Walk You

•.• Skylar •.•

“I’m Room 16,” Harper said, staring at her phone. “Queens Hall.” She looked up at me. The school had sent out details of students’ dorm rooms and every other vital piece of information through email.

“What room are you?” she asked, and I pursed my lips, staring down at my phone.

“Room 17…” I was interrupted when Harper shrieked and threw her arms around me.

“Our rooms will be right next to each other!” she grinned, and I cocked my head to the side.

“Anderson’s Hall. No, our rooms won’t be next to each other,” I said, and her smile fell as she dropped her arms.

“Oh,” she muttered. I nodded, tucking a stray strand of hair that had fallen out of my ponytail behind my ear.

“I looked up the dormitories, and Anderson’s is a little far from Queens,” her shoulders sagged, and her brows drew together.

“We’ll be so far from each other,” she mumbled, and I chuckled, shaking my head.

“We’re still on the same campus, Harps. I’m sure the walk to your dorm will be nothing more than ten minutes,” I tried comforting her. Luckily, it worked, because a wide smile spread across her face.

“So, you’ll come see me every night?” she asked, and I scrunched my nose.

“Of course not. We’ll meet in classes and hang out all day. There’s no need to come to your dorm every night,” I muttered. She pouted, staring down at her phone as she drew to a stop.

“My maps say I need to go this way to get to my dorm,” she glanced at me. “I think yours is the other way.”

I quickly opened the school maps because I didn’t want to get lost. That would be embarrassing.

“Um, text me when you get to your dorm,” I said, and she nodded.

“You too. See you, Sky,” she called, blew a kiss at me, and then headed in the other direction.

I put my earbuds on before walking the other way, where a number of people were headed too. Listen by Beyoncé filled my eardrums and, well, it made me feel a little better about college, honestly.

I hadn’t gotten far when my earbud was snatched out of my ear. I whipped around real fast, ready to throw a punch, but apparently, the person was faster and stepped away just in time.

“What the fuck?” I cursed, staring into a pair of green eyes—if not glaring.

Unless… They looked a little familiar. Too familiar, even.

I took a step back and glanced around. A couple of eyes were on us.

Jaxon raised a brow, straightening up and tucking his hands into his pockets—and Jesus, the boy got real tall.

I cleared my throat, looking past his shoulders where a petite brunette stood next to him. Her hands were wrapped around his arm. She had pretty features.

I returned my gaze to his and blinked to regain my composure. I was pretty sure he knew how much I hated being taken by surprise.

“Dude, my earbuds.” I stretched my hand out, waiting for him to place them in it, but he just gave me that dry stare. Goddamn it.

I had one wish—not to ever run into him. And well, nature couldn’t even grant me that. Now, I was stuck staring at his stupidly beautiful face while he was beginning to get on my nerves.

I dropped my arm and pressed my lips together. “Well, you could keep them if you want them so badly,” I said, turning around to leave.

I overheard him saying something to the girl, but I didn’t turn around. I just kept going—but soon enough, someone fell in step beside me.

“It’s not safe to have your music at full volume while in a new environment,” he said, his voice low and with a deep hum to it. I huffed, not sparing him a glance.

“It wasn’t at the highest volume,” I defended, and I felt him stare at me.

“I called you twice,” he pointed out, and I almost rolled my eyes. Whatever.

He’d changed significantly since the last time I’d seen him—during last year’s Thanksgiving dinner. He had a… different look now.

“Maybe I just didn’t want to answer you?” I muttered, and he said nothing. We both knew that was a petty act of defense that would get me nowhere.

“Where are you headed?” he asked, and I caught a couple of girls gawking at us. A tingle of discomfort scooted up my spine.

“My dorm.”

“I’ll walk you.”

“No,” I said and stopped abruptly, meeting his confused gaze. “You don’t have to walk me. I’ll find my way.”

He narrowed his eyes. “Are you okay? You’re acting pretty weird,” he mumbled, and this time I rolled my eyes.

“People are staring at us, and I know it’s definitely because of you—and no, I do not appreciate the attention,” I exhaled and forced a smile. “So, thank you for the offer, but I can find my way.”

I made to leave, but he, in fact, took my suitcase out of my hand. I stared at him, gobsmacked.

“Your mum called. She asked me to help you settle in. So please, allow me to do just that,” he said, and I could see the slight irritation that crossed his face.

Disappointment settled on me like a cloak. No, he didn’t meet me by coincidence, nor did he want to help. He was doing it because my mum asked him to. Wow.

I swallowed nothing and nodded. “Can I have my earbuds now?”

He watched me a little too intently before handing them over. I wore them immediately and turned the volume a little higher than usual.

“I’ll walk ahead of you,” I said, having no idea how I sounded because I couldn’t hear myself over the music. Without giving him another glance, I walked away.

I knew he followed because I could feel his gaze on my back—and no, it wasn’t comforting. I glanced down at my fingers before tucking my hands into the pockets of my hoodie.

My relationship with Jaxon had deteriorated over the years, getting worse and worse, and our parents couldn’t do anything about it. They just made us do things together, which sucks, because that doesn’t make Jaxon any nicer to me.

It makes him hate me a little more. I stopped caring when I turned sixteen and dreaded meeting with his family—especially knowing he’d be there.

Aidan, on the other hand, was Jaxon’s buddy, and I couldn’t care less.

And yeah, Mum had to go ahead and ask him for help, knowing full well I don’t need it.

A pale blue building came into sight with placards placed at the top that read: ANDERSON’S HALL.

There were a handful of people—all girls—going in and out. I was here.

I turned down my volume to be more aware of my surroundings. I stood in front of the building and just stared.

It was pretty decent with a clean environment—luckily. The rate of infections would be low with an environment this clean. I could only imagine how neat the inside would look.

Jaxon stopped next to me, and I pressed my lips together before turning to face him.

“Thanks for helping with that.” I pointed at the suitcase, and he handed it to me.

He nodded, staring at the building before returning his eyes to me.

“Anderson’s Hall. Really?” he huffed and shook his head. I raised a brow but asked no questions. I really did not want to engage him.

“Well, let me know if you need anything. A ride to school or something,” he said before taking a step back.

“I won’t be needing any more help from you, actually. I’ll let my mum know you did a good job helping me settle in,” I bit out, doing a poor job of hiding the bitterness behind my tone.

I gave him a curt nod before walking into the building, not sparing him another glance.

Well, my day couldn’t get any more ruined, could it?