Page 18 of The Revenge You Seek

His lips part and for a second, I think he's actually going to say something but at the last minute, he closes them again and swiftly disappears into the auditorium.

I release the breath I had no idea I was holding and my legs give out.

I slide down the wall until my ass hits the floor and I wrap my arms around my knees.

"What the hell was that?" Ella asks, dropping down to her haunches beside me and placing her warm hand on my shoulder.

"T-that… that was my worst nightmare."

"Uh… o-okay." She looks to the door where Kane vanished and then back to me. "Do you want to go back to the dorms?"

I'm about to say yes and I'm almost climbing from the floor in my need to escape but at the last minute, I stop myself.

"No. I need to go to class."

"But—"

I push up from the floor and brush myself off.

I refuse to be the girl I've been for the last year. If I'm her, then he'll crush me without even trying.

I need to find the girl who stood up against him the night of that party. The night that tilted my world on its axis.

I blow out a breath and reach down for my cell, looking it over, grateful that I didn’t crack the screen, and then grab my purse.

I take a step toward my class but Ella's hand on my arm stops me.

"A-are you sure this is a good idea?"

No, it's probably not. "Yes, it'll be fine." I refuse to stop my life for a moment longer because of him. He's already taken enough from me. That has to stop now.

After tapping out a quick message to Zayn, I square my shoulders and hold my head high as the professor slips into the room.

Perfect timing.

"I can come?"

"No, you have a marketing class. I'll be fine."

She hesitates, not wanting to leave me.

I understand. If I'd just witnessed her react like that to merely seeing someone, I'd be concerned too.

"Unlock this," she says, lifting my cell up.

I do as she says and she takes it from me, quickly tapping out her number.

"If you need me… anything. Call me. I'll be right here."

"Thank you," I whisper. "I-I should go. I don't want to miss anything."

"Okay."

She doesn't leave, instead just watches me walk into my class.

The seats are almost full as I scan my eyes around the room, hoping like hell my eyes don’t find him.

Spotting an empty seat about halfway back, I hitch my purse up higher and make my way there as the professor begins introducing himself and what today's class will entail.