She turns and runs—carefully—to her building, disappearing through the double doors. I start to make my way back to my room, slowing my steps when I spot a flash of car lights pulling into the parking lot.
Odd. It’s late. No one is allowed off campus during the weeknights, unless they have special permission.
Forgetting about going back to my building, ignoring the cold, I creep closer to the parking lot, until the car comes fully into view. A late-model Nissan sedan sits there idling, two people sitting inside. I can make out their heads, how they’re bent close together, but not their features, though I recognize the vehicle.
It’s fucking Figueroa’s car.
I duck behind a bush, slowly tilting my head around it to see who might pop out of the passenger side door. Figures the pervert would take a girl off campus on a weeknight. Can’t even control himself and wait until the weekend, when the rules are lax. It’s probably Maggie. Rumor around campus is that they’ve been hooking up all semester, and I heard her boyfriend recently broke up with her because of it.
Messy.
The door finally swings open, and I wait to see Maggie’s familiar dark blonde head.
But it’s not Maggie who’s climbing out of Fig’s car.
It’s Natalie.
I hide behind the bush, confused. Since when has she been hanging around Fig? She’s never been in his English classes—he tends to go for the smart ones. The vulnerable girls who are quietly desperate for attention. Yeah, Natalie’s always looking for attention, but I wouldn’t call her quiet or desperate.
Wouldn’t necessarily consider her vulnerable either. Girl goes after what she wants, when she wants it.
Maybe that’s what she did with Fig.
And how the hell does this asshole get so much pussy anyway? He must have a way with words to convince all of these girls to spread their legs for him so easily throughout the years.
He’s such an asshole. If I could, I’d beat the shit out of him for all the girls he must’ve destroyed over the years.
Piece of shit.
Natalie is headed in my direction—her dorm is in the same hall as Wren’s—and she’s about to go marching past the bush I’m hiding behind when I step out, revealing myself.
She comes to a complete halt, her eyes wide. “Crew. What are you doing out here this time of night?”
“I should be asking you the same question, Nat.” I glance toward the now empty parking lot, Figueroa’s car long gone. He didn’t even wait to see if she got inside safely. “Who’d you sneak off with?”
She turns on the sass, despite the freezing cold and how bundled up she is. “Wouldn’t you like to know?” Her tone is flirtatious.
“I think I already know.” She smirks, as if she’s daring me to figure it out. “Dark gray Nissan? An Altima, I believe? Pretty sure there’s only one teacher who drives a car like that. Figueroa?”
Her smirk fades, her gaze turning pleading. “You can’t say anything to anyone.”
“Are you seriously hooking up with that piece of shit?”
She glances back at her dorm building, completely freaked out when she faces me once more. “Keep your voice down.”
“No one can hear us. I can’t believe you. You know he’s been with Maggie all semester,” I tell her.
Natalie flinches. “He swore they broke up.”
“You really believe him? And what about Ezra? I thought you liked him.”
“That’s all just for fun. He likes to flirt.” She shrugs.
I shake my head. “You’re fucking with him. I thought you were nicer than that.”
“Come on, Crew. You know better. I’m not nice.” She turns away from me, heading for the dorm building.
Like a complete idiot, I follow after her. Yeah, we hooked up in the past, and yeah, I also find her annoying most of the time, but she needs to watch out. Figueroa is a piece of shit. Only out for himself. “You need to watch out for him, Nat.”
“Oh, watch out for him?” She whirls on me, her expression fierce. “We need to watch out for all of you. That’s all guys want, am I right? A quick piece of ass, then you dump us. At least Fig is a man. He knows how to treat a girl. Make her feel good. He’s not some insensitive asshole like the rest of you.”
“Oh, come on. You really believe he’s something special because he’s an adult? He’s a middle-aged predator who fucks around with underage girls. He finds new ones every single year, and I don’t know how the piece of shit doesn’t get caught.”
Her eyes are wide and she’s panting, she’s so upset. “It’s not that deep, Lancaster.”
“Right. That’s why you look ready to tear my eyes out for insulting your pedophile hookup. Do you really care about this dickbag, Natalie? You need to wake the hell up.”
She comes for me, her fists swinging, screeching at the top of her lungs. I duck, avoiding her fists, grabbing her with both arms and holding her against me as she struggles and fights. She’s calling me all kinds of names, and I swear to God she’s sobbing.
Pretty sure I’ve never seen Natalie cry.
“You’re such an asshole, Lancaster!” she screams, and I’m about to cover her mouth with my hand to keep her quiet when a bright white light flares on. A cluster of people exit the dorm building, flashlights illuminating us.
“Natalie? Is that you?” one of the women call.
All the fight leaves her as she sags in my arms. “Oh shit,” she whispers.
WREN
I’m still in bed,half asleep, when there’s rapid-fire knocking on my door.
Cracking one eye open, I grab my phone and check the time.
It’s not even seven o’clock. School doesn’t start for another hour.
The knocking starts all over again, then stops.
“Wren. Open your door.”
It’s Maggie.
Climbing out of bed, I put on my slippers and cross the room, unlocking and opening the door to find Maggie standing on my doorstep, dressed in her uniform and ready for the day, though her face is streaked with tears. “What’s wrong?”
She rushes inside, shutting the door behind her and leaning against it. “Fig never came to meet me last night.”
I’m almost relieved he didn’t, though I can’t tell her that.
“What happened? Did he give you a reason?”
Maggie shakes her head. “He said something came up, and he couldn’t talk about it. I kept trying to text him, but he ignored me for the rest of the night.” She hesitates, her eyes full of fear. “Do you think he found someone else?”
“No,” I say automatically, because I can’t imagine him moving that fast. “He’s been too busy with you to find someone else.”
