CHAPTER 14
AVA
When Monday morning rolls around,I’m eager to settle into the mundane routine of attending my classes. I studied all day on Sunday to bring myself up to speed, and I’m looking forward to focusing on my coursework this week and forgetting about the Kings and their threats and the constant anxious speculation of when they’ll come to collect.
My roommate has been conspicuously absent since Saturday night. Wherever she is, I hope her guilt is eating her alive after leaving me to the wolves. I’d thought Richelle and I could be friends, but if that’s the kind offriendshe is, then I don’t need her. In fact, she can stay gone for all I care. Maybe I don’t mind being alone after all. There’s safety in solitude.
Donning my signature plaid skirt look, I gather up my textbooks and laptop and start shoving them into my backpack, getting ready to head off to my first class of the day. Just as I zip my bag and swing it up over my shoulder, a knock sounds at my door.
Figuring it’s probably someone looking for Richelle, I stride across the room to answer it, pulling the door open to find the redhead that took me up to the Registrar’s office on my first day standing on the other side.
“Hi Ava!” she greets brightly, pressing a finger to her chest. “Hailey, remember? I was told to come bring you this.”
She thrusts a piece of paper in my direction, and I take it from her curiously, bringing it down in front of me to read what’s printed upon it.
My brows furrow as my eyes scan the text. “This is…”
“Your new schedule,” Hailey finishes for me. “I guess they got your requests to switch just in time since Friday was the end of the add/drop period.”
I look back up at her, thoroughly confused. “But I didn’t ask to switch?”
Hailey retreats a step and raises her hands, showing me her palms. “Hey, I’m just the messenger. If there’s a problem with your schedule, you’ll have to head on over to the Registrar’s office and deal with it yourself.”
My gaze drops to the paper in my hands again. “Yeah, okay,” I mutter, shaking my head in disbelief as I skim the schedule. Only one of my classes is the same– the rest have changed, and I have no idea why.
Thanking Hailey and closing the door, I spin around and walk over to my desk to peruse my campus map that’s now taped to the wall above it. This is probably just some sort of mix-up, so I’ll do what she suggested and stop by the Registrar’s office to clear it up. Scanning the map, I trace the route to the main building from the dorms, committing it to memory, then turn around and head out.
When I exit through the back door of Sutton Hall, it’s impossible not to notice Ford loitering beside the building, leaning against the stone façade with a foot kicked up on the wall behind him and a smoldering cigarette pinched between his fingers. Seeing him in the light of day like this is disarming, causing me to stumble a step in surprise as the door swings closed behind me.
Ford is the embodiment of a stereotypical bad boy with his unkempt dark hair, tattooed skin, and devilish smirk. He’s dressed in form-fitting ripped jeans, a leather jacket, and motorcycle boots– the same look he was rocking the night of the party at the boathouse. His tight white t-shirt beneath his jacket is stretched tautly across his muscular chest, betraying just how ripped his lean body really is. Ford isn’t bulky like Wes and Raf, but somehow, he still appears just as strong; just as lethal. Like he could snap my neck with the simple flick of a tattooed wrist.
Upon seeing me, he tosses his cigarette away and pushes off from the wall, a lock of dark hair flopping down over his forehead. My pulse kicks up as I skitter away down the path, but he easily catches up in a few long strides, falling into step beside me.
“Morning, Ava baby,” he drawls, flashing me a roguish grin.
My heart skips a beat.
“Morning,” I mumble.
“Did you get your new schedule?”
I grind to a halt, pivoting around and holding up the paper Hailey gave me. “You guys were the ones behind this?”
He shrugs a shoulder nonchalantly. “Well yeah, who else?”
I should’ve known.
“Why do I have to change classes?” I demand, outrage and indignation rising within me. “I spent all weekend trying to catch up on the classes I was already enrolled in!”
Ford just shrugs again, completely unaffected by my outburst. “We decided we want to keep a closer eye on you.”
He takes a step toward me, his sudden proximity catching me off guard as he leans down to put his face level with mine.
“Since you threatened to report us to the cops and all,” he adds with a wag of his brows, like this is all part of some game.
But games require willing participants, and I never signed up to play.
“So, what then, I’m just onyourschedule now?” I scoff, frowning as I fold my arms tightly over my chest.
