Chapter 149
Ellie's POV
The fluorescent lights of the Computer Science Building's third floor buzzed overhead as Lily, Megan, and I navigated the post-class exodus. My backpack felt heavier than usual—not from textbooks, but from the weight of last night's revelations still settling in my chest. Jackson's touch, his words, the way we'd...
Focus, I reminded myself. You have a role to play.
"—did you even hear what I just said?" Lily's voice cut through my thoughts.
"Sorry, what?"
She lowered her voice, leaning closer as we walked. "I said, have you noticed anything weird about Lucas and Samantha lately?"
My stomach tightened, but I kept my expression casual. "Weird how?"
"Like, three weeks into the semester and I haven't seen them together once." Lily's eyes gleamed with that particular spark she got when sharing campus gossip. "Last fall? They were literally everywhere. Basketball court, library, dining hall—you couldn't escape them."
Megan adjusted her bag strap. "Now that you mention it, yeah. I saw Lucas at the gym last week and he was alone. No Samantha hovering like usual."
"Maybe they're just busy with classes?" I offered, though part of me wondered if there was truth to their observations.
"Or," Lily drew out the word conspiratorially, "maybe trouble in paradise."
Before I could respond, Megan suddenly pressed her palm against my elbow. Her voice dropped to barely a whisper. "Speaking of Samantha—she's been spending a lot of time at Student Services Building."
My Thalia stirred, hackles rising. "What do you mean?"
"I went there Tuesday to submit some paperwork, and I saw her coming out of that new advisor's office. You know, Martinez? The hot European guy who just started?"
The world seemed to slow down. Martinez. Caleb.
He's already making moves.
"Oh?" I kept my tone light, even as my pulse hammered. "Maybe she needed academic counseling or something."
"That's what I thought," Lily jumped in, excitement building. "But Thursday I was at Blue Bean Café studying, and I saw them in one of the corner booths. They were there for like, an hour at least. And Ellie—" she touched my arm for emphasis, "—Samantha was crying."
My mind raced, fitting pieces together. Caleb approaching Samantha. Samantha vulnerable, emotional. The perfect proxy to gather information about Jackson and me.
Clever bastard.
"Huh," I said aloud. "That's... interesting."
The hallway air shifted. I caught a scent—faint but unmistakable. Caleb had been here this morning, probably earlier. The residual trace of his presence made my skin crawl, made Thalia want to bare teeth and warn him off our territory.
Not now, I told her firmly. We need to stay calm.
"Don't look now," Lily murmured, "but she's coming this way."
I turned my head slightly, tracking Samantha's approach from the opposite corridor. She'd slowed her pace, her head tilted just so—the universal posture of someone pretending not to eavesdrop while doing exactly that.
An idea crystallized. This wasn't the controlled setting Jackson and I had discussed last night, but maybe that made it better. More authentic. Less rehearsed.
Show time.
I let out a heavy sigh, one hand coming up to rub my temple. The gesture looked natural—exhausted student stressed about midterms. But I made sure my shoulders curved inward slightly, my usual confidence dimmed.
"You guys were right," I said, my voice carrying that particular quality of reluctant admission. "About what you said before. About men changing after you move in together."
Lily's eyes widened. "Ellie? What—"
"It's Jackson." I let the words come out tired, defeated. From the corner of my eye, I tracked Samantha's movement. She'd stopped about fifteen feet away, phone in hand, but her attention was clearly fixed on us. "He's been... different. Since we got the place."
Megan immediately moved closer, her expression shifting to concern. "Different how? Ellie, what happened?"
This was it. The performance that would either convince Caleb we were fracturing—or make him suspicious.
I glanced around as if checking for listeners, then dropped my voice just enough that someone trying to overhear would have to strain. "He comes home later and later. Says it's some 'family business training' thing, but whenever I ask for details, he shuts down completely."
"That's sketchy as hell," Megan said, right on cue.
"Last weekend, I suggested we go to Oak Square, you know, just do something normal together?" I continued, warming to the role. The lies tasted bitter on my tongue, but I pushed through. "He said he was too tired, needed to rest. Fine, whatever. But when I got back from the library? He'd been in the basement for hours. Wouldn't tell me what he was doing down there."
Lily's hand found my arm, squeezing gently. "That's really not okay."
"And yesterday..." I let my voice crack slightly, just enough to sell the hurt. "I noticed this perfume smell on his jacket. Not mine—something floral and expensive. When I asked about it, he got so angry. Started questioning whether I even trust him, like I was being paranoid or controlling for just... noticing."
Megan's eyes flashed with familiar anger—the same protective fire she'd shown when defending me from campus gossip. "I told you! I literally said this would happen. Men always show their true colors once they think you can't leave."
"Maybe it's just stress," I said weakly, playing the girl trying to make excuses for behavior she knows is wrong. "He's got a lot going on with school and work—"
"Don't do that," Lily interrupted firmly. "Don't rationalize it, Ellie. You deserve someone who makes you feel included, not shut out."
Through my peripheral vision, I watched Samantha. Her posture had shifted—no longer pretending to be absorbed in her phone. A small smile played at the corners of her mouth, quickly suppressed but unmistakable.
She's buying it.
More than that—she looked pleased. Almost triumphant.
My Thalia growled low in our shared consciousness. Careful, I warned her. This is what we want. Let her think she's winning.
"Look, can we just..." I glanced at my phone as if checking the time. "I don't want to talk about it right now. We're going to be late for Software Engineering."
"Ellie—" Megan started.
"Please." I injected just enough pleading into the word. "I just need some time to think. Maybe it'll get better once things settle down."
Lily exchanged a look with Megan—one of those silent friend communications that said we'll revisit this later. Then she nodded. "Okay. But promise me you'll tell us if things get worse? You don't have to deal with this alone."
"I promise," I said, and that part, at least, wasn't a lie. If things got worse—really worse—my friends would know. Just not in the way they were imagining.
We started moving toward our next class. As we passed Samantha, she didn't even pretend not to stare. Her eyes tracked me with undisguised interest, and the moment we were past her, I heard the telltale sound of fingers flying across a phone keyboard.
Reporting to Caleb, Thalia confirmed. The scent of satisfaction is unmistakable.