Well, he was hoping to recruit me, but I think I shot him down. Maybe he did actually seek someone else out?
“Yeah, that’s what I keep telling myself, but maybe I’m wrong. Maybe he’s not happy with me wanting to keep the baby. Maybe I shouldn’t.” She drops her head, but I still see the tears dripping down her cheeks.
“Oh, Maggie.” I go to her and wrap her up in a big hug, letting her cry on my shoulder. I’m so glad whatever is happening between Crew and me isn’t as complicated as what Maggie’s going through. He still confuses me and I’m not sure if we’re trying to be in an actual relationship or if he only wants to hook up with me, but at least I’m not crying over him.
“It’s okay,” she finally says when she pulls away from me, hurriedly wiping the tears from her cheeks. “It’s why I got ready early. I’m going to go talk to him.”
“You think that’s a good idea?”
“Not talking to him about it is worse,” she practically wails. “I need to know what he’s thinking. What he was doing last night. The not knowing is the worst.”
I go to my dresser and grab the tissue box sitting there, then hand it to her. “I’d hate that.”
“It’s awful.” Maggie takes a tissue and wipes her face, then blows her nose. “I could barely sleep last night, I was so upset. Oh my God!”
“What?”
“Something else happened last night. Since I’m on the ground floor, I heard everything. A bunch of girls came out and watched it go down.”
I’m frowning. “Watched what go down?”
“Natalie was caught in front of the dorm in a big argument with Crew. Can you believe it? I thought you two had something going on, but maybe they’ve been hooking up the entire time?”
I fall heavily onto the bed, her words on repeat in my brain.
With Crew.
Natalie was outside with Crew.
Maybe she was trying to sneak in and he saw her since he walked me over? That has to be it.
“What exactly happened?” I ask. “Do you know?”
“I guess they were fighting? I heard Natalie scream. We all did. She was yelling at the top of her lungs, like she didn’t even care, though it was past curfew so she had to know she would get in trouble. Not sure why Crew was out in front of the building. For Natalie, maybe?”
No, for me, I want to tell her. We watched a movie and forgot all about it. He kissed me until I was breathless, and I could feel his erection against my thigh. We did inappropriate things with a Blow Pop and he made me come with his mouth and the candy. It was the hottest experience of my life.
Ruined by him ending up getting caught with…Natalie?
I can’t even begin to understand what happened after I left him outside last night.
“I’m glad I wasn’t the one caught sneaking back into the dorm,” Maggie says, oblivious to my shock. “I would’ve been if I’d gone and met with Fig like I was supposed to.”
“Yeah,” I say numbly. “You’re lucky.”
“I know.” She grabs another tissue and mops up her face, then goes to the full-length mirror on my wall, checking herself out. “I look like I’ve been crying.”
“You don’t look that bad,” I reassure her, wishing she could reassure me too.
But that would mean I’d have to tell her everything that happened between Crew and me last night, and that’s the last thing I want to do. Especially with everything else that happened on top of it.
“I could look better.” She keeps her gaze on her reflection, sighing. “I guess this will have to do. I’m going to go talk to him.”
“You think he’s already here?”
“He always gets here early. If he’s not in his classroom yet, I’ll go grab a coffee in the dining hall first,” she says as she starts for the door.
I don’t bother telling her to stay or try to convince her she shouldn’t talk to him. Make him come to her. She wouldn’t listen to me anyway. She’s going to do what she wants.
“Okay. Good luck.” My voice is weak, my thoughts turbulent, but she doesn’t even notice.
“Bye, Wren. See ya in class. Wish me luck!” She shuts the door before I can say anything else.
I flop backward on the bed, overwhelmed. I don’t even know what to think. Will Natalie and Crew get in trouble? Suspended? Oh God…expelled?
They wouldn’t expel a Lancaster, would they? I know he’s claimed they have zero tolerance with drugs, and even he could get kicked out, but what about a situation like this?
What if he’s gone already and I never get a chance to talk to him again? What then? I don’t even have his phone number, which is so stupid. I suppose I could contact him via social media but…
Okay, I’m getting way ahead of myself here. I need to get ready for school and leave a little early to see if he’s waiting out front for me like he usually does. If he’s not there…
I don’t know what I’ll do.
I get ready in a hurry, pulling on a thick pair of white wool tights and the bralette I wore last night, then I don my uniform. I slip a navy sweater over my white shirt, forgetting the jacket, then my skirt, rolling it up a little to show off more leg.
Tight-covered leg but who cares? I’m trying to catch someone’s attention.
Hopefully he’ll be there. Waiting for me by the entrance like he normally does. Before, when he used to level that cold stare on me, I’d run by him, just to get away.
Now I walk slowly, savoring that one-sided smile that appears on his face when he first spots me. He makes me feel beautiful.
What in the world was he doing with Natalie last night?
Once I’m finally out of the dorm hall, I make my way toward the main building, my steps careful thanks to the slushy mess the sidewalks are. The sun is out again, a little warmer this morning, and even though it’s still cold, it’s causing the snow to melt.
There are people all around me, most of them with their heads bent as they walk, whispering to each other. I hear Natalie’s name mentioned time and again, along with Crew’s.
It’s all anyone can talk about. The gossip is going to be rampant.
If they all think Crew and Natalie are together, I’m going to feel like a fool. Even if it’s not true.
Holding my head high, I pick up my pace, marching toward the building when I spot Ezra and Malcolm standing in Crew’s usual spot, frowns on their faces as they watch everyone walk by them.
There’s no Crew in sight, and I can’t fight the disappointment sinking in my stomach like a stone.
“Wren.”
Malcolm calls my name in that crisp British accent of his and I go to him, nerves making my entire body shake.
“Yes?” I ask, shoving my gloved hands into my coat pockets.
“You heard what happened to our boy?”