One Night

Chapter 50

Audrey

The moment we stepped out of the auditorium doors into the bright hallway, my friends were already swarming me like moths to a flame.

“Audrey, what the hell happened?” Tina demanded, her eyes as wide as saucers as sh reached up to gingerly touch the spot on my temple where a little bit of blood had dried. “Why did you show up so late?”

I flinched away from her touch and quickly dabbed at my temple with a tissue.

“Linda…” I began, swallowing hard. “Linda and her friends attacked me in the bathro before the ceremony. Smashed my phone, locked me in a utility closet…” My voice began to quiver as I recounted the details.

As I continued to tell the story of what happened, my friends’ faces went pale, Avis’s hand flew to cover her mouth in shock. Tina gasped loudly. Betty’s jaw dropped, and Gavin’s eyes narrowed.

“That’s low, even for Linda,” Gavin growled. “Why would she do something like that?”

“She said it was to keep me from making it to the next round.” My stomach twisted at the thought. “To get revenge, I guess.”

Tina huffed to herself. “I guess because of what happened with you

and Claudia Klein.

I nodded quickly, my eyes flickering down the hallway toward where it all happened. Linda and her friends had long since slipped away like ghosts in the crowd. “Is there any evidence?” Avis asked. “Did anyone see?”

I shook my head-even though Edwin had shown up, he didn’t see it actually happen. Without real, tangible evidence, then it would be my word against Linda’s.

An uneasy silence fell over the group as we processed that harsh reality. If it was just my

word against Linda’s twisted version of events, chances were she would find a way to

wriggle out of facing any real consequences-even if Edwin vouched for me.

“Audrey.” A low voice snapped me out of my reverie, and I turned to see Edwin approaching with his hands curled up into fists at his sides. A security guard was with him.

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Chapter 30

“Please come with us to the security office, Miss Thatcher,” the security guard said.

Exchanging a bolstering look with my friends, I followed the security guard down the winding hallways toward the main security office. Edwin walked beside me, his arm brushing against mine with every other step until we reached the small, dimly 1 room.

Rows of CCTV monitors lined the walls, each one showing footage from various spots around campus. The security guard slid into her chair and tapped a few keys, pulling up the footage from the hallway outside the bathroom.

“It seems like Miss O’Malley may have tried to find a spot with no cameras,” she explained as she sped through the footage. “But luckily, there was a camera just around the corner that caught most of what happened.”

I swallowed hard, exchanging a glance with Edwin before we both leaned in closer. There I was on the screen, walking down the empty hall with my friends before breaking off from the group and disappearing off-camera into the bathroom. A few minutes passed before a mousey head poked out of the bathroom door and looked both ways.

And then, a few moments later, Linda and her friends appeared in the doorway.

I already knew what came next: Linda’s large, muscular friend carried me down the hall. I thrashed and kicked, but she easily overpowered me, throwing me into the utility closet and slamming the door.

Finally, there was irrefutable proof of what had happened. The camera caught it all, even Linda using one of the janitor’s keyrings-likely stolen-to lock me inside. My hands shook as I watched the three girls turn and run down the hallway, their wide grins barely visible in the grainy footage.

Hot tears pricked at the backs of my eyes as the security guard froze the video, with Linda’s wicked grin taking up the whole screen.

“I can assure you that Miss O’Malley and her friends are going to face disciplinary action for this,” she stated firmly, already rising from her seat. “I’ll go and track them down right now.”

As the security guard hurried out, leaving Edwin and me alone in the small office, a heavy silence fell over us. He was staring at me again with that intense gaze that made me feel like he could see straight through me, straight to my soul.

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“Are you alright?” he murmured, taking a step closer and gently brushing his knuckles over my bruised temple. I shivered at his touch, holding still as he inspected the injury,

Over his shoulder, I could see that the CCTV footage had accidentally begun rolling again, showing what had happened after Linda fled the scene. There was the camera’s view of the empty hallway, and then suddenly, Edwin’s tall form came running into frame.

1 felt my breath catch in my throat as I watched him pause halfway down the hall, those dark eyes of his flashing a brilliant gold for just a split second. He was frantic, searching every door and classroom desperately until he seemed to pick up on something.

Then, his head whipped around toward the utility closet. He hesitated for only a moment before he suddenly broke into an all-out sprint, his shoulder slamming against the door. Once, twice-until finally, it buckled inward. Edwin disappeared from view, but I already knew what happened next.

He had found me there in the corner, trembling and petrified. And without a word, those strong arms had swept me up and pulled me close, cradling me against his chest as if both of our lives depended on it.

A shudder wracked my frame as I watched the footage over his shoulder, remembering the feeling of being enveloped in his warm arms. I had felt so safe, so… right. Like nothing else in the world mattered. Like this was how it was supposed to be-just the two of us, tangled together until the end of time.

Finally, the footage returned to normal after I saw myself run out of the closet, toward the auditorium. A moment later, Edwin stepped out as well and stalked after me with his hands in fists at his sides.

Edwin, not realizing what I had just seen, paused as he dabbed at my temple.

“Audrey? Are you alright?” he asked, noticing the faraway look in my eyes.

Swallowing hard again, I nodded and met his gaze. There was a tenderness there that I couldn’t recall ever seeing in his icy eyes before. Edwin opened his mouth to speak again, but I cut him off.

“I’m okay.” I reassured him, my fingers itching to reach out and touch him-but I stopped myself, my hand hovering inches from his stubbly jawline for a moment before I went to pull away.

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Chapter 30

Before I could, however, his hand caught my wrist. He held it tightly for a moment causing my breath to catch again. For a long second, I thought he might kiss me. I would have let him, too. I wanted it more than anything.

But he didn’t. Instead, he shook his head and wiped away a bit of red blood that had gotten on my fingertip. I quickly looked away before my face, too, turned red with embarrassment.

Finally, Edwin cleared his throat and stepped back, composing himself.

“Right,” he said curtly, adjusting the lapels of his jacket. “Well, in that case… Go get your things so we can leave. I’m taking you to get a new phone.”

My brow furrowed. “I… I can’t afford a new phone.”

He frowned. “I said I was taking you to get one. I didn’t say I wasn’t going to pay for it.”