Page 31 of Sour Lollipops and Sweet Nightmares (The Society #1)

Georgia

N o one can do you better than you can. My grandmother used to tell me that all the time. It never really made sense to me. Who would want to be me?

I wasn’t popular, well-liked, or even thought about. Most of my graduating class didn’t even know my name. Unknown wasn’t exactly the role most girls aspired to have. Yet, I found myself thinking a lot about that statement recently.

Not because I thought someone wanted to be me, but because I wasn’t sure I knew how to be me anymore. The Georgia Pyne who arrived at Renfrew was confident and sure of herself. The one who was currently sitting in class was jumpy, paranoid, and hearing whispers.

You should sleep with the lights on.

That thought had been rolling through my mind all day.

I’d never been afraid of the dark, not even when I was a kid.

Monsters weren’t real. Therefore, there was no boogeyman hiding in the shadows.

So why did I suddenly have the urge to turn on the lights when I walked into a dim room? And my paranoia didn’t stop there.

When the projector at the front of the class flickered, I half expected some devil face to show, pop up, and evilly glare at me.

Instead, a layered diagram of limestone and shale snapped into focus.

Something that one would expect to see in a historical geology class, but that didn’t stop my heart from thumping in my chest.

Get a hold of yourself, Georgia.

I might need to take a trip to the counselor’s office before this nervousness affects my grades.

Taking a deep breath, I focused on Dr. Kellerman as he tapped his pointer against a jagged section labeled unconformity.

“What’s missing here isn’t just rock,” he explained. “It’s time. Hundreds of thousands, maybe even millions of years erased.”

Missing time was the very definition of unconformity. It was a gap in the geological record where rock was either not deposited or had eroded before new layers built up. But the word erased for some reason felt nefarious. It echoed in my mind a second too long.

All I could picture was some thief sneaking up in the middle of the night and plucking out a chunk of time from history, which, of course, could never happen. No one had that kind of capability. Yet I couldn’t stop thinking about it.

If you could easily erase time, then what about me, or Rachel, or the guy sitting next to me tapping his pencil against his notebook? Would anyone look for us if we disappeared? Or would we be another unconformity, like the missing layers of rock in that picture?

I peered over at the guy beside me and took mental notes of a few things.

The tattoo of a rose on his forearm, the scar under his chin, and the ring on his left hand that looked like some championship thing.

I didn’t know his name, but if he went missing, I could give the police a half-decent description.

Why I felt this was necessary, I couldn’t explain.

That was where my thoughts were going today.

I saw danger everywhere I went. Every shadow had someone hiding in it, every word whispered was some ominous secret plan, and every sound had a hidden agenda.

Someone sneezed in the cafeteria this morning, and I jumped ten feet in the air.

I felt like I was losing my mind, and it started with the writing on my mirror.

I kept going over that moment, trying to figure out if the words I saw were actually there or if I imagined them.

Logic told me I had imagined them. No one was in the house, there were no signs of a break-in, and when I went back into the bathroom, the mirror had fogged up again, erasing whatever might’ve been there.

That day was beyond messed up. Nothing that happened made sense. Why did I hug Levi? Why did Ravi bring my stuff back? Why did Issac show up at my house and hit Ravi? But most of all, why did I clean his wound instead of calling campus security?

It wasn’t that I thought they would’ve done anything.

Issac seemed to have the police in his pocket, so why would campus security be any different?

But it would’ve been better than sitting down beside the man who’d been tormenting me, as if he wasn’t dangerous.

I obviously couldn’t trust my action that day, so why would I trust what I’d seen? Or what I thought I’d seen.

That’s what logic told me. But no amount of logic could get rid of my eerie sense of being watched. It bled into everything I did. When I woke up this morning, it felt like someone had been in my room. Which, of course, was preposterous.

If someone had snuck in during the night, I’d be dead, not hearing whispers in the shadows. And they certainly wouldn’t have locked the door behind them.

The only key to Craven House was on my keychain. I knew this because the guy who kept calling me Grace told me not to lose it because it was the only one he had when he gave it to me. Meaning I was either going insane or having some kind of breakdown. I wasn’t sure which.

