With Love, Étienne | ✓

Chapter Fifteen

THE RAIN AND THUNDER FINALLY LET UP.

Louella excused herself to run to the bathroom for a moment and I was simply leaning against the lecture door, waiting for her to return. Dozens of students passed me by and I started to shiver at the cold draft that wafted in from the outside. My foot started to tap against the carpeted floor and soon, my fingers drummed on the wooden surface of the door.

My mind was still reeling from the few minutes before. The first thing I wanted to do was ring Doctor Marshall and book another appointment. Years ago, when I had fallen deep into a hole of dark abyss, Louella held on to my hand from the edge, nearly sacrificing herself to help me. She was that small light that lit up my blackening void – the person that gave me hope that maybe, just maybe, there was a light at the end of the tunnel. With all of her strength, she pulled me out and supported me throughout the years while I worked on myself and getting better. Not once did she lose her patience and I would even go as far to say that I probably owed her my life.

Not wanting to go alone, she accompanied me to every single doctor's appointment that my parents arranged – in a secluded area so no-one would ever come across me. Even if they didn't voice it directly, there was a sense of shame and embarrassment that they felt from me. The "trouble" that they had to go through in seeking me help, switching schools and making sure my exam centre was changed, while they might have had good intentions at heart, the guilt I felt for bringing extra "stress" on them was too much to bear and suddenly, I had wished I had kept quiet.

While I was grateful that I was finally able to get some bit of stable support in my life, I felt as though I had to pretend for a while that I was better than I actually was. What everyone else saw were smiles and enthusiasm, but in reality I would go down to the secluded area of the lake close-by and cry in anger. Every single day, I'd sit down by the corner and write letter after letter, releasing my frustration at those who had hurt me. . . before tearing them up.

I peered around the corner when over ten minutes seemed to have passed and there was no trace of Louella coming back. Biting down on my lip, I pushed away from the wall and walked a few steps forward to get a clearer view of the narrow corridor where the bathrooms were situated. However, it seemed as though surprises kept hitting me today and life wanted to play another cruel joke on me. There, at the end of the hallway was Louella. . . except she wasn't alone.

No, in front of her towered Milo. It was a sight I never wanted to see in my entire life. His brows were drawn into a furious-looking expression and his lips were turned downwards. A hand was placed on the wall beside her head, blocking her from ducking under and escaping. I could feel the fury of his stare on her from all the way here – like rage bubbling up from underneath.

What caught my attention more was Louella; she appeared terrified. Her skin had turned ghostly pale and even from here, I could see beads of sweat lining on her forehead and she looked as though all she wanted was the ground to open up and swallow her whole.

"Do you want to get on my bad side?" I heard him hiss to her; spit landing all over her face. She flinched and clenched her eyes shut but shook her head in submission. I watched as Milo's lips curled at their corners and he nodded in satisfaction at how he exerted his power over her.

"Good. So keep your pretty little lips shut or we're going to have a serious problem, okay?"

That was all I needed to hear before anger filled me to my very core, bubbling and sizzling until it threatened to spill over. An unknown feeling took over my entire body, curling around my every curve. Without even taking a moment to think, I stormed over with clenched fists and took a hold of Milo's hand that was dangerously close to Louella's face.