Chapter 22 Gabi
GABI
Present Day,
Mid-September, Senior Year,
Dornell University
Behavioral Economics is not my favorite class by any stretch. And I get it, the professor is highly acclaimed, and fan-boy students jockey over who gets to sit in the coveted eye-level seats in the first few rows of the auditorium, but I just don’t care.
I’m here simply to check a required course off my list so I can graduate.
It aggravates me how economics classes in general tend to be dominated by students of the opposite sex.
Even if the class roster is evenly distributed among genders, something about the subject of economics makes the men go feral.
Once they step foot into the auditorium and the lecture begins, they morph into the most aggro, masculine version of themselves; it’s bizarre.
Like chill out, Adrien, we all know you know the answer, okay?
We get it. Stop debating with the professor as if you know more than he does. It’s obnoxious.
I flip open my laptop and scan through recent, unread emails. Sometimes, if I’m feeling particularly bored and am in the mood to depress myself, I’ll open up my text message history with Monroe on my computer. The photos are especially torturous.
My fingertips hover over the mouse trackpad as I debate what amount of memory lane I can stomach today, when I sense him.
The heavy aura of Jace’s presence settles around me like an ominous cloud as I hear him take a seat directly behind me.
Every train of thought I had prior to this moment vacates my brain.
I knew he was in this class, but he’s never sat anywhere near me. To sit this close feels deliberate.
His shins press into the back of the plastic auditorium seat, and even though I can’t feel it, I imagine strands of my long, dark brown hair skimming the tops of his knees.
I swallow, motionless with anxiety. With shaky fingers, I navigate through browser tabs until I get to the document I use to take class notes.
Picturing him staring over my shoulder, scrutinizing each word I type, renders me immobile, and I don’t know how I’m going to make it through a ninety-minute lecture under such extreme tension.
I debate turning around to scowl at him, but I know that would only satisfy his already overinflated ego.
The minutes painfully tick by, and I’ve managed a few lines of pathetic notes by the time class ends.
Standing, I force myself to methodically pack up my belongings, refusing to glance in his direction.
It’s obvious to both of us that I can see him.
He’s close enough that I can see the thread pattern of his jeans.
Of course, I know he’s there. I can feel him glaring at me, as he likes to do, and as I like to do, I choose to ignore him.
When he has yet to move by the time I’ve returned my laptop to its sleeve and zipped my backpack closed, my annoyance gets the best of me. The auditorium is nearly empty save for the regular crew of sycophants accosting the professor after class as he tries to leave.
“What?” I snap at Jace, finally indulging his bullshit standoff.
He blinks slowly, looking up at me with only his eyes. I’m not sure if he thinks the look he’s giving me is intimidating, but it’s not. It’s comical.
“Whatever,” I huff, tossing on my backpack. I begin walking to the end of the row, and he jumps to his feet, trailing me like a shadow. I quicken my pace, my stride almost a jog, as I make a beeline for the auditorium door.
The clang of the metal push bar reverberates loudly as I slam myself against it, throwing open the heavy exit door with what I hope is enough force to bounce off the wall and hit Jace in the face when he tries to pass through.
I hear the same loud clang three seconds later and know I’ve only got a five-step lead on him.
I’m practically running when I reach the exterior building doors, and race down the short flight of stone steps as fast as I can without tripping.
I veer off to the right, convinced I’ve successfully escaped, when his large hand snags the strap of my backpack, and I’m yanked to a stop.
“What the fuck is your problem?” I shout, whirling around.
“You’re my problem!” he sneers, tugging me into him by the strap of my backpack.
I grab his hand and try to wrench it free. “Get the fuck off me! Did you follow me just to threaten me again, you fucking ogre?”
“I’m here to do more than threaten you,” he growls, his towering frame hunched, his face mere inches from mine.
“You know what’s dumb, Gabi?” Sirens blare in the distance. Jace’s dark brown eyes bore into mine, and I forget how to breathe. “Wearing a fucking hot pink ski mask while you’re trying to break into someplace you don’t belong.”
I shove him away, taking several steps backward. “What are you talking about?”
He gives me a vicious grin and closes the small distance I managed to create. “I wish we would have fucking caught you. You know what Sigma does to people who get caught? Especially whores like you?”
