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As soon as the door bangs shut, J comes out, looking around to see if he’s gone. “Ugh, that guy is...”

“A douche-turd,” I finish the sentence for her. But the look in her eyes doesn’t go unnoticed. I let it go, not having time to think about what it means.

If I only have three weeks until I go back, for god knows how long, I’ll be making the most of that time.

I sit down at my desk Thursday night, squinting at the pile of papers that I have to type up. I hate Thursday nights with a passion. There’s only two of us that work on a Thursday now and Layla only works until six, leaving me on my own until ten.

It’s a recent thing, ever since the person who used to lock up quit.

I don’t mind the walk home so much now but when I have to lock up, it’s scary. I always thought I heard noises that weren’t there and most of the time, I’d scare myself for no reason.

So when Layla leaves, I take off my headphones and listen to every little noise.

The sound of the computer and the whirl of the fridge in the next room are so loud. I’m hyper aware of everything around me and for some reason, tonight is worse.

Maybe it’s because I’m on edge after having a mysterious missed call from Ty. He rarely calls and when he actually does, it’s hardly ever good news.

So I’m on edge and dying to leave so that I can call him back.

Speeding through all of my papers, I finish over an hour early and with nowhere to go and nothing to do, I pull my cell out and click on Ty’s name.

My heart pounds in my chest and the blood pumps louder in my ears as the ringing tone sounds. My eyes scan the space, looking everywhere and squinting at shadows I swore weren’t there a second ago.

“Yeah?” I jump at his deep voice, my hand flying to my chest.

“Ty?” I whisper, not wanting to be too loud because, well... I don’t know.

“Ah... Ava.” I sense his smile over the line and my heart slows down its erratic beating. “You good?”

“Me? Yeah. Are you good?” I raise a brow, even though he can’t see me, just wanting him to get the bad news over with.

His chuckle relieves some more of the tension and I find myself leaning back in the chair smiling. “I’m good. Listen, I wanted to talk to you about-”

“Oh God.” I lower my chin to my chest and squeeze my eyes closed. “What’s happened?”

“What? Nothing. Are you sure you’re good?” The concern in his voice is loud and clear.

I shake my head. “Yeah, sorry, I’m just, erm... distracted.”

“Oh... well... I’ll make it quick. Eli is having a party for his birthday.”

“Okay.” I smile. “When and where? I’ll be there.”

I smile as he laughs again and I start putting my things in my bag so that I’m ready to leave. Having someone to talk to on my way home sounds like a good idea, so I grab my bag while I’m still on the line with Ty and switch the lights off.

I’ll just say that I left early and make up an excuse if they ask. Not as though they ever do but I hate not being here until my shift ends.

It makes me feel weird.

But tonight is different. Something is in the air and I don’t know if I’m imagining things or just being paranoid.

“Next Saturday at the compound. You good to get here?”

“Yeah,” I reply as I push through the door to the building and out into the dark night. “I’ll come down with Jackson.”

“Okay. Oh... I wanted to talk about... ah shit. I’ve gotta go, I’ll call you back tomorrow, okay?”

“Erm... Yeah, sure.” I swallow and start to pick up my pace as I walk through the quad, scanning everywhere when a feeling like I’m being watched washes over me. “Bye,” I whisper and let the call drop, not hearing what he says back to me.