5.

ALORA

I want to call her bluff, but Brielle watches me with the confidence of someone who is willing to risk it if it means bringing me down.

“Why are you still here?” Hani asks angrily. Her eyes glance from me to Brielle.

I don’t know what she sees on my face, but Brielle straightens, and her smile returns.

“There she is.”

I want to ask what the fuck she means by that. I want to tell her that she doesn’t get to walk up to me and do this because everything is different now.

Instead, I watch her turn and walk away with her minions hurrying after her.

The students around us slowly lose interest. A few of them keep looking between Brielle and me, whispering, but most return to their conversation now that the entertainment is over.

I stare at the table.

My story before yours.

She knows exactly what she’s doing.

The thought of calling Ronan crosses my mind, followed by the image of him telling Tristan and both of them finding their way back.

Then my parents would know, and Mama would ask me to come home. She would say she knew I wasn’t ready.

I let go of the tight hold I have on my bag and sink into my seat.

“Alora,” Harvey calls softly, leaning towards me. “Are you okay?”

“What? I’m fine." I try to smile, but his eyes drop to my hands.

“You might want to hide that,” he gives me a sympathetic smile. I follow his gaze and see that I’ve put my hands on the table without noticing, and they are trembling.

I pull them into my lap.

“It’s not that…”

I stop. What am I trying to explain? That I’m not scared?

“Trust me, I understand more than you think.” He says, giving me a small, sad smile.

Before I can ask what he means, his phone lights up. He looks down at it, and something in his expression changes before he starts typing.

I clasp my hands together beneath the table.

Hani leans forward. “What was that all about? Did something happen between you two?”

My stomach clenches. “Nothing. She just thinks this is high school, and she can still bully people."

Hani glances towards Dilora, who wears an uneasy expression. Maybe she told them about who she was before?

Hani gives me a look that says she doesn’t believe me, but she shakes her head. “I don’t know why people still bully others. Don’t they realize how pathetic and stupid it is?”

“Apparently not," Harvey says, looking up from his phone for a brief second with a disgusted expression on his face.

Beside me, Dilora hasn’t said much. Her eyes remain on the table, and I remember how quickly she went quiet when Brielle turned on her.

I should ask if she’s okay.

I should probably thank all of them for standing up for me. But I’m too busy trying to make my hands stop shaking.

Unable to help myself, I glance towards the back of the hall.

My eyes find Kian’s, and he’s already watching me.

Of course he is.

His expression gives nothing away, but there’s something about the way he looks at me that makes me sit straighter.

Still, I want to turn away before he notices anything.

But I don’t.

Or rather, I can’t.

For a moment, the conversations around me fade. His eyes stay on mine, steady and far too interested, as though he’s calling me out on all my lies.

I shiver at the unwanted awareness.

The terrifying thought that there is a possibility that he can read me like an open book scares me.

I’ve spent months practicing how to walk into a room without lowering my head. How to hold someone’s gaze and smile without looking like I’m one second from being buried alive.

Brielle had managed to make me forget all of it in a few minutes.

Now this boy is looking at me as though none of the masks I wear can fool him.

I shift in my seat, resisting the urge to fold my arms over my chest.

He doesn’t know me.

He’s a stranger.

A handsome, dangerous stranger, and if the warnings are anything to go by, I need to stop acting like his attention means anything.

But my eyes move to his mouth.

Fuck.

“Hey.”

Hani touches my arm, and I turn too quickly. “Yes?”

Her brows lift. I look from her to Dilora, then Harvey. All three of them are watching me with strange expressions.

“What?”

“That was intense,” Hani says slowly, observing every expression on my face.

“What do you mean?” I ask, confused.

“The staring contest with Kian," Dilora whispers. “Everyone was watching the two of you. It felt like we were interrupting something.” Her voice is harsh.

 

“I wasn't looking at him.” I try to deny it, but my voice is weak, so they throw me an 'Are you fucking joking?' look, and I sigh in resignation.

“Fine. I looked, but is that a crime?” My tone grows defensive.

“It’s not. But you weren’t exactly being subtle," Hani says.

Neither was he. I want to add, but I swallow the words.

“Alora, you can’t have anything to do with him.” Hani insists.

“I haven’t done anything,” I tell her.

“We are trying to save you the trouble of getting involved with that mess. It’s not worth it.” Harvey says.

“I’ve heard you.”

“Have you?” Dilora asks, glancing towards the back.

I hate how familiar this feels. Everyone is watching me, waiting for proof that I can’t be trusted to make a decision. I left home because of this, but it seems like I can’t escape it.

“Guys, drop it before I get mad. I looked at him. That’s all. You don’t need to act like I went over there and asked him to date me.”

Harvey chuckles. “You heard the girl. Leave her alone, Dilora.”

Hani settles back in her seat, but Dilora still looks as though she has something to say. Thankfully, the professor walks in before she can.

The chatter dies as he sets his things on the desk. I retrieve my tablet and book, grateful to have something to do and distract myself.

“A lot of fresh faces, huh? How excited are you for your first college class?” the professor asks, and the hall erupts in cheers.

My story before yours.

My chest tightens, but I force my attention to remain on the professor, trying to follow what he’s saying, but the words keep slipping past me.

Breathe in.

Breathe out.

Nice and calm

The familiar whisper curls through my head.

See? I'm helping now. It's not like I only antagonize you.

I press my lips together.

Not now. I plead.

You wanted everyone to look at you.

What’s wrong? Don’t like the attention anymore?

My hand closes around the hem of my skirt. I try to catch a few words as the professor explains the course, but when I write them down, they don’t make any sense.

I thought you weren’t pitiful.

My nails dig into my thigh before I can catch myself.

Careful. They can see you.

I pull my hands away, but the urge doesn’t disappear. My hands tingle with the desperation to claw at something.

I reach into my bag for the small fidget toy I keep there and settle it into my lap.

Dilora glances down at the movement. She throws me a curious stare, and I’m certain she’ll ask, but she doesn’t. She turns back towards the front, and I work the toy between my fingers beneath the table.

I can get through one class first and later decide what to do about Brielle.

Behind me, someone laughs quietly, and my shoulders tense before I can stop them.

I don’t look around despite the urge to.

I don’t want to know if it’s me they’re laughing at.