Page 29 of Revenant

His comment comes way out of left field, as if the thought popped into his head and he couldn’t help but voice it.

“Uh, and what were you expecting exactly?”

“That, I cannot answer. Which is, I’ll admit, a rare and unwelcome state of affairs.”

I’m not sure how to reply to that. “Sorry?”

“Don’t apologize, I find it…oddly fascinating.” He leans back in his chair, his button-down spreading across his chest, giving just a hint of the defined muscles underneath. He brings his cup to his lips, and now all I can focus on are the corded veins wrapping around his forearm, and the way his lips seal over the lids opening.

Why am I thinking about that? Right now of all places? Moriah would probably hunt me down on principle.

To my surprise, Koen picks his book back up and flips it open to the first page.

“What are you doing?” I ask.

“Reading.” He doesn’t look up. “Would you rather I didn’t?”

“No, I—that’s not—” I gesture uselessly at the notebook between us. “This just might take a while.”

“I thought I’d keep you company.” He turns a page. “Unless you’d prefer to suffer alone?”

I don’t have an answer for that, so I drop my eyes back to the notes and tell myself that the heat creeping up my neck is the tea and not the man across the table. By the time I finish copying his notes, the cafe has emptied around us, and I catch myself doing the math on how bad it would really be if I missed one afternoon lecture to spend more time with him.

Scalding water cascades over me, turning my skin nearly as red as my hair. Steam fills the room, wrapping around me like a barrier from everything waiting outside the communal bathroom. Between the heat and the headache from Professor Hutchins’ lecture earlier, which I stubbornly dragged myself to despite every cell in my body voting against it, my head finally starts to feel almost normal.

I have no doubt there will be repercussions for missing my morning class today. They’ve refused to let me forget that substandard performance will not be tolerated. I’m just afraid that one of these days, they’ll actually follow through on these rules they seem to take so much pride in. At least I learned a very valuable lesson. Never party the night before class. How others were able to pull themselves together is beyond me; it’s a skill I have not yet mastered, and fear I never will.

I could always email Eldritch, claim I have the flu and pray he buys it. Really anything to keep me enrolled here. It’s only been a day and I already feel this opportunity slipping through my fingers.

And I have no one to blame but myself.

There’s no way I’m going back home. Not yet. Not when home feels like a place I was tolerated. Being somewhere you know you’re not wanted takes its toll.

A creak echoes from the far end of the bathroom, pulling my attention. I wait, expecting to hear some kind of rustling from another student, but when it stays silent—aside from my water running—I begin to think I imagined it.

“Hello?”

My voice bounces off the tiles.

Goosebumps erupt across every inch of exposed skin, a cold prickle of warning I can’t ignore. Maybe it’s a sign to wrap this up. Reluctantly, I turn off the water and reach outside the shower—fumbling around for my towel and grab nothing but air.

Using the curtain as a shield to cover my body, I poke my head out, looking side to side at the very empty hooks. Quickly my eyes shoot down to the bench where I left my clothes. They’re gone. Everything is gone.

“You have got to be fucking kidding me.” I groan, shutting the curtain and turning the water back on to give myself time to think. Someone took my stuff.

This is what I get for leaving my phone dead. I knew I heard something. But who steals someone’s clothes?

Probably Naomi and her stupid little minions. I’ve done absolutely nothing to them, but here we are.

Time passes slowly, the water chilling with every passing minute, but there hasn’t even been a squeak of a door to make me believe anyone else has come in.

I can’t walk back to my dorm like this.

Surely someone has to come in at some point…at least one person should notice I’m missing. Moriah will need to shower eventually…right?

I shut off the cold water altogether, using the last bit of whatever hot water it will allow. Closing my eyes, I take a step forward, letting the running water engulf me in a world that’s completely my own.

And then—