Chapter 10
The room fills with students when the professor walks in. I make my way toward the back, where a girl with strawberry blond hair sits.
She takes out a notebook from her bag.
Being around the others last year, I can tell she’s prey. Her clothes are not designer, and the deer-in-the-headlights look she gives the others gives it away. The privileged here are cocky and stand out. They know everyone, and if you stay in the dorms, you’ll recognize certain faces. I’ve seen her a couple of times but never thought to talk to her until now.
I’m sure Azriel is taking a huge risk in helping me. I still don’t know why, but the least I can do is help myself. This is something I can control. That gives me hope. Garret knowing I could barely read and write is too much of a risk. He isn’t going to be there when John finds out and gets ahold of me. It also shows weakness—a vulnerability that isn’t wise to share with someone like him.
The intense way Azriel looked at me when he spoke about Garret set off an alarm bell in the back of my head—a warning I recognize when something bad is brewing. Garret showing up wasn’t a mere coincidence. He’s watching me like a predator does when he’s already caught his prey and is waiting for the right time to kill it, and Azriel, he’s doing his best to try to warn me.
“Is this seat taken?” I ask. She looks up with wide eyes and then grins.
“No, go ahead.” A sense of relief washes over me.
“Great.” I’m awkward around others, and I hope I can pull this off and she doesn’t find me weird.
I take out my notebook and open it to the page where I wrote Edgar Allan Poe’s name.
“Oh, are you working on that one?” she asks.
I nod. “Yeah,” I say, glad for the opening I need.
“That’s a tough one, I think. I’m doing this one.” She points at the sheet Garret took the other day—the one I need to get back. I can’t read the one she’s pointing at because she pulls the paper away before I can make out the words. Fuck. This is not going the way I planned. “Hey, if you want, we could go over it together.”
I raise my brows hopefully. “Alright.”
“We could critique each other’s work. Maybe hang out.”
It’s like a huge weight has lifted off my chest. She gives me her number and tells me her name is Amy. She asks where I hang out and what my dorm number is. I tell her I don’t have a specific place. I agree to her invite to a small party off campus.
I forget about John and Garret. I forget about my past and my nightmares.
For the first time, it feels like I can breathe. I don’t have to lie to this girl. I don’t have to pretend. I listen to every single word the professor says, trying to take notes the best I can—in a way I can understand. He drones on about what is required for the assignment and, of course, a reminder of when it’s due—two weeks from today.
I’m about to walk to my dorm room after my last class when my phone goes off.
Unknown : Meet me after class. Pool.
I don’t have to guess who it’s from, and I won’t bother to ask how he got my number. I also don’t want to piss him off, so I walk toward the indoor pool on campus. I’ve never seen the guys at swim practice—not with Melody or the others. We always met up in the quad or at the bar across the street.
I don’t know what to expect, but when I pull the door open and the smell of chlorine hits me in the face, it isn’t this. The bleachers are filled with people—mostly girls fangirling over the guys wearing swim trunks. I can’t blame them. Their bodies are perfection.
There isn’t an ounce of body fat on them, but then I notice this is not a practice but a swim meet. On the other side of the pool, there are more guys half-naked—abs and muscles made to snatch a girl’s attention. Someone whistles, snagging my attention, and I realize it’s the coach from the Kenyan swim team getting the team together. I spot Garret, and my heart almost stops. He’s gorgeous. My mouth goes dry. He stands above most of the guys, but his tattoos ripple along with his muscles when he moves. I’ve only seen him with his clothes on, and I knew he was ripped, but the man is dangerous in every way. It’s hard not to stare. I walk up the bleachers on the home team side and sit in the empty row on top to get a clear view of the pool.
“Let’s go, Nox!” a girl screams. Garret turns around and grins. My heart sinks when I see it’s Cassie. She blows him a kiss, and I get the sudden urge to grab her by the hair and drown her. I don’t know why he asked me to come. He obviously has plenty of fans. I’m about to get up, but then someone waves in my direction while standing next to Garret. I notice it’s Luke. I look behind me and then back. He waves again, catching Garret’s attention. I notice he has a large cut on his lip and wonder how he got it, but then I feel Garret’s gaze on my skin. He shakes his head slowly in warning. I sit, letting him think I’m staying. I don’t like the attention I’m getting from everyone.
