Nineteen

Chapter Seventeen

"What happened?" He says as he holds my wrist, looking at the bruise on my upper arm.

I didn't realize it hurt enough to make a mark when Bailey grabbed me, let alone bruise.

"I must of hit something," I lie.

"No, that's not from a hit, it's too big." He catches me in my lie.

His eyes grow black as he says, "Did someone do this to you?"

He drops my arm and paces around the room. Wiping his hands up and down his jeans before sitting on the bed.

"Emory, this is not okay."

I'm staring at his curls poking out and from under his backwards hat when he crosses his hands and rests his elbows on his knees. He really is quiet handsome. His eyes still show a little black from the grease he couldn't completely scrub away.

 "Well?" He says and brings me out of thought.

"Huh?" I say as I shake my head, like I'm trying to rid my mind of some thought.

"Are you gonna tell me who did this?" He stands.

"Nobody did it. It was an accident."

He's trying to stay calm, but he is failing.

He takes a deep breath and says, "I know I just met you days ago, but someone shouldn't do this to you, and you can trust me enough to tell me."

I take my chances.

"My boyfriend. He was mad this morning and grabbed me as I started to walk out the door to my class."

His eyes go wide at the word 'boyfriend', and then they go black again.

"He shouldn't do that, where is he?" He stands and walks to the door.

I jump to grab him until I realize he doesn't know Bailey or who to even look for.

Right as I realize that, I hear a knock at the door.

We both freeze until Collin grabs the door, revealing Link.

Collin shoves Link against the wall, making a loud thud and catching him by surprise.

"What the hell!" Link shouts and claws at Collin's shirt.

"No!" I yell at him. "That's not him!"

His eyes look at mine and he releases Link's collar. He looks at me and then walks out the door, not even closing it behind him.

"What the hell was that about?" Link says as he straightens his shirt out.

I'm too shocked at what just happened in my room to respond. So Link sits down on my bed waiting for my response. 

"That was my friend."

He just laughs. "Your friend has a funny way of welcoming guests."

Just as he says that, my phone rings from a text message.

Collin says, "I'm sorry."

I don't know how to respond, so I just don't.

Link and I talk until it's time for me to leave for my next class. He offers to walk me, but I decline.

He watches me walk until I'm out of sight, and I quickly walk into another one of the dorm buildings. I run up the stairs until I'm directly outside of Clark and Bailey's room.

I pound on the door over and over, but nobody comes. I message Clark and ask if he's home, but after a few minutes it's evident. 

I'm just about to leave when I hear a girl's voice from inside. 

Clark messages back with, "No, I'm finishing up a round of weights."

I knock a few more times, "Clark?" I say, even though I know he's not home.

The door opens, revealing Jade as the girl I heard.