Page 36 of I’ll Find You

The dean looks at me, confused, and Rose sits up straighter, her confidence returning as her anger rises.

“What do you mean?” the dean asks, looking over to Maxwell and his father. Both look confused, wondering where this is going.

I glance at Rose, then back at him. “Her car was vandalized that night at Margaritas. The same restaurant Maxwell showed up at to look for Rose. I was also there with my cousin, who traveled all the way from Texas, and we all went out to celebrate my birthday.” I make sure to mention my cousin. If they're going to question what happened that night, then every witness matters.

The room goes still. The dean straightens. “Was this reported?”

This time, Rose speaks. “Yes, it was.” Her eyes narrow, looking at Maxwell. “And guess what word was scratched into my vandalized car?” she asks, ready to deliver the final blow for the knockout win. She doesn’t make them wait. “S-L-U-T.”

Silence settles over the room, but it no longer belongs to Rose. The dean's attention shifts from her to Maxwell, then to his father, moving from the video to the vandalism report as the carefully constructed version of events begins to unravel. For the first time since we walked through the door, they're the ones searching for answers instead of demanding them.

Chapter

Twenty-One

Rose

After everything that happened in the dean's office, Alex and I agreed to meet at Sinfully Roasted Coffee after class. Somewhere along the way, it had become ours. I found the place by accident, but after running into Alex here that first time, it slowly became the place where we always found each other.

I’m already smiling before I reach the door. It feels stupid, how something so simple as seeing him can calm me, but it does. After everything, after Maxwell, after finding out about Lucinda, I need something I can count on. Alex has been there since that day at his parents’ house. He claimed me then, and despite whatever he had going on before I got there, he hasn’t given me any doubts as to where I land on his radar. I am front and center. The sun around which he orbits, and for once in my life, I bask in the rays of his attention.

The bell above the coffee shop door rings as I step inside, warmth wraps around me, and the low hum of conversation is an ordinary, mundane welcome that centers me in a way I didn’t realize I needed. I seek him out automatically, and find him just as quickly. Alex is in his usual spot by the window, coffee in front of him, like he’s been waiting. But he’s not alone. The smile fades before I can stop it. Chelsea is standing beside him, close enough that it feels intentional, her hand resting lightly against his arm as she laughs. It’s soft and easy. She’s always this way. But this seems more than that. She wants to be there. I slow my steps, something in my chest tightening in a way I recognize all too well. There’s nothing wrong with this. But I’ve told myself that before.

It didn’t mean anything.

You’re overthinking it.

You’re being dramatic.

I hear those same self-sabotaging thoughts now, creeping back the way they’ve always been there, always in the back of my mind. Chelsea says something, her voice light, and I can make out just enough of it that it makes me freeze on the spot. My feet are firmly planted and unmoving.

“You always sit there, right? You just love the window. Even at the library?” She laughs again. Alex hesitates for a second.

“I—Yeah.”

“I noticed,” she says, smiling. “The last few times.” Something drops in my stomach as I approach, not wanting to draw attention. I take another step forward, closer now, walking in on a private moment, an intruder. Her hand stays on him a second longer than I’m comfortable with.

I don’t say anything. I just step closer to the table, forcing myself to move as though everything is normal, and nothing feels wrong. Alex notices me immediately. Something in his expression softens when I get close, and for a second, it relaxes something in me that was tightly wound—until Chelsea turns.

Then she pulls back, right as I get close. Her eyes flick to me, and her smile changes completely.

“Oh, hey,” she says, smiling as if she’s been expecting me. Before I can react, her hand closes around my arm. Light. Friendly. The same way she was holding on to Alex just seconds ago. The contact makes me pause, something about it too familiar in a way I can’t explain. There's nothing wrong with it, yet something feels different. She's touched me this way for years. I've just never stopped to consider it.

“I was meeting Alex,” I say, my voice tightly controlled despite the emotions rising beneath it, begging to lash out.

“Right,” she says quickly, stepping back now. “Of course.” Alex looks between us, something unreadable crossing his face, but I don’t look at him either because something else is settling in—that same self doubt. I thought I was past this, but there is that one question that I just can’t get over.

What if I don’t know the difference between safe and dangerous until it’s too late? I swallow it down before it can show and ruin this by giving it more power to run free.

“You okay?” Alex asks, his attention fully on me, and only me. It’s shocking how easily he can read me. Always so attuned to my every emotion despite my cold exterior. Only he ever seems to notice the things I try hardest to hide.

“Yeah,” I say quickly, nodding once. “I’m fine.”

Chelsea tilts her head slightly, watching me in a way that makes something set me on edge, studying me, but she smiles like there’s nothing behind it.

“I actually came over to tell you both something,” she says.

Alex's posture straightens slightly, his attention now more alert. “What is it?”