Six weeks.
Six weeks to prove that Nerdy MaeBell is dead and buried.
That the woman who rose from her ashes is stronger, fiercer, and absolutely not going to let three Alphas with pretty faces and intoxicating scents derail her plans.
Miss Phillip is watching me, waiting for a response.
I smile. And for the first time today, it feels real.
"I hope so too."
CHAPTER 2
Ghosts And Growling Stomachs
~MABELINE~
The cold from the rink clings to my skin as we step back into the hallway, and I find myself already missing the smooth expanse of ice behind us.
Miss Phillip is saying something about paperwork, signatures, and orientation packets, but I'm only half-listening.
The other half of my brain is still standing at the edge of that rink, imagining what it would feel like to lace up my skates again. To push off from the boards and let the ice carry me away from everything.
Soon. If I can work up the nerve to actually try out for the club instead of just fantasizing about it like some pathetic ice-obsessed weirdo.
"Ms. Rose? Are you with me?"
I blink, snapping back to reality.
"Sorry. Yes. Paperwork. Got it."
Miss Phillip's lips twitch like she's fighting a smile.
"The administrative office is just around the corner. We'll get you sorted with your student ID, meal plan, and class schedule. Shouldn't take more than twenty minutes if the system cooperates."
If the system cooperates. Famous last words in any bureaucratic setting.
We round the corner, and that's when I hear it.
"MAE?!"
The voice cuts through the hallway like a blade, sharp and disbelieving and achingly familiar.
I stop dead in my tracks.
No.
No way.
There is absolutely no fucking way the universe is doing this to me right now.
Slowly, like I'm in a horror movie and the monster is right behind me, I turn and look over my shoulder.
Two figures stand at the end of the corridor.
And I'm pretty sure I'm seeing ghosts.
Not the translucent, rattling-chains kind. The worst kind. The type that crawls out of your past and forces you to remember things you've spent years trying to forget.
