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“Three.”
He nods. “I’ll pick you up here and drop you back at home before my swim meet.”
My eyes widen. “You have a swim meet?”
He inclines his head. “Individual medley at five.”
I hesitate before saying, “I could work at the library until then, come watch you, and catch a ride back with you.”
Marius inclines his head. “You wanna watch me?”
I feel my cheeks flush. “It avoids wasting gas on driving me back and forth.”
He chuckles low. “Right. Saving the planet, one five-minute ride at the time. I’ll save you a seat. Give your name when you arrive at the pool.”
I get out of the car, but he lowers the window and calls me back. “Sweetness?”
“Yeah?” I say, leaning in.
He brings his hand to my chin and kisses me, fast, but deep. The sort of teasing kiss that promises more. “See you later.”
It’s eight twenty, right before the first class of the day, so the front of the building is pretty busy, and everyone is staring. He did this on purpose, of course. His campaign to look like my devoted boyfriend in order to make my stalker act up.
Except Marius said I’d be protected, and now he’s leaving. I don’t like this one bit.
Since I arrived here, I always felt like I was being watched. It’s become more than a feeling.Everyoneis staring at me.
“Hey, Sarah,” says a perfect stranger I’ve never talked to.
I’m too awkward to know what to say, the first time. It happens again and again. I nod. I wave awkwardly. I rush to my class.
In my first class, someone asks to see my notes. In my second, a girl tells me we should work on our revisions together.
And then, when I’m eating my lunch, some guy openly gawks at me, saying, “I wonder what you did to convince Marius to commit. You must be a freak in the sheets, for all that prim and proper exterior, huh?”
I don’t even know his name. I cringe, wishing this day would stop.
And that Marius never convinced me to go along with his stupid-ass idea.
“Goltz is notorious for fucking everything that moves. Do you really think you have what it takes to keep his attention?” his friend jeers.
The sandwich I’m trying to eat feels stuck in my throat. I drop it and get up to leave. “Excuse me.”
I go up to the library, feeling like their laughter follows me the whole way.
There are several levels to the library, and the science department is on the upper one. It’s usually not that busy, especially at lunch time.
Normally, that’s a good thing. But being alone doesn’t help when I’m feeling…watched.
75
MARIUS
Ifrown, my eyes returning to the empty seat on the bleachers again and again. She’s not here. That makes no sense. Sarah isn’t the kind of person who says she’d do something without following through. Her reliability is one of the things I appreciate most about her.
I stopped expecting people to turn up to my competitions when I was a teen, but I appreciate the fact that some of them still go to the effort when they can. My parents are here. Not unusual for my mother, but my father doesn’t tend to show up. Even Riley came.
Where is she?
