CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX
ALICE
I move faster than my mind can think.
Wrapping my fingers tightly around the straps of my bag, I spin on my heel and walk out of the café without looking back.
I head straight toward the main university building, my strides frantic and punishing, because I know that if I dare to glance behind me, the tears I've been keeping at bay will finally spill over.
I will lose control.
I shouldn't feel hurt.
His words shouldn't matter to me.
They shouldn't carry any weight at all. But God, they did.
"I DON'T GIVE A FLYING FUCK WHY SHE LEAVE OR WHAT THE REASON IS!"
The echo of his roaring voice vibrates cruelly in my head.
I ruthlessly wipe away a single tear that escapes down my cheek with the back of my hand, taking a deep breath to stabilize my features before I push the heavy doors open and enter the lecture hall.
Splash.
The exact millisecond I step across the threshold, something heavy, cold, and violently wet slams directly onto my head and body.
The shock of it steals the air straight from my lungs.
The water is so ice-cold that my teeth instantly begin to chatter, the heavy fabric of my uniform dripping and clinging to my skin like lead.
I look up, my blurred vision catching a plastic bucket hanging clumsily from the doorframe.
Suddenly, the suffocating silence of the lecture hall explodes into a chorus of mocking laughter.
Through the damp strands of hair plastered against my face, I see her.
Briar is standing near the center aisle, surrounded by her loyal minions, a look of pure, malicious triumph on her face as she laughs at my expense.
"Look at the little gutter pig," Briar sneers, her voice dripping with venomous amusement.
"Shivering right in the middle of the lecture hall. Suits you, doesn't it?"
I don't say a word.
I deliberately wipe the excess water from my eyes, my expression morphing into a mask of stone.
Slowly, deliberately, I reach into my bag and pull out the bottle of sparkling water I had bought for Ellie.
I unscrew the cap, take a slow, unbothered sip, and begin to walk directly toward my seat.
But as I pass right by Briar, I stop. And with a sudden, fluid motion, I twist my wrist and dump the entire contents of the bottle straight over her perfect, expensive blowout.
The entire classroom lets out a collective, horrified gasp.
Briar freezes, her jaw dropping as the sparkling water ruins her expensive makeup tracking down her face in messy streams.
"I told you on the very first day not to mess with me," I hiss, leaning into her space, my voice dropping into a dangerous register that makes her minions step back.
"Do you think just because your daddy is some rich son of a bitch and you're his pampered princess, I'm just going to let it all slide? Huh? You might be a princess to him. You might be fucking the prince of this castle. But you are absolutely nothing to me. I don't bow to 'her majesty,' because you're just a pathetic little girl playing queen."
Leaving her standing there, her face flushing into an ugly, furious shade of crimson like a furnace about to detonate, I calmly walk to my desk.
I tie my damp hair up into a tight knot and sit down, refusing to show a single tremor.
Briar clenches her fists, taking a wild step toward me, but before she can launch herself across the aisle, the heavy doors swing open.
Professor De Luca steps inside, carefully navigating around the massive puddle of water on the floor.
"What on earth happened here?" De Luca asks, his sharp, dark gaze sweeping across the room.
He steps forward, his eyes lingering entirely too long on my drenched clothes, a subtle, creepy glint behind his academic expression.
He straightens his posture and demands in a stern, authoritative voice,
"May I know what happened here?!"
"Professor... Briar set a trap. She dumped the water on Alice," one of the students from the back row calls out.
De Luca turns his gaze to Briar, his brow furrowing.
"Ms. Lauren, is this true?"
Briar shifts uncomfortably, trying to summon her usual innocent charm.
"Professor, it was just... for fun."
"It's not funny to me, Ms. Lauren," De Luca cuts her off smoothly.
"I believe I'll be seeing you in the President's office later today. We have a few things to sort out."
For the next two hours, I force my focus entirely onto the board, ignoring the sticky, freezing discomfort of my clothes.
But by the time the lecture finally draws to a close and the recess break begins, the shivering has gotten significantly worse.
My skin is icy to the touch. I need to change into dry clothes immediately, or the concussion recovery will be the least of my medical worries.
I grab my bag and make my way across campus to the university's sports complex.
I'm not a fan of the gym, so I rarely come here, but I know I have a spare set of gym clothes inside my locker—the standard gray set provided by the university's scholarship fund.
I retrieve the clothes, walk into the empty locker room bathroom, and lock the main door behind me.
Stepping into the privacy of a shower stall, I strip out of the heavy, ruined uniform and carefully place it inside a plastic bag.
I turn the shower valve, waiting for the warm water to hit my aching muscles.
Click.
Suddenly, the lights overhead cut out entirely, plunging the windowless bathroom into absolute, suffocating darkness.
The hum of the ventilation system dies instantly.
A sharp, cold spike of panic settles deep into my gut.
Outside the bathroom stall, a heavy, deliberate rustling sound echoes against the tiles—the distinct noise of footsteps moving through the dark.
I instantly reach out and turn the shower valve off, the sudden silence making the sound of my own racing heartbeat deafening.
"Who's there?" I call out into the blackness.
No answer.
Before I can even reach for my towel, the stall door is violently thrown open.
A massive, solid silhouette lunges through the dark.
Before a scream can even form in my throat, a heavy hand grips my shoulder, slamming my back against the cold tile wall beside the shower fixture.
The impact makes me gasp. I whip my head up, my eyes straining against the shadows, and find myself staring directly into a pair of glowing, predatory amber eyes.
A horrific, paralyzing realization slams into my chest.
I am completely trapped.
And I am completely naked.