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I ’M THRILLED WHEN I’M in the library because, aside from books, it has a nice little corner for studying. Peace and quiet is all I need, so I find an empty table and take a seat.

As I pull out my textbook and notebook, out of the corner of my eye, I spot a shadow. I quickly look in its direction, and my mouth falls open.

It’s Victor. He takes a seat at the table not too far away from me, but he doesn’t even look my way. What are the odds? The guy I want to run away from is right here, disturbing my peace.

I read in the brochure that there’s another library and a study hall next to the dorms, so very few people should come here. Why isn’t Victor there? That place looked much nicer and bigger in the pics. Unless he prefers a cozier place like this one too.

I inwardly groan and focus on my book. But I can barely read anything because I feel his gaze on me. Whenever I look up, his eyes are glued to his books.

What the hell? Am I imagining the whole thing? Maybe he hasn’t even noticed I’m here. Why would he care?

Vanessa, Greg, and his other friends aren’t here, so he doesn’t have to entertain them. Maybe I was wrong about him and he’s only acting like a jerk because everyone expects him to be one.

It doesn’t matter. I’m too distracted by his presence because I keep wondering what he’s doing. Staying here is a waste of time, so I gather my things and stride to the exit, without looking toward Victor. It feels as if he’s looking at me, but I don’t want to glance at him to check. I’m probably just paranoid.

There isn’t a place calm enough for studying, so I head out. It’s a nice day, but all the benches are full and there’s a lot of chatter.

I don’t want to go home either because I get easily distracted. The small coffee shop close by might be my salvation. There should be just the right amount of chatter to serve as background noise.

***

I READ THROUGH THE chapter of my textbook and jot down some notes. The coffee shop was the right choice because it’s easy to ignore any noise, and I’m not distracted by anything. The coffee is great too, even if it’s a little too expensive, but it helps me focus.

The clinking of the chime on the door makes me look up. I jolt back, blinking in shock.

It can’t be! It can’t!

But it can.

Victor.

He passes right next to my table and goes for the counter. Is this really a coincidence? I guess I’m that unlucky because he’s not even looking at me, or at least I think he’s not. Or maybe he doesn’t care.

I keep my head down. If he’s here to grab some coffee, maybe he’ll get a cup and leave. There’s plenty of coffee on campus, but I bet it’s not as good as here.

But as time passes, I don’t hear the chime. He’s still here somewhere. I lift my head. He’s sitting at one of the tables and looking down at his phone. Unbelievable.

I try to ignore him, but I can’t shake off that annoying sensation that he’s watching me. Maybe it’s just that I’m hyperaware when I’m in his presence, so it feels like he’s staring at me, but he’s not.

It reminds me all too much of Sebastian, but Victor is far from my boyfriend, and I doubt he’s romantically or sexually interested in me. Sebastian would always pop up wherever I went, and he made it sound like it was a lucky coincidence.

He wanted me to believe that our encounters were proof that we were soul mates and meant to be. I was dumb enough to think it was true and that it was the cutest thing ever.

It turned out he was stalking me because he thought I might be cheating on him, or at least that was what he said when I confronted him and he told me I’d been talking to some guy he couldn’t have known about unless he’d been following me.

I should’ve walked away right then and there, but I was so hopelessly in love with him that his sick jealousy was totally understandable to me.

But is Victor stalking me?

Only one way to find out.

I pull out my phone and aim the camera toward his table. As I lean it against my cup, I pretend to be going through my notes.

The feeling returns, and I glance at my phone screen. He’s looking straight at me. As I raise my head, he’s again busy with his phone.

I look down again, and there it is. After a few times, I manage to catch his gaze. He just gives me that icy-cold, empty stare.

What’s wrong with him? What is he doing? His phone is still in his hand. Is he trying to film me doing something...? But what?

I don’t get it. Maybe he expects me to notice him and freak out on him for following me, and then he can deny everything and record a video of me acting crazy. Yeah, not going to happen.

I quickly grab my things and stride for the door. Once I’m out, I break into a run. If he doesn’t know where I went, he can’t follow me, and I don’t think he’ll race after me.

Why would he waste his time with me, though? Am I so entertaining to him and his friends? It makes no sense. He should be focusing on his class, or homework, or practice. He has to have hockey practice sometime, right?

As I get closer to my home, I slow down. Panting for breath, I throw a glance over my shoulder. Victor isn’t there. Good.

Just because he was watching me and appeared in two places where I was doesn’t mean anything, does it? It could be a coincidence, and he already stared at me before for no reason at all.

At this point, I don’t know if I’m unnerving myself because of my history with Sebastian or because there’s really something weird going on with Victor. I need to calm down.

If I go straight back home after class, Victor won’t find me interesting anymore. I can go somewhere when he has practice or a game because I doubt he’s going to send his friends after me.

And if the whole thing is just in my head, nothing will happen. Yep, I have an anti-Victor plan. Running into him should happen way less often.