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Frustrated, angry tears seeped down her cheeks. She wiped at them savagely, cursing their source. After surviving through her brother’s death and the funeral her mother had forced her to attend two years later, she would’ve thought there were no more tears left inside her. But her body just kept producing them, and she blamed each one on the killer who’d invaded Trace’s dream school.
She hated Logan Xander, hated him so much. Hated what he’d already done to her. Hated what he was still doing to her. And by all accounts, she didn’t even know the first thing about him except he’d been the star basketball player on his high school team and was the son of a lawyer.
It didn’t matter. She hated him.
By six that evening, her hate had cooled to a boiling abhorrence. As she paced the floor in front of her bed, she made a decision. She would stay and show everyone—herself included—that she could do this.
So…how was she going to do this? Trace had been a believer in the “keep it simple” motto, so taking it one baby step at a time sounded good. What should she do in the…oh, next five minutes?
When her stomach rumbled, Paige grinned and set her hand over her abdomen. Food was a reasonable step. She hadn’t left her room since that morning. Maybe she could go find something to eat. But with a glance toward her door, she shuddered.
Maybe a nice, calming shower would help her build up the nerve to leave her room. Wrapping her toiletries inside her towel, she carried her things into the bathroom and glanced toward the opposite door that led into another room. Her suitemates, Mariah had said. Paige hadn’t even known what a suitemate was until yesterday, and she apparently had two whom she’d yet to meet.
She took the shortest shower in the history of showers. The temperature of the water changed constantly from scorching to freezing. She had to keep her hand on the control knob even as she lathered and rinsed. It reminded her of her back and forth feelings about whether to stay or leave campus.
After she turned the water off, she stood with her face upturned to the showerhead and her eyes closed as she tried to control the anxiety still plaguing her.
What if she saw him again?
Could she handle that?
Maybe Kayla was right. Coming here had been a mistake. This was a sign, clearly telling her she’d made an extremely bad move. She should just return home to Creighton County tonight, enroll for fall classes at the community college there, and work toward a degree in education. That was probably what she would’ve done anyway if her family had remained whole and half the members hadn’t died on her. She liked kids, liked watching them learn and grasp new concepts. She could’ve been a grade school teacher. And most of all, she could’ve stayed close to her safe, comfortable home.
Except her home hadn’t felt safe or comfortable for three years now.
Thanks to Logan Vance Xander.
With her emotions bubbling back to the surface, Paige ripped the shower curtain open and reached for the towel she’d left folded on the toilet seat. She snapped it open to wrap around her just as the door from her suitemates’ room opened.
With a startled shriek, she covered herself and leaped back into the tub. The wet floor made her slip but she caught herself against the wall.
“Oh my God!” The intruder’s red curls bobbed madly as she jerked to a stop. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t know anyone was in here.”
Paige closed her eyes and pressed her hand against her pounding heart to keep her towel from slipping. Her face heated as she croaked, “I forgot to lock the door.”
The redhead instantly began to retreat. “No problem. I’ll just…yeah.” The bathroom door was quickly shut, leaving a streaming wet Paige alone again.
Though it was too late to worry about lost privacy now, Paige reached out and locked her door. Then she dried herself and her shampoo and soap bottles at warp speed before jerking into her clothes. She barely remembered to turn the handle on her suitemates’ room to unlock it again before she fled back into her own.
A few seconds later, her bathroom locked from the inside, telling her the suitemate was now using it. A minute after that, the toilet flushed.
Paige was still blushing over the whole encounter, trying not to feel like such a stupid idiot, when a soft knock came from the bathroom.
Ready to be degraded for her forgetfulness, she hesitantly inched it open.
The redhead inside grinned at her sheepishly. “I’m sorry again,” she said. “I really didn’t mean to barge in on you like that.”
Paige brushed the apology aside. “It’s okay. Don’t worry. I’m sorry for forgetting to lock the door.”
The girl laughed out a full, jovial sound, her blue eyes dancing. “Oh, don’t worry about that. I’ve been so afraid of forgetting to lock it myself and being caught with my pants down, I actually had a nightmare about it last night.” She laughed again. “I’m glad you did it first. At least, now I know I’m not the only clueless freshman around. I mean, not that you’re clueless, or a freshman. Or—” Her brow puckered as if she was frantically trying to think up another reason to beg for forgiveness.
Paige laughed. The sound felt foreign coming from her throat, it almost startled her, and it did tickle her vocal chords. But this perky redhead made her feel lighter. Freer.
“I am a freshman,” she confessed with a rueful grin. “And pretty much clueless too. I’m Paige.”
She stuck out her hand. The other girl began to reach for her fingers but froze at the last second. “Eww. I haven’t washed my hands yet. S
orry. Can I use your—”
