Fierce (3 page)

Bitter
Changes

A
few days later…

It’s been days since I last saw Hunter. He
hasn’t been to class, and I haven’t seen him walking around the dorm either.
Something tells me he hasn’t even slept in his own room. I wonder what’s going
on with him. I wonder what that phone call was all about. What made him so
angry?

I don’t even know why I care so much.

Why do I care?

I barely know him, and yet I can’t stop
thinking about what’s wrong. That scene of him kicking the wall, furious as
hell, keeps replaying in my mind over and over again. His flaring eyes follow
me wherever I go, even when he’s not around.

I’ve never had this before, but it’s almost
as if I’m desperate to find out what happened to him that made him so upset. He
seemed so aloof and carefree in class before. I didn’t expect him to explode
like that. At least, not because of a phone call.

I really wonder what’s going on …

Sighing, I read the same sentence I’ve been
reading for the last couple of seconds. I’m trying to study, but it’s really
going nowhere like this.

“Hey, Autumn.”

I look up and see Brody enter our room.
There’s a girl with wavy blonde hair standing behind him with her hands on her
hips, and she’s gazing at us with a smirk on her face. She’s shaped like an
hourglass, and her brown skin looks like she tans at least once a week. In her
short pink dress she reminds me of the Barbie dolls I used to play with when I
was little.

“What’s up?” Evie says. When she sees the
girl she scowls. “Who’s that?”

Brody clears his throat. “This,” he grabs
the girl’s hand, “is Scarlet.”

“Hi!” the girl says with a perky voice.
“I’m Scarlet Fox.”

“Pleasure,” Evie says, and she stares at the
girl’s feet as she steps into our room. I can see from the grim look on her
face she doesn’t like it. Sometimes she gets a little territorial. It’s weird,
but I like weird.

“I’m Autumn Blakewood,” I say. “And this is
Evie Carder.”

Scarlet smiles gently, but seems confused
when she sees Evie’s unwelcome, snarly face.

“I’m going out with some friends. Catch up
a bit. Wanna join me?” Brody says.

“No thanks,” I say, and I shut my book.

“Why not?”

“Because I need to study and get all my
homework done.”

Brody chuckles. “It’s only been a few days
since the first trimester started. There can’t be that much work. Besides, you
have the rest of the year to study. C’mon.”

“No, I really need to get this done,” I
say, frowning.

“We’d love it if you’d come,” Scarlet suddenly
says, as if she has a say in the matter.

“Brody …” Evie says, glaring at him.

I know she means she wants him to put a
leash on her, and it makes me chuckle a bit. I know Evie hates dolls.
Especially when they wear dresses. They’re her pet peeve.

“Don’t you want to enjoy college life?”
Brody says.

“We do. In our own way. Without make-up,
and dresses, and parties,” Evie says.

Brody squints at her. “By locking
yourselves up in your room?”

“I just want to keep up so I don’t fall
behind later. Nothing wrong with that,” I say.

“You did that in high school, too, and look
what happened to you then.”

“Hey, don’t put that on her. It was not her
fault she got teased!” Evie says. Teased is the understatement of the year.
Bullied is more like it.

“No, neither was it my fault; I tried to
protect her.”

“Guys … don’t fight, please,” I say,
sighing.

“Well, why won’t you try something new? I
don’t want you to have to live through that again. If you can socialize with
the crowd this time, maybe you can enjoy college life a little more.”

“I’m already enjoying it,” I say with a
smile, hoping he’ll stop asking me to do things I don’t want to do.

“What’s it to you anyway? Why are you so
intent on getting her to go with you?” Evie says, frowning.

“Look, I just want to help out, all right?
But whatever. Scarlet and I will just go together then. We’ve got plenty of
other friends to hang with.”

“Yeah, you go have fun with the popular
crowd,” Evie scoffs.

“Evie,” I say with furrowed brows, and she
rolls her eyes.

“Thanks, Brody. I appreciate the offer, but
Evie and I really want to study.”

“Okay … Well, see ya then.”

“Bye!” Scarlet says, chirpy, and I smile at
her because I don’t know what else to do in an uncomfortable situation such as
this.

We wave at each other, and Brody wraps his
arm around Scarlet. My eyes widen. As they leave, I notice his hand is on her
ass.

Evie throws her pillow across the room and
lets out an annoyed moan.

“Oh. My. God. Was that his girlfriend?” I
stammer.

“Seems like it. I can’t believe he wants
someone like that.” Evie closes her eyes and lets out another groan.

“Hmm … maybe she isn’t that bad. I mean, we
don’t know her, really.”

“True …” Evie mumbles. “Still, I don’t get
why you still hang out with that guy.”

“Brody? Why not?”

“He’s turned into a total ass.”

“No, he hasn’t.”

Evie points at the door. “Well, what do you
call that then?” She rolls onto her back and stares at me from her bed. “He
thinks he’s all that now that he’s part of the popular group. And he’s trying
to pull you with him.”

“It’s not that bad. He just wants to help.”

“By making you remember your shitty time at
high school?”

“He’s just trying to convince me, that’s
all.”

“Don’t make excuses for him,” she says,
sitting up. “I’m trying to help you, too, and I’m telling you that he’s changed.”

“Maybe …” I say, opening my textbook again.

“I don’t like those people he’s hanging
with. Ever since we’ve been here, he’s done nothing but ‘socialize,’” she says,
making quotation marks with her fingers. “I don’t think he’s studied at all.”

“Well, that’s his problem.”

She sighs. “I know.”

