Chapter 166

Returning to college was even easier than I had imagined. I thought I would feel the difference in the classes, in the interaction with other people, but justifying my absence because of a viral illness and contracts with the house was enough for everything to normalize.

However, I knew there was something much bigger and worse to deal with.

I could barely sleep without feeling the urge to scream. Kicking my pillow, pacing the floor until it almost formed a hole in the room, and thinking twice before grabbing a knife to kill Dante occupied my nights.

The agonizing pain caused by his truth-filled words seemed endless. The memory of my parents hadn’t been erased, but now it had different colors that I didn’t like.

“You’re lying to me!” Penélope exclaimed, stealing glances from the people around us. “You told me not to go out at night, if something happened to you, not to call the police and pretend we had fought. You disappeared for another two days, and now you come back saying you were sick. Nonsense.”

I understood her anger and concern, but I couldn’t tell her the truth when it would put her life at risk.

“I don’t think I lied. You know people disappear on the streets of this city. I was just preparing you,” I lied with all the damned teeth in my mouth, tilting my head back in hopes of being burned by the Sun.

“That’s a lie! I know it is. Kayleen, help me.”

Kay was more entertained watching her gymnastics training videos than paying attention to our friend’s tantrum. She had a notebook and a pencil in hand, writing down her mistakes and what she could improve as she paused the video.

Her focus on gymnastics was an example, especially since she was a professional gymnast. She competed abroad, trained with the best, and still attended Psychology, being one of the best in the course.

“There’s nothing I can do,” she declared, tying her black hair into a quick bun. “But that thing at your house was strange. How is that possible?”

The dead bodies in my apartment had been the subject of many questions, but the brief answer I gave to the neighbor, that he was a friend of some politician, was enough to cool down my friends.

“I don’t know.”

I shrugged, resting my head. It was throbbing.

“And how about the house? Did you manage to pay?”

“Actually, no,” I admitted.

“You’re homeless?”

“I found a cheaper one.”

“Oh, seriously? Where is it?” Penélope asked, curious.

I nervously drummed my fingers on the cool grass.

“A bit far from the city, but there are buses to here.”

“Do you live alone?” Kayleen asked next.

“Yes…” I bit my lower lip. “With some people you don’t know.”

“Good for you, finding a place to stay. But isn’t it far from the laundromat?”

I sighed heavily.

I had been fired after five days without explanation. Although I had used the same excuse about the viral illness, they decided they couldn’t let me work anymore because it would set a bad example for the rest of the staff.

“I’m not working anymore.”

Cullbert took the only working earbud out and straightened his back.

“Did you get rich and we don’t know?”

I scoffed.

“I made a deal with the devil.”

Penélope laughed.

“Coming from you, I wouldn’t doubt it.”

A yellow smile spread across my face as my problems hummed in my ear.

The truth was, I needed to find a new job. After graduating, I needed a way to support myself. And if Dante didn’t keep his word, and I had to run again, I needed a plan beyond Plan B. I would need all the possible contingencies, and money was one of them.

I scanned the edges of the field. It was lunchtime, and people were coming and going around campus. I spotted Vance with his group, holding his small sudoku book. Asher passed by him with two girls, neither acknowledging the other’s presence.

I knew their dynamic and the bond they had since childhood. I never got tired of being amazed at how they could play the role of not being friends anymore so well.

I didn’t notice I was stuck in Asher’s advance with the two girls until he entered my line of sight.

I didn’t know how to react, but he winked at me, collecting some unnecessary sighs and attention.

Asshole.

He was just messing with me. He was certainly hoping I would make a mistake, giving him a reason to cut my head off.

It was too late to ignore what had happened, as Penélope was already chattering.

“Am I crazy, or did Asher just wink at you?”

“You’re crazy.”

“No, I’m not.” Her seriousness was comical. “Are you two hooking up?”

“Impossible,” Kayleen answered for me. “But what happened is weird.”

Kayleen knew everything, so her doubt was more sincere and full of questions.

“You’re imagining things.”

I stood up, shaking my pants to clean them.

“By the way, there’s going to be a pre-game party for the guys. Don’t you want to go?”

“I’m not going,” Kayleen was quicker than me.

“Why? I want to go with my best friends.”

“Probably, there’ll be boring people there and ignorant ones I don’t intend to see.”

Penélope stiffened, decoding what Kay was feeling.

“If that’s the case, I can’t insist, but I wanted to go with you guys.”

I took out my phone to check the time and see when I would need to go back to class.

“Maybe I’ll go,” I told Penélope. “You can wait for me.”

“Oh my God! It’s going to be amazing.”

“Since when do you have a new phone?” Cullbert pointed out.

“My old one broke. I had to buy a new one.”

Her face scrunched up.

“A phone costs more than rent.”

“I’m paying in installments.”

She wasn’t convinced.

“Emília, is there something you’re hiding from me?”

My heart tightened. Kay wasn’t stupid. She could read between the lines and piece together a puzzle, but she couldn’t. I would have to find a way to deflect, or Dante would kill her.

“I’m not hiding anything.” I crouched down and kissed the back of her neck. “You can trust me.”

She searched my eyes until she nodded and kissed my forehead.

“I know you’re not.”

Penélope joined us, hugging us tightly.

I couldn’t ask for more than to hope that fate wouldn’t be cruel and wouldn’t make my friends find out what I had gotten myself into.