Cassie looks over her shoulder; when she spots me, she sneers, “Don’t think about it, bitch. I saw you watching us like some kind of creep.” People turn and stare at me like I’m a stalker. I could pretend that her words don’t sting, that the laughter from her friends doesn’t crawl under my skin. The mocking glances from the others as they whisper only heighten my discomfort. I keep my head down, knowing there is no point in telling Cassie to go fuck herself. There are more of them and one of me. There is no one who would help me or come to my defense. Like always, I have no one. Tears burn behind my eyes, but I make sure to look away. “Is she going to cry?” Cassie says loud enough for everyone to hear. I get up to leave before the last bit of my pride snaps, and I do something I will later regret. I shouldn’t have come here. Fuck her. And fuck them. These entitled pricks aren’t worth it. I walk out, the cold air smacking me in the face. I take a deep breath to steady the hammering of my heart. The weight that was lifted earlier slams back on my chest, trapping me inside. I head for my dorm and decide I will stay inside until school tomorrow morning. I can get something to eat from the vending machine. I’m down the hall, about to turn left to get to my door when my name is called.
“Rose?” I turn around. “Amy?” She smiles. “Hey, I was about to knock on your door. Want to grab a drink or a bite to eat across the street?” I smile like she’s my savior. “Yeah, I would like that a lot.”
Babylon is not as packed as the few times I was invited by Melody, most likely because of the swim meet on campus. I’m sure it’s only a matter of time before students start pouring in to head to the bar and the pool tables. “Do you know what you’re going to wear to the party?” Amy asks after we are shown to a booth. I haven’t thought of the party or what I’ll wear. The truth is, I have nothing to wear. “I’m not sure.” I stare at the small menu on the table, mentally calculating how much I have on my card. The waitress with six piercings on her face and orange hair stops by. Amy orders a beer, and I opt for water. “Oh, no,” Amy says with a grin. “Make that two beers.”
Before I can protest, the waitress scurries off. “I don’t drink.”
Amy leans forward. “Please tell me you’ve had a beer.”
I haven’t, but I don’t want to sound like a prude, so I let it slide. The most I’ve had is Scotch—a drink I hate as much as the person who gave it to me laced with drugs. It was either needles or Scotch. Both I detest with every fiber of my being. “Not really. I’m not twenty-one.”
“I am. I started school late, and my birthday was last month. Besides, she doesn’t look the type to ask or give a shit either way.”
I’m sure they are told not to when it comes to Prey. There is a different set of rules when it comes to anything involving Kenyan, Babylon included. The waitress comes back with our beer and my water. I take a sip of the amber liquid and hold back a wince from the bitter taste but play it off before she notices. “Who’s the guy I saw you with at the library?”
My stomach drops. My thoughts fly to the afternoon on the shelves with Garret. “I’m not sure…”
“Not the swim team captain—the other one.”
A sense of relief washes over me like a gust of wind. “Azriel.”
Her eyes light up with interest. “So that’s his name. I didn’t think he went to Kenyan.”
“He does, but he’s a hybrid student. Mostly online. He tutors.”
“He is so cute.”
I should tell her to stay away, warn her, but who am I to tell her anything? It would also mean I would have to explain why. Then she would get scared and tell me to fuck off. Two things I can’t risk. Azriel is nice, and he isn’t evil like the others. He hasn’t given me any reason to worry, but that doesn’t mean he isn’t. He’s Valen’s brother, after all. I’m sure he’s part of something. They all are. “He is nice to look at,” I tell her truthfully, and then a sense of protectiveness settles in my gut. I don’t know where it came from, but I see Azriel like a brother, the same way he sees Melody like a sister. I shouldn’t feel this way after the way things went, but Azriel has been the only one to help me, to warn me. He’s shown me that he cares, even if it’s stemmed from pity. “I guess I’ll have to sign up for tutoring then.”
“Be careful; he’s a heartbreaker.” I don’t think I’ve ever seen Azriel look at another girl, but it’s the only thing I can come up with. “You know, I thought he was your boyfriend at first, but then the other guy showed up… Garret is his name, right?”
“I don’t have a boyfriend. He was there for Azriel.” I hate lying. It’s like a disease that acts up when you least expect it, but I don’t want to talk about Garret. I came along to make a friend and forget about him. “So, about the party. What are you planning on wearing? I heard it’s fun and it’s where both Kenyan and Ohio students go to hang out without killing each other.”
I’ve heard of it but have never gone, most likely because my weekends were occupied or I was unconscious. “I’ve never been invited.”
“I haven’t gone either. I transferred from another school.”
I’m curious to know where she came from. I didn’t see her in any of my classes or on campus last year. “What school?”
Her eyes dim, and I can tell there is a story she isn’t ready to tell, so I keep it light. I guess we all have stories we are afraid to tell and sometimes ones we can’t. “Delaware.”
“I’ve never been.”
“Boring. You’re not missing anything special.” Definitely a story back there. “I applied for a transfer, and this place offered a scholarship based on my GPA. I couldn’t say no.”
