lot of time Content property of NôvelDra/ma.Org.

out there for the next few months.

She hadn’t been practicing long when she heard Sam clear his voice the way he always did when he

was nervous. Bree didn’t stop the song she was practicing, realizing she’d made another mistake by

coming out here where he was able to find her.

“Bree,” he said as she finished that song. “We need to talk.”

“I have absolutely nothing to say to you.”

“Come on, baby. I know you’re mad. I don’t blame you. I didn’t mean for it to happen. It just… did.

She’s persistent.”

“Go to hell,” Bree replied, starting another song.

“Please, Bree. What we had was so good. She meant nothing to me.”

“And yet, you chose her over me.” Bree slammed her guitar down next to her and leapt to her feet.

“You know how I feel about cheating, Sam. I’m not going to forgive you! Ever! So get the hell away from

me!”

“But Bree… what about our gigs? We have so many scheduled already. We were going to spend the

holidays together. My mom can’t wait to meet you.”

“Take Melissa,” she said with a sneer. “As for the gigs, I’ll just go back to playing by myself like I did for

years before I met you. I don’t need you, Sam, and I don’t have time for anyone who would cheat on

me. So get the hell away from me!”

By now, there were a few people standing in the doorway listening, including one of the guys who’d

helped Melissa move in back on that first day, when Bree’s whole life had changed, and she hadn’t

even known it. He asked, “Are you okay, Bree?”

“Yeah, Jeff. I’m fine. Sam was just leaving.”

Sam ran a hand through his unruly hair and limped away, knowing Jeff could take him out in a couple

of seconds if he wanted to.

Blowing out a hot breath, Bree picked up her guitar and started playing again, hoping she could lose

herself in her music. She heard footsteps close by and looked up, thankful it wasn’t Sam.

“Did I hear you right? He cheated on you? Does that mean you’re single?”

“Not now, Jeff….”

“Sorry. But, hey, when you’re ready, you know where to find me.”

She couldn’t help but smile. He was cute, even if he sounded a little desperate and had horrible timing.

“Thanks, Jeff.”

He walked away, and Bree finished her song and then played another before she set her guitar down

again. What she really needed right now was a friend. She dug her phone out of her pocket and

scrolled through her contacts. She’d love to talk to Lilly about all of this. If only she was here in person.

Before she called her old roommate, she flipped to a social media site and scrolled through her

newsfeed. She had a friend request--from Trent. Of all the days. Shaking her head, she clicked it,

wondering what he was up to. Now that she was single again, it seemed like just the thing for her to

start dreaming of him again.

But he wasn’t single. She could see that within a few seconds of looking at his page. It wasn’t the same

girl she’d seen him with last summer, and her name was nowhere on the page, not in any of the

captions or anything. But she was beautiful, with jet black hair and a confident smile. The way Trent

was looking at her, there was no doubt they were together, and his personal status said, “In a

relationship.”

“In a relationship, but not with me.” Rolling her eyes and dropping her phone, Bree picked up her guitar

and started to play a melody that had been stuck in her head for ages. Eventually, lyrics came to her,

and she built a song around the fact that Trent was with someone else when all this time she thought

he was supposed to be with her.

“You’re mine, you just don’t know it.

You love me, you just can’t show it.

Maybe someday soon, you’re gonna see

Baby, you were meant to marry me.”

Once she was sure of the song structure and happy with the lyrics, she picked up her phone and set it

to record. She thought she had something pretty special here, maybe even a song she could try to sell

to another artist or use to market herself to agents and producers.

She played through it again, so lost in what she was doing she didn’t realize she wasn’t alone until she

was done. A cheer went up from across the room, and Bree looked up to see a small crowd of about

ten students standing there, watching her.

Immediately, her face turned crimson. “Oh, gosh, sorry. I didn’t know anyone was listening.”

“That was great,” one of the girls who lived on her floor said with a smile. “I loved it.”

“Thank you.”

“That wasn’t about that stupid Sam asshole was it?” a guy who’d been there earlier when they were

arguing asked.

“No, definitely not,” Bree assured him. “It was about a guy I used to know a long time ago.”

“Well, he’d better get his shit together because you're gonna be famous one day,” the same guy said

with a smile.

“Thanks,” Bree said, still red in the face. Slowly, the crowd dispersed, and she went on to play another

song, but she hoped the random guy in the hallway was right. Then, Sam really would feel like an idiot

for sleeping with Melissa, and maybe Trent would finally see her as more than just a friend.

But perhaps most importantly of all, she’d be able to make a living doing what she loved most, making

music.