How am I the more level headed one between us now? It’s a strange, unnerving feeling. I hope it doesn’t happen again. “I’ll get everything sorted with the paper, and we take it one day at a time. Classes, homework, dinners. I have a game on Friday, but you don’t have to come if you don’t feel like it. Then there’s the last contest date on Sunday, and we’ll see how to go on from there.”
Alexis isn’t convinced. I can see it in her eyes, in the way they have lost their spark. I know why, though; she is still refusing to take my money, and now she thinks this will be her last year at Brookside. But she underestimates how selfish I can be in the way I love.
So far, she hasn’t questioned why she has not run out of money on her meal card yet, or how her fridge is always stocked. I’m not sure if she suspects my hand in it all, and I don’t really care—I just want her to eat. So if I have to go to administration and pay her tuition without telling her I will do it, even if it costs me her love.
Because to love is to sacrifice, and I will always love Alexis more than I love myself.
Chapter 32
Alexis
I am sofucked.
Professor Hickey kept us late again, and now I am for sure missing the start of the hockey game. I had promised Blake I would be there to give him a good luck kiss; I guess they will be losing this one.
Still firm in the middle of winter, the sun is long gone and the biting cold cuts through my many layers to nip at my skin. It gives the deserted campus an ominous feeling, not letting you feel safe even on the well-lit paths. I wish I had Blake here with me to chase away the fear. I know he doesn’t have his phone with him, being on the ice and all, so I call the one person I know will always pick up and tell her to keep the line on until I’m with her in the stands.
I wore Blake’s jersey to class just to be safe in case I was running late—fine, I like to show it off. I stare at Blake’s picture on my lockscreen, letting the sight of him calm me as I hop onto the nearly-vacant bus.
It lets out on the other side of a dark parking lot and I clutch my key between my fingers on instinct. The pepper spray I keep in my bag must have fallen out somewhere, as it’s nowhere to befound, leaving me far too vulnerable for my liking. Blake might have shown me some fighting moves, but I’m far from strong or skilled enough to take someone on all by myself.
“I figured you would show up here, doting little slut that you are,” Hudson drawls from the shadows. He steps forward, just catching some stray beams of light from the lamppost. “Going to cheer on your fake little boyfriend? Or are you finally done pretending to be interested in him?”
“Go away.” I quicken my pace, trying to keep a safe distance between our bodies without setting off his hunting instinct by running—he is a Neanderthal, after all. Can’t have his two brain cells mistaking me for a gazelle.
“Or what? You will call the cops on me again? Been there, done that, sweetheart. You know, the sooner you quit pretending to hate me, the sooner you will realize you made a mistake reporting me for those lies you fed them. My mother used to lie like that, too, when she was still around.” He leans against the hood of a car, every muscle in his body taut and ready to chase me.
A chill passes through my body at his unspoken threat–I need to get out of here, fast. I lower my head and keep walking as fear claws at my throat. I can see the glass doors, see the people mingling about behind them. If I can just get close enough he’ll have no choice but to leave me alone. Yes, that’s the answer.Run.
His hand closes around my wrist.
“Let me go,” I hiss. “I know a dozen guys inside that arena who would love to see you bleed. Want to try your luck?”
Please, Alissa, be listening.
Hudson stares at me for a moment before throwing back his head with the most nauseating laugh. “Nice try, Lexus. Really, good effort. You know how much I enjoy our little foreplay, don’t you?”
His voice is almost like a purr, the undercurrent of his words sending another wave of panic through my body, my lungs, and my throat, and I believe I might be sick.
Please, Alissa. Please send help.
Hudson shakes his head. “You know, when I called my buddy at the newspaper, he wasn’t even surprised that you and your boy toy were faking it. Everyone can see he doesn’t love you, Lexus. But I do, even if you are spoiled goods.”
Something switches in my brain as his words register, and I stand a little straighter as my anger wins out over fear.
It was him.
He tipped them off.
He is the reason I will never be a teacher.
“You… you were the leak?” I do not recognize this voice, though it comes from my lips. It doesn’t shake, not a tremble. Instead, it holds a warning. “You pathetic little man. Haven’t you stolen enough from me? Haven’t I suffered enough at your hand without you actively sabotaging my future? You are even more disgusting than I thought you were, and I ranked you akin to a cockroach. Ineedthat degree, Hudson. And the only way I could pay for it was that prize money. Yet you stole that from me, too. You stoleeverythingfrom me.”
Hudson moves in closer, his fingers caressing my arm as he says, “Who cares about a stupid piece of paper? I’ll provide for you, you know I will. And once we have kids, what good will that degree do, anyway?”
The rational part of my brain shuts off at those words, at hearing his plans for me all laid out. A beat passes in silence. Then my fist connects with his nose and comes away covered in blood.
Any time on that backup now, Lis.
