Page 67 of Redeeming the Villain

He steps into my room and shuts the door behind him. “What’s going on?”

I chuckle, the sound shaky and fake. “What? I’m fine.”

Slowly nodding, he walks over to me and sits down beside me on the bed as I sit up next to him. “All right.”

Hooking his arm around my shoulders, he squeezes me against him, and something about it makes my resilience shudder. We sit in silence with his arm around me, and I feel every muscle in my body start to relax as the next few minutes tick by. Eventually, my heart calms and my quivering breathing stills.

Griffin senses my calm and continues with what he came in here for. “Are you riding with us this morning? Wasn’t sure if you were crashing in the Kensingtons’ room tonight after Ollie’s party.”

Fuck, I forgot that was tonight. Ollie is a good friend of Dean and Asher’s. Since last year, the rest of our little group have grown pretty fond of him.

“Yeah, is riding with you cool with you? I can be ready in just a couple of minutes.” Moving across the room, I grab a pair of sweatpants and a T-shirt from the dresser and a sweatshirt from my closet.

Griffin stands up and walks back through my door.

“Yeah, no problem. Meet you outside. There are muffins in the kitchen if you want one,” he shouts back into my room as he heads to the staircase.

Hunger is escaping me right now, but I know I need to eat something.

After changing, I slip on a pair of my tennis shoes and grab my backpack before heading to meet them, stealing a muffin and bottle of water on the way out.

The ride to campus seems faster than normal, but that may be because I’m merely existing in my mind today, zoning out without any effort.

We have World History class this morning, the one I have with Alora. My heart jumps at the idea of seeing her again, and I mentally smack myself for the thought.

She’s not in her seat when we walk in, and a giddiness I didn’t know I was feeling plummets. She’s never late. As long as I’ve known her, she’s been Miss Punctuality.

Quietly, I find my seat to the right of Griffin as Blair takes a seat in front of us, typing into her phone. I wonder if she’s talked to Alora at all.

Is she feeling okay?

Last night, I fell hard and fast down a rabbit hole, uncovering and devouring as much information about POTS as humanly possible. I had made the mistake of looking it up at midnight and didn’t go to bed until after three a.m. because I couldn’t stop reading and watching videos about it.

I don’t ask Blair. The thought of forming any words seems exhausting as I twirl my pen between my fingers.

Everything feels heavier today. Gravity, the weight of succeeding, the pressure of not letting Alicia and Darius down. I’m being crushed into smithereens.

I don’t even notice when Asher and Dean walk into the room and find their seats to my right or when Lumi sits down next to Blair. I’m too distracted, zoning out and forcing my mind to stay empty of thoughts.

“Blair,” Asher murmurs, “Alora sick or something?”

Part of me hates the affinity he has for her, and the other part of me is even more confused as to why I hate it at all.

Blair turns in her seat, her brown eyes finding mine before shifting over to Asher. “Yeah, she isn’t feeling well. She’s staying home today.”

Asher groans, unaware of the invisible illness she faces every day. “Ugh, I wanted to see my girl so bad.”

This earns a turn of my head, and I cock it to look at him as he fights back a laugh.

“Sunnyis my princess.” He chuckles with a knowing grin. “Mygirl.” He looks at me fully. “Malik, what were you thinking? Did you think I meant Alora, you silly goose?” He pauses with a shit-eating grin. “You all right? You seem on edge today.”

Biting the inside of my cheek, I nod my head and force a fake smile. “Screw you.”

He chuckles as the professor walks in and steals our attention. As invigorating as this class is, my mind is nowhere near the lecture as he talks for the next hour straight.

When he dismisses us, I’m torn between going to the arena and practicing for an extra three hours today before tonight’s actual practice. Or going to the Kensingtons’ room and plopping on one of their beds for the biggest nap of my life.

Deciding on the latter, I head to their dorm hall, forcing myself to walk past Alora’s room without knocking, even though everything inside of me tells me to stop.

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