67. Alessia
CHAPTER SIXTY-SEVEN
ALESSIA
W hen we get home, I feel alive. I feel like myself for the first time since I heard about all this shit. I feel happy, even. Our honeymoon was exactly what I needed. It was what we needed.
We spent the day at home, entwined with each other. There was no talk about school starting back up, there was no talk about revenge plans. It was just an extra day of us loving each other. It felt like we were still on our honeymoon, except we were enjoying it at our own home.
So, when we wake up the next day, I’m not upset that we have to go back to normal life. Instead, I roll out of bed, get dressed, and head to my car.
“Hey, we drive together. You know the rules.”
“But I carpool with the girls, too.”
“Not today, malyshka . Justin is driving Caro. Let’s go.”
He holds out his hand and I place mine in his.
Time to take on Redcrest University as Mrs. Pavlov.
When we get to campus, per usual, all eyes are on me. It never surprised me before, but now it seems they aren’t even trying to hide their stares.
“Everyone is staring at us,” I whisper to him.
He shrugs and entwines our fingers together. Caroline and Justin spot us. “Lessia!”
She engulfs me in her arms and hugs me tight.
“Hey, Caro.”
‘How was your honeymoon?” she asks. I smirk at her and she raises her eyebrow. “Ok, so you were a slut for your husband. Love that life for you.” Astor turns his head towards me and I wave my hands in innocence.
“I told her nothing,” I say. He throws his arm around me and we laugh as we walk to class. I don’t how we all got the same senior seminar class, but we did, Teagan included.
“Fuckers!” We all turn around and see Jay walking towards us, behind him is Teagan and Mikhail.
“Where’s the girls? I thought you were bringing River?” I ask Caro.
She shrugs. “She’s at the coffee shop with Briar and Tess, I’m about to head out.” I look at the coffee shop and nod. “See you in class? I’m going to wait for them,” I say to Astor. He nods and they walk ahead of us.
“I’m surprised he said yes…” Caro whispers.
“Yeah. Me too, honestly,” I say back to Caro. She laughs and we walk into the coffee shop where the rest of the girls are.
“You bitches get us anything?” Caro asks. They all squeal in excitement when they see me.
“Ahh! You’re back! How was the Maldives?” River asks.
“Yeah, you lucky bitch, how was it?” Tess asks. Briar smiles at me and orders Caro and I our usual.
“It was amazing, we...had a lot of fun.”
“Why the fuck am I the only one who didn’t get senior seminar with everyone?” Briar asks with a shrug.
“Maybe that’s a good thing. We aren’t going to do anything besides distract each other, anyway,” Caro says, taking her coffee from Briar. She hands me mine and I kiss her cheek.
“My hero, I totally skipped coffee this morning,” I say, taking a sip of the latte. It’s warm and makes me feel cozy as we walk towards our class.
Briar breaks off and heads to hers while we walk into our class.
The boys have a row and I drop into the seat next to Astor. He kisses my cheek and I push my coffee towards him.
“Want some?” I offer. He shakes his head and pulls out his phone. His arm is thrown around the back of my seat as we wait for our professor to get here. I know that whatever is on Astor’s phone is pissing him off, because he’s grinding his teeth.
“What is it?” I ask, frowning. He ignores me at first, but I elbow him in his side. “Answer me.”
“No matter what, you stay in this fucking seat. Do you understand?”
“What? Why would I get up?”
“Alessia, enough questions. Do not lose your cool. Do not flip the switch and wreck everything in your path.”
“Ok, what the fuck are you talking about?”
“Don’t curse at me.” I roll my eyes and sit back in my seat. I don’t know what he’s talking about, but it seems like all of the guys do because they are suddenly on high alert. And when the door opens and someone steps in, I suddenly know why I was told to stay in my seat.
Miles .
I lurch forward a bit, but am stopped by Astor’s hand. I look up at him and he shakes his head.
“Not here,” he says, never taking his eyes off Miles.
“What the fuck is he doing here?” I growl. I’m calmer than I expect, which makes me feel strong. I’m staring my rapist in the face and I haven’t thrown my knife at his throat yet. When he walks past us, Astor tucks me in his side and we watch him as he watches me. I scowl him and his lip tips up in a smile.
When he looks at me, I mouth to him slow and clear, so he won’t miss a fucking beat.
I will kill you.
For a split second, he showed his fear. Anyone else would’ve missed it, but I didn’t. He turns around and deposits himself into the seat two rows in front of us.
“Lessia, you good?” Caro asks, leaning into me.
I look at her and nod. “I’m ok. I promise.”
When our professor gets here, he starts calling off names for attendance. Too bad for Miles, he won’t make it past the first week of class. I’m so distracted that I don’t hear the professor call my name, my new name.
“Alessia Pavlov?”
Astor gently shakes me and I blink twice, coming back to realm.
“Yes, sorry, right here.”
“New name to get used to, no worries. Congratulations on your marriage,” he says. I smile and nod at the professor.
When class starts, my phone goes off.
Caro:
So, does he like go here now?
Briar:
Who?
River:
Alessia’s rapist…he’s literally sitting two rows in front of her.
Briar:
What the fuck…Lessia you ok?
Tess:
No, she has murder in her eyes.
Tess:
She hasn’t stopped staring at him.
Caro:
And Astor hasn’t stopped staring at her.
Alessia:
I’m fine.
Caro:
She’s totally not fine, she’s pulling her fingers.
River:
Bloody hell.
Elsi:
When did I make it to this group chat? Fuck yeah. Sis, give him hell.
Briar:
Get her out of there, she’s going to lose it. He fucking raped her.
Briar:
Wait…is Astor like, ok?
Caro:
Currently grinding his fucking teeth so hard I can hardly focus. And Justin won’t stop leaning over to look at him. Seriously, the bromance is next level with this group.
Elsi:
If he’s grinding, he’s about to lose it. I’d clear out if I were you all.
**Alessia left the group chat**
**Caro added Alessia back to group chat**
Caro:
No you don’t, bitch. Tell us what you’re thinking.
Alessia:
No, it’ll make you all accessories to murder.
Elsi:
Well, hello, mafia princess.
River:
Oh fuck. I’m starting to see why they call you tornado.
Caro:
Oooo, this is gonna be fun. Whatever you’re planning, count me in!
I sigh and put my phone back into my pocket. I watch the clock as time ticks by. When class is over, I hope he’s ready because he’s about to see just how out of control I can get.