I don’t want to rain on her parade and reveal the real reason. It would scare her off, and they wouldn’t let her go either way. These people are evil. Once you accept, it’s like you’ve pledged your life in blood, and you didn’t even know it. They make sure she will never graduate anywhere else—probably blacklist her wherever she goes. That’s why I keep my mouth shut and make it my mission to look out for her. One good deed to erase the lies I’ve had to spill. She talks about the things she likes, her favorites. I tell her I have none because I don’t. There wasn’t much to compare anything to with my limited experience, and everything I did try was part of an act I was forced to endure. If it was food, a song, a drink, a smell, or a feeling, I ended up hating it because it reminded me of the time I had to try it.
Music starts to play, and then voices get louder. Within the hour, the place is crawling with students. My guess is the meet is over, and judging by the happy faces, Kenyan dominated. “Oh my God,” Amy says with excitement, bopping her head to the intro. “I love this song. It’s ‘Everything I Do Is for You’ by Amira Elfeky.” She glances at the jukebox to see who selected it, and my heart feels like it’s going to stop. Garret is standing like a skyscraper. His tall, muscular back underneath a tight long-sleeved shirt molds to his frame. The band of his sweatpants sits on his hips. I can tell he’s fresh from a shower. The black strands of his hair on the back of his head are dark like ink from a black marker.
“Is that…” Amy trails off when he turns around, pushing the long strands of his straight hair off his face like a model in a commercial. His face is smooth. His chiseled jaw does things to my insides—the memory of his lips on my skin when he spoke, his breath causing heat to spread to my thighs. It all evaporates when Cassie walks up, standing on her toes and causing her skirt to lift almost above the cheeks of her ass. She is everything I’m not: beautiful with a nice body that guys drool over. He can keep lying all he wants—he’s into her. You wouldn’t have caught her sucking him off if he wasn’t. I tear my gaze away. “Yeah, it was him. Garret.”
“He’s looking this way,” she says, but I don’t care. I’m focused on drinking my beer for moral support. I could care less if he told me to meet him after his swim meet and I left. I’m done being humiliated. “What’s going on between you two? The girl with him is glaring this way.”
“There is nothing going on. I was friends with him, and now I’m not. They graduated, so… it doesn’t matter anymore.”
“I don’t think he feels the same, judging by the way he’s staring. It looks like he wants to kidnap you.”
She wouldn’t be wrong, but not in the way she thinks. He isn’t into me. He’s playing games, like they all do to prey, and I’m on the menu. “I don’t think his girlfriend, or whatever she is, will be happy about it. She already showed me her claws after I caught her sucking him off in the library.” I take a large sip of my beer and place it on the table, letting the heat from the alcohol calm my anxiety. “If you hear about it in the morning, that’s what happened. I don’t think she was so happy about it.”
“Is it because he’s ignoring her and staring right at you?”
I sneak a glance. I can’t help it. Sure enough, he’s leaning on the jukebox like he owns it and staring at me with his black eyes. The heat from his gaze feels like it’s threatening to melt my skin.
He heads this way after ignoring Cassie’s attempt to grab his attention and storms off. Shit. I stare straight ahead at Amy. I can see apprehension in her expression when he walks up and slides into the booth next to me. “Why did you leave?” he asks, his mouth inches from my cheek. I can feel his eyes rolling over my skin. I turn and stare him down. “Why don’t you ask your girlfriend?”
He smiles, but it’s not friendly. “She’s not my girlfriend.”
I arch my brow. “Could have fooled me.”
“Yeah, now everyone thinks Rose likes to watch you get it on in the library,” Amy chimes in my defense. “Looks serious to me.”
Garret shifts in his seat and faces Amy with an unreadable expression. “And you are?”
“Amy,” I reply. “She’s in my Lit class. We’re catching up. We have to study for our current reading assignment.”
“Is that right?” he drawls, still looking at Amy. She shifts in her seat under his scrutiny and grabs her beer, chugging the rest in one go. “What do you want, Garret? Don’t you have someone waiting for you to nail them to a cross?”
He chuckles darkly. “What a great idea, my little Darkthorn.”
“I’m not your anything,” I sneer, my tone curling like smoke. I’m done playing this game with him. I won’t let him ruin my every waking moment. I have enough with John and his shit. I don’t need to add Garret to my mountain of fears. “Hurry up with your little friend,” he says dismissively. “You have class tomorrow.” He gets up, grabs my half-empty glass of beer, and walks off in the direction of the bar.
“What was that about?” Amy asks after a few seconds.
“I don’t know.”
Garret heads to the pool table area where Cassie and her friends are hanging out, drinking shots. He says something to her, and judging by the look on her face from where I’m sitting, she isn’t thrilled. She glares in my direction when he walks away and heads back over. “I think I’ll see you tomorrow,” I say as I get up.
“Sure.”
I stop the waitress when she passes by. “Can I have the bill, please?”
“Oh, your boyfriend took care of it,” she announces with a smile and a wink before she walks off with her tray. My eyes dart to Amy. “Don’t stay up too late,” she beams, as if I’m going to hook up with a celebrity. If she only knew.