Chapter 17

**Winter**

I ran from the locker room as soon as he let me free. I couldn’t believe that had happened. I felt so humiliated. Why did I let something like that happen? He was supposed to have that kind of power over me. He wasn’t even supposed to be there. I didn’t think that plan through. The movie made it look so easy. All she did was go in, get the clothes, and come back out. She didn’t have to worry about someone taking a smoke break. If I had only been a tiny bit faster. I knew I shouldn’t have taken my time with breaking open the locks. It made sounds no matter what I did. Ugh, why?

I walked out to the courtyard. I couldn’t believe another one had made me cum like that. I was falling straight back into their trap and I wasn’t even able to get my revenge on them. I needed something better. I needed to go back to the drawing board.

I wasn’t paying attention to where I was going and bumped into someone. “Oh, I am so sorry,” I said as I bounced off them almost falling to the ground.

The guy in front of me steadied me. He smiled instead of what I expected him to do. Once I was able to get a better look at him, I realized that I knew who he was. Nev from my composition class. He also had another class with me it turned out. We had Algebra II together. We didn’t sit near each other this time, but I did notice him. I wasn’t sure if he had noticed me. He really noticed me now. I wasn’t sure if I wanted him to notice me in this way.

“Hi, I am so sorry. I should really watch where I am going.”

He nodded. “It’s fine. These things happen. I wouldn’t take too much offense to them.” He smiled at me.

“Thanks. I should really look where I am going anyway.” I said. “Where are you headed to this morning? You weren’t in a hurry were you.”

He shook his head. “No, I was looking at my phone. It is probably more my fault than yours. I should have looked it up. I was on my way to get breakfast. I was going to that cafe in the library. They have some of the best bagels.”

I smiled at him. “They really do.” My stomach growled at the thought of that. I hadn’t had a chance to eat yet. Only thinking about finally getting my revenge.

“It sounds like your stomach agrees,” he chuckled. “Come on, I will get you something.” He took my hand.

I smiled and nodded walking with him to the cafe. It was a nice short walk for us to get there. We talked a little on the way over. Once we got into the cafe is when I could start feeling eyes on us. I hadn’t figured out if people recognized me yet or not from the past. I hated not knowing if they still remembered those photos or not.

Nev didn’t seem to notice everyone looking at us which made me wonder if it was all in my head. I could just be overthinking things with being back in a place that has given me a lot of trauma. It wouldn’t be the first time I did something like that before.

“What kind of bagel do you want?” He asked me turning towards me. “And what kind of coffee or latte or whatever? Get whatever you want, my treat.”

“Are you sure?” I asked. I didn’t want him to feel like he had to buy me something. If anything I should buy him something for running into him.

He nodded. “Of course, pick whatever you like.” He said as he pulled out his card. “Trust me, I can get it.” He winked.

I let him buy me a blueberry bagel and a salted caramel iced latte. He handed them to me once the barista gave them to me. I thanked him quietly before we went to go sit back down.

“So what is your major?” He asked looking at me as he started to spread peanut butter on his bagel.

“I am a psych major. What are you?” I asked him.

“Political science. Snooze, I know. Not something I really wanted, but I couldn’t really figure anything out so my father picked for me.”

I looked at him confused. “Why couldn’t you pick anything?”

He shrugged. “I really don’t know what I want to do. This is kind of my parent's thing. They wanted me to go to school. I didn’t really want to go to college.”

“What did you want to do?” I asked.

He shrugged again. “I guess I didn’t know, because I knew I wouldn’t have a choice. I would have to go to college. My parents would find me a major and everything inbetween.”

“I am sorry,” I tell him. Not really sure what else to say. That had to suck. My parents didn’t force me to go to school. They kind of picked what school they would pay for, but Everlasting did have a good program for psychology so it wasn’t like it was a bad thing. His seemed like a bad thing but at the same time. He didn’t seem to know what he want. Maybe his parents had a point.

He shook his head. “Nah, it’s cool. I kind of like it. I will figure things out or I am sure my parents will figure things out for me.”

I nodded with a small smile. “I am sure you will figure things out. Maybe you will really like political science.

I felt eyes on me suddenly. It wasn’t like the eyes from before. These eyes were burning holes into the back of my head. I turned to look who they belonged to. When our eyes met, I could feel my heart stop. How did he always know where I was?