“Hello, this is Aubrey Ellis.” I tapped my pencil against my to-do list. “I’m currently organizing an event for the hundredth anniversary of VIP College, and I’m working on booking the entertainment. A friend of mine gave me your number, and said that you would be the perfect person to talk to regarding a string quartet?”
“You called the right place,” Faith responded. “I’d be happy to work with you on that.”
Talking through the details was simple enough. Faith sounded like a professional. I couldn’t wait to see what she came through with.
Once I hung up, I shuffled through my paper and found my half-started speech, labelled DEAN at the heading.
I couldn’t stop from bristling. He’d been awful to me. To all of VIP Lit, really. And now I had to write a welcome speech on his behalf.
It would be difficult, but I was up to the task, so I put my pencil to the page and began to write. I could use the creative writing exercise. Anything that stretched my abilities was a good thing.
Before I could sink in too deeply my phone buzzed again. I wondered if Faith had already e-mailed me — that was fast, but for a high-end entertainment company, maybe that was normal.
I swiped to look. Three messages.
I opened them without thinking.
My heart went still in my chest.
Three pictures. Luka and me talking to each other with his arm holding tight around my waist. Riot and me in the library, holding hands with a curious smile on my face. Jaeson and me, staring into each other’s eyes, standing close with a flirtatious smirk on his lips.
I remembered every single moment.
My every muscle froze in terror as I stared at the photos. They were mostly innocent, but I knew how they looked. Worse, I knew exactly how they would look if they were sent all around campus.
My phone vibrated one more time. A new message popped up.
Your time is almost up.
