One week later

Everyone gathers on the campus ready for the new semester. The three weeks holiday is over and now it's time to go back to our dreadful lives.

My car approaches the parking lot and I park it carefully in between two cars. Sometimes I can't believe it's my new car, it's completely out of my income. I have to find a part-time job just for the gas alone.

Let's not mention car maintenance and insurance. I haven't managed to sell the old rusty car. I can't blame people for not wanting to buy that... thing.

It was at least fifteen years old and used.

Nicole comes out of the car since she stayed with me the whole vacation. Her mother turned out to not be as happy about it as we initially thought.

"Are you ready for the new semester?" she asks.

"Not even a little bit."

We walk together to the dormitory hall, passing through the crowd.

Shanice and Irène are talking near the entrance and Nicole and I look at each other.

"What's up with them?"

"I swear together they are up to no good," I reply jokingly.

"They've been close lately. Shanice stole your friend."

"Yeah, my friend." I laugh. Probably Shanice gave up and fell for Irène's charm. In some way, I feel sorry for her because despite everything Shanice deserves better.

I now finally understand that she only did that stuff to me because she truly cares about Derek, maybe it wasn't the right way to go about it but she's one of Derek's closest friends.

Alexander's roommate walks near us and he shoots me an annoyed look. I don't have any idea what it means but maybe Alex told him it's my fault he transferred?

I hope he mentioned the countless illegal things he did.

I don't miss Alexander at all, but it hurts he betrayed me. I hate admitting that because it shouldn't hurt me, he was never my friend.

How could he even go that far?

"Earth to Veronica," Nicole says as we walk to our dormitory and she takes out her keys.

"Yeah. I'm here."

"You were thinking of Alex, right?" she asks.

"How do you know?"

"I know that guy, he was close friends with Alex and he knows more than you think."

Oh. Is he going to get revenge for him too? I can't do this anymore. I feel like everyone is out to get me. For once I understand how Irène feels.

"Don't worry. He should be grateful Alex isn't rotting in prison."

Rich people don't pay for their mistakes. I don't even know how he managed to get accepted into the other university. It ruins their reputation, but again, most people don't even know what he did.

If it wasn't for him, Derek and I would have been together.

Enough of that. I need to think about my classes, which are starting tomorrow.

I unpack my baggage again and I put everything in the closet and the drawer. The next holiday will be in summer and I doubt I will go to my mother's home again. Things have been shitty since she accused me of still talking to Derek. At least she doesn't know he slept in my bed on New Year's Eve.

Plus it doesn't help I haven't opened the box she gave me yet.

"My mom gave me a box... and she told me that inside there are all the times she lied," I confess to Nicole.

"What? And I thought my mom is weird." She puts her clothes in the closet as the door opens again.

Irène walks inside and throws the luggage on the floor near her closet.

"You should open it."

"Open what?" Irène asks.

I shrug, not the best idea to tell her about that box. I don't think I trust her enough, even though she saved our lives. She is quite unpredictable, especially after she confessed she accidentally killed her sister. If that was even true.

If I told Nicole this, she would freak out.

"Nothing... just the baggage."

"Right," Irène says sarcastically as her eyes scan our already empty baggage.

Suddenly Dominic bursts into the room and I flinch as he hits the door against the wall. Behind him, Derek comes up and he fugitively looks at me then at Irène.

I haven't seen him in a week, but it's still awkward after he penetrated my sacred temple.

"Where is Shanice?" Derek asks.

"Wait, what happened?" My lower lip starts shaking. This is no good. He wouldn't come here without reason.

Nicole stands up as she finishes putting everything into the closet.

"I left her near her dorm just like two minutes ago. What happened?" Irène asks worriedly.

"Felix was seen near campus. They couldn't catch him," Derek explains as he refuses to look at me.

"She doesn't answer the phone," Dominic adds. "I told you to always stay together."

Correct, one of the other reasons Nicole came with me to my house on Christmas break.

"She had to go to her room. I can't be everywhere she is."

"Irène... she isn't in her room. We first checked there," Dominic explains.

"No way. I left her near the room!"

This place is filled with guards and people, no way he abducted her from here unless she went somewhere else.