I looked back at the image at the front of the class and wondered how many trucks someone would need to remove that much rock.

Dr. Kellerman folded his pointer and said, “Now imagine if someone removed those layers on purpose.”

My eyes narrowed.

Did he know what I was thinking? Of course, he didn’t. Telepathy wasn’t a real thing, right? Issac was oddly fast, and Levi somehow got me to touch him. The men at Renfrew didn’t seem to be normal, and Dr. Kellerman was oddly attractive for a geology professor.

Don’t get me wrong, professors could be attractive, but the people who typically went into my chosen field didn’t wear tailored suits, or style their hair like they were getting ready for a magazine shoot. Maybe Dr. Kellerman was put here to watch me?

Oh god, I was losing my mind. Renfrew wouldn’t hire someone to keep an eye on one student. And if they did, that student certainly wouldn’t be me.

Shaking the thought out of my mind, I returned to the lecture.

Dr. Kellerman continued talking about stratigraphic silences and gaps in history. But the only thing I could hear was the hum of the lights overhead. The more I tried to ignore it, the louder it got.

Was the classroom always this quiet?

I looked up at the fluorescent bulb on the ceiling above me. That incessant humming continued picking at my brain like a mosquito buzzing in my ear.

Hmm ….

Hmmm …

HMM …

HMMM …

I clamped my hands over my ears, “Shut up.”

The entire class quieted and turned my way.

Crap.

Dr. Kellerman’s brow lifted. “Do you have something to add, Miss Pyne?”

Clearing my throat, I slowly uncupped my ears. “Um…” Think, think… unconformities and stratigraphic silences, I know this. “Can we correlate… layers in different regions to fill in those gaps?”

“Excellent question.” Dr. Kellerman said, allowing me to release the breath I was holding.

That was close. My paranoia was seriously getting out of control. There was nothing evil happening behind the scenes. No one here was going to hurt me. Hell, half the students in here only signed up because they thought it would be an easy grade.

I’d only met two other geology majors, which wasn’t unusual since Renfrew didn't implement their geology program until last year. It was state-of-the-art, but brand new. I would’ve preferred somewhere else, like Harvard, which had strong research funding, or Columbia, which had Lamont-Doherty—a world-class earth science research center.

But beggars couldn’t be choosers. And Renfrew was an Ivy League school.

Wait a minute…

Did I know they had a geology program? I must’ve, otherwise why would I apply? Come to think of it, I didn’t remember applying, either.

Nope.

I shook my head. I was not going to spiral down that road. It was a scholarship and nothing more. One of my former professors must’ve recommended me. Stuff like that happened all the time, and I was at the top of my class.

“Pyne,” Dr Kellerman’s voice cut through the air.

“Yes, sir,” I answered, hoping that he wouldn’t notice I was only half paying attention.

“Have you seen an angular unconformity before?”

“Yes,” I nodded. “In the Devonian formations.”

He didn’t acknowledge whether I was right or wrong, he just turned around and continued his lecture. Not that I needed the acknowledgement, I knew I was right.

“I don’t think Issac would appreciate you calling another man Sir.”

A chill shot down my spine as my back went rigid. I knew that voice.

Hoping that this time it was just my imagination, I slowly turned around.

My hope did not get answered.

Seated in the chair behind me, with one foot propped up on his knee, was Ravi. He may have returned my things—minus my notebook—but that didn’t mean I trusted him.

“What are you doing here?” I whispered back at him.

“I’m learning.”

I highly doubted that. Ravi had no interest in the historical data stored in the Earth’s layers. He was here to pester me. Was invading my personal space and home not enough for him? Now he had to interrupt my studies.

“You don’t care about geology.”

“Maybe I do.” A causal smirk spread across his face. “Maybe I had a sudden interest in rocks.”

Uh-huh. I just bet he did.

“Well, I suggest you sign up for petrology or mineralogy then. This class is geographic history, not rocks.” If he was going to lie, he could at least do some research. Don’t insult me with generalized topics.

“Correct me if I’m wrong, but isn’t he,” he pointed at Dr. Kellerman, “Talking about rocks right now?”

“No,” I snidely sang. “Those are layers in the earth.”

