Page 43 of The Betrayal You Serve

Ella meets us after class and the three of us head toward the coffee shop, once again without Luca who slipped out of our lit class the second it ended, unlike Kane who remained at the back of the room, waiting for us to leave—or at least, that was what I assumed he was doing. I wasn't going to wait around to find out otherwise.

"Are you going to be okay?" Leon asks before he leaves us to go to his afternoon class.

"Of course she is. She's got me watching her back," Ella says as if she's not barely five feet tall and able to hold her own against the likes of Kane.

"That's what I was worried about," Leon mutters, amusement glittering in his eyes.

"Oh hush. I got this."

"I am standing right here, you know, and I don't actually need a bodyguard."

"We know," they say in unison before Leon gives us a little wave and heads off to class.

"So psych and then…?"

"Then I'm locking myself in my room and getting some work done."

"But—"

"But nothing. I'm so behind. I'm forgetting about everything this week and just doing classes and assignments."

"That doesn't include homecoming, right?"

I shrug. I've already planned to spend Saturday night with Harley, so I only need to find a way out of Friday night's party.

"Yes."

"Letty," she whines.

"I'm not going to the bonfire, El. You can just forget about it."

She looks over at me, a smirk appearing on her face.

"Ella," I warn, already able to see a plan forming behind her eyes.

"What? You're going to that bonfire. It's tradition and it's your first year here, so you've got to go."

"No, I really, really don't."

"But everyone will be there."

"Even more reason for me to hide. Everyone already knows more than enough about my life, I don't need to give them any more."

"They'll all have forgotten by the weekend. Some other drama or scandal will have taken over your Dunn sandwich gossip."

I groan. "You had to go there, didn't you?"

She shrugs, a smile playing on her lips. "Well, not all of us would regret it."

"You're a nightmare." I wrap my arm around her shoulders as we head toward the Anderson Building. "So any Colt gossip, or have you been too busy worrying about what I've been up to?"

"Nothing to report. I barely even saw him Saturday night."

Ella chats away about everything else I've missed while I've been drowning in my own nightmare of a life and she manages to keep me from my depressing thoughts all the way back to our dorm after class.

"You really locking yourself in there?" she asks when I'm in my doorway with a bottle of water and a bag of chips in my arms as sustenance.

"Yes, and if anyone wants me. I'm not here. Got it."