she was fucking scary. And according to the guys, a nut job.
“See this morning’s school paper?” she asked, shoving the skimpy tabloid toward me.
I didn’t take it. “I don’t read it. I’m not interested. Can you tell me why I’m here this morning, Ms. Abalone?”
She pursed her lips. “You might want to read the paper this time, Senna, because it has a story about you.”
Fuck.
My stomach fell. Please don’t let me get sick right here, right now. If it were going to happen, and I was pretty sure it would, I had to hold off until I got out of the crazy lady’s office. So I couldn’t look down at the paper. I just kept my gaze locked to Abalone’s cold, black eyes.
“Read it,” she demanded.
With a trembling hand, I slowly turned the paper around and looked at the first column, then the second. So far so good. What had she been talking about?
I found out when I reached the third column.
Student Makes Ends Meet Dancing at Club V was the headline. I didn’t need to read more. I didn’t have to. After all, I knew my own goddamn story.
Ty had gotten to someone on the paper in revenge for my turning him down. He’d made good on his promise. He couldn’t pull off passing Freshman English, but he could pitch an article to the student newspaper to inflict as much harm as he could on someone. Probably offered him free tickets to one of his games. Or popcorn.
What a waste of a human being.
I exhaled slowly to calm myself and returned my gaze to Abalone.
Why me? Seriously. Couldn’t the universe give me a fucking break? There might have been some level of fairness in the world, but it sure had never rained down on me.
Ty was yet another person trying to make me feel worthless. When would they leave me alone? Who had I hurt?
And at that moment, all I wanted to do was talk to the guys.
My three guys.
“Aren’t you going to read it, Senna?” she asked with a smirk.
“No. No, I’m not. And I have a busy day, so I’ll head out now—” I started to stand.
“You need to leave the university. I have the withdrawal papers right here.”
What?
What did she just say? Something about leaving? The university?
“Ms. Abalone, is this voluntary? Or am I being kicked out?”
“At this point it is voluntary. Which is why I’m suggesting it. If you wait for the university to do an investigation and then make it known that someone like you hurt their hard-earned reputation, you’ll be ruined. By withdrawing, you can leave quietly without attracting any attention to yourself… or Professor Adler, whom you’ve been consorting with.”
Wait. What?
“You don’t deserve to be at Wellshire,” she said matter-of-factly.
I didn’t think I’d ever been so close to murder.
While I didn’t accept a word the horrible woman was throwing my way, I’d be lying if barbs like that didn’t sow seeds of doubt. Of course, the seeds of doubt had already been there. They had been for as long as I could remember. She’d just watered them nicely.
A strange pressure thumped in my chest. I wasn’t sure whether it was anger at the shitty people who’d tried to hold me back or grief that they’d had the ability to do it. But it was explosive. And it wasn’t going to stay there, neatly tucked away.
I had to get out.
But not without one last comment.
I signed the withdrawal papers Krishelle had shoved in front of me. My short-lived college career was over.
“You are a sad, sad woman, Ms. Abalone. I’ll go on and one way or the other make a good life for myself. But you’ll be stuck here in the knowledge that you can’t ever do anything else or go anywhere because you are a limited human being.”
All expression slipped from her face.
“You are the one who is nothing. And you always will be,” I said.
I left, calmly pulling her door closed behind me.
And made it to the ladies’ room just in time.
After I’d cleaned myself up and had some cold water, I lumbered outside the administration building and wandered into a small grove with an empty bench. Closing my eyes, I took deep breaths to smooth out my racing thoughts and heartbeat.
And as I pushed the ugliness of my conversation with Abalone into the far corners of my mind, all that surfaced in its place were the beautiful faces of Benno, Jamie, and Chase. Three sexy, smart, kind, and funny men