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I grab a plastic baggie and fill it with ice from the freezer, then return to the car and toss it to her. “Here. I know you don’t have ice at the dorms. Keep this on your knuckles for a bit and it’ll help with any bruising or swelling.”
“I’m sure it’ll be fi—”
I shoot her a look that says I’m not playing.
“Okay, geez. I’ll ice them, all right?”
She starts the car and heads toward the other end of campus to the dorms. When she parks, I begin to remove my seatbelt when she eyes my movements skeptically. “What are you doing?”
“Walking you inside,” I say like it should be obvious.
“Why?”
“Because I want to make sure you get in safely.”
She scoffs. “What happened to giving me more space?” When I say nothing, she adds, “I live on the first floor. It’s maybe a few hundred feet. What could possibly happen?”
I sigh and drag a hand down my face. “Do you have to argue with everything I say?”
She crosses her arms. “When it makes zero sense, yes.”
I groan as I get out of the car and walk around to her side, then fling the door open. She makes no move to get out. Instead, she glares at me, and I wonder if we’ll stay like this all night, shooting barbs at each other with our eyes until the sun rises.
Finally, she sighs like I’m the most ridiculous person on the planet for wanting to walk her to her room, and steps out.
I almost laugh at the brisk pace she sets in an effort to out-walk me because my legs are nearly a foot longer than hers. I could do my best impression of a sloth and still beat her.
She wrenches open the door to the first floor and I follow behind until she reaches her room and fumbles for her key. I don’t know if my presence is making her nervous, or if it’s the heavy metal rock blasting through the door causing her to flounder, but I frown and jerk my head toward the sound. “Your roommate is . . .”
“The devil incarnate? Yeah, I know.”
“How are you going to sleep in there?” I ask as Brynn shifts the bag of ice on her hand, so she can stick the key in the lock with the other.
“Let’s see. I’ll probably ask her to turn the music off a couple of times and she’ll ignore me. Then, once she finally does acknowledge my presence, she’ll stare at me with dead eyes for about five awkward minutes before silently flicking it off, all while muttering black-magic witch chants under her breath.”
I laugh, but quickly sober when Brynn doesn’t so much as crack a smile. “You’re joking.”
“I wish I were,” she says with a tight smile, “but welcome to my current state of life.” As if to punctuate her words, she pushes the door open and the music grows louder. It’s dark inside, save for a blacklight illuminating the room where, in plain view, her roommate is holding a small paper straw against one nostril while she snorts a line of something white and powdery. I’m pretty sure it isn’t the Pixy Stix we used to experiment with in middle school.
“What the actual fuck?” I bark out.
Beside me Brynn gasps, mouth gaping as her roommate’s head whips up, eyes glazed over. “Don’t you know how to fucking knock?”
“It’s my room!” Brynn screeches, waving an arm. “And that’smydesk.”
At the sound of her distress, a boy pops up from the bed behind her roommate. Like a zombie coming to life, something nonsensical spills from his lips. His eyes are bloodshot, his skin pale, and if I’m not mistaken, he’s completely naked.
Without another word, I yank Brynn back out into the hall, slamming the door shut behind me. “You’re not staying in there, at least not tonight.”
“But . . .” She blinks, clearly shell-shocked, but I see the moment the situation sinks in, and she nods. “Yeah, you’re right. I’m sure Charlotte won’t mind if I crash in her room tonight.”
I place my hands on either side of her face, forcing her to meet my eyes. I want to make sure she’s okay before I leave her. “You sure?”
She nods. “Yeah.”
I eye her skeptically before she offers me what I think is meant to be a reassuring smile but is wobbly at best. Exhaling, I glance at the closed door to her room and exhale. “I’m going to tell the front desk and get campus police up here.”
“What? No!” Brynn grabs my arms, her eyes wide. “You can’t do that. She’ll curse me. Put a hex on me. Poison me in my sleep. Youcannotgo to the authorities.”
