Shame (Ruin 3)

“Why don’t I take you to get some food? I’ve got my laptop anyway. No need to sit in your creepy room.”

“I don’t know…”

“Come on.” He walked into my room, grabbed my bag and held it out to me. “Just a quick snack, and, for the love of God, lock your door.”

“It was locked.”

“You sure?” He nodded to the door. “Looks to me like your intruder has a key then, because if what you say really is true, and you did lock the door, and he did break in… the only way in would have been to use a key or somehow bobby-pin the crap out of it.”

Shivering, I folded my arms around myself.

“Food.” Jack winked. “Let’s go.”

I followed him out of the dorm. I was missing something. I had to be! I know what I felt. I mean, I didn’t see anything, but I wasn’t crazy. It wasn’t like I heard voices. I wasn’t Taylor. I shivered as the wind bit into my arms.

“Mel,” something whispered.

Gasping, I turned around and looked at the building and the trees nearby.

Jack paused. “Hey, you okay?”

“Yeah, just… the wind… my imagination.”

“Please tell me you’re thinking of moving out!” Jack squinted. “I mean, I think it’s probably best considering…”

“Yeah… tonight.”

“Where to?”

Yeah, like I was going to tell him that. Talk about getting a professor fired. “Somewhere safe.”

“Good.” His jaw clenched. “Safe is good.”

CHAPTER FORTY-TWO

I tried to flirt with other guys… I pretended to be that girl, the fun slutty one who partied all the time, was too loud, wore her clothes too tight. And it made me feel better for about a minute, until a guy took me up on the offer and I lost my lunch in his face. Kissing wasn’t even the same… nothing was. —Lisa

Tristan

I WAS EARLY picking up Lisa, but after hearing what the guys had told me, there was nothing I wanted to do more than pack her an overnight bag and kidnap her, bring her to my house, and keep her safe.

I knocked on her door. No answer.

I knocked again.

Panicking, I dialed her number just as I heard laughing coming down the hall. Lisa and Jack were talking about something clearly hilarious, and she was standing a bit too close to him, and I… I was caught. Again.

“Dr. Blake.” Jack grinned. “Fancy seeing you here.”

“Right,” I said in a clipped voice. “How was studying?”

“Got a lot done.” Jack nodded, looking between the both of us. “And you’re here because?”

“Tutoring,” I said smoothly. “Sorry, I thought Lisa might have mentioned it to you. I’ve been tutoring her for the past three weeks.”

“Is that what they call it?” Jack sneered.

“It?” I raised both eyebrows and crossed my arms, knowing I looked intimidating compared to his shorter frame. “Mind explaining, Jack?”