The hour disappears. I run through the rest of the material on autopilot, calling on students, fielding questions, clicking through slides. After the last student files out, I gather the activity sheets into a stack, tap them flat against the desk, and set them in Cathy’s tray. I lock the cabinet.
Then I walk home to get ready for tonight, not planning on drinking, keeping myself sober is the smart decision… Or maybe just one to loosen me up.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
blesk
The sky looks like it’s thawing along the rooftops of the campus as I walk back to my dorm at dusk. I don’t always notice the sky, though, I wish I did. I’m usually a watch my feet, watch the path, make sure I don’t trip over things or walk into people kind of girl. But tonight the world has gone pink and orange and I’m crushing hard on a cute boy.
My date is at seven.
A date with Konnor.
The path curves and I follow it, my ballet flats on the pavers. Warmth moving through me. I smile to myself, glad no one else is around because I must lookinsane.But… Ugh. I am crushing hard. His dimples. His recklessness. His honesty. His self-awareness. I think that is the thing I like most—how vulnerable he is. How open. How he seems incapable of manipulation, of lies. Or hiding who he is. He just exists and bleeds into the air. There is something undeniably wonderful about knowing he is authentic, in the good and bad moments. That I can take his word, and his intentions as solid.Corny Konnor.With his beautiful green eyes and dimples for days. He had a girlfriend, he is drunk, and yet he is stillthe kindest, oddly trustworthy person I’ve ever met. I don’t know what that says about me… It dawns on me then just like that—my favourite trait in a man is authenticity. That is what I’ll put on my dating profile if I ever need to. Authenticity. Right, wrong, drunk, wanting, or jealous, Konnor says it, shows it. I love that.
I keep smiling; I don’t care. I’m still a few buildings away from my dorm when I notice the campus on this side is quiet. My spine straightens and my smile slips. I glance left and right and don’t see another soul. The wind moves my hair, and I shiver. There is no sound of people, no chatter or distant?—
Footsteps.
Off pace with mine.
I stop.
The footsteps stop.
My eyes widen.
The path ahead curves into shadow where the peppy trees crowd the edges and the dying light doesn’t quite reach, and the shape standing at the end of that shadow is very still and… human. I don’t move.
But my heart races.
Then the human silhouette darts from the path and disappears to the side, behind the trees. I want to run back. Glancing over my shoulder, I check behind me. A darkening path and more trees and the way I had just come slowly being consumed by night.
I face forward again and slam into a hard wall of muscles. I scream. He grabs my shoulders, and I lift my arms to tug away. “Let go of me!”
“Blesk.”
No, no, no, no.
“It’s me.”
I freeze. Strong, warm hands have caught my upper arms, squeezing slightly. I squint up and it takes a few seconds of searching the shadowed features to recognise the face I know as well as I know my own.
Erik.
“God!” I shove him back and press my palm flat to my riotous heart. “You scared me.”
He looks concerned. “What’re you doing walking around campus by yourself?”
“It was still light when I left F Block.” I am safe, but my body hasn’t received the message. Still shuddering, still panting, even as my mind tells me I’m safe.
Don’t flinch.
“Yeah, but it gets dark quickly, beautiful.”
I look at the ground, confused by what my body is doing and what my mind is saying, both warring for dominance.
“Let me walk you back.” Erik puts his arm around my shoulders and steers me down the path.
