Chapter 44

Rowena

When I finally found refuge beneath the stairs, there were tears in my eyes for reasons I couldn’t quite understand. I huffed to myself as I sat down, dropping my leather satchel onto the tile floor.

“Dammit,” I muttered as I wiped my eyes with my sleeve.

I couldn’t believe I was skipping class for the first time in my entire life, and that I was likely going to fail this assignment, all because of Eric. Because of his manipulation. Because of his…

Was it really all his fault, though?

Drawing my knees up to my chest, I thought back to what had happened back there; something strange had occurred. I couldn’t explain it, but I had just felt so drawn to him at that moment, like I couldn’t even control myself.

It had to be the seven minutes we shared in the closet at the party—of course that was it. Because of his stupid, sick prank, he had manipulated my mind into something it wasn’t. And the thought of it almost made me want to vomit.

“Rowena…”

I jerked my head up suddenly at the sound of Eric’s voice. Gritting my teeth, I blinked my tears back again, expecting him to come walking around the corner.

But he never came.

In fact, I never even heard footsteps.

“God, I really am going crazy,” I grumbled, running my hand through my hair, which had come loose from its bun during my mad dash out of class.

This was the second time I had thought I’d heard Eric’s voice over the past week, only to find that I was hearing things. Either what had happened at the party had finally made me go completely nuts, or he had manipulated me into hearing his voice when he wasn’t even around.

And I couldn’t quite decide which was worse.

It wasn’t long, though, before I heard actual footsteps coming my way—real ones, and not in my head. When I lifted my gaze in their direction, I saw that it was Adrian.

“Rowena?” he asked, quirking an eyebrow at me. “I thought you were in class.”

I shrugged. “I was. I, um…” I considered claiming I was sick again, but that would be the third time I would use that excuse and I didn’t want Adrian to start thinking that I was a hypochondriac. “I couldn’t focus.”

“Couldn’t focus?” Adrian walked over to me and sat beside me on the steps, his tall form shielding me. He was warm and smelled like his usual cologne, which was a comfort right now. “That sounds like a first for you. Did something happen?”

“I just… couldn’t sleep much last night,” I lied. “I think I had too much coffee yesterday.”

“Ah. Burning the midnight oil over those textbooks of yours, huh?”

I nodded and smiled, even though it was a complete and utter bluff. “Yeah. I was.”

Adrian chuckled. “You’re stressed,” he said softly. “I can tell. I could fix that for you, if you want.”

“Can you?” I blinked up at him, feeling bolstered by his presence.

“Yeah,” he said. “How about another date? A chance to blow off some steam?”

The idea of a date sounded nice; just so long as Eric didn’t show up this time. I wanted to believe that he wouldn’t but somehow I knew that he would try—for whatever sick or twisted reasons he had.

“Well?” Adrian asked. “What do you say?”

I nodded, then paused, biting my lip. “I’d love that. Just, um… can we keep it a secret?” I blurted out. Adrian raised his eyebrows, and I hurried to explain myself. “It’s just that my brother is overprotective, and I don’t want him showing up again. So I’d like to keep it on the down low.”

Adrian nodded. “Whatever lets us finally have the date we deserve.”

With that, Adrian leaned over and pressed a warm kiss to my cheek. I wasn’t expecting it, and the sensation instantly set my heart racing and my face flushing a deep shade of red.

“I’ll pick you up next weekend,” he said, grabbing his bag. “See you then.”

“Yeah. See you then.”

…

The small gift shop smelled like sage and cinnamon as I wandered around, browsing the racks with one earbud in. It was late, almost dinnertime, but I had no intentions of going home just yet—just in case I ran into Eric, who I knew I couldn’t face after what had happened today.

I sighed as I perused the shelves. I had picked out a few things for myself—a new pencil case, a sweater, and a book that looked intriguing. It was a rare treat for me to shop for myself, which was exactly why my mother had sent me some money without even hesitating when I had asked.

As I passed by a shelf containing various journals and notebooks, something caught my eye: a leatherbound journal with an embossed tree on the front.

I paused, picking up the journal. It was simple, made of high quality leather, and at a fairly high price tag as well. Pursing my lips, I went to put it back, figuring that I already had plenty of journals and had no need of spending this much money on a new one.

But before I put it back, an idea came to mind.

I could already picture Eric using the journal—he was always doodling during his spare time. He never liked to show it off, but I knew that he was good at drawing, and the paper inside of this journal was unlined and perfect for art.

Maybe… Maybe this could be a viable replacement for his talisman, I thought to myself. It was different enough, and it was a practical gift that he’d likely get a lot of use out of.

A soft smile came to my lips, and I couldn’t deny the urge to get it. Just as I was tucking it under my elbow and heading toward the register, though, a voice caught my attention.

“That’s a cute sweater.”

I stopped, a bit shocked by the voice, and turned to see an oddly familiar face. “Emma,” I breathed, my eyebrows raising of their own accord. “What are you doing here?”

Emma shot me a perturbed look. “Same as you,” she said, holding up a few things of her own—a dress, a hat, and a pair of boots. “Shopping.”

I almost cringed at my stupid question. “Sorry,” I said with a slight laugh. “I was just listening to music, and…”

“It’s alright.” Much to my surprise, Emma shot me the world’s tiniest smile. “I was just saying that the sweater you picked out is cute.”

“Really?” I blurted out, holding the sweater up to myself. It was a pale purple color, one of my favorites.

She nodded. “I think it suits your complexion.”

“Wow, um… Thank you,” I managed, still too awestruck at this compliment from Emma to say much else.

“Well… See you around,” she said with a small wave before walking away.

I just stood there for a moment, in total shock. Emma, of all people… She had never complimented me—and likely not anyone else, for that matter—even once before. Not only was it unprecedented, but it was also…

Sweet.

“Hey, Emma!” I suddenly blurted out, whirling around to face her with my heart pounding in my chest.

Emma stopped and looked at me over her shoulder, but said nothing. The silence seemed to stretch on for an eternity, but for the first time ever, it didn’t make me want to run and hide.

“What’s up?” she finally asked.

I swallowed, my heart beating faster by the moment. “Do you want to get hot cocoa with me?”