Chapter 5
Five
Mila
Coralie had been missing for two damn days.
The day after the club, I woke up on her bed around lunchtime with a pounding headache, a dry mouth, and the acrid taste of vomit lingering on my tongue.
When I called Brittany, she informed me of what had happened the night before.
When Coralie still hadn’t come back that night, I thought maybe she was just hanging out with Jessica somewhere.
Only I found Jessica in the food court getting breakfast for just one person.
And she was by herself. When I’d asked her where Coralie was, she’d seemed as alarmed as I was.
And Jessica wasn’t one to be shocked by much.
She was always either pissed off at the world or cool as a cucumber.
She hadn’t even bothered sneering at me like she usually would have.
Instead, she’d stormed off from me while lifting her phone to her ear.
Something wasn’t right. And I hated that I was so worried about the girl who’d broken my heart and fucking abandoned me.
It seemed even my own feelings were out to destroy me.
I tried calling Coralie all day, but I didn’t receive an answer. It just rang through, and at about five in the evening, her phone started going straight to voicemail. I’d prowled campus looking for her car, but it was missing, too.
Sighing, I stared at the ceiling, knowing I needed to begin getting a move on, but how was I expected to get through my first day of classes when I was worrying about Coralie so much?
Today was a vital day for our college career, and she was missing in action.
Just… gone. With no word to anyone. I was a hairsbreadth away from calling the police and filing a missing person’s report.
The forty-eight-hour mark was coming up anyway, which I knew was when the police tended to finally take missing person reports seriously.
The door to the room suddenly opened, and Coralie stumbled in.
I sat up, staring at her in horror. She looked a mess.
She was still in the same clothes she’d been wearing the day I’d gone to the club and gotten wasted.
Her blonde hair was greasy and tangled, and dark circles bruised the skin beneath her eyes.
She looked at me and paused, her hand on the door handle.
Pain resided in the depths of her eyes, cutting me to my core.
“Cor?” I softly called, crawling off my bed and making my way to her. She reeked of sweat and body odor, but I didn’t say anything. Just gripped her forearms and tugged her away from the door. “Cor, talk to me,” I pleaded. “I’ve been so worried. We all have. Where have you been?”
She didn’t say anything—just cast her gaze to the floor.
I swallowed thickly. I’d only ever seen Cor spiral this far once before, and that was when the cat she’d rescued as a little girl passed away.
He’d lived a happy life, but he’d been old.
But it hadn’t made his passing any easier for her to bear.
She’d been mute for weeks. That cat had practically been her emotional support animal, and he’d been her comfort on many lonely, dark nights when her parents were fighting or they were lashing out at her and claimed they didn’t want to even look at her.
“You need a shower,” I said quietly when she refused to answer me.
“And you need to go to your classes, even if you don’t feel like going.
” When I moved away from her, she snapped her hands out, clenching my hoodie in her fists.
My heart wept. What was going on with her?
She was scaring me. What had happened between her bringing me back to our dorm room and now?
I covered her hands with my own, my chest aching for her. “Okay,” I said softly, my heart in my throat. “I won’t leave you alone.” She breathed a sigh of relief. “Let’s get you some clothes, okay? I’ll help you shower.” She didn’t look capable of doing anything on her own at the moment anyway.
She nodded and slowly dropped her hands, releasing me from her clutches.
Keeping one eye on her—though it didn’t seem to matter because she didn’t budge an inch—I found a pair of leggings and a t-shirt, then grabbed a set of undergarments for her.
After finding her towel and toiletries, along with her shower shoes, I grabbed her hand in mine and led her to the bathrooms. It was nearly empty, apart from a girl using the bathroom, so I urged Coralie into the handicapped shower stall since it was roomier before yanking the curtain closed.
I swallowed thickly, drawing in a deep—hopefully not noticeable—quiet breath before I peeled my clothes over my head and set them on the bench. After sliding on my shower shoes, I helped Coralie out of her clothes as well, setting them on the other side of the bench away from our clean clothes.
It wasn’t the first time we’d showered together. There’d been many nights after a party that she had to help me shower or I had to help her. And back then, it’d felt like torture, but this was somehow so much worse.
Because would she still hate me when she came out of her head?
She remained quiet as I led her into the shower stall and turned it on, and she still didn’t make a sound—seemingly a little out of it—as I quickly washed and conditioned her hair and then bathed her.
But I knew she was aware of what was happening because every time I moved too far away from her, she got a panicked look in her eyes that broke my fucking heart.
What the fuck had happened to her?
After getting her dressed, I led her back to our room and dried her hair before tugging one of my hoodies over her head.
My heart clenched when she turned her head and deeply inhaled, her muscles seeming to relax for the first time since she’d walked through the door of our dorm room.
She didn’t even seem to care that my hoodie was a tight fit on her.
I wanted to cry. I didn’t know how to help her.
But if a piece of me soothed her, then so fucking be it.
I’d give her my entire wardrobe and the clothes off my back.
Maybe that made me an idiot after what she did to me, but for her, I was always a bit stupid.
“I need to go to class,” I told her, picking up her bag and handing it to her.
“And so do you.” She frowned, eyeing her bed.
I cupped her cheek and crouched in front of her.
The pain in her eyes cut me to my core. Would there ever be a time that I didn’t hurt for her?
“Please, Coralie,” I softly pleaded. “You need normalcy. You know that just as well as I do. Just… meet me in the food court at twelve, okay? Do you have a class then?”
She shook her head. I softly smiled. “Meet me there at twelve,” I repeated. “We’ll have lunch together before our afternoon classes.”
She nodded and stood. Then, surprising the fuck out of me, she pulled me into a tight hug, burying her face in my hair. Tears thickened my throat as I hugged her back, all my barriers against her falling away.
I didn’t think they were ever that strong to begin with.
Sensing eyes on me, I looked up, watching as Coralie made her way through the first floor of the student center over to me.
I’d taken over one of the couches in a darker corner and had chicken sandwiches and fries on the table in front of us, waiting to be devoured.
It was hot today, and I’d come out of my hoodie long ago, only really needing it in my math class, but Coralie was still wearing the one I’d put on her that morning, even though her cheeks were pink from the heat.
“Hey,” I greeted, patting the spot next to me. “I got your favorite. You need to eat.” God only knew the last time she’d eaten anything, and I knew she wouldn’t be opening her mouth to tell me anytime soon.
She dropped her bag on the floor and sank down beside me. After I handed her the sandwich I’d picked up for her, she leaned against my side, slowly eating it. She clearly didn’t want to eat, only wanted to be close to me. But maybe, just like back then, she wanted to do what made me happy.
Maybe.
But this was all so fucking confusing to me, yet I couldn’t voice my questions.
We were literally at each other’s throats two days ago, but now, we were doing…
whatever this was. It was freaking me out all while wrecking me inside because this was what I’d wanted from her for so long.
But I was only getting it because she was broken.
Coralie, baby, what happened to you?