Chapter 41: Night
Chapter 41: Night
I grinned right back, getting the implication. "You did all the work. I was just a punching bag." I told him.
"Maybe..." John raised both eyebrows. "But that little brunette in the schoolgirl outfit certainly gives you all the credit for rescuing her in the first place."
The door opened before I could reply and a man in a suit and tie walked in. "Hello boys. I'm Detective Adler. I need to get a statement from you both."
John frowned. "Then what's with the room and the one-way glass?" he asked, pointing to the mirror at the far wall.
Detective Adler smiled. "Well, the three other men in the fight are claiming you attacked them out of nowhere while they were just asking Miss Rodriguez for directions."
"What?" I quipped.
"Relax," Adler said, patting his hands down in the air. "Several witnesses saw the whole thing and gave a different account. Plus, those three have a history of causing trouble around here. Still, I need to record your statements to make sure everything lines up."
I looked at John, and we both sighed and leaned back in our chairs.
...
It didn't take ver ylong. After John said that he did not get there until after the fight had already started, most of the questions were aimed at me.
I answered them as best I could without rambling and Detective Adler was pretty sure that everything matched up with what the other witnesses had said.
They let us go and thanked us for helping them catch the bad guys.
Alex and three girls were waiting outside the interrogation room. They were the witnesses. The little brunette was there too.
It caught me off guard when she ran straight up and threw herself at me.
She hooked her legs around my waist and grabbed my neck like her life depended on it. I stumbled as I caught her. The pain from her legs hitting my ribs made me groan.
"unnngh!" I gritted my teeth.
"Oh! Sorry! Sorry! Are you hurt?" The girl fell to the ground right away and started clucking over my waist, pulling up my shirt as I tried to push her away due to embarassment.
"Hey! Hey! It is against my rules to let a girl strip me if I do not know her name!"
"Oh! Sorry! I'm Charlotte! Charlotte Rodriguez. And thank-you-thank-you-thank-you for coming to my rescue! Now are you hurt?"
"I'm fine. Just ... can you avoid hitting my ribs like that?"
"Sorry!" Then she gave me another hug, but this time she tried to reach her arms higher around my chest, which wasn't easy since she was only 5'2". She still hit one of my bruises in the end, but I just grimaced and tried not to show that I was in pain.
"You okay?" I asked and patted her back.
"Yeah, I'm fine." She pulled away and I was able to see that she had a bruise of her own just under her left eye.
Holding her at arms length, I studied her deep blue eyes and facial structure, "Do I know you from somewhere?"
Now it was her turn to study my face. "I don't think so." Then she blushed. "Unless we met at a party somewhere."
I shook my head. "So, what happened back there? Why were those guys grabbing you?"
Charlotte humphed. "I met one of them at a house party a few days ago. I flirted some and he flirted back. He asked me to go to his place when we saw each other today, but I said no. He didn't exactly like the way I turned him down."
"And exactly how did you turn him down?" I asked.
Her pale skin turned bright pink. "I said something on the lines of, 'A flaccid loser like you wouldn't know what to do with me in an apartment.'"
My jaw dropped. That was quite a mouthful to hear from such an innocent-looking girl.
When she giggled cutely, I was even more struck.
At that moment, Detective Adler walked by and said, "Alright, kids. We can give you a ride in a police car. Where do you guys live?"
"Someone is already coming for me. I live here with my family." Alex immediately responded.
I turned to the officer. "I live in Jenkins Hall."
Charlotte's eyes popped open in surprise. "What a coincidence! That's my hall as well."
The other two girls and John mentioned that they lived in the dorms at the place where the brawl happened.
Detective Adler nodded and started coordinating the transport. They packed us into two police cars.
I got into one with Charlotte and we quietly drove all the way to Jenkins Hall. I think I almost fell asleep a few times. I was really tired.
"Stay safe from now on." The policewoman driving us said: as we were getting out of the car.
Charlotte thanked her, and we began walking towards the entrance of Jenkins Hall.
Her blue eyes twinkled as she looked at me. "Thank you again," she said softly.
Damn, I was weak for blue eyes.
"It's nothing," I replied. "I wouldn't be able to look at myself if I just walked away."
We walked into Jenkins Hall.
"Well... good night." I told her and walked away.
"Wait!" she called out.
I turned back to her and saw her standing with her hands behind her back, acting cute.
"Is your roommate on campus?" She asked.
"I live alone," I said.
That's when her tongue snaked out across her lower lip, and she gave me her best smoky, seductive expression. "Maybe I'll have to find some way to reward my hero?"
I smiled, slightly amused. "You don't live at Jenkins Hall, do you?"
She shook her head innocently with an expression that said, I know exactly what I'm doing here.
"Did you ever try tobacco?" I asked.
"No."
"Wanna try?"
"Why not." She smiled.
I gestured for her to follow me quietly, and we walked up the stairs to my room. As we reached my door, I unlocked it and stepped inside, holding it open for her.
"Make yourself comfortable."