Midnight Secrets

I could kill that son of a bitch.

He called my dad, and not only did he tell him about the attack but also about how Ezra had taken an interest in me and didn’t take no for an answer. To say my father wasn’t happy was a vast understatement.

He gave me an earful for not telling him myself. After that, I spent the next ten minutes, both reassuring him I was alright and telling him about Ezra. I left many details out, but only because I still was on the fence about my sanity levels.

To my dismay, he agreed with Cassius’ asinine plan and thought I shouldn’t walk alone in the dark, period. When I went to argue, he pulled the guilt card and told me it would give him peace of mind, knowing I was being safe. It was a dirty move, in my opinion, but one that had me giving in and promising to let Cassius’ friends babysit me after my mythology class. I made a point to emphasize that. There was no way I was willing to give in any more than that since it seemed if I gave Cassius an inch, he’d take a mile.

As I finished my call with my dad, I made a mental promise to ream Cass out for this stunt the next time I saw him.

It was like Cassius and his friends knew about my promise to myself, because I didn’t see any of them the next day. I was still riled up from how he called my father and told on me like we were children. My outrage was so intense that I probably would’ve directed it at his friends if I’d come across them.

On Wednesday, Ezra once again sat in the front of the class, but this time, I looked for him there. His sitting there made it even more difficult to avoid a conversation with him without making it obvious. When I made it outside without incident, I allowed myself a small moment to take a deep breath and calm my racing pulse.

My babysitter tonight was Cassius’ auburn-haired roommate, whom I’d also met at the diner. He introduced himself as Finn.

The impression I’d gotten from him over the past few weeks was that he was also a smartass, just less outright about it than Leon. But tonight, he was acting differently, more alert and serious. It was clear he took his babysitting duty seriously, which was both flattering and annoying.

Despite my annoyance at this situation, I didn’t take my anger out on him since he was only here to help.

Not only did I not see Cassius the rest of the school week, but the weekend as well. However, I did come across Leon, waiting in the lounge on our floor, flipping through a magazine. “How did I know you’d be going out tonight?”

He hadn’t even looked up from the magazine as Addie and I silently tried sneaking past him without him noticing.

“We’re meeting a group of friends in the lobby to walk to the party together. Perfectly safe.”

Leon finally glanced up from his magazine, and his gaze flicked over my outfit, taking in my skinny jeans and form-fitting shirt. “No one ever uses the words ‘perfectly safe’ together when talking about a frat party,” he casually said, his tone sounding bored, but I suspected that wasn’t the case.

I wanted to scream and possibly punch Cassius and Leon in the face. Dropping my head back to look up at the ceiling, I let out a frustrated groan. “This is getting fucking ridiculous. I let you fuckers babysit me because of my dad, but I didn’t agree to deal with you on the weekends. This is different from class.”

“You’re right, it is different. There will be drunk assholes there,” Leon said, standing up as he crossed his arms.

“Don’t worry, I’ll barely be drinking tonight. I can keep an eye on her,” Addie said, quickly coming to my defense, having heard my many rants this past week. Out of all of my friends, she was the best at watching out for you while out partying.

“Oh, wow, barely drinking tonight. That’s reassuring.”

“I don’t care what you say. I’m going out tonight, and you and your friends won’t be there.”

Leon’s lips kicked up in a sly grin as he pulled out his phone and began typing on it as he glanced up at me. “What, are you going to call my dad too?” I crossed my arms as I let out a long sigh.

Leon shook his head, and I wanted to smack that stupid, amused expression off his face.

“Call him,” Addie said, crossing her arms. “Cassius has no say in she where goes and with whom.”

“What will it take for you to pretend you didn’t see us tonight?” It was tempting to let him call Cassius—maybe he would finally show his face—but ultimately, I thought better of it. Continuing with this standoff would get us nowhere: Addie was downright stubborn when she wanted to be, and Leon was busy following some stupid sort of bro code.

Leon crossed his arms as he raised an eyebrow. “For you to turn your ass around and head back to your room for the night.”

I snorted as I placed my hands on my hips. “Yeah, that’s not going to happen.”

“Then I guess I’m going to a party tonight. It’s a good thing I wore my party clothes.” Leon shrugged as he glanced down at his long-sleeve gray Henley. While his clothes weren’t expressly “party clothes” he wouldn’t stand out at the party should he get his way and join us.

No matter how much I argued, he refused to budge on this. When he followed us down to the lobby, our friends were surprised to see him, but they didn’t mind, not understanding the whole situation.