"Did she say anything else?"

"She mentioned she would go to the cafeteria later."

"Then let's check there first," I say calmly.

We go to the cafeteria and we immediately spot Shanice drinking her coffee in peace. We all take a big sigh of relief as we sit near her. She widens her eyes.

"Why are you all here?"

"You said you were going to your dorm!" Irène raises her voice.

"Dude, chill, I wanted a coffee before."

"Felix was seen near campus just thirty minutes ago," Derek says in a lower tone so no one can hear us.

"What?!"

"They couldn't fucking catch him."

When does the police ever do their job?

"I'll go and find him myself," Derek says and I accidentally put my hand on his shoulder. Everyone stops and looks at us, including Derek.

I lift the hand quickly and I force myself to continue breathing.

"Are you insane? You are still hurt," I protest.

"It doesn't hurt anymore."

Right... he had a lot of stamina when we... we. Yeah.

"Ronnie is right. Let the police do their job," Nicole says.

"And wait here until one of us gets hurt? Pass. I'll bring my..." Irène says.

"Shut up! Everyone can hear you," I whisper annoyed at Irène.

"Guys, stop fighting. She is right. We should find him by ourselves. He is only one man," Dominic says and it's the first time he isn't reasonable at all.

"He could hurt one of you," I whisper as my eyes accidentally lay on Derek's light blue eyes.

Dominic, Derek, and Irène stand up.

I follow Irène as she runs back to our dorm to grab her gun from the baggage. She puts in the pin code.

"You really shouldn't carry it there. If the college guards ever stop you-"

She interrupts me. "Worry about yourself."

Dominic and Derek stand near our door as Irène takes out her gun and puts it in the back of her jeans.

They are insane. We just came back. I don't like this.

"You don't even know where to look for him," I say as I look at Irène leaving the room.

I follow them as fast as I can until we reach Derek's car.

"I want to come too," I add.

"No. Bye," Dominic says and I laugh annoyed as I open the rear door to the car before he can stop me. I get inside.

"It's cold. Just go inside."

It's January and I'm only wearing a tank top but the car is warm enough... the problem will be once we are out there.

"Veronica, get out," Derek says authoritatively and I stare at him through the rear-view mirror.

He doesn't look away and I don't move. Dominic opens the door and pulls me out against my will.

"Guys! It's not fair. I can't leave you alone."

"You would just get us in more danger," Dominic says as he puts me down again and closes the door. Derek locks the car doors.

I look at Derek and Dominic for a few seconds before they leave the parking lot. My skin gets instant goosebumps from the cold and I sigh frustrated. I know it was dumb to want to go, but I desperately needed to go. I don't know why.

~

I keep opening my eyes and checking Irène's bed hoping she came back. I haven't heard anything from them in hours.

I want to sleep and Nicole's heavy breathing isn't helping, but who am I kidding? I won't be able to sleep until I know they are okay. Their idea is reckless.

I sit up and check the time. 3 am. They've been gone all day.

I open the door slightly and the light from the hallway suddenly shines through the door crack.

I'm still in my pajamas and I try to cover my breasts with my arms as I walk through the hallway. It's pretty darn cold around here.

I check if there are any guards but nothing. It's not like they control us too much. We are allowed to leave and come whenever we please as long as we don't make too much noise.

I walk to the parking lot and it's filled with cars. I quickly spot the car Irène, Derek and Dominic gifted me. It still feels surreal and wrong. I shouldn't have accepted it.

I am getting extremely worried. No calls, no messages. Nothing. What if something horrible happened to them?

Through my car window, I spot a shadow behind me. My heart beats faster as I frantically turn around to see what it was.

I look around every corner as I walk to the middle of the parking lot, I check the bushes near the benches and I even bend to see if anyone is hiding behind the cars. I should probably get back inside.

They went looking for Felix but what if he never left the campus?

It would have been too risky... the guards were already informed, but where are the guards?

I reach out for my phone and I dial Irène. Less than a minute passes and she doesn't pick up.

I'm getting fucking worried.

I keep dialing her and I give up when I already called ten times.

I send a text to Dominic.

Are you okay???