It’s quiet for some time, and I go back to
reading the same page as last time, just to make sure I read it well enough to
remember.

“Look, I’m sorry. I know he’s your friend,
and that you’ve known each other for God knows how long … I just don’t want to
see you get hurt.”

She looks up at me and smiles.

“Don’t worry. I know Brody and he knows me.
He wouldn’t do that.”

“I hope you’re right,” Evie says, and she
props up her pillow. Then she starts to laugh. “Did you see the look on her
face when she saw me? Priceless.”

I chuckle. “You looked like a hibernating
bear who got disturbed in her cave. Not a pretty sight.”

“Awesome!” she says, smiling widely.

“You really like scaring people off, don’t
you?”

“Hell yeah …”

Shaking my head while laughing, I turn the
page of my textbook and try to read the next sentence, but I can’t get Brody
and that girl out of my head. I want to believe my own words and think
everything will be all right, but some part of me also believes Evie. I know
he’s changed. And it’ll probably only get worse. Can I deal with it?

♥♥♥

Evie and I have been studying at the
library all day. After Brody came by, I told her I really couldn’t concentrate
and that I needed to be somewhere where we couldn’t be disturbed. Or be
distracted by weird thoughts. I have been having those a lot, lately.
Especially about Hunter.

She went to our room earlier, because she
was tired, but I stayed so I could do some homework ahead of time. I like being
prepared.

After I jot down the last notes about
Hamlet, I pack my stuff and make my way through the halls. It’s already late at
night, and it’s dark outside. I hurry to my dorm and try not to make a noise as
I walk up the stairs. Shuffling through the hall, I freeze when I turn a
corner.

There’s a guy in the shadows.

He’s leaning with his head against a door
only a few feet away from my room.

I straighten my glasses to make sure I’m
not imagining things, but it’s real. Swallowing, I stay put and stare at the
guy, who’s just slumped forward, barely moving. Who is he? What’s he doing
here? Should I leave?

My heart races in my chest, and my muscles
are tense. I know my body is preparing for flight or fight. My instincts tell
me to make a run for it, but I know that’s absurd. He could just as well be a
student, someone who’s drunk or had a rough night. Maybe I’m exaggerating.

Besides, I want to go to bed, and my room
is just up ahead. It can’t be too difficult to pass him, can it?

Shuffling, I press my body against the wall
and start to walk. I slowly step forward, trying not to make too much noise. I
don’t want him to turn around. Actually, I’m hoping he won’t notice me at all.

But it’s too late now.

“Leave me alone.” The voice is gruff and
croaky, full of unspoken emotion. It sounds familiar.

Inching closer, my eyebrows tighten
together as I try to see who it is. If I can reach my room safely. If he’s
dangerous or not.

It surprises me when I hear him sniff and
take in short breaths. Is he crying?

“Stay away,” the voice repeats, and the
more I hear it, the more I recognize it.

My jaw drops open, and I stare in
confusion. “Hunter?”

His head lifts up from the wall and one
look at his shiny gray eyes tells me it’s him.

“Leafy?” he says, his lips parted in a way
that make me focus on them.

His hand drops to his side, and he turns
around to face me, still hiding in the shadows of the light. But I don’t need
any light to see the redness that clouds his eye. The patch of skin underneath
is swollen, and the rest of his face is white. Too white.

“What’s wrong?” I say, gazing at him. He
looks sick, and I’m immediately worried about him. Even though I know he’s been
an annoying jerk to me in the past, I want to help him.

“Please just go,” he groans, and he points
at my door.

“Are you okay?” I say, and I bend my head
so I can look into his eyes, but he turns his head away so I can’t see. Is he
trying to hide something?

“Don’t come closer.” His voice is getting thicker
by the second, as if it’s hard for him to talk.

When I look into his beautiful eyes, all I
see is hurt. He looks broken. Beaten. As if he’s been to a funeral or
something. His face is dark and dreary, full of grief. But not the type of
grief that comes with death. I just can’t place it.

I wonder if anyone’s ever seen him like
this. It’s like he’s been crying all day and has been trying to hide it from
the world. Like he’s been hiding himself.

“Wait here,” I say, and I walk past him and
sneak into my room. Tiptoeing across the floor, I try not to wake Evie from her
snoring sleep. We have a little fridge standing in the corner, and I grab a
bottle of water from it. I hurry back to Hunter and open the cap.

“Here. Drink some.”

I hold up the bottle, and he just stares at
me with a bewildered look on his face.

“You look like you could use some help,” I
say.

He turns around and faces me. Then he
starts walking toward me with slow, heavy steps.

I inch away until my back is against the
wall, but he keeps coming closer. He towers above me, and only now do I realize
how much larger he is. How much bigger, stronger, more muscular. His black tee
can barely hide the straining muscles underneath.

He places both hands on the wall beside me
and lowers his head to meet my eyes. I cower underneath him, shuddering from
being so near to him.

“I don’t need anyone,” he growls, his lips
barely parting.

I can feel his breath on my skin, and it
makes me gasp. He’s so close now, I could touch him if I reached for him. If he
stepped forward a little more, he’d be on top of me.

It scares me to death.

My heart is thumping in my throat, and I
can barely breathe. Lifting my head, I gaze into his glaring eyes. Those vivid
gray irises that amaze me. There is something in there that sparks my interest,
secrets and hidden emotions he keeps far away from the world. Things I want to
know.

His chest heaves, and one of his hands
drop. I swallow as he steps back again and stares at the ground. I wonder what
is going on inside his head.

His hand reaches for mine, and for a second
I’m almost convinced I’m going to pull back if he touches me.