It put an extra pep in my step when meeting with Kendra afterward and figuring out everything needed to finish my degree abroad.
And now, this paperwork is giving me a goddamn migraine. The pep has officially been fucking stomped on.
Groaning, I pinch the bridge of my nose, the pounding in my head becoming persistent. It’s after five p.m. now, and it doesn’t help that I haven’t eaten much today. I think I’ve only taken a total of four sips of water, too.
“Reverie Adams?”
The soft voice nearly sends me flying out of my chair. I jump, my head snapping up and eyes bugging while my hand flies over my chest, barely keeping my heart from bursting out.
“Jesus fucking Christ,” I breathe, my tone bordering on angry as I peer up at a girl I don’t recognize.
She stands on the other side of the table, her arms holding a few notebooks to her chest and shifting awkwardly.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to scare you,” she says quickly, biting her bottom lip as she cringes. She looks anxious but also… excited? Like she's vibrating with energy while sunshine beams out of her asshole.
I blink, taking in her curly black hair falling past her shoulders, her light brown eyes, light freckles that cover the entirety of her pale faceand bleed down to her chest and arms, and the bright red cat-eye glasses perched on her button nose.
“Y-yeah?” I ask hesitantly.
After recent events, I’m not exactly trusting of many women around here, especially if they’re dangling from the tip of Dread’s dick.
“Sorry, I know you don’t know me yet. My name is Roxi. Can I sit?”
She points to a wooden chair across from me, and before I can get a word out, she pulls it out and sits, anyway.
I just stare, mouth parted and mind racing, reeling from the absolute randomness of this.
She doesn’t seem to have negative energy emanating from her, but I refuse to relax until I know exactly what she wants.
I clear my throat after a beat. “Yeah, please, sit,” I mumble, waving toward the chair she already occupies.
Not that my invite was necessary, apparently.
She sets her notebooks on the table and links her fingers in front of her with a little excited wiggle. Her eyes are lit up with barely contained glee, and a smile stretches across her round face.
She stares at me as if I already know exactly why she’s here or who she is.
And I am…solost right now and very on edge. I'm fully poised to dart out of here, paperwork be damned.
“C-can I, uh, help you?”
“Sorry, sorry,” she rushes out again before giggling. “I get ahead of myself sometimes. Lionel is always telling me to slow down, but life is so short, ya know? Why not go through it at full speed?”
The second my father’s name falls past her lips, her voice fades behind a shrill ringing. My vision tunnels, and though she sits in the center, chattering excitedly, her mouth moves soundlessly.
She said Lionel’s name.
Why thefuckdid she say his name? And why the fuck did she say it like sheknowshim?Talksto him?
“Reverie? Uh, Reverie? Hello? Rev?”
Roxi’s cold hand covering mine snaps me back to reality, my vision expanding and her concerned voice reaching my ears.
I blink then snatch my hand out from beneath hers before settling back against my chair to stare at her. The blood has leeched from my face, and my heart pumps wildly.
This has to be another one of Dread’s cruel jokes. I’m not sure why, when he's not even here for the event, but as far as I’m concerned, he would torment me from beyond the grave if he could.
“I’m sorry,” I say almost robotically. “Did you say Lionel? As in, Lionel D’Amour?”
