Images flash through my mind unbidden.
Storm-gray eyes and a cocky smirk.
Amber eyes and dimples for days.
Storm-blue eyes and a jersey that smelled like safety.
Nope. Not going there. Not discussing my insane roommate situation over lunch with my long-lost best friend.
"That last one's a complicated question," I mutter.
Sage's eyebrows shoot up.
"Oh? Complicated how? That sounds like there's a story there."
"There's definitely a story," Jace agrees, studying my face with renewed interest. "You've got that look. The 'my life is chaos, and I'm barely holding it together' look. I recognize it. See it in the mirror every morning."
"You do not," Sage scoffs. "You've got the most boring, stable life of anyone I know."
"Excuse you, my life is very exciting. I'll have you know I tried a new coffee order last week. Hazelnut instead of vanilla. Revolutionary stuff."
"Wow. Call the press. Alert the media. Jace Nakamura has discovered hazelnut."
"Your sarcasm wounds me."
"Good. Suffer."
Miss Phillip clears her throat again, louder this time.
"The administrative office," she reminds us all. "Closing. In an hour."
"Right!" Sage grabs Jace's arm and starts dragging him toward the east wing. "We'll be waiting! Don't take too long, Mae! Your stomach sounded really angry, and I don't want it to start eating itself!"
"That's not how stomachs work!" Jace protests as he's hauled away. "You can't just make up science, Holloway!"
"Watch me!"
Their bickering fades as they disappear around the corner, leaving me standing in the hallway with Miss Phillip and the lingering scent of fresh-cut grass and sandalwood.
Miss Phillip is watching me with an expression I can't quite read.
"Friends of yours?"
"Old friends," I say slowly. "From before."
"Ah." She nods like that explains everything. "Those are the most complicated kind."
She's not wrong.
We start walking toward the administrative office, and my mind is spinning with everything that's happened in the last few hours.
I came to Valenridge University expecting nothing. Expecting six weeks of anonymity and ice time and maybe, if I was lucky, a temporary reprieve from my parents' bonding deadline.
Instead, I've been attacked with a slushie by a jealous Omega. Confronted my childhood bullies. Discovered that I'll be living with three Alphas whose scents make my hindbrain do somersaults. Toured a campus that feels more like a dream than reality. And reunited with my best friend from another lifetime.
And it's not even dinner time yet.
The fear is still there. Curled up in my chest like a familiar weight. The voice that whispers,you're not enough, they'll leave eventually, and why even try?