Sel ended up meeting us at the party almost an hour later, having broken things off with Shirtless guy. When we asked her what happened, she scoffed and shook her head, telling us she would give us the details later. She raised an eyebrow when she finally noticed Leon.

I shook my head, calling Leon and Cassius every name I could think of, throwing in a combination of swears into the mix.

Not only was Leon my shadow the entire time I was at the party, but he was a damn thorn in my side. He cut me off after only a few drinks. “Were you told to cut me off?”

He shrugged, appearing unfazed that I was glaring at him like I was about to kill him with my bare hands. “No, but I’d rather not deal with your drunk ass. Carrying you back to your dorm and dealing with throw-up is low on my list of things I want to do tonight.”

“Why don’t you find someone to hook up with?” That way, he could leave me alone and stop breathing down my neck.

“Not tonight.”

“Oh, do you need help getting a girl? I can be your wingwoman.”

A grin tugged on his lips as he shook his head. “Nice try.”

Dammit. I dropped onto the empty spot on the sofa, swearing under my breath. “Worth a shot.”

Leon leaned against the wall by the sofa, crossing his arms as he stared down at me. “I take my babysitting duty seriously.”

The only time I lost sight of my babysitter was when I went to the bathroom. I frowned, looking both ways down the hallway when I didn’t see Leon waiting outside the door as I expected. Rather than head to the right back to the party, I took a left and kept going until I heard voices.

“This is some fucking bullshit, Leon,” Addie whispered, her voice almost a hiss. I could imagine the annoyance in her expression.

“This is the best way to keep her safe, and you know it. Don’t give me that look, Adalind. This isn’t a knock at you. Cass wants her to remain safe. Same as you.”

I barely caught Addie’s resigned sigh over the thrumming music from the party, which made it difficult to hear her next words. I couldn’t be too sure, but I was pretty sure she said, “Yes, and the best way to keep her safe is to tell her the truth.”

Maybe I was drunker than I’d previously thought because this shit wasn’t making any sense. The way Addie and Leon were talking, almost sounded like they knew each other. But that shouldn’t be possible, Addie would’ve told me if she knew Cassius.

The song playing ended and was quickly followed by one that was even louder and had more bass, making it impossible for me to eavesdrop any longer.

Letting out a low sigh, I headed back toward the way I’d come. Maybe I could sneak another drink while Leon was distracted.

Big surprise: Leon showed up not even a minute later, ruining my fun once again.

It didn’t take long for me to become fed up and no longer in the mood to remain at the party. Addie offered to leave with us when I told her I was going home, but I insisted she stay. There was no reason for both of us to miss out because of these assholes. As we walked back to my dorm, Leon was quiet, most likely having noticed how irritated I was. Seriously, one joke from him and I might’ve lost my shit.

Leon made a comment about how he’d have to join me in my room since my roommates weren’t home, and I nearly went off on him. Even when he threw his head back and laughed, telling me he was fucking with me, I still considered ripping him a new one.

The next day, during my shift at the diner, another of Cassius’ friends showed up right before nightfall—this time with his girlfriend. I recognized the black-haired, fair-skinned man as the one who sat next to Cass the first time he was here.

Despite being on a date, it wasn’t a coincidence he was here. Tonight was his shift on Rhea babysitting duty. I knew these fuckers would push their luck past escorting me from my night class.

This was getting out of control and was completely unnecessary. Did Cassius know something I didn’t? That was the only thing I could think of that would justify this overreaction. Whatever the reason for it, I was still planning on kicking Cassius’s ass the next time I saw him. I knew there was no way I’d ever have the strength or skills to do so, but it was nice to have goals. It allowed me to get through my shift without losing it.

I may have been pissed about being watched like I was a child, but I didn’t mind the couple’s company. First off, I was able to learn their names—Aspen and Fay. They were less obvious about watching me, and Fay even struck up a conversation with me as I delivered their food.

By the time Thursday rolled around and I’d yet to be out after nightfall without one of his friends showing up, I was near livid.

Not only did I feel like I was under surveillance, but I hadn’t seen Cassius once since that kiss nearly two weeks ago. He was so worried about me that he sent his friends to watch over me, but not enough to deal with me himself.

