“It’s—fine,” I managed, kneeling to help him, trying to keep my hair in front of my face.
He picked up my notebook and then glanced up at me, frowning slightly. Then again. Longer this time. His eyes narrowed, his brow furrowing like he was searching through memories.
I reached for my notebook at the same time he did, our fingers brushing…and that’s when it happened.
His entire face changed. The confusion dropped away, replaced by something like shock. Horror.
“You’re her,” he said, his voice barely above a whisper. “You’re the girl in the car.”
I blinked up at him, stunned, my pulse hammering so hard I could barely hear myself think. “I—I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I said, clutching my notebook to my chest like it could hide the guilty flush spreading across my chest.
But Garrett wasn’t listening. He was staring at me like he’d just seen a ghost. His face had gone pale, his mouth parting as the words started spilling out fast and uneven.
“You’re definitely her,” he said, breathless. “Holy shit—shit, shit, shit.”
My stomach flipped. “What car?” I tried in a voice too thin, too high.
He ran a hand through his hair, eyes darting around the library like he couldn’t quite believe what he was seeing. “Does Matty know?” he asked, more to himself than to me. Then his expression twisted, and he answered before I could even breathe. “Of course he doesn’t know. Oh fuck.”
“Garrett—”
He shook his head, stepping back like he needed the space to think. “He’s gonna lose his mind,” he muttered, half under his breath, half to the world. “He’s actually gonna—Fuck, I shouldn’t even?—”
“Please stop,” I whispered, the words breaking, but he just stared at me, wide-eyed, horrified, and completely unraveling.
Cold prickled under my skin, crawling up the back of my neck. My fingers went numb around the notebook still clutched to my chest, the edges biting into my palms. Every muscle in my body screamed to move, torun, but my legs felt locked, rooted in place by the weight of his stare.
The nightmare that I’d imagined so many times was happening.
“Please don’t—” I whispered.
But Garrett wasn’t stopping. He was staring at me like he’d just solved a puzzle he wished he hadn’t. “You’re Matty’s stalker. You’re really her. I just—I just can’t fucking believe it.” He looked like he was about to pass out.
The wordstalkerhit me like a slap.
“I—What?” My throat closed. “No, that’s not?—”
He kept talking, half to himself, his voice rising with each word. “Holy shit. You’reher. You’re the one who’s been sitting out there in that car every day. Fucking hell.”
“Stop!” I shouted, but it came out strangled. Every nerve in my body lit up, my vision blurring at the edges. People were starting to look.
I backed away, shaking my head, clutching my bag so tightly my fingers hurt. “You don’t understand,” I choked out, but his face said enough…He’d already decided what I was.
Garrett took a step forward, still reeling. “Wait—Ophelia, I didn’t mean?—”
But I was already gone.
I turned and bolted, the sound of his voice chasing me down the hall. “Ophelia, wait!”
I didn’t. I couldn’t. My lungs burned as I tore through the doorway and into the blinding light outside, the world tilting around me as the wordstalkerechoed in my skull like it would never stop.
I ran until my legs screamed, until the air outside tore at my throat and my bag slammed against my hip with every step. The word wouldn’t stop pounding through my head—stalker,stalker,stalker—each repetition worse than the last.
By the time the dorms came into view, I could barely see through the blur of tears stinging my eyes. I fumbled for my key, my hands trembling so badly I dropped it once before finally getting it into the lock.
The door swung open, and I stumbled inside, slamming it behind me with a hollowthudthat echoed through the small room.
My forehead fell against the wood as I tried to reason through what had just happened…and then everything broke loose.
