“I...I...” Heat infused my face...and my chest...and my stomach. I didn’t even know what to say to that. So I fumbled out a few more unintelligible words before sputtering, “Oh my God, Cora. I have never...not even once thought your boyfriend would—”
“Good,” Cora said perkily, clasping her hands together. “Because even if you tried, he’d never go for someone like you. He’s into much more knowledgeable, sophisticated women. Naive, gullible little innocents just aren’t to his taste.”
My heart flopped heavily into my stomach, not only because it hurt to hear how I could never get a guy like Quinn because I was too...me, but just knowing she felt the need to warn me away from him, as if she thought I’d even try to steal him from her, was just...yeah. Insane.
“I don’t know why you even feel the need to say this to me.” I shook my head. “You know me! I’d never...ever...”
“You’re right.” Cora smiled as if pleased. She patted my arm and stepped aside to let me go. “I do know better. I guess I was just getting a little possessive of the man I love.”
Hearing her say the L-word rattled me more than I cared to admit, and I had to look at anything but her while I nodded, agreeing with her assessment.
“Thank goodness that’s all settled then. Have fun at school.”
I shook my head, feeling more unsettled than ever before. I stared at her a moment, then I had to say, “I think you should tell him, though. He deserves to know. Quinn is a really good—”
Cora lifted her fingers to stop me mid-word. Then she narrowed her gaze. “Yes, he is a really good guy. But he’s my guy. Not yours. It’s completely my decision what I do with him and what I tell him.” She stepped threateningly closer. “And if you ever even think about interfering with that, or telling him what I don’t wish for him to know, you’ll regret it for the rest of your life. Understand?”
I couldn’t even respond to that. I simply brushed past her and hurried from the apartment. But I felt cold, deep inside, all the way to school.
What was worse, Quinn was already in art class, sitting in the chair next to mine when I arrived. And then he had to go and smile at me as if he were happy to see me.
“Hey, did you get the super called this morning?”
“Yeah.” I nodded vaguely, unable to look him in the eye as I sank into the chair next to him. “Cora showed me where the number was kept.” And then she threatened me to stay away from you and keep secrets from you.
When I dared to meet his gaze, he was watching me strangely, as if he knew something was wrong. I offered him a tight smile, but my chest was constricted with fear and worry. “He said he could get to it tomorrow.”
Quinn nodded and then opened his mouth to say something, but thank goodness Ca
roline and Reese interrupted, calling out to me and asking for my opinion on shades of fingernail polish. They were both excited about the concert that evening, so for the rest of the hour, I whisper-gossiped with them and made a point to ignore Quinn completely, even though it hurt to turn my back to him.
He tried to talk to me as soon as class let out, but I sent the group a big, fake smile and waved goodbye before hightailing it out of there.
My nerves were jittery and strung out; I was already on edge when I entered my writing class later on. And that’s when I learned we were having open critique.
Something was up with Zoey.
Despite the lack of sleep, I’d actually felt rejuvenated when I’d woken this morning.
Last night had gone so well. If ever a guy were to fall prey to temptation, it would’ve been when he was stuck alone in close quarters and half-dressed with the girl who made his thoughts stray. But I hadn’t done one inappropriate thing with Zoey. It felt as if I’d passed some kind of test.
Knowing I could one hundred percent behave myself around Cora’s roommate, I felt good and refreshed, and ready to befriend her without any reservations.
I’d sought her out in the library a couple times before, but every time I’d actually seen her sitting at a table studying, I’d been too much of a coward to approach, worried about anything and everything happening. But now that I knew nothing would happen, I wanted to see her. Something had definitely been bothering her in art class, and I had to make sure she was okay.
As luck would have it, I caught sight of her entering the library when I was still a few buildings away. Her back was to me as she skipped up the steps. She looked like she was in a hurry, so I picked up my pace to catch her. But when I entered, she was nowhere in sight.
I checked out a couple of the tables I’d seen her sitting at in the past, but they were all occupied by others. She had to be somewhere in the building, but the library was a big place with lots of private nooks and crannies for secluded studying.
I had an entire hour to kill, so I just kept looking. When I came to an area that was rarely inhabited, I turned down a row of bookshelves and saw her sitting on the floor at the end, against the wall with her knees drawn up to her chest and her head bowed, her hair covering her face.
There was something “wounded animal”-like about the way she was sitting. Charging forward with concern seemed like a bad idea. So...as I crept closer, I whispered. “Zoey?”
Her head flew up, and she stared at me from wide, tearstained eyes.
My heart cracked. I’d never seen her cry before, and she looked so lost and alone. I wanted to yank her into my arms and cradle her close just as much as I wanted to hunt down whoever had hurt her and pulverize them.
“What’s wrong?” I eased to my knees next to her.