A Girl in the Shadows

Chapter Twenty-Four

It was the pattering of falling rain hours later that awoke me from my slumber. It played me a little song as the drops hit against the leaves of the bushes surrounding me. A soft rumble of thunder sounded off in the distance. I crawled out from under my temporary shelter and faced the night. The sky was littered with little droplets of light here and there from the edges of the sun, but I could manage. As long as it was dark, I was safe—from burns, that is. I stood there in the drizzle for a bit, letting the drops wet my face and my hair. It was so refreshing.

Well, are you just going to stand here all night? There was the burning decision of going back to Tristan's room. The anxiety suffocating me was causing a little difficulty. I couldn't move. My eyes found their way to the downtown Tampa skyline. Were they both gone? No. They couldn't be. Not Kai, for sure. Kai would never abandon me over one stupid little thing.

Barefoot and soaked, I ran across the campus. To my luck, there weren't many students about to give me strange looks. The rain usually scares them off. Instead of getting wet and going out, they just drink in the warm, dry comfort of their dorm rooms. A hand grabbed the back of my shoulder as I reached for the door of Austin Hall. It was Drake, his face looking warm and welcoming.

"Taliah, there you are! We've been looking all over for you," he said.

I took his hand away. "What the hell happened last night?"

"Just come inside, you're soaked."

I agreed, and we went inside, up the elevator, and to his room. It was quiet and empty. Drake gave me a towel and I changed clothes. We sat on opposite beds and I wrapped myself up in one of Tristan's blankets.

"Have you seen Kai?" I asked.

"Nope. She hasn't stopped by."

"Oh...and what about Tristan? And why was I alone in the park!"

He shrugged. "Dunno. I don't remember anything from last night. And Tristan is...down at the campus security office. He's been there all day."

"What happened?"

"Like I said, I don't know."

"I remember a phone call in the cab...that's it."

Drake laughed to himself. "Yeah, I don't even remember that!"

"Well, since I'm soaked and filthy, I'm going to shower," I said, my feet hitting the tile floor.

I grabbed a fresh towel, went in the bathroom, and changed out of my now, brown and pink, princess costume. The shower was warm and refreshing. The tape and gauze over my wound ended up falling off. I looked down at the bullet hole. It was scabbing over. I pressed. The pain was minimal.

As I was washing my hair with Tristan's shampoo, my puzzled memory was putting itself together. The lights of the campus security cars when we pulled up to the cobblestone in front of the Van. I climbed over Tristan's lap and ran like hell. The officers didn't come after me. Why did they not come after me? Because you weren't the one they wanted, idiot.

"That doesn't make any sense," I said.

I turned the water off, rang out my hair, and reached for the towel, still wracking my brain. I hit the parking lot but couldn't remember anything else. My stomach was growling, but I knew I could hold off until Tristan returned. The eateries were open until late at night. What makes you think Tristan is coming back?

"Because it's the logical answer," I said, wrapping myself in the towel.

I dried off, put on the last set of clean clothes I had, and sat in Tristan's bed with my sketchbook. Drake peacefully typed away on his laptop, flipping the pages of a textbook on his desk. I tapped my pencil against the blank page. Hey. Go find Molly.