Please reply

Maybe two messages are enough. Maybe they already saw him and are trying to somehow get him to the police. But Felix wouldn't give up without a fight and Irène doesn't care who gets hurt as long as they capture Felix.

When a car approaches me, I instantly get nervous but I recognize it's Derek's car.

I'm so thankful he is back.

I mean, that they are back.

He parks near my car, which is the only empty spot and Irène gets out of the car first. Her face tells everything I need to know.

Derek rolls the window down and I notice Dominic's disappointed look.

Irène's dark circles and sunken tired eyes stare at me.

"We didn't catch him, and stop fucking calling me."

"I was worried," I say as I look at Dominic and Derek. They both don't leave the car.

I don't know why I expected otherwise.

Suddenly I realize I only wanted to go with them because I wanted to talk to Derek, but that is stupid of me. There is nothing to talk about.

"Back to feeling unsafe." I sigh disappointed.

"Not for long," Derek reassures me.

I don't remember the last time I felt safe on my own. It seems like a distant reality at this point. If it's not Felix, It's someone else.

A sudden memory of the shadow I saw behind me passes through my mind and I can't forget how eerie it felt.

"What if he came back here?"

"Did you see something?" Derek asks.

"No... just n- nothing," I stutter knowing I'm insane. It was a shadow, nothing happened.

"Okay, you two go back inside."

I nod as I take a last look at Derek. His eyes don't leave mine as we walk away.

When I turn around, he is still here, waiting for us to get back safe inside.

Once I'm inside, I hear the motor turn on and him leaving the parking lot.

Why is this so hard?

I slowly walk into the dorm and Irène just slams the door to wake up Nicole.

So much for being careful.

Nicole instantly sits up scared and she yells at her. "What the... is wrong with you?!"

Every time she tries to not swear it's kind of cute.

Irène ignores her as she unlocks the safe to put the gun inside, before she puts it in the closet Nicole stands up and stops Irène.

Okay, she is really mad. It doesn't happen often but sometimes it's just the last straw, especially when dealing with someone like Irène.

Irène doesn't close the safe as she stands up to face Nicole.

"Sweet. Are you going to fight me?" Irène provokes her.

Nicole scoffs and before I get between them, she pushes her back. Irène slightly wobbles but she pushes Nicole back too.

"I'm so sick of you!" Nicole yells as she is about to push Irène again. I get between them before it's too late but they both push me aside.

"Don't touch me," Irène hisses at both of us.

I raise my hands in defense. I haven't slept at all, I'm tired. If they want to fight, then they fight. It's not my problem.

I get under the blankets and I cover my face with my pillow as they continue bickering. I want to sleep.

But Nicole is right, Irène keeps pushing her buttons and it was obvious she would eventually not hold back anymore. Hell, I would have slapped her way sooner.

"You always sleep well when everyone else has to defend your ass. I woke you up? Suck it up, bitch," Irène yells and I lift the pillow as I look at them.

"Who said you have to defend me? You want to act all tough and have any reason to use that gun."

"You idiot, stop yelling," Irène spits.

Probably the whole campus heard that. I'm still surprised the guards aren't here by now.

"Veronica, tell me I am wrong," Nicole asks and I don't want to pick sides because I see why they are both angry, but also it's not Nicole's fault she is in trouble?

We have to defend her because we put her in this place... as for Irène, well, she loves provoking everyone and I don't think she wants to defend us as much as she wants to prove something to herself.

"I have to agree with Nicole. You've been provoking her for two years now." I look at Irène and she scoffs.

"Because she is a fucking sensitive bitch. Literally anything makes her cry," Irène protests.

"Oh, wow. Slow down," I say slightly offended. Nicole is my best friend after all and I don't think sleeping with her ex and filming it is such a nice thing to do. Even if she cheated on Louis.

Irène did it only for fun.

She ignores us as she pushes the safe inside the closet and covers it with clothes.

I get under the blankets again and my phone vibrates. I grab it and open the message Derek sent me.

Derek: everything alright?

Me: Yeah

As I'm about to put the phone down and turn off the notifications so I can get some sleep for tomorrow's classes, I get another message.

Derek: I think we should talk.