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“Where are you?” I shout, throwing my phone against the wall. It drops to my bed, and I stare at it, willing the screen to light up with a call.
Nothing.
“I need you,” I whisper.
My skin is crawling, so I turn the shower on again and step inside. The water is freezing as it soaks me, clothes and all, but I’m past caring.
My knees hit the hard floor as another round of sobs wrack my body. The past three years play through my mind like a movie.
Is this why they did a one-eighty and started treating me so poorly?
Now that I’m thinking about it, it was only after Professor Kammes forced himself on me that the guys started bullying me. But… how did they find out? And why did they not stop to think that maybe it wasn’t consensual?
I hear a muffled shout, probably from the hallway, and try to quiet my sobs. Sometimes I forget how thin these walls are, and I don’t want everyone on my floor hearing me crying.
But the shouting only grows louder, and then I hear the unmistakable sound of the door opening and closing.
“H-Haven?” I call out. My voice is wobbly and weak, so I don’t know if she evenheard me.
“Athelia!”
Somehow, my body grows even colder, despite the freezing water falling from above. That wasn’t Haven’s voice.
It was Cal’s.
“Go away,” I shout. My voice breaks on the last syllable, and I cover my mouth to muffle my sob.
Everything hurts, and my skin burns at all the points where Professor Kammes touched me. All I want to do is wash him off me—to leave my body and never come back.
I want to die.
The bathroom door flies open, and Wes barges in, followed by Cal and Kellan. The look on Wes’s face is murderous, but when he sees me, he freezes.
“What…”
“Oh my god.” Cal pushes past Wes and throws the shower door open. He turns the water off before crouching in front of me. “Athelia.”
When Cal reaches for me, I kick at him until he backs off. “Don’t you fucking touch me,” I yell.
I expect Cal to ignore what I said, but his gaze is fixed on my thigh, his expression grim. When I look down, I realize my dress has ridden up enough to showcase the bruise forming on my skin.
Cal stands, and at first I think he’s going to drag me out of the shower, but then he turns to face Wes and Kellan. “Did either of you do that to her?” His voice is eerily calm, causing the room to buzz with an unsettling tension.
“What?” Kellan frowns. “No. Cal, you were with me this morning when she left. That bruise wasn’t there.”
“Wes, did you hurt her?”
“I…” Wes blinks a couple times before staring at the bruise. He didn’t do it, but by now, he’s probably put together who did. “Athelia, what—”
Cal grabs Wes by his jacket and slams him against the wall. “Did you do that to her?” he shouts.
“No.” Wes doesn’t take his eyes off me. I’m pretty sure he’s barely even aware that Cal just shoved him. “No, I’d never… Athelia, what happened?”
I shove my dress farther down my legs to cover the bruise. “Why on earth do you think I’d tell you?”
“I… Athelia, did Kammes… did he do that?”
“What?” Kellan looks between the two of us. “She was with him?”
