Total pages in book: 105
Estimated words: 97557 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 488(@200wpm)___ 390(@250wpm)___ 325(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 97557 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 488(@200wpm)___ 390(@250wpm)___ 325(@300wpm)
Taking a step back, she tightens her arms around her fur coat and turns before walking away. The sound of her heels tapping rhythmically on the concrete steps rings in my ears as she disappears from sight. She’s up to something..
"Why would she need to talk to the dean?"
The look of horror in his eyes remains for a few more seconds, and then, as if realizing he’s safe, he recoils into himself, his body relaxing slowly.
"What did she say to you?"
I shake my head, closing the space in the line we'd left while dealing with Tanya. "Nothing. She is just trying to rile us both. As usual."
I'm a heartbeat away from asking about that night, about what happened with her and about their past, but as I consider it, I realize it's not something I really want the details of. The main points seem obvious enough in context. And I especially don't want to talk about it here, with so many of the campus' eyes on us.
We make it to the coffee cart, and Seb orders for us, handing me a hot paper cup when the barista is finished. As we move away, I spot a bench and head to sit.
Tanya’s arrival stirred everything into hyper focus. It’s all too much…the sound of students talking, the scent of the coffee in my hand, even the burn on my tongue. When I realize my hand is shaking, I lower the coffee to my lap and try to steady myself before I have a panic attack.
It takes me a second to notice Sebastian is speaking to me. "...you have one more, right?"
I quickly try to fill in the blanks. "Class?"
He nods, studying me more intently. "Yes, one more class, right?"
I try to keep cool, because letting him know my internal system is going haywire will not help any. "Yes, one more."
Something in his eyes changes, and I watch as darkness fills his eyes. "Elyse," his voice becomes stern. "Talk to me. What the fuck did she say to you? And don’t tell me she said nothing, because you look like you saw a ghost, plus you’re shaking, and before she showed up you were fine.”
I take another sip of the coffee. "She didn’t do anything. I think it’s just the sudden change. Returning to class, feeling everyone’s eyes on me. It’s going to take some time to get used to again.”
He white knuckles his coffee cup, and I worry it's going to collapse in his grasp and spill hot liquid over us both. "Really, it's fine. I'm fine."
"No, obviously you're not. Maybe we should go home. We can go to your other class tomorrow or whenever it's held next. This has been enough for one day."
I shake my head and stare at my lap. "No, I can do this. I want to do this." I don't add...I want to prove I can do this. That I'm not this fragile broken creature now. Especially when it’s how everyone keeps looking at me. Like at any second I'm going to lose it and run away screaming.
"I promise I’m okay. Just give me a minute to caffeinate.”
"Coffee isn’t going to fix your reaction to Tanya showing her face here."
He’s right, and I know it, but I don’t want to tell him the truth. As quickly as my panic set in, guilt washes through me. If he wasn't trying to make me happy by taking me back to school then we wouldn't even have been here for Tanya to ambush. I’m so stupid. This is all my fault. All of this, and if we stay, it's only going to get worse. "You're right, we should just go home. It's probably safer there."
"Safer?" he echoes. "What do you mean, safer?"
I shake my head. "I don’t mean it like that. Let's just go. Why don't you show me what that fancy sports car can do?"
He flashes me a smile. "You think that car is safer than being here? Than going to animal surgery classes or whatever?"
I stand and hug the jacket tighter around me. "Yes. Anywhere you are is safest for me. We can think about transitioning back into classes a little slower.”
He nods and tosses his still half-filled coffee into the trash. "Whatever you want.”
He leads me to the parking lot by the lecture hall and helps me inside the car again. I buckle up and relax. No one can hurt him here; no one can get to him when it's just us like this. We speed off campus out to the forest roads at the edge of town, and he opens up the speed on the car. And holy hell, it goes fast. By the time he slows, I'm gripping the door and his arm so tight my nails ache.
He laughs as he pulls off to the shoulder and parks. "How was that?"