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22

Bianaca

After a fitful sleep, I woke up the next morning feeling achy and confused. The conversation—confrontation—with the boys had left me physically and mentally drained. It took all my self-control to leave them, to not run back to them as I so desperately wanted.

Groaning, I glanced at my alarm clock to see it was a little after nine. Breakfast would be starting, and my stomach gave a little grumble as if agreeing with my mind that it was past my feeding time.

A girl needed to eat.

Dressing quickly in the standard uniform, I made my way to the cafeteria. This time, I wasn’t accosted by Kelly, trampled by a swarm of professors, or stared at intensely by four guys more sinful than angelic.

When I arrived in the cafeteria, I was stunned to see the guys’ usual table was empty. I tried to smother down the heartache I felt at their absence, hardening my resolve to distance myself from them.

Aiden had looked at me as if I was crazy and had accused me of murder. Kace had destroyed all my clothes. Tanner had teased me, used me, and then discarded me. And Beau…

Well…

His betrayal hurt the most.

I scarfed down the food, inhaled it, thankful for the antidote the guys forced to me drink, before moving back to my bedroom and changing into my teal leotard. I needed to work off this excess energy. I needed to escape my own insistent thoughts.

Quickly, I braided back my blond hair and wrapped it in a tight bun. It was crucial in gymnastics not to have hair loose you could step on during your tricks.

After slipping back on my uniform, I made my way to the gym. At this time of day, it was crowded. Boys, and a few girls, used the equipment efficiently. The smell of sweat permeated the air, but it wasn’t entirely unpleasant. These were people who worked hard and played even harder. I couldn’t help but respect them and the sweat they shed.

I wouldn’t be able to do my full routine in a room this crowded, but I found a corner on the mat I had used the first day. Stripping out of my school uniform, I smiled smugly at the eyes I could feel caressing my skin.

Now, if only a certain four guys would look at me that way…

Shaking my head vehemently, I dropped to the ground and kicked my legs out into the splits. I bent over until my nose touched my toes.

My thoughts, however, weren’t on my exercises, the pounding music reverberating through the building, or the hungry looks from a group of men jogging on the track around the mat.

No, my damn, traitorous thoughts were fixated on the conversation in the shed.

Escape.

That word made me feel warm and fuzzy, worth a thousand orgasms. I would give anything to escape. Anything.

Since I arrived here, fear had clouded my every waking moment. And sleeping moment, if I was being completely honest. From the students being forcibly removed to Kelly showing me a monster eating a student, I couldn’t differentiate between what was real and what was a product of my own mind.

Would their plan work? Was it possible for us to leave the school?

And where would we even go? The police?

Not one of us had the answer to that, but…

But we knew someone who did.

My eyes flickered to where Heath stepped off a treadmill in the other room wiping sweat off his brow. Only a thin slate of glass separated us.

As I watched, transfixed, he brought his shirt up to wipe at his face, and I got a view of his chiseled, golden abs. He dropped his shirt and raised his head, meeting my eyes through the glass window.

My face flamed, tips of my ears burning, at being caught staring at him like some perverted voyeur.

Shit. Shit. Shit.

Slowly, heart racing, I lifted my eyes back to where I had seen Heath.