COLLISION

Tori**

“What have you just done, Tori…?”

The words slip out of my mouth before I even realize I’d said them out loud. I tighten my grip around the stack of textbooks pressed against my chest as I walk down the long hallway of Riverside College. 

Students move around me in fast motions, laughing and talking about things that suddenly feel very far away from my world.

Classes.

Assignments.

Football games.

Normal college life.

But none of it feels normal to me anymore, because I’ve just made a decision that might change everything.

“Be ready tonight,” Mia had said before hanging up.

How the hell was I supposed to be ready for something I’d never done in my entire life? 

Could I really go through with it?

My fingers tighten around my books as the immense haze of doubt begins to creep in, but then another image appears in my mind. Mum lying in that hospital bed, her pale face and weak smile. The constant beeping of machines beside her.

“Well…I don’t have a choice in this,” I whisper under my breath.

If selling my pride is what it takes to save her life…

Then so be it.

Lost in my thoughts, I turn to the corner of the hallway without paying attention. And then, I crash straight into something solid.

Or rather—

Someone.

My books explode out of my arms as the collision sends them scattering across the floor.

“What the hell! Can’t you watch where you're g—“

Slowly, I look up, and my worst nightmare is standing right in front of me.

Dylan Palmer.

Star quarterback of the Riverside Ravens, the campus golden boy…more like my personal tormentor for the past two years.

His tall frame towers over me, blocking the hallway like an immovable wall while his dark hair falls carelessly over his forehead. Those sharp blue eyes are already locked on me.

“Well, well,” a slow grin spreads across his face, and the sound of his voice instantly draws more attention.

Students begin gathering around us.

Of course, they always do.

Watching Dylan torment me has always been excellent entertainment for this damn college.

“What do we have here?” he continues, glancing down at the scattered books on the floor, then back at me. “If it isn’t the walking buffet.”

Laughter instantly ripples around us, everyone’s phones already drawn out to record every second of my humiliation.

Oh God!

Not today of all days.

I really don’t have the energy for this today.

Without uttering a word to him, I kneel and begin to gather my books. My fingers are shaking so badly that I almost dropped the books again.

“Clumsy much?” he steps closer until his shadow swallows me whole. “Or is that extra weight throwing off your balance?”

More laughter ripples through the crowd again, louder this time. But I was already used to this…I told myself every time that his words couldn’t hurt. But yet they still did. 

They always do.

Without wasting a second, I snatch the last book on the floor and stand, clutching it to my chest like armor.

“Get out of my way, Dylan,” I whisper, my voice coming out barely audible. “I don’t have time for this, please.”

But he doesn’t.

Instead, he leans in, close enough that the scent of his expensive cologne fills my nostrils. “What’s the rush, Tori? Got somewhere to be? Or are you just late for the all-you-can-eat buffet?”

The hallway was a semicircle now. People leaning against lockers, laughing, waiting for my inevitable crumble.

I felt it—the familiar urge to shrink myself and keep my mouth shut as usual. But then something snapped inside me, the moment I remembered my father’s cold words, still ringing in my ears.

“Actually,” the words roll out of me before I can think, loud enough for everyone to hear, “I’m late for class. Unlike some people who apparently have nothing better to do than harass plus-size girls because they’re starving for attention at home.”

For a moment, silence fills the entire hallway. Then, a full laughter ripples behind me from the back. “Must be rough for you, QB.” I continue, my voice steady even though my knees are literally trembling right now.

“All that talent, and still nobody at home who gives a damn. So you decide to pick on me. How much more pathetic can you be? Huh?”

Laughter explodes uncontrollably in the entire hallway.

Not at me this time.

But Dylan.

“Damn, bro. She got you!” Someone whispered. Meanwhile, everyone’s phone is positioned towards him now, recording his stunned face.

Dylan's eyes instantly darken, pupils blown wide with something so dangerous that it sends chills running through me.

“How da—“

“Enough!”

A sharp voice cuts through the hallway, interrupting him the moment he is about to finish his words. Professor Hargrove stood at the end of the hall, her arms tightly crossed across her chest, gray hair pulled into a tight bun. 

“What is going on here?”

Students begin to scatter immediately, dissolving like they were never even there in the first place.

“I don’t even want to know what the hell is going on with you two.” She snaps. “You both get to class. Now!”

She gives both of us a stern look before walking away. Without hesitation, I adjust the books in my arms and start making my way to class.

Then—

Dylan steps in front of me, blocking my path. Nothing is funny about the expression on his face now.

“Move,” I say quietly.

He doesn’t.

He leans closer, so close that our lips almost touch. “You think that was cute?” His voice drops to a low whisper.

“You think you can humiliate me in front of everyone and I’d let you walk away freely? I’m going to deal with you,” he continues, his lips so close now that I feel every word vibrate against my skin. “And when I do, you’re going to wish you’d kept that pretty little mouth shut.”

Then he steps back.

And just like that, the charming smile that everyone else on campus loves returns to his face. But I know better than to believe in that fake smile.

Because something tells me—

This time…

Dylan isn’t going to let it go.