Chapter Fifteen- The morning after

The night stretched around us, cool and quiet.

Ashley snored softly against Myles's jacket, her face half-hidden in the fabric. Madden traced patterns in the grass with her good hand, her cast resting like a white stone in her lap. The stars were bright overhead, scattered across the sky like salt on black velvet.

Myles broke the silence first.

"Can I ask you something, Nova?"

"You just did."

He smiled, but it didn't reach his eyes. "Why Westbrook? There are a hundred other schools. Better ones. Safer ones."

I picked at a blade of grass. "The scholarship."

"There are other scholarships."

"Not for me." The truth, but not the whole truth. "I needed a fresh start. Somewhere no one knew me."

"And did you find it?"

I looked at the lake, dark and distant beyond the trees. "I'm not sure yet."

Madden spoke without looking up. "No one gets a fresh start here. This place keeps its hooks in you."

"That's dark," Myles said.

"Unfortunately that’s Westbrook."

We sat with that for a while. A breeze drifted across the quad, carrying the smell of water and fallen leaves. Somewhere in the distance, a door slammed. A laugh echoed. Normal sounds. The sounds of a campus that had no idea what lived beneath its surface.

Myles checked his phone. His face changed.

"Everything okay?" Ashley asked, stirring from her half-sleep.

"Yeah. Just my dad's neighbor. Checking in." He stood up, brushing grass from his jeans. "I need to take this."

He walked a few feet away, his back to us, one hand pressed to his ear. His voice was low, too low to hear. But his shoulders were tense. His free hand kept clenching and unclenching at his side.

I watched him from behind and so did Madden.

Ashley, oblivious, stretched out on the blanket and started naming constellations she'd made up. "That one's the French Fry. That one's the Broken Laptop. That one's my GPA after midterms."

"You're ridiculous," I said, but my eyes stayed on Myles.

He hung up after a few minutes. When he turned back to us, his face was different. Softer. Tired in a way that had nothing to do with lack of sleep.

"Everything good?" Ashley asked again.

He nodded. "Yeah. Just... family stuff."

He sat back down, closer to me than before. His knee brushed mine. He didn't move it.

Soon enough Ashley was back to sleep and Madden had left to go back to her dorm.

Leaving just me and Myles staring at the sky alone. It felt kind of awkward.

"Who do you carry?" Myles asked.

The question caught me off guard. "What?"

"You said you needed a fresh start. Somewhere no one knew you." He tilted his head. "That usually means you're carrying something….Or someone."

I looked away. "Everyone's carrying something."

"That's not an answer."

"Well, it's the only one you're getting."

He didn't push. He just nodded, like he'd expected that. Like he was patient. Like he had all the time in the world.

"Fair enough," he said. "But for what it's worth... you don't have to carry it alone."

“I’ll keep that in mind.”

Ashley woke up when we carried her inside.

She mumbled something about pizza and fell back asleep on her bed, still in her jeans. I pulled off her shoes and covered her with a blanket. She smiled in her sleep, peaceful in a way I envied.

I followed Myles back outside the dorm to see him off, because his room was at the other end of the campus.

We walked the rest of the way in comfortable silence. At the dorm steps, Myles paused. "Same time tomorrow?" I raised an eyebrow.

“Hmmm,fine.But you're buying coffee."

He grinned. "Deal."

And with that he was off into the night.

I went back into my room and sat on my mattress. I stared at Ashley and wondered if I was right in suspecting her, in suspecting any of them, they were trying to break down the walls I held up high and I didn’t like it but I didn’t try to stop it either.

I was still with the napkin I took from Madden and I needed to ask her about it. I finally lay on my bed staring at the ceiling.

The water stain looked back at me. A lung. A face. A reminder that nothing here was what it seemed.

I lay there for a long time, the napkin still in my hand.

Be at the lake tonight at 11pm.

I folded the napkin and tucked it back under my pillow. Tomorrow, I'd ask Madden about it. Tomorrow, I'll get some answers.

But tonight, I was too tired to think.

I closed my eyes and let the darkness take me.

---

Morning came too fast.

Ashley was already up, rummaging through her closet, tossing clothes onto her bed. "We're getting breakfast with the guys, at the new cafe off campus.” she announced.

"I thought we were meeting at the dining hall."

"Change of plans." She pulled out a sweater and held it against herself. "Is this okay?"

"It's fine."

She grinned. "You're no help."

We walked to the café together, the morning air cold and sharp. Myles and Madden were already there, sitting at a table by the window.

“Took you guys long enough." Madden said when we arrived their table

"Perfection takes time, Madden." She pointed at the red cherry top she decided to put on.

“So who wants coffee?” Myles changed the topic.

He went to the counter. Madden nursed a cup of tea, her cast resting on the table. Ashley launched into a story about a weird email she'd gotten from her advisor. I half-listened, my mind still on the napkin.

When Myles returned with my coffee, he sat next to me instead of across from me.

"You're quiet," he said.

"I'm always quiet."

"Yeah, but today you're quiet in a different way." He looked at me. "Something on your mind?"

I almost told him. Almost pulled out the napkin. Almost said, Madden left this in the library and I think she knows something.

But I didn't.

"Just tired," I said.

He nodded and didn’t push further.

---

After breakfast, Ashley went to the library. Myles had a class. Madden lingered by the door, adjusting the strap of her bag.

I knew this was my chance.

"Walk with me?" she asked.

"Sure."

We walked toward the science building, the path lined with trees just starting to turn. The air smelled like fallen leaves.

“What’s on your mind Nova?” She asked.

“My mind?” I answered with a question.

“I see you stealing glances at me.” She smirked, “You are not all that sleek about it.”

“Ohh.” I laughed nervously. “Oh nothing, I was just wondering how you changed from hostile to less hostile since we met.” I lied.

Not again Alexa.

“I just… I guess I needed to get used to you.”

“Yeah.” I nodded. “Did you by chance lose your napkin?” I blurted out faster than I could think.

“A what?” Her brows creased.

I searched her face and saw nothing but confusion.

“What napkin?” She asked again.

“I…I saw a napkin that day we met in the library.”

“I don’t own napkin’s.” She laughed. “I’m not a baby, it was there when I got there and I just left it how I saw it.”

“So it’s not yours?” I asked again

“Of course not.” She tapped my shoulder with a smile. “I have class now, so this is where we depart. See you around.”

And with that she was gone. If she wasn’t the owner of the napkin. It means there was someone not yet on my list that I didn’t know about yet.