Page 6 of A Perfect World
But that wasn’t why the sirens wailed in my brain.
No, it was hereyes.
Soft diffused gray with strands of lilac, so wide and curious like a doll’s. And behind them… nothing. Nothing but a cement wall.
Fucking impossible.
Coming to my senses, I strode from the elevator, meaning to demand how she was able to block me.
“Courtney!”
She whipped around to face a slim guy, black hair flopping as he jogged up with an enormous smile. That smile disintegrated at the sight of me looming.
“Who’sthis?” Skinny dude asked, slinging his arm around the angel’s shoulders.Insecure dipshit.
I crossed my arms over my chest as she turned to me again. My attention dropped to the box in her arms. Dark-haired Dingus didn’t bother taking it from her as he leaned on her shoulder burdened by a stuffed bag. Eyes tingling, I lifted it the tiniest bit, letting go before she could notice.
Except her gray eyes widened in confusion.
Fuck.
Fixing my face into an emotionless mask, I recovered. “No one.”
As I shoved past them, I fought every instinct to spin around, grab her by the shoulders and extract answers. Whoever she was, whoever she worked for, I needed to find out.
3
Courtney
“Youwouldn’tbelievewhathappened today,” My fellow dancer and roommate, Hannah, gushed as she looped her arm through mine. From the moment we met, she won me over with her bubbly personality. Floored by the prospect of having a friend, I allowed her to steer while I enjoyed the ride.
“What?” I panted, hefting my dance bag higher on my shoulder. Parts of my body I didn’t know existed ached after a week straight of dancing and running all over campus to class.
Hannah squealed, bouncing up and down. “So that cute guy I met in Bio invited me to a frat party tonight.” She beamed, squeezing my arm and sighing wistfully.
Mom had drilled into my brain the entire drive up that frat guys were polo packaged bombs. I wrinkled my nose. “Ew, frat bros are gross.”
“No way!” she exclaimed, yanking me to a halt. “This frat is different, I swear.”
Wiggling from the clamp she had on my arm, “They’re all horny, drunk idiots,” I muttered half-heartedly.
“Don’t be like that, you have to come with me,” she whined, pouting her lower lip. “I can’t go by myself and I’mnotbringing Ashley, she’ll fuck whoever I think is cute.”
My heart stuttered. I couldn’t have Hannah thinking less of me, and she had a point; Ashley, our roommate, brought a new guy or girl home every night. Deflating, I shrugged. “Ok, ok, but Vince should come too.”
Hannah's face pinched like she tasted something sour. “Nope. No way is your controlling boyfriend coming to a frat party."
My pulse spiked again at the endless list of things Vince would throw in my face if I went without him.
“Hannah,” I warned. “He won’t let me.”
“And that’s not weird to you?”
It was impossible to miss how paranoid Vince had gotten. Ever since the semester started, he insisted on meeting me three times a day, and texting me to know when I left class, went to the dorm or stopped by the cafeteria.
“I can’t lie,” I stammered.
Her lips quirked in a mischievous smirk. “Your phone can magically die after you pass out from a long day.”
