How could both be true?
Yom’s insides twisted with disgust, and he spent the rest of the class hating himself. Almost as much as he hated her.
What felt like years later, Professor Quinn dismissed them with a stern reminder to be on time for the next seminar.
Lydia immediately pushed back her chair.
Yom figured she would run out of there like she’d run from the campus rec center after cleaning up the mess Gary had left in his wake.
The same as when she ran from your hotel room, a dark, bitter voice reminded him with a sneer.
Instead, she rushed to the front of the small classroom and stopped in front of their professor. “Ms. Quinn, I’m so sorry about today. Um, can we talk?”
“Yes, I believe we should,” Professor Quinn answered. “Young lady, it’s obvious that you signed up for this highly sought-after class because you believed it would be one of those fun courses you could just coast through.”
“No, that’s not it at all….” Lydia stopped.
Then glanced up at Yom, who hadn’t realized he was still lurking at the table—just like he hadn’t realized he was going to come to her rescue until he did.
“Is there something you wished to discuss with me as well, Mr. Rustanov?” Clara Quinn asked, pursing her lips.
Yom collected his backpack and headed for the door without answering her question. As his father would often say, Rustanovs do not ever explain themselves, but they always make themselves clear.
Da, that was what he needed to do with this unexpected turn in the Lydia situation. Make himself clear.
Gripping the straps of his backpack tight, Yom lingered outside the seminar’s classroom, a dark storm gathering over his head as he waited longer than expected for Lydia to finish her conversation with Clara Quinn.
By the time she emerged, the hallway had emptied, and the next classes had begun, including the Statistics course he needed to pass for his business degree.
When she walked out, she looked tired, and her expression became even more weary when she saw him leaning against the wall.
A wave of pity tried to wiggle into his chest, but Yom ruthlessly squashed it. “That is one-time thing I am doing for you,” he informed her. “It is changing nothing.”
Instead of answering, she walked past him like she hadn’t heard him.
She thought she could get away with ignoring him?
A mix of frustration and anger rose in his throat like sour milk as he chased her down.
“I still hate you.” He grabbed her arm to make her stop walking, to stop running from him. “You will still be made to pay for crossing me. This act of kindness does not mean I will let you off?—”
“How much?” Lydia asked, cutting him off without looking back.
“What?” Confusion made Yom drop his hand from her arm. “I am not understanding your question.”
“You don’t understand?” She turned to face him, and Yom nearly took a step back when he saw the misery in her pretty brown eyes replaced by a shining fury.
“How much do you want me to pay for crossing you?” she demanded with an ugly frown. “You humiliated me at that game. You’ve completely shredded the reputation I spent years building at this school. People are calling me Restraining Order like it’s my real name. And now, my hero, Clara Quinn, is ‘considering’ whether I can stay in her class after today’s performance. So, here I am, asking you,how much? How much is enough for you?”
Another unwanted pang of sympathy threatened to erupt, but Yom forced it down. “You are choosing to engage me in battle, and now you are upset because you are having to pay costs of your ill-considered actions.”
“No, I’m upset because I needed this class, you freaking sociopath!” Tears welled in Lydia’s eyes. “I needed this class toprove to myself that I’d finally overcome this glitch in my brain. Three and a half years I spent!”
She splayed a hand over the chest of her overbright Gemidgee Animal Shelter hoodie. “Nine regular semesters and three summer semesters of killing myself to do what comes easy to most folks—of persevering past the feeling of being too stupid to be here. And all of it comes burning down because I pissed off one guy! I can’t study. I can’t go anywhere on campus without one of your crazy-ass stans saying something nasty to me or straight-up attacking me. My best friend has been crying all weekend after she got dumped because of something I did. And, unlike you, I’m not asociopath, so yes, I’m upset because my stupid actions have cost me everything. You’re right. Is that payment enough?”
“I...” Yom frowned, not sure how to answer. He was the stronger party here. That much was evident. But somehow, she kept managing to throw him off-kilter.
“No?” Lydia guessed before he could come up with anything. “Me feeling incredibly stupid for making the biggest mistake of my life with you in Berlin isn’t enough? Then what will it take?”
