Chapter 5: Roommates

"Okay, I was still not over what had happened in the dean’s office," Chloe said as we walked out of our building.

I could not get over what we had talked about inside the office either. I could not sleep properly the previous night thinking about what had happened. I could barely handle one night of sitting with him at dinner; how was I supposed to survive two months?

"Any other girl would have killed to be in your spot," Chloe laughed, smoothing her short black hair.

My fingers tightened around my bag. It felt like the sky and ground were collapsing on me with every heavy step I took.

"You were still thinking of him, right?" she questioned, and I frowned at her.

"I'm not!"

"Liar. We have been friends for a long time, Layla. I knew your face when Wade was on your mind."

I glared at her, and she just grinned back.

Why did she make it sound romantic? Nothing about me thinking of Wade Scott was romantic.

Okay, sure. I was thinking of him. I was thinking of how to dodge him until I never had to see him again. Not even his shadow. I was thinking of ways to disappear, somewhere I would never hear his name, never read it, never.

The halls emptied out as five pm hit. Students left. Only athletes stayed behind. And of course, the hockey team was still on the ice, acting like practice was life or death.

We passed the hockey building, and the air shifted. The sound of skates cut through everything. We paused, and I could not stop myself from looking in.

The players were on the ice, but I saw one guy on the bench. Full hockey gear but not playing. Just sitting there, watching, his face blank.

"I knew you would hate me for this, but I was just saying," Chloe started. "If Wade Scott had not been so insufferable—according to you—he would actually be—"

"Do not even think about it," I cut her off.

"—kind of ridiculously attractive and hot," she continued anyway.

I kept my mouth shut. I was not saying he was not attractive. The guy was perfect. Girls did not go crazy over him for nothing. But all that? Gone. Especially the second he opened his mouth.

"I was not blind, Layla. Anyone would have done anything just to kiss the ground Wade walked on."

I looked at Chloe and saw that she was staring at Wade.

"He was a walking problem, Chloe."

"A very good-looking walking problem," she added.

My brows furrowed, and I looked at her in so much confusion. "Did you like Wade Scott?" I asked.

She smiled at me. No answer. Just eyes locked on Wade. Like I needed her to say it out loud. I already knew the answer. She would have been lying if she said no. She was looking at him like she wanted to lick the ice off his skates, like she already wanted to worship him like the others.

"You know what, maybe he was not the guy you were talking about," and that made me shake my head.

"You did not know Wade before," I said in a low voice.

I followed her gaze. A teammate skated over to Wade and leaned in like he whispered something in his ear. And then Wade looked right in our direction. But I could not tell who he was actually looking at.

"Was he looking at me?" Chloe questioned, a smile hiding on her lips.

I looked away fast. Yeah. Wade was looking at Chloe.

I sped up, and Chloe followed behind.

Once we were past the rink, I glanced up. The sky had gone dark. No clouds, but it felt like rain was about to drop any second. We hurriedly cut straight to Building One—our dorm.

Inside, students were everywhere. Some were shooting hoops. Some laughed too loudly, like they owned the place.

"What was up, Anderson?!" One student greeted me, and I looked at him. I honestly had no idea who he was.

"Hi, Chloe," the guy greeted my friend beside me.

Chloe had guys wrapped around her finger too. Tall, great body, smart, a scholar like me. The only difference was, she had dated before, but she got bored fast. That was how Chloe loved: she dated them, and then the next day, she dumped them too. And Wade? I had not thought he would be her type.

We headed to the third floor—our room. The door opened, and I stopped. My brow instantly furrowed at what was in front of me.

"Why did it look so empty?" Chloe asked and went inside, trying to figure out what was missing.

It did look so empty. I looked around. The bed was stripped. The closet was open. My clothes were gone. Books on my desk? Gone. I dropped to my knees, checked under the bed, and my shoes were nowhere to be found either.

"What the hell?" I whispered under my breath.

"My things were here," Chloe said. "Had I gotten robbed or something?"

I was not robbed, that was for sure. It was too clean for that. This was a move-out, not a break-in. Someone had taken my stuff. The phone buzzed in my hand, and I jumped.

"Mom?" I called.

"Layla, come downstairs," she said from the other line.

"Right now? Mom, I could not—my things were missing—"

"I knew, honey. Just come down. I would tell you why," she said, which made me frown more.

I had a bad feeling about this.

"What was happening?"

"I needed to go," I muttered a reply and did not look at Chloe anymore because I knew she would keep firing questions if I did. My steps were fast down the stairs, and a strange anxiety started tightening in my chest with every floor we passed.

When I reached the ground floor lobby, I stopped for a second and pretended to catch my breath. It was like I did not want to meet Mom right now. Like I did not want to hear whatever she was going to say or explain, because part of me already knew it would not be good.

I bit my lower lip hard and turned around, planning to go back to my dorm where it was safe and empty. But then I changed my mind. I could not run from this forever.

"This was not good," I whispered again.

I walked out fast and almost ran. Freezing, strong wind hit me. From the gate, I saw my mother outside with Richard and their car behind them. They were talking quietly and not panicking like I was.

"Mom!" I called. "What was happening? Why were my things missing?"

I froze when the guy showed up too. I looked at him, confused.

Wade was already there, fresh from practice. He was wearing his hoodie with a duffel bag slung over his shoulder. Like me, he had confusion on his face too. He looked at me like he was asking what was happening, but I did not know what to answer either.

"Glad both of you were there," Richard said and smiled.

"What was going on?" Wade pressed, but his expression gave nothing away. I could not figure out what he was thinking.

"I thought I was not going to like this," I pushed my glasses up.

"Look, we had just figured out that if you could not get along at school, it was not going to be any different at home," Mom said.

My lips parted, and I did not understand what she meant.

"Okay?"

"Putting you closer together would help fix the problem between you," Richard added.

"Spit it out, Dad; I did not have time for riddles," Wade sighed, like he was done with the whole conversation.

"M-Mom, my things were gone, and for what reason? I needed an explanation right then," I said, trying to shake off the idea.

"Your things had already been moved, Layla."

"So had Wade’s," Richard added.

"What did he mean? Why were they messing with our stuff?"

"Moved where?" The question left my mouth even though I did not want to ask it, because deep down, I was terrified of what her answer would be.

"We had arranged a new dorm for you," Richard spoke, and his words raised goosebumps on my arms.

"What?!" I could not believe it!

"Was he serious?" Wade kept his voice even, though irritation was all over his face.

"Mom!" I called out, my voice rising. My feet twitched. I was this close to stomping them from frustration.

But Mom and Richard looked pleased, like this was exactly what they wanted.

"No buts. We were not taking no for an answer. This was final, Layla. You and Wade were sharing one dorm starting then, and there was nothing you could do about it."