“Dimitri!” His name has never sounded so bad as it does from Rose’s whiny ass mouth, and I feel my lips pull down in a frown.
“Mr. Adler,” he corrects her, but it doesn’t do a thing as she all but skips across the room toward him, but not without shoulder-checking me as she goes.
“Oh, sorry, Ken, I didn’t see you there,” she says in a sickly sweet, super-fake voice that, again, is like nails on a chalkboard.
I guess she must always sound like that; it’s fitting, really, given her personality is also shit.
“Rose.” She beams at him despite his look of annoyance, and I roll my eyes.
Any attention is good for her, I guess.
“You weren’t in your room, and it’s time for our adviser meeting, so I just had to come find you. I look forward to our meetings every week. They're the only thing getting methrough the days.” She leans on his arm, and he side-steps quickly enough that she almost tumbles to the ground, but she doesn’t give up, instead reaching for his arm as she squishes her cleavage together and bats her eyes.
Gag.
It’s obvious what she’s hoping to imply, but I know Dimitri pretty well now. And at no point in the last three months did he give me any inkling that he’s the type to regularly hit on students or that he could stand Rose for more than the time required by his job.
Honestly, how anyone does is beyond me.
“Have fun.”
I can’t stop the smile that pulls at my lips as I duck out the door, only catching a glimpse of Dimitri’s side-eye from my comment.
I feel bad, well, kinda, because this is his job, but nobody deserves to deal with Rose.
Besides, I can make it to the library now!
The thought puts pep in my step, and I can’t stop myself; I don’t want to.
I almost make it, too.
“What are you doing?”
I stop in the middle of the hall, hands gripping the straps of my backpack as I feel it again.
For weeks now, I’ve felt them, but I’ve never been able to place it or had a moment to call it out.
Now alone in the hall, that’s all I can do, because I can’t go on like this, feeling like I might be losing it.
I’m not, though. I know someone’s here.
I turn around and find nobody, but still, the feeling of the gaze remains.
“I know you’re here!”
Against every instinct, I let my eyes fall closed and take a deep breath, centering myself so that I’m able to think more clearly.
Warm, fresh sugar cookies.
“Titus.” His name slips out of my mouth, hardly more than a whisper, without any real thought, but the second I say it, I know without a doubt that I’m right.
The air shifts around me, and I open my eyes and come face-to-face with a very annoyed-looking Titus.
I knew it!
“What do you want?” I let my annoyance slip into my words as a scowl turns my lips down.
I’ve spent the last two weeks feeling like I was going crazy because he wanted to creep around, and he doesn’t even have the decency to look ashamed at being caught.
