Page 4 of Dark Things
I shake my head and glance behind me again. Staff takes a seat and is instantly surrounded by girls and guys vying for his attention. Some things never change. He always wore a sweet guy mask until you crossed him, and then his true nature came out. He also used to be a lot of fun. The trouble we’d get into would drive my parents nuts. I shut down that train of thought quickly, there’s no time for missing something that will never happen again. After what I’m planning happens there will be no more Stafford Fitzgerald.
The professor comes in and starts the class, but I feel the burning heat of a stare behind me. There’s no way he knows it’s me, but Staff has always been the guy whose brain is too big for his head. After that encounter in the courtyard, I’m sure he’s turning over all the possibilities to figure me out.
And I am different. My hair, eyes, and even my face have changed. I was once a chubby-cheeked teen with more nose and freckles than fit my face, but after the attack and the surgeries, all it took was some dye and contacts and I don’t look anything like that little girl anymore. I’m a more beautiful version on the outside even if my insides are dipped in poison.
“Can anyone tell me the difference between continuity and differentiation,” the professor says.
“Continuity is understanding the behavior of functions near a point but differentiation is finding the rate of change of a function at a point,” Staff says. I don’t even have to turn around to see the smirk on his face. He was and seems to still be the biggest know-it-all.
Hearing his voice grates something in me. He doesn’t get to see me and not feel the same burning pain I do. I raise my hand. The professor points to me to go ahead. “He forgot to add continuity is not only understanding the behavior of functions near a point, it's also where the function doesn’t jump.”
The squeak of a seat behind me pulls my lips up a bit. Staff has never been one to be happy with criticism. Whether it’s constructive ornot. He always had to be the smartest in the room. It annoyed me and pushed me to do better out of spite.
“You’re right, Miss Vischer. It’s important to remember all the details,” the professor says and starts back on his lecture.
I begin to take notes, but Haunt’s hand lands on my thigh and squeezes again, reassuring me. I glance up and his face is set with his I-will-kill-you look on something behind me.
“What?” I whisper.
“Dude is staring a fucking hole into your head. Do you know him, besides being with the asshat who spilled your coffee?”
I gulp down some air. That may not have been the smartest thing I’ve ever done, but old habits die hard and there were very few things I enjoyed more than handing Stafford Fitzgerald his ass.
“No. I don’t know what his problem is.”
Turning back to my notes, I concentrate on the rest of the class. This hasn’t been the best first day. Too many memories of the past and all the shit in my present. All I wanted to do was go to college, save my brother, and get out from under Stan’s thumb. Now I have another mission, one I won’t be taking Haunt on.
Ruin Colter Shultz and his two best friends.
2
Stafford
Ican’t let this go. I need to see her again. First, she was rude to Colt, like she has a right to be after he apologized, but then she has the audacity to confront me in class.
Following her and the guy she’s with, I make my way over, jogging to keep up. The guy notices me first and he pauses.
“Can we help you?” he asks. It’s not in a threatening tone, but it’s not the nicest either.
“I didn’t get to introduce myself before. I’m Stafford Fitzgerald, but everyone calls me Staff,” I say, holding out my hand to him. He smiles, and I feel a pang of something in my gut. God, he’s beautiful, but if I’m being honest, so is she. All dark hair cascading down her shoulders and moss green eyes that almost look unnatural.
He takes it, giving me a squeeze beforereleasing it. “Haunt Graves, and this spitfire is Reb Vischer, but I guess you know that from the smackdown she gave you in class.” His smile grows wide when he looks down at her.
She pinches his side, a smirk on her gorgeous face, but when she looks back at me her nostrils flare and jaw tightens. I don’t know what I did to get that kind of reaction, but it bothers me.
“Where did you guys transfer from?” I ask, hiking my bookbag up my shoulder a bit. I notice for the first time that Haunt is holding his bag and hers. I guess they’re a couple?
“Down south, Kentucky. Saratoga is different from where we’re from, but it has a similar feel, especially with it being racetrack orientated,” Haunt responds.
“You’re horse people? I wouldn’t have thought. You guys look more like…bikers,” I chuckle, motioning to their black clothes, tattoos, and boots. If they are a couple, they do dress alike. There’s a certain level of danger coming from both of them that I’m drawn to.
In my old life I would have run the other way. I was too straight and narrow, convinced that falling in with the wrong crowd would land me in jail, but now, that’s a joke. I’m definitely more trouble than these two college kids who dress fierce. I’m the real danger here.
“Oh, we’re that too. But horses are in our blood. Right, Reb?”
His eyes sparkle with mirth. She shakes her head and turns to me. “Yeah, what Haunt said.”
I don’t know what it is about her, but I want to spend all my time cracking her outer shell so I can know the real her. It’s a weird feeling, since I never want to be around anyone except Colter and Brooks.
