“Do you have a weapon in that hoodie?”
His bitter laugh fills the air. “So scared, aren’t you? You never used to be scared of me.”
He pulls out a little clear bottle, shaking it.
Small white pills are inside.
“I can’t believe you actually drugged me,” I say. “And now you’re just freely admitting it.”
“I did it last year, too.”
I frown. “You didn’t evenknowme yet, when I was at that hockey game.”
“I knew your Instagram profile. Knew you had potential. I met you later that night, don’t you remember?”
My stomach is starting to feel sick.
He was manipulating me before he ever met me.
Oliver turns toward him and takes a step closer.
“Fuck you,” he says in a low tone.
“Don’t approach him, Ollie,” I tell him.
When Callum puts a hand on Ollie’s shoulder a flash of panic hitsmy veins.
Oliver.
My Oliver.
His beautiful face.
Everything about him is so perfect, and he didn’t do it. He never drugged me. It was this monster.
And I have to keep him away.
I spring into action.
The moment I see him on Ollie I launch forward and my palms connect with Callum’s shoulders. I shove him backward, and he lets out a bitter laugh.
I punch him in the jaw and he falls to the ground, still laughing, his hand scraping against a stone as he tries to steady his fall.
A streak of his blood smears out onto the ground, painting deep red on the grey.
“He can’t give you what you need, Niko,” Callum says, and I can see that his pupils are dilated, too. “He’s a prep school clone like the rest of them.”
I push his face into the stone and he laughs again.
“He’s mine,” I tell him.
“What’s going on?” I hear a voice coming form behind me.
I keep Callum on the ground, and he doesn’t even struggle.
It’s like he wanted me to lose control.
A moment later, Roman and Weston step out from the front door of Student Hall, and I say a fucking prayer of thanks that someone else is here.
