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Penny snatches the phone back from me, but I’ve seen enough.
“I think… I think we should end our friendship here,” I tell her.
“Oh, fuck off,” Penny snaps. “Let them say what they want. I heard half of this before.”
“It won’t end.” Aside from one or two comments about her sexual preference, the focus was on me—on Cole. A guy she never even met. “Their issue isn’t with you. And if you think those comments are bad, I promise you, they’ll only get worse.”
“If you can handle it, I can—”
“I deleted all my social media, Penny. That’s why you can’t add me on anything. I create an account from a new email with the default profile, and they still find me. I’m handling it because I have to. But you don’t.”
Penny stares back at me, unblinking as she runs her tongue over her teeth. Then suddenly, she slams her hands down on the table, either side of her plate, the noise startling me and sending the room into near silence.
Standing up, Penny looks around the room. There aren’t many people in at this point, but they’re all focused on our table. “You people are absolutely pathetic. You’re adults so fucking act like it. This is harassment. This is—”
With my focus on Penny, my mouth parted in surprise, I don’t notice movement from the corner of my eye until it’s too late. Out of nowhere, a bright green blur flies towards us, and then my head is ringing in pain.
The next thing I know, green sludge is dripping down the side of my head, running into my ear and down my collar. My shoulder, arm, and side is covered too. On the floor, there’s an extra-large glass, somehow, still in one piece.
Dazed, I look up at Penny.
She’s standing there looking as stunned as I feel, with green goo splattered across her face.
My head is throbbing from where the glass hit me, but I’m grateful it hit me and not Penny.
I close my eyes and take a few deep breaths, trying to ignore the grassy taste of the breakfast smoothie where it coats my lips. Then I open my eyes and look at Penny. “I’m sorry,” I tell her, sincerely meaning it.
She doesn’t say anything as I stand up and walk out of the dining hall amidst the familiar sound of laughter. I’m thankful for that too.
Making no effort to remove the smoothie, instead of heading back to my dorm, I walk straight to the library. My plan is to wait there, but even before I’ve gotten halfway across the campus, I come across the person I’m looking for.
Synclair Keyingham.
He’s not alone, of course, and I’m not shocked to see Royal and Gemini with him. The three of them are in a golf cart, with Royal behind the wheel. Although they seem to be expecting me, they all seem surprised at my appearance.
Royal’s lips part, and there seems to be a flicker of concern in his eyes, whereas Gemini’s look like they’re about to pop out of his head.
But the moment Syn sees me, he starts laughing. “You really did choose to crawl out of something this morning, didn’t you?”
Sucking in a deep breath, like I can’t quite manage to fill my lungs, I pause. It only takes me a moment to make sure I feel as calm as I’m going to manage right now, and then I change directions and walk over to the golf cart, coming to a stop a few feet from Syn.
There’s a sneer on his face as he looks me up and down. “Are you above bathing now too?”
“What is it going to take?” I ask him.
His lips fall into a flat line as he glares at me, but I can almost see the cogs working in his brain. “To do what?”
I can handle this. I can handle anything…
Anything done to me.
Going after Penny?
After this, shemightstay away, but my gut says she’s stubborn enough to stay by my side. I have no idea if that glass was aimed at me or her, but I absolutely refuse to let my only friend get hurt because of me.
“Penny Bergmann. What’s it going to take for you to make them leave her alone?”
XXI
