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Stella: I’m sorry, that must be difficult for you.
He didn’t reply for a while, and I thought maybe he regretted opening up to me. But just as I was about to switch my phone off, it pinged with another email.
Brax: It is difficult. Mom is a mess and so are my sisters and I, but life goes on. I’ll feel better when the person responsible is brought to justice.
Stella: Justice?
Brax: Long story, but he killed himself because of something that happened.
I had no idea what to say to him. How does anyone deal with that kind of thing? It put all my shit into perspective. At least my father was still alive. Yes, he was currently locked up in the Metropolitan Correctional Center but at least I could talk to him and even see him if necessary. And there was always a slim chance that the charges would be dropped. OK, that was a stretch, but never say never, right?
It was late and he’d probably fallen asleep by now, but I felt like I couldn’t leave the conversation hanging like that.
Stella: I don’t know you and I’m sure you don’t want my sympathy, but if you ever need a friend to talk to about shit, I’m a good listener.
Brax: Thank you. Good night, Stella.
???
After my poor night’s sleep, it was a struggle to keep my eyes open in my afternoon tutorial, but thankfully Miss Hammond wasn’t keen to drag it out for too long. Once she’d reassured herself I was fine and not having problems with my course load, I was dismissed.
Since I had some research to do, I grabbed a coffee from the cafeteria and headed over to the library. I’d discovered it was the best place to study. The Wi-Fi was better in there than in my dorm room, and it was also quieter. My neighbor, Cassie, had taken to playing Adele and Taylor Swift on repeat since Harley had dumped her ass. I felt a bit sorry for her, so didn’t ask her to turn it down. It was easier to spend my free time in the library, where I was less likely to be forced into pointless social interactions.
I’d noticed Avery watching me when our paths crossed. The girl was like a pointer on a scent trail. I knew she sensed I was hiding something; it was written all over her face. It wasn’t as if she had anything to go on. An online search for my fake name would yield nothing, and she didn’t know my actual name. I planned to stay out of her way as much as possible while maintaining my polite veneer. Eventually, she’d lose interest when something juicier came along, like a sex scandal on campus, or a member of the faculty caught doing drugs.
My favorite table was free in the library. I took a seat and booted my laptop, ready to start making notes. After thirty minutes, the screen went black. I looked at the charger, but it was plugged in, so the battery wasn’t dead.
“Fuck,” I muttered. “This is not happening to me!” My laptop was fairly new; it shouldn’t have died this soon. Not only had I just lost my work but I didn’t have the funds to replace it. Yeah, I could apply for an emergency payout from my trust, but it would take ages and Michael was up to his eyeballs with the case, so I doubted he’d even look at my email for a few days.
I tried desperately to restart it, but the fucking piece of junk was well and truly deceased. Tears threatened to spill down my cheeks and I bit my lip hard, tasting coppery blood. I will not cry. The sharp jab of pain helped me focus and I managed to shove the emotion back down. It wasn’t the end of the world. I’d speak to my tutors and explain the situation. Most of my work was saved to the cloud.
“Hey, what’s wrong?”
Quinn’s voice penetrated the fog in my brain and I jumped a little.
“Laptop’s died.”
“Are you sure? I can take a look if you like?” His kindness cut through my defenses and to my shame, a fat tear leaked out and slid down my cheek. I tried to wipe it away but I wasn’t quick enough. He noticed and frowned.
“It’s OK, I might be able to fix it. If not, you’ve backed up your work, yeah?”
I wanted to lose myself in his warm brown eyes. It would have been so easy. I was feeling vulnerable and lonely, and I just needed a hug. Being on my own was exhausting.
“Yeah,” I sniffed. “Apart from this evening’s notes.”
He nodded and gestured for me to hand over the laptop. I shoved it across the table and he started messing with it. It wasn’t long before he declared it was not salvageable. Fuck my life.
“Sorry, sweetie, but the hard drive has failed. I can replace that bit for you, but it won’t help you this evening.”
I slumped into my chair. Fuck. Now I was screwed. I reckoned I would need to wait at least a week for Dad’s lawyer to release some cash from my trust, and I wasn’t certain he would. The small stipend I received was supposed to cover my expenses, but there wasn’t enough to pay for a new laptop, not until the next payment came in. I’d had other expenses this month, like a set of expensive textbooks for my course, none of which were available as e-versions.
Quinn was staring at me, probably wondering why I was having a literal meltdown over a stupid laptop.
“You know it’s not the end of the world, right? Amazon will ship you a new one tomorrow. You can have it set up by tomorrow evening.”
“Sure,” I snapped irritably, then realized I was being a bitch. It wasn’t his fault my life sucked. I sighed and pasted a smile on my face. “It’s fine, I can sort it.”
Pretty sure he wasn’t buying my change of mood, but I was done here. There was no point hanging around any longer. I decided I might as well go and read my Kindle for the rest of the night.
