tore myself away from her and everything else I knew when I was just sixteen. I always figured she needed those pieces I left behind more than I did anyway. I had little use for a whole heart and a fully functioning soul back in the day. It was only as I got older and gained some perspective that I realized what I was missing and how hard it would be to live a totally successful life without reclaiming the pieces of myself I walked away from.
Ollie was frantically twisting one of her curls around her index finger, and she refused to meet my gaze. She was nervous. Outwardly, it would’ve been hard to tell if you weren’t familiar with her mannerisms. But I used to know what every twitch, flinch, eyebrow lift, and eyelash flutter meant when it came to this girl. I could tell she was about two seconds away from crawling out of her skin. It was apparent that she wasn’t surprised to see me. I figured that meant she was here because of me.
Ollie cleared her throat and shifted her weight. The soles of her black combat boots squeaked on the wood planks of the porch, and I saw her try and fight back a cringe.
“I go to school here now. I transferred for the upcoming semester. This rental is perfect, and one of the few I can afford. It’s nothing more than a coincidence that you happen to live here too. I didn’t know you were one of the tenants when I filled out the application.”
Her voice was steady, but I could see that she was fighting hard to keep her tone and expression bland. She was a bad liar, which was why I ended up being such a good one. It always used to fall on me to spin tall tales to keep us out of trouble. I lied to protect her far more than I lied for my own gain.
“Is the fact you picked this school a coincidence as well?” I smirked and stared at her without blinking. It’d been a long time, but apparently, she thought I’d gotten stupid in the years we’d been apart.
Ollie flicked her gaze between me and Vernon. I could see my younger roommate was totally confused and slightly alarmed by my confrontation with the girl I never wanted to see again. Vernon was the best of us. He was totally innocent and too good to be influenced by me and the other boys who sheltered him after I rescued him and brought him into our circle. It was a full-time job keeping him focused, and if anyone in this room was going to have a bleeding heart toward the little liar standing in front of me, it would be him. He was still too soft, regardless of all the bullshit life had thrown at him.
My other roommate, Harlen, and I got along so well because we had a lot of similar qualities. Neither one of us trusted easily, and we were both hardwired to take absolutely zero shit from anybody. The big football player and I had butted heads a few times over the course of our friendship, and it never ended well. But I knew he would have my back without question, and if I asked him to toss this fragile interloper out on her admittedly fine ass, he would do it with no questions asked.
After a moment of awkward silence between us, Ollie sighed and dropped her hands to her sides.
“I found out this was where you go to school, and when I decided to transfer, I picked this college because I knew you were here.” She looked down at the toes of her boots in a very guilty manner.
An uneasy grumble came from my roommates as the atmosphere shifted to one of alertness and alarm at her admission.
“You said you weren’t a stalker!” Vernon’s exclamation made me smile because the kid could really be clueless for being an actual genius.
“Do stalkers ever admit to stalking when asked, Vernon?” Vernon pouted at me after I asked the question and narrowed his eyes at Ollie. It took a lot to get on Vernon’s bad side. Once you were there, good luck getting off of it.
Ollie sighed and nervously wiped her palms on her thighs. That was another give-away gesture. She really must be anxious and trying hard to hold it together.
“It wasn’t hard to find you, Huck. Even though you don’t have social media, you’re all