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Walking backward, Thea didn’t take her eyes off me until she was at her door, shaking her head. When she’d disappeared into her room, I focused back on the near pulsating door in front of me.
I knocked three times, and then when I heard nothing, I said, “Aster. It’s me. Open up.”
There was no answer, but I didn’t give up. I jimmied the door, and it was locked, so I pounded against it, making sure she could hear me over the music.
“Aster. Please open. It's me. Tanner.”
Still nothing.
I rested my forehead against the door and sighed in frustration. There was nothing I could do. We were just a plank of wood away, but it felt like so much more.
The music cut out, and my ears perked up. “Aster,” I said to the wood, and started banging again. It was finally quiet enough that I could hear her soft sobbing on the other side. Gripping the door, I tried to force it open, but she must have had more than a simple lock on it, because it wasn't budging.
“Aster. Please. Open up.”
“I can't,” she wailed out loud enough for me to hear.
“Why not?”
“Because I’m not supposed to be talking to you.”
I grumbled, annoyed that Aster was such a stickler for the rules, even when they weren’t benefiting her.
“Who cares? I’m your boyfriend. I love you, and we need to talk.”
With my head hung low and my hand against the door, I didn't want to have this conversation in public, yet she was almost forcing it with her stubbornness.
“Aster,” I sighed out.” I know what happened. They’ve got it all wrong. We’ll figure it out, but please, let me inso we can talk about it. I don’t want to lose you over something so petty.”
When she reluctantly opened the door, my heart fell to my stomach because I’d never seen her like this. It wasn’t just that her face was dripping with mascara, or that her skin was red and blotchy. Her eyes looked almost dead inside. I imagined that was how I looked the day they told me I was being benched the first time.
“Aster,” I choked out.
She stepped out of the way, giving me room to enter her dorm. I'd been here many times before, but it felt different today. Her room wasn't as tidy as usual. Nothing was in place like it always was, and there was also a glaringly obvious giant suitcase resting on the bed.
She was leaving, and my chest was constricting just thinking about it.
“I’m sorry.” Her words were meek, and I couldn’t stand hearing her like this. Taking a seat on her unkempt bed, she looked down at her lap and took her time to breathe. Wiping her nose, she finally locked her eyes with mine. “I don’t think we can see each other anymore.”
I was still for a minute, taking in her words because they made no fucking sense. “Wait. Are you breaking up with me?” She didn’t answer, but that was an answer in itself. “What? Why?”
She cringed because my words came out a little harsher than I intended, but seriously, what did she expect? She’d been ignoring me all day, and I knew why, but instead of talking about it, she just wanted to run away from it? That wasn’t how healthy relationships worked.
Last time I saw her, my head was between her thighs, and she was screaming my name. Now, she wanted to pretend that nothing happened between us.
“I was told I shouldn’t speak to any of my tutoring clients until further notice.”
“But I’m your boyfriend first.”
“Still. It's unprofessional, and I shouldn’t have let it get this far.” She cursed under her breath. “I should have learned from the last time that it wasn't the right thing to do.”
“Because you’re my tutor?” I asked with a raised brow. She nodded, and I leaned back. “You didn't seem to care about it when you were pretending to date me to get back at Connor. What changed?”
“The pattern it shows in my behavior.”
It was so dramatic and so unlike Aster. She was always so on point and analytical with the things she said. She didn't bother with dramatics because they didn't get her anywhere.
“What behavior is that?”
