Chapter 3

RAYNA'S POV

The housing office finally gave me a key after she spent three minutes staring at my lump.

Then she gave me a room number, and a map that had clearly been designed by someone who had never actually walked through this campus.

"Meridian Block, room 14," the woman said, already done with me before I even turned around.

I took the map and the key she gave me and I left.

Now why was everyone staring at me?

Catching a glimpse of myself as I walked past a mirror, I inaudibly gasped at the sight of the big ass lump on my temple.

“I'm going to kill that Tio of a boy,” I swore as I gently pressed down on the boil. The instant migraine I felt was enough for me to stop touching it and just let nature take its course.

Back to finding my dorm room.

Now, in my defence, the sign said RESIDENTIAL BUILDINGS. It did not say which ones. It did not say anything about boy-to-girl ratios or the general vibe of the corridor or why every single person I passed since turning left off the main path had been male.

I found Block M. I found the ground floor. I found room 14 at the end of the hall, with my key in hand, I did what any reasonable person would do.

I opened the door and the first thing I saw was a back. A broad, very bare back, with a pair of grey joggers sitting low enough on his hips.

I saw a clenched, sculpted, aggressively present butt staring back at me.

I stood there for what was probably two seconds that felt like forty-five minutes, my eyes fixated on the butt.

The boy turned around to meet my eyes.

His expression didn't do anything embarrassing like panic or flush. He just stood there, shirtless and unhurried, and raised an eyebrow in confusion.

“What are you doing here?” He asked, his pants still below his butt. If he felt shame, I didn't see it.

“I….” I stuttered. “I have a key," I said. I held it up. I do not know why I held it up. As if the key would explain the situation or make it better or somehow retroactively un-see what I had just seen.

He glanced at the key then back at me. "That's a Meridian key."

"Yes."

"There are two Meridian blocks. This is Meridian Boys."

I stared at him. He stared back. The key was still in the air between us. I lowered it with as much dignity as I could locate.

“—The map," I started, trying my best to keep my eyes on his face and not let them wander off.

"Is famously terrible," he shrugged. "Everyone ends up here at least once. I'm Zed by the way."

"Nice to meet you…" I said. "Trust me, I don't always walk into boys’ roo…" I stopped. I was not going to finish that sentence. “Thank you. I'll go."

I turned and I had three steps on him before he said after me.

"Meridian Girls is the yellow brick building," he said behind me. "On the other side of the fountain. Take the main path this time."

“I wasn't going to take this path again."

"I know. That's why I'm telling you."

I walked out without responding because there was nothing left to say that wouldn't make this worse.

The corridor was not empty.

Tio was leaning against the wall opposite the door with his arms crossed and the expression of a boy who had witnessed the whole thing and was absolutely going to do something about it. Cade was next to him. Cade had one hand pressed over his mouth, his eyes twinkling with amusement.

"Not that I care about your opinions, but this isn't what it seems like," I muttered.

"I haven't said anything," Tio held up his arms in pretense. “I'm just wondering why you keep walking around the boys hostel with that lump on your forehead. It's not sexy, you're not going to seduce anyone with that.”

“I got lost, dumbass. I'm not here to seduce any of you assholes!”

“Really?” He narrowed his eyes at me, looking with suspicion. “Or you couldn't get enough of me that you had to find me?”

I blinked, shocked by the rubbish he'd just said. “Don’t be stupid.”

He unfolded his arms and pushed off the wall with unhurried ease. "I'm just saying — most new students get lost and end up at the sports centre."

"Good for them."

"Maybe you're not here for me.” He tilted his head to the side. Zed was leaning by the doorway. “You specifically walked into Zed's room." He tilted his head. "That's a choice the universe made. I'm just an observer."

"I hate it here," I said, and walked past both of them.

Cade made a noise behind me that was trying very hard to be a cough and succeeding at nothing.

I found the fountain. I found the main path. I found the yellow brick building and I found room 14, the real one this time, on the first floor with a window that looked out onto an actual view, which was more than I'd expected. The campus spread out below, orange-lit in the early evening, and for a moment I stood at the window and let myself look at it.

Then I put my bag on the bed.

One duffel. Three changes of clothes. A toothbrush, a charger that only worked at a specific angle, and a book I'd stolen from a charity shop two years ago and never finished. That was all of it. Michelle's orientation pack sat on the desk in its glossy envelope with her name printed on the front in clean serif font.

Michelle Colin. Crisp and official and not mine.

I pushed it to the corner and lay on the bed and looked at the ceiling. My phone buzzed almost immediately.

Unknown Number: hope you found your room now.

Unknown Number: don't worry Zed has seen worse but you're not much of a lady anyway, you look like one of the boys.

Unknown Number: actually no he hasn't. you might be the first person to ever do that to him specifically which makes it iconic.

I saved the contact as DO NOT ENGAGE and put the phone face-down. I'd gotten used to creepy messages over the years that the fact I had just arrived and someone already had my number didn't seem to bother me in the slightest.

Outside, the campus went dark by degrees and I closed my eyes, clearly exhausted and then I heard it. A howl.

It didn't come from outside. It came from somewhere inside my own chest , it was low and long and resonant, a howl that pressed against my ribs like it was looking for a way out.

I sat up fast.

The room was quiet. My phone screen was dark. Nothing had moved.

I pressed a hand to my sternum and held it there, feeling for my own heartbeat.

The nurse said head trauma did strange things. I had been hit very hard by a baseball this morning and had spent the day getting lost, walking into the wrong building, and seeing things I could not unsee. My nervous system was entitled to some irregularity I suppose.

Suddenly I heard a loud voice call out

“RAYNA!”