“Which are made of rock.”

Technically yes, but… “That’s not why you’re here.”

“Oh yeah, then why am I here?”

That was easy. “Because you and your friends have some sick obsession with tormenting me.”

“That is true.” He nodded and clicked his tongue. “But that’s only because you look so adorable when you’re scared.”

“You don’t scare me.” Issac on the other hand…

“You’re even more adorable when you lie.”

“I’m not lying.” Not completely.

Seeing him sitting there made me feel relieved. Someone was watching me, which meant I wasn’t losing my mind. My paranoia wasn’t unjustified. So, no, at this moment, Ravi didn’t scare me. If anything, I was irritated.

“Your intimidation tactics won’t work on me.”

A flicker of amusement flashed across Ravi’s face. “You sure about that?”

“Yes.” I was absolutely sure.

This was my class, not his. And no one, not Ravi, Issac, nor any of their friends, was going to affect the plans I had for my future.

“You should leave now before I tell Dr. Kellerman that you don’t belong here.”

“Aw,” he gave me a mocking frown. “Are you going to blow my cover, Sunshine?”

I glared at him. “Yes, I am.”

“Okay, but how sure are you that I don’t belong here?”

Was that a trick question? “One hundred percent.”

In the background, I could hear Dr. Kellerman ask, “Can anyone tell me what defines a disconformity, and why it’s more dangerous than an angular unconformity?”

Ravi stared directly at me and answered, “A disconformity occurs when sedimentary layers are parallel, but there’s a gap in the record. Missing time isn’t obvious. It’s dangerous because it looks normal.”

Son of a…

How the hell did he know that? What did he do, memorize the textbook?

“That doesn’t…” was all I got out before another familiar voice spoke up.

“Hold up.”

My eyes swung over to the manbun in the middle row on the left side of the room. Levi was here too. I was about to point out that neither of them belonged in this class when Levi opened his mouth.

“If layers of history can be destroyed or rewritten, then how do we know that the version we have is real?”

Are you fucking kidding me?

Okay, now I was pissed off, and not just because I should’ve thought of that question.

“Yeah, is the geologic record truth, or is it just the best lie that survived?” Someone else piped n before I could, making me grit my teeth.

Slater’s smug face was on the right side of the room near the front of the class.

That’s it. They could torment me all they wanted. They could make me cry, hurt me, hell, I could even let Issac’s violation go. But this… this was complete bullshit. It would be a cold day in hell before I ever let them out-geology me.

“It’s real.” I barked at Slater. “Science is based on evidence, and stratigraphy gives us physical proof.”

Let’s see them argue that. They probably didn’t even know what stratigraphy meant.

“Ah, but physical records erode.” Ravi pointed out. “We only know what didn’t vanish.”

While that was a valid argument, and I might be slightly impressed with that, he did not belong here. Neither did Levi nor Slater.

“So, your argument is that we’re guessing that the facts are the facts?” What kind of argument was that?

Ravi lifted his shoulder in a shrug. “People trick themselves into thinking shit is real all the time.”

My eyes narrowed. What did he mean by that? Did he know something? Maybe Ravi wrote on my mirror? They were trying to make me think I was crazy. That was it, wasn’t it?

“That’s because some people refuse to listen to logic.” I shot back at him. “For instance, pepper spray doesn’t burn because you think it will.”

I’d happily remind him of that little fact with the can I had in my bag.

“The question isn’t whether it’s real.”

My entire body froze at the sound of that voice.

The person behind Ravi sat up and shifted forward, bringing a pair of turquoise eyes into view.

Issac.

“The question…” he continued while staring directly at me. “Is who decides which version gets remembered?”

Why did that feel like a threat? “There is no who when it comes to sentiment.”

“Oh, there’s always a who, Peaches. Haven’t you heard…” the slightest smirk tugged at the corner of his mouth. “History is written by the victor.”

“That saying only applies to war, and this subject has nothing to do with war.”

Issac’s eyes narrowed on me. “I’d be careful if I were you. The hardest war to win is the one you don’t know you’re fighting.”

That was definitely a challenge. For what, I didn’t know. But there was no doubt in my mind that I wouldn’t like it.