Rae Ch. 01

Rae sighed taking in her caramel complexion and thick shoulder length black curly hair as she applied a thin layer of mascara to her hazel eyes. Finishing, she turned to walk into what until now was her bedroom to pick up her last suitcase. She looked around sadly before walking outside throwing the case into the back of her dad's car. "Yay university here I come" she thought sarcastically as her dad started up the car. It had been her and her dad since her mum left five years ago so she was worried about how he would cope without her. The chance for expressing her worries was missed as Rae fell asleep during the long journey thanks to her previous sleepless night until she was awoken suddenly by her dad opening her passenger side car door causing her to almost fall out.

"Rae, we're here!" he said, his voice conveying enough enthusiasm to make up for her noticeable lack of.

She forced a smile toward her father's direction, because although she hated the idea of moving so far away from home he was very proud of her for doing so. Within the next hour they carried her cases to her new dorm room and unpacked her stuff. Rae held back tears as the time came to say goodbye. Her dad gave her a long hug which conveyed everything he couldn't say, and Rae promised to check in and update him weekly.

Once her dad had set off for home she went into the empty bedroom and laid on her bed looking at all her belongings and the few posters she had tacked up thinking how weird it was that her familiar things now seemed so unfamiliar in the halls of residence she would now call home and slowly drifted into another slumber. Shortly after she was awoken by the sound of the front door swinging open. She got up quickly and was met by a tall, slim girl with long blonde hair and dark blue eyes carrying several large bags and suitcases through the living room.

"Hi, I'm Raelle but everyone calls me Rae, do you need some help with your bags?"

The blonde smiled kindly, "Hi, thanks that would be great, I'm Kim and this is my excessive amount of stuff, plus there are more cases downstairs," she exclaimed laughing slightly gesturing to her pile of bags and cases.

Rae smiled grabbing a couple of bags and placing them in Kim's side of the room.

After the girls carried in the rest of Kim's bags they had become more accustomed to each other having laughed and talked with each other. Kim had been a student at the university studying drama for the past year and entertained Rae by giving her the ins and outs of everything and everyone she needed to know as a new art student and where to find everything important, Rae being a newbie and all. "Hmm, I can see us becoming very good friends" Rae thought still chuckling to herself at something Kim had said.

"So, you got any plans for tonight Rae?" Kim asked Rae.

"Nope not really, I don't know anyone here, well except you so nope, no plans."

"Oh alright, well me and a few friends are going to a club if you wanted to join? Trust me you will love them, and I'm sure the everyone will love you too" Kim added smiling at Rae's look uncertainty.

She just knew Rae would be liked by the group, her personality had already won her over and she was sure it'd be the same for her friends. She was very pretty so she knew the guys would definitely love her she thought laughing internally. Kim rummaged in one of her bags and grabbed a very short red dress from one of her cases and some heels as she headed to the bathroom to change.

Rae was waiting by the door when Kim finally came out of the bathroom. Kim looked at her with astonishment.

"Erm Rae are you really wearing that?", she asked looking at her t-shirt, worn jeans and converse, whilst walking over to her case to look for something else for Rae to wear.

"Yeah, why is this not okay? I don't really wear short dresses and I look like Bambi on ice in heels", Rae said as Kim threw her over a black dress.

Kim ignored her, "Hmm that should be perfect on you it's not too short and you can wear it with some sandals or even with your converse. There isn't a dress code at this club per se' but you would definitely feel out of place dressing so casually tonight."

Rae hesitated but went into the bathroom and put on the dress which ended up reaching between mid-thigh and knee length and was snug but thankfully not skin tight. She gave herself a once over in the floor length mirror, surprised at how it highlighted the curves of her body. She cringed at the difference between how she looked in her dress in comparison to how Kim looked with her slender figure in her dress but shook it off and held her head high, she was going to fake it until she made it tonight. She reapplied her mascara and added a little bit of bronzer and highlighter and spritzed some of her favourite perfume before going back into their room. She decided against the converse and instead slipped on some black wedge sandals she'd brought, laughing as Kim wolf whistled at her playfully, all the while praying Kim's friends didn't think she looked as foolish as she felt.

Grabbing their handbags bags they both left and hailed a taxi. By the time they reached the club Rae was the most nervous she had ever been. She sometimes struggled meeting new people, especially when she felt so awkward, she tugged on the hem of her dress as Kim paid the taxi fare. As they entered the club Rae looked around and followed Kim as she walked over to a group of people leaning in to deeply kiss a guy Rae guessed was her boyfriend. He was very good looking with model features and a muscular build, blonde hair, blue eyes that matched Kim's. He wasn't her type, but she couldn't deny he was attractive. She smiled at a pair of equally pretty girls with long brown and blonde hair and two other guys as Kim finally pulled away from the guy she was kissing.

"Sorry guys this is Rae, Rae this is Andy," she said introducing her to the blonde guy, "And this is Becky, Louise, Josh and Darren," she said referring to the others in the group.

Rae turned to say hi to them all as she heard Kim asking after someone called Seth.

"He's just coming over with a round of drinks now," said Andy standing up to gesture his friend over.

Rae turned around to see who they were talking about and her eyes collided with a pair of green ones. Her heart sped up and she felt her cheeks warming as her eyes scanned over a face that could be described as nothing other than handsome, thick short tussled brown hair and broad athletic shoulders and chest. His shirt showed a teasing hint of a toned and muscular body. The group chorused hello as he made his way over through the busy club waking her from her admiring observations as her eyes were about to scan lower.

