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Well, mission accomplished. I’ve quickly become public enemy number one. Exactly what he wanted.
“I really appreciate your concern, but I’m fine.”
“Come on, Delilah, admit it. Wouldn’t life be easier if you were together again?”
I shake my head. “Nope. We’re better off apart.”
At least, I am.
She studies me for a handful of seconds. When the silence begins to stretch, I can’t help but shift beneath her penetrating stare as some of her faux friendliness falls away.
“You do realize how lucky you were that Jasper Morgan ever gave you the time of day, right?”
Lucky.
Sure.
A sharp edge enters her voice. “He’s hoping you can work through your differences. If I were you, I’d beg his forgiveness.” She pauses. “Is there really anything worse than not having a boyfriend senior year?”
Ummm…yeah. There is. And that’s being sexually assaulted.
“Strange. You don’t have a boyfriend,” I point out.
Her smile turns brittle. “Oh, don’t worry about me. I have my eye on someone.”
Whoever the unlucky guy is should run for his life. Maybe consider changing his name and relocating across the country. When she’s through with him, he’ll be nothing more than an empty husk of a human being.
When I remain silent, she snaps, “What should I tell him?”
I can’t help but throw a glance over my shoulder to where my ex lingers. As soon as our gazes collide, he flicks his tongue between his lips and makes a lewd gesture.
My belly clenches as disgust rushes through me and I abruptly cut off eye contact. “That I’m not interested.”
She leans closer before whispering, “Girl to girl, I think you’re making a huge mistake.”
The mistake was dating him in the first place.
“Then you should go out with him,” I say with false brightness. “You two would be perfect for each other.”
Her eyes narrow as her expression twists. “Just remember that you could have made this all stop.”
Unwilling to engage in this pointless conversation, I grab my books and slam my locker shut before striding away, needing to put as much distance as possible between myself and Jasper. By the time I walk into first hour, my heart is jackhammering a painful tempo. Any second, it’ll lurch out of my chest.
Unfortunately, the day only goes downhill from there. At the end of each hour, I linger, asking the teacher a slew of questions until there’s less than a minute left before the start of the next class. Then I say a quick goodbye and race through the halls, sliding into my seat with seconds to spare.
When the bell rings for lunch, I head to Ms. Pettijohn’s room and ask if there’s anything that needs to be graded. If she’s surprised by my unexpected presence, she doesn’t let on. It’s a welcome relief when she sets a thick stack of papers in front of me.
“I’ll be in the teacher’s lounge if you need anything.”
I nod as she strides from the room, leaving the door ajar.
Only now, when I’m alone, does the tension leak from my muscles. I’m almost done with the freshman assignments when movement from the hallway catches the corner of my eye. I automatically glance in that direction and my belly crashes tomy toes. Jasper and two teammates loiter outside the classroom door. Once my attention has been secured, his lips lift into a sly grin.
That’s all it takes for his silent message to be conveyed.
No matter where I hide, he’ll find me.
In this moment, I feel like a hunted animal. Panic floods through me as I jerk out of my chair and back away from the door. Only now do I realize how much he restrained himself when we were together. He’d push and prod, but it never went far enough for him to take what he wanted with brute force.
