Page 98 of Colton

“Enter.”

The door swings open, and two students enter, both of them looking incredibly angry. I quirk a brow, staring as Sophia Sloane approaches my desk, slamming her hands on it.

The other, Grace Lennon, closes the door and leans against it, though her expression is just as emotional. The two of them are staring at me — well, trying to stare me down — and neither speaks for a moment.

“May I help you?” I ask, curious despite myself.

“Where the hell is Avalon?” Sophia’s voice is full of contempt, venom, and rage that she isn’t afraid to show. Her green eyes are piercing through mine, and with each passing second, I grow more confused.

“Is she not in her dorm?”

“Stop playing stupid, it doesn’t suit you,” Sophia sneers. Her sudden tone throws me aback; the sheer audacity of this girl makes me blink a couple of times. “She’s not at the Academy.”

Immediately, I straighten up in my seat, eyes narrowing dangerously. Sophia’s silent, trying to read my expression, though I’ve learned the art of a poker face a long time ago.

“What are you talking about?”

“Yeah, I found her side of the dorm completely empty this morning,” she grits out. “Where is she?”

Everything in me stills, and then panic slowly starts to set in. I haven’t seen Avalon since yesterday morning, and that was brief, since she had other matters to attend to, and I’ve been swamped with work to the point that I’m barely leaving my office.

“What are you talking about?”

Sophia stands back a little, taking several steps back when she hears the tone of my voice. All