Into the Stars (USC Series Book #2)

chapter twenty-nine

INTO THE STARS
———
MALACHI

The temperate wind whistles through the tall oak trees, quite the contrast to the icy mountainous wind I have been living in for the past week. Students hang out at the base of the trees, talking amongst themselves and not-so-subtly admiring my roommates and me as we saunter through campus.

I cannot remember the last time I simply walked through campus without the sensation of feeling like a million tiny fire ants were crawling all over my skin from the unwarranted stares of others. That is something I half-expected when I became a soccer player at USC, but never to the extent it has become. And whenever I am caught with my three roommates? The stares are a hundred times worse. Dealing with attention has never been something I excelled in, either, unluckily for me.

When the police and local reporters pay you too much, the novelty of it wears off and becomes something you dread instead. The irony isn't lost on me.

I spare a hasty glance at Aidan and Holden, who walk beside me. Holden is talking animatedly to Aidan about the upcoming season. Meanwhile, Aidan has every lick of attention glued to his phone, an overtly overjoyed smile teasing on his lips. There is only one person who could make him smile like that. And neither of them are paying mind to the onlookers, obviously accustomed to it by now.

Dismissing the anxious feeling, I gaze at the campus' scenery. Ivy climbs up the red-brick walls of the lecture halls and buildings, several students walking in and out, books in hand. Wrought-iron benches line the pathways that circle around the courtyard, leading to a few of the many buildings on campus. Garden beds bloom with colorful, spring flowers and the sun beams down, lighting everything in a natural glow.

My feet move on their own accord as I get lost in thought and struggle to keep up with Holden and Aidan. I hardly even acknowledge the incessant buzzing in my pocket, and when I retrieve my phone from my pocket, I withhold an irritated groan. I haven't even been home for a whole twenty-four hours and he is already calling me.

I stop walking. Holden briefly halts, glancing back at me, but continues when I nod for him and Aidan to keep moving.

"Hello, Kohen," I grumble, attempting to keep my disdain out of my voice but failing miserably.

Real jovial, Malachi.

"Someone piss in your cereal?" Kohen responds, humor dripping from his tone as an easy chuckle falls from his mouth.

His comedy fuels my discontent. There is no doubt in my mind that this phone call isn't leading in the direction of Vaughn and his current state. "What the fuck do you want?"

Kohen sighs, and instantaneously, a bit of remorse hits me. He isn't the cause of my infinite bad moods or my anger spurts and yet I take it out on the ones least deserving of it.

I scrub a hand over the stubble on my cheeks, raking my hand through my hair, tugging on the strands just a bit too hard to keep myself in check. Perusing my surroundings, I take a seat on the closest wrought-iron bench and contain my irritation before I speak again.

Inhale. Exhale. Inhale. Exhale.

"Sorry," I mutter, fidgeting with a loose thread on my shirt when I await what he is about to say.

"No problem," he drawls casually. "Just called to let you know I am at the hospital..." Silence ensues. Kohen is waiting for a burst of rage or some sort of outburst of any emotion from my end, but he doesn't receive any. I keep my feelings and thoughts and unspoken words intact and to myself. "... I think you need to get here as soon as possible."