Page 3 of The Vengeance You Crave
Only, he's going to be disappointed because this time, I'm not going anywhere. I need to be here. I've got people depending on me not to screw this whole thing up.
My life has changed in ways I never could have imagined since Mom packed up mine and my sister's shit and drove us out of Rosewood without looking back.
I understand why she did it. She thought that getting Libby away would help to put her on the right path. She had no idea that the months and years that would follow would only get worse.
I pull my notebook from my purse and rummage around the mess for a pen as I keep an eye on all the students who continue to stream into the room.
There was a time when I wouldn't have needed to even think about what class he might have taken. I knew everything there was to know about Luca Dunn. I knew his dreams, his fears, I knew exactly what made him tick, until I confessed what I had discovered and I realized that maybe I didn't know everything about him after all. Or more so, that he didn't know me because I thought he knew that I'd never lie to him. That no matter how hard something was to tell him, that I'd always do it if I thought it was the right thing to do. Turns out, that wasn't how it was because instead of accepting what I'd said as the truth, he fed into every one of my insecurities and turned against me.
I wished so hard that what I told him wasn’t true. But I knew in my soul that it was and that no matter what his reaction was to it, that it was going to change all of our lives. And I couldn't have been more right because only days later, I returned home from school to find Mom packing up our belongings and the three of us drove out of town, never to return.
To this day, I have no idea if it was the right thing to do, but I understand why she did it.
She wanted to protect us. Our safety was more important to her than anything else.
But a part of me wished she'd handled it differently.
I wished we could have stayed and fought for what was right, to stop it from happening again. Maybe if we'd have stayed, I wouldn't have been in this position now.
Eventually, the stream of students comes to an end and our professor joins us before setting up his presentation and starting the class.
The second he starts talking, even if it’s to lay out what we can expect from the course this semester, I forget about everything that's falling apart around me and focus on him.
This is my safe place, my escape from reality. I soak up every single word he says, and already I can feel the tingle of excitement when he talks about the assignments we're going to be expected to complete. Anything that involves me tapping at my keyboard immediately makes me feel lighter.
* * *
Folding up the campus map and sliding it back into my pocket, I walk around the corner of the building. The scent in the air makes my mouth water.
The sight of the beans on the sign hanging above the door makes me smile and without a second thought, I head inside.
Thanks to classes just ending, the line is almost out the door, but I join the line prepared to wait until my next class if it means getting my hands on the biggest cup of coffee this place has to offer.
Much to my relief, the line moves quickly and before I know it, I've got a cappuccino in one hand and an oatmeal raisin cookie in the other.
I walk through the seating area in the hope someone is about to leave so I can sit. It's not all that cold outside but I'd rather be in here, ideally at the back of the room so I can watch the people coming and going, but there's nothing.
Balancing my cookie on my takeout cup, I pull my purse up higher on my shoulder and take a step to leave. I guess it'll have to be a bench outside after all.
"You can sit here," a soft female voice says from behind me, making me look over my shoulder to see if she's actually talking to me.
Spinning around, I find a petite blonde smiling at me and pointing to an empty chair at her table.
"A-are you sure? I don't want to interrupt."
"Of course not," her friend says, clearing away some of their trash from the other side of the table to give me space.
"Thank you," I say sincerely, looking between the two of them.
"I'm Ella and this is Letty," the blonde says, tilting her head to her dark-haired friend beside her.
"H-hey, I'm Peyton, and this is my first day," I add, in case it's not already abundantly clear that I have no clue what I'm doing.
"We guessed," Letty says as I lower my ass to the chair.
"I transferred from Trinity Royal," I explain.
"Ah, South Carolina, right?"