It may have been stupid, but it hurt that he didn’t seem to miss me, and it brought back memories of when I was twelve and waiting for him to call. I doubted he wasn’t showing up because he was afraid of my wrath; that was like a lion being afraid of a kitten. A big part of me feared he regretted what happened between us. The thought had my stomach in knots and only made me even more irritable. I was near ready to snap at anyone who looked at me funny.

Melissa and I were getting dinner across campus when I spotted Leon. I was throwing trash away and almost hid behind the trash can when I saw him. I held back on the urge to hide, figuring I didn’t need to give Leon any more ammunition against me.

With how his focus was only on the blonde-haired girl, I doubted he followed me here.

Before he could notice me or I could do something to embarrass myself, I hurried back to my table. Eric had shown up while I was throwing my trash away and was asking Melissa if she wanted to go to his place.

Since Melissa didn’t know about the attack or that I technically wasn’t allowed to walk alone at night, she didn’t know she was ditching me when she accepted his offer. I didn’t say anything—I wasn’t selfish enough to tell her she couldn’t hang out with her boyfriend because I needed someone to walk me home.

It was barely even seven on a weeknight. There were countless other students out and about. I’d be fine.

Despite how adamant I’d been about not needing anyone to walk with me at night, I held my pepper spray in a death grip. That insidious feeling of being watched returned tenfold, making me shiver and pull my coat tighter around me. None of the others walking along the sidewalk were even looking my way, and I didn’t know if it was better or worse.

I was halfway across campus when I heard someone running up behind me. My entire body tensed up until Leon called out, “You are in so much trouble little missy. You know you’re not allowed to walk alone in the dark.”

Coming to a stop on the side of the sidewalk, I allowed others to pass me as I waited for Leon to catch up. I took a deep breath, trying to get my racing pulse under control as I loosened my hold on my pepper spray. He wasn’t out of breath as he caught up to me, and I was envious of his athleticism.

“Dammit! You weren’t supposed to notice me,” I said, my frustration replacing my fear.

“Yeah, I could tell from how quickly you snuck out. I’m beginning to notice a theme.”

“Did you seriously ditch that girl to follow me home?”

Leon’s gaze flicked down to where I still tightly held on to my pepper spray, his eyebrows lifting. “I doubt you’re as unaffected as you want everyone to believe.” He inclined his head toward my hand, just in case I didn’t know what he was referencing.

“I’m not an idiot, despite what you may think.”

“I’m glad to hear you’re—somewhat—taking this seriously, but you can’t take risks like this. If Cass knew—”

“What does it matter what he thinks?” I was so fucking tired of him bringing up how Cass would lose his mind if I was in danger. His lack of involvement this past week and a half proved that wasn’t the case. “He isn’t here. He’s too busy doing god knows what to be here himself. All he’s been doing is pawning me off on everyone else.”

I didn’t like the look of understanding that crossed his expression. “That’s why you’ve been fighting this so hard.”

“No,” I said way too quickly as I vehemently shook my head. “I’ve been fighting so hard because I like my freedom. I was just merely pointing out how it’s bullshit he’s been making all these decisions about my life without consulting me or at the very least, telling me in person.”

Based on the way Leon was pressing his lips together, he wasn’t buying what I was selling.

Nope, I wasn’t in the mood to have this discussion. I stepped back onto the sidewalk, heading back to my dorm with Leon at my side. I hadn’t been lying when I said I was pissed about losing a big chunk of my freedom, but he’d been right in his assumption. The fact that I hadn’t even caught a glimpse of Cassius once in almost two weeks was confusing to me. Was he avoiding me on purpose?

Even when I hated him, I’d still see him across campus every once in a while. Old wounds had my fears of being ghosted ramping up. This wasn’t the same as when we were kids, but I couldn’t stop my fears from nagging at me.

Leon was silent as he walked me back. At one point, he pulled out his phone and typed a message on it, probably giving an excuse to the girl he was with. I would feel bad about the possibility of him losing his shot with her, but it wasn’t like I asked him to follow me.

When he dropped me off at my room, he jokingly asked if he would need to stand guard outside my door or whether or not I was planning on staying in for the night. Rolling my eyes as I tried to hold back my snort, I shut my door in his face, a smile twitching my lips when I could hear his laughter through the door.

I had the room to myself tonight since Addie had a group project, and Sel was on a date with a guy from one of her classes. I turned the TV on and kept it at a low volume so the room wasn’t so quiet. Not even twenty minutes later, there was a knock at my door.

When I looked through the peephole, my heart felt like it leaped in excitement when I saw Cassius waiting on the other side.