“Whores like me? How original,” I cackle. “You should look in the fucking mirror, Jace. God, your jealousy is disgusting. All this rage simply because I got tired of fucking you,” I tsk. “It’s pathetic.”
“Is that right? Why don’t you go whore yourself out some more, Gabi? Or have you run through all your options and now no one wants to fuck used goods?”
The urge to slap this man is so overwhelming that my fingers tingle.
“You have no idea what you’re talking about, Jace. No idea!” I scream, pointing a finger in his face. “You have no fucking clue, do you?”
“No clue about what? About how you used me for social clout and then discarded me like a piece of trash once you got tired of riding my dick?”
“I swear to God, Jace Carver, if you don’t shut the fuck up, I’m going to slap you!”
“Slap me!?” he mocks, throwing his head back in fake laughter. “Do it. I dare you to touch me again.”
Tears sting the corners of my eyes, and I know I’ve got thirty seconds before they fall.
“You were a waste of time, Jace,” I glower, because he was. Fuck this cheating excuse of a man.
His eyes snap back to mine, his expression one of animalistic wrath.
“And you were nothing more than a mediocre fuck.”
I force a feigned smile. My lips quiver. “Oh, I know Jace. I know I was nothing more than a mediocre fuck to you, so why don’t you tell me something I don’t already fucking know!” I scream.
The shrill volume of my voice stuns us both, and for a moment, we both stand down as if we forgot what we were fighting about in the first place.
“If you get caught at Sigma again, you’re leaving in a body bag,” Jace says with terrifying steadiness.
“Yeah? Well, I guess I’m a dead girl walking.”
I spin around, my eyes so full of tears that I can’t see. I’m sure Jace is thrilled with himself for making me cry, but I could not give less of a fuck. That man is the worst person on the entire goddamn planet. My phone vibrates in my hand, and I look down to see an incoming call from Ele.
“Hello?” I answer.
“Gabi,” she gasps my name, and I know right away something is very wrong.
“Ele! What’s going on? Are you okay?”
“Gabi, what I’m about to tell you is very upsetting.”
“What?!” I shout. “Just say it!”
“A body was found floating under the footbridge. People are saying it’s one of the girls who went missing last semester, which would mean the cause of death is what everyone originally suspected. As horrible as that reality is to accept, it wasn’t Sigma, Gabi.”
My fervent walking comes to an abrupt halt. “Oh my God,” I breathe, “that’s awful.”
I wince at how disingenuous I sound.
“You sound disappointed,” Ele comments.
Conflicted feelings twist inside my gut. “No. No… it’s horrible. Jace threatened me after class today and I’m just rattled. Is there anything we can do?” As if by instinct, I turn around expecting to see Jace, only to find him gone like he never was there at all.
“Jace threatened you again? Because of Saturday? See Gabi, even more reason to leave Sigma and those lunatic assholes alone. By the way, there’s going to be a vigil held tonight,” Ele shares. “We should go.”
“Right. Of course,” I agree, but the distance in my voice is apparent. I opt not to answer Ele’s questions about Jace’s threats, knowing if I do, it will confirm Sigma knows we were snooping, and I can’t take any more grief.
I tell Ele I’ll meet her back at our apartment and end the call. Streaks of tears linger down my cheeks. Maybe Ele and Viv are right. I should let my theory go. Monroe’s gone and doesn’t want to be found. Not by her best friend, not by anyone.
A fresh wave of hot tears rips from my eyes. How could my supposed best friend toss aside the last three years with such irreverence? This isn’t like her. I mean, fuck, she didn’t leave Kieren, and he’s a monster. I refuse to believe she would leave me without an explanation.
But the evidence debunking my theory increases by the day, and on top of that, I don’t have the strength to survive another Jace encounter.
He’s gotten under my skin, and yes, we hate each other, but there’s only so much cruelty a person can take.
I’m not whoring myself around, nor have I ever, not that my sex life is any of his business.
I can’t take any more of his abuse. It’s mean for the sake of being mean, and I don’t deserve to be the punching bag for his anger issues.
God, what happened to him? He’s become unrecognizable.
You know what, it’s fine, I think, as I pull myself together. I just need to see what’s down in Sigma’s basement, and then I’ll let this go, once and for all.