IT'S EXHAUSTING BEING AROUND PEOPLE WHO RADIATE THAT MUCH WEAKNESS

Chapter 7

DREYVEN

The elevator in the North Wing had been broken for two fucking hours.

I stood in front of the metal doors, staring at the OUT OF ORDER sign like I could will it back to life through sheer irritation. Behind me, I could hear the maintenance guy apologizing for the third time.

"Mr. Drey, we're working as fast as we can. The part should arrive tomorrow morning..."

"Tomorrow morning doesn't help me right now, does it?" I cut him off, already turning away. "Forget it."

I walked down the corridor toward the main building, my jaw clenched so tight it ached. The North Wing was private. Reserved. Away from the masses of students who populated this campus like ants. I'd spent four years avoiding the general population, and now I had to use the public elevator like some regular student.

"Ven? You still there?"

My brother's voice came through the earpiece I'd forgotten I was wearing. Right. Conference call. I'd muted myself when the maintenance guy showed up.

"I'm here," I said, pushing through the door that connected the North Wing to the main library building. "North elevator is down. Having to slum it with the commoners."

"Oh, the horror," Dreylen's voice drawled. "However will you survive?"

"Shut up, Len." I took the stairs down from the third floor, my footsteps echoing in the stairwell. "Den, did you get the contracts from Dad?"

"Yeah, looking at them now," Dreyden replied. I could hear papers rustling in the background. "He wants us all to review before the board meeting Thursday."

"Of course he does." I reached the ground floor and headed toward the main bank of elevators. There were students everywhere. Talking, laughing, existing too loudly in my space. "Ton, you're being quiet. What's wrong?"

Dreyton's laugh came through sharp and bitter. "Besides the fact that Dad's riding my ass about the security audit? Nothing. Everything's perfect."

"The audit you were supposed to finish last week?" I pressed the elevator button, watching the numbers descend. Fifth floor. Fourth. "Maybe if you spent less time fighting and more time working..."

"Don't start with me right now, Ven. I'm not in the mood."

The elevator dinged. Fifth floor. The doors opened.

Empty. Thank god.

I stepped inside and pressed the button for the fifth floor. The library's fifth floor was usually deserted, which was the only reason I tolerated coming here at all. Quiet. Empty. No people in my space.

"Look," I said as the elevator began its ascent, "I'm not trying to be a dick. I'm just saying Dad's going to come down hard if you don't have those reports ready."

"When is Dad not coming down hard?" Dreyton muttered.

"Fair point." The elevator slowed. Fourth floor. Third. "Den, what's the timeline on the Singapore contract?"

"Three weeks until signatures, but..."

The elevator stopped. Fifth floor. The doors opened.

I stepped out, already walking toward the section where I'd left my book last week, when someone crashed directly into me.

The impact wasn't hard, but it was unexpected. I stumbled back a step, my phone slipping from my hand. I watched in horror as it hit the ground, the sound of cracking glass unmistakable.

"Oh god, I'm so sorry!"

I looked up at the person who'd just destroyed my phone. A girl. Shorter than me, drowning in an oversized jacket, her bag now on the floor with books and pens scattered everywhere.

"I'm sorry, I didn't see you, I should have been looking where I was going..."

My phone. My brand new phone that I'd had for exactly three days. I bent down and picked it up, turning it over to see a spider web of cracks across the screen.

Raw hot anger flooded through me.

"Watch where the fuck you're walking."

She was on her knees now, scrambling to pick up her stuff, still apologizing. I stared down at my ruined phone, my jaw clenched so tight I could hear my teeth grinding.

"Ven? What happened?" Dreyden's voice in my ear. "Did someone just crash into you?"

I couldn't respond. Not without screaming.

The girl was still on the floor, her hands shaking as she tried to gather her things. So fucking clumsy. I hated clumsy people. Hated people who moved through the world without paying attention to anything around them.

"You done?" I asked, my voice flat and cold.

"Almost, I just..."

I pulled out my phone, my cracked, ruined phone, and pretended to scroll through it while I waited for her to finish. It took everything in me not to just walk away and leave her there.

"Take your time," I said, sarcasm dripping from every word. "It's not like anyone else exists in your world."

"Dude, that's harsh," Dreylen murmured through the earpiece.

I ignored him. The girl finally grabbed the last book and stood up, keeping her eyes down like she couldn't even look at me.

Good. She should be embarrassed.

"You know what?" Her voice was shaking but there was anger in it now. "You could have just walked around me. Or said excuse me like a normal person. You don't have to be a complete asshole."

I went completely still.

Did she just...

"Ven?" Dreyden's voice. "Did she just call you an asshole?"

My head snapped up from my phone, I focused on her fully for the first time. Green eyes that wouldn't meet mine, dark hair pulled back.

A face that looked like she cried often and easily. And that jacket, that oversized jacket that swallowed her whole like she was trying to disappear.

But her jaw was set. Her hands were fisted at her sides. She looked scared but she was standing her ground.

"What did you just say to me?"

"I said you're being an asshole." Her voice shook harder but she didn't back down. "I apologized. Multiple times. I'm picking up my stuff as fast as I can. But you're standing there acting like I ruined your entire day by existing in your general vicinity."

"Oh shit," Dreyton breathed through the earpiece. "She's got balls."

I took a step closer to her. I expected her to retreat, to apologize again, to remember her place. But she held her ground, even though I could see her pulse racing in her throat.

Who the hell did she think she was?

"You want to know why I'm being an asshole?" My voice came out quiet, controlled. "Because I'm tired of people like you."

"People like me?"

"Yeah. People who walk around campus with their heads in the clouds, completely oblivious to everyone around them. People who are so wrapped up in their own little worlds that they crash into people and then act like they're the victim when someone gets annoyed."

I looked her up and down slowly, the oversized jacket, the way she held herself like she was trying to take up as little space as possible.

The expensive bag on her shoulder that didn't match the rest of her attempt at invisibility.

"People who clearly don't belong here but show up anyway."

"Ven, what the fuck?" Dreylen's voice was sharp now. "That's..."

I reached up and tapped my earpiece, muting the call. I didn't need my brothers' commentary right now.

"You don't know anything about me," she said, and I saw tears starting to form in her eyes.

Perfect. Exactly what I thought. Weak. Fragile. Probably cried at everything.

"I know enough." I crossed my arms. "I know you're the type who probably got accepted here because of some sob story. I know you walk around looking like you're about to cry at any second. I know you dress like you're trying to disappear but then wear that..."

I gestured at the glimpse of green sweater visible under her jacket.

"...like you're trying to get attention. Which is it? You want to be invisible or you want to be seen? Because you can't have both."

Tears were streaming down her face now but she was still standing there, still glaring at me with those wet green eyes.

"Fuck you," she whispered.

I laughed. I couldn't help it. "Creative." I leaned in slightly. "Let me give you some advice, since you clearly need it. This university? It's not for people like you.

It's for people who can handle the pressure, who can handle being around successful people without falling apart. You walking around looking like the world is ending? It's pathetic. And honestly, it's exhausting being around people who radiate that much weakness."