"Hey, Seth, this is Rae," introduced Kim as his eyes returned to look Rae who was praying her cheeks weren't visibly blushed through her makeup, thankful for the dimly lit room.

"Hi," he said in a sexily deep masculine voice which made her feel a warmth and resonating tingle throughout her body. She stuttered her response as he set the drinks down. His eyes lingered on her before Becky side eyed her and walked over to kiss him on the cheek and pull him over in the direction of the dance floor. Andy and Kim followed whilst Louise was occupied with some guy who was chatting her up. Rae stayed and chatted to Josh and Darren who were two sports students and got to know a little bit about them both. She glanced over at Seth occasionally, "Of course he has a girlfriend" she thought to herself. She gestured to Kim that she was heading to the bar to get a drink. She felt like a fool in the borrowed dress standing at the bar on her own. It took a couple of vodka shots and a couple of sips from her gin and tonic before she felt confident enough to make her way back over to where the group were. As she returned she saw Seth seated at the table alone drinking a beer, Louise dancing with her new guy friend, Andy and Kim grinding together on the dance floor and Becky doing a funny routine with Josh and Darren. Rae sat down clumsily opposite Seth in the booth causing him to look up at her and smile slightly at her awkwardness. She felt the flutter in her stomach again as he looked at her almost sobering her up completely. Conversation flowed between them easily and she began to feel more comfortable in his presence. He was a sports student along with Josh and Darren, the rest of the group were in their second year the same as Kim and had all met in their halls in their first year. He was really into football and had a part time job coaching a kids' team at the weekend. He seemed impressed by her decision to move away from home to follow her passion to study art.

"So, are you enjoying yourself?" he asked.

"Yeah it's a nice place, good music too, she added swaying slightly to the music."

The movement caused her dress to ride up slightly, revealing her toned thighs. Seth swallowed hard as he noticed this, his eyes taking in her almond shaped hazel eyes, button nose with adorable freckles sprinkled across the bridge. Her lips were full and a tempting shade of dark pink and her faced framed by wild black curls. She was beautiful. He thought back to her body, he hadn't been able to take his eyes away from her toned, curvy figure when he had walked over to the group earlier. He could feel himself hardening as she innocently made grinding hip movements as she danced in her seat, not knowing if it was the alcohol he had had to drink but it was slowly getting harder for him to breathe. There was something calming but also unnerving about being in her presence; his senses felt heightened. She was lost in the song, unaware of his eyes taking her in, of how great she looked, oblivious to the effect she was having on him and other men in the club, and the jealous stares from other women and it turned him on. He knew most women were attracted to him and he couldn't tell if Rae was or not, but he hoped she was.

"Want to dance?"

She looked over at him, feeling the butterflies again. She didn't respond verbally but nodded accepting his outstretched hand, smiling.

At first they danced slightly apart, both a little nervous, him not wanting to be too forward and pull her against him like he really wanted to but they drifted together ending up with her back to his front dancing against each other as the music changed.

"Oh shit" he thought, it was a bad idea as the movement of their bodies caused him to start hardening again. He had to stop this before she felt his dick poking her ass. He turned her around to face him holding her as they continued to sway together to the music. If anything, he thought to himself this was worse, staring at her cleavage and beautiful face was having just as much an effect on him as her ass was. His eyes dropped to her lips and back up to her eyes which he noticed were looking at his lips. She blushed slightly as her eyes met his and she noticed he had witnessed her looking at his lips. She parted her lips as though she was about to say something, her eyes moving away before returning to claim his stare.

"Seth", she started, but was interrupted by Becky, Louise, Josh and Darren dancing over to them. She moved backwards, putting some distance between them so they could all dance together, the awkward feeling returning. Becky moved closer to Seth's side putting her arm around his waist as they danced.

He looked over to Rae before smiling and dancing along with the others. It was probably good that they had stopped dancing closely. He wasn't sure what his reaction to her was as he wasn't sure he liked it. He wasn't one to be affected by women like that and wasn't after anything serious and she didn't seem like the friends with benefits type, so they would need to establish a relationship firmly in the friend zone.

They all danced, drank and laughed together for a while longer before Kim and Andy joined them, all of them tipsy and having a great night.

When the club was closing they all got a minibus taxi back to Kim and Rae's room to get pizza and chill in their living room. After a while Kim and Andy went to sleep in Kim's room and Rae offered spare blankets and pillows to the others so they could stay the night as Louise had already fallen asleep on one of the sofas and everyone else was falling asleep before going to her own room.

A little while later she tiptoed through the dark living room to avoid waking the others up to the kitchen area to get a glass of water and was met by a shirtless Seth sitting at the kitchen table. She froze in the doorway taking in his muscular chest before shaking herself out of her daze and walking over to get a cup and fill it at the tap. Turning around she smiled nervously.

"Hey, couldn't sleep either?" she asked.

"I just needed some water before I went to sleep, try to fend off tomorrow's hangover" he laughed nodding toward her now full glass of water.

She nodded in agreement and turned to leave to go back to her room. Before she left she turned back around to face Seth.

"Thanks for dancing with me tonight, I had fun. I think we will be great friends" She smiled and turned and walked back to her bedroom.

Seth finished his water before going back to his makeshift bed on the living room floor, sighing, He should be happy Rae had friend zoned him as he had intended to do the same to her, but he couldn't shift the heavy feeling in his chest as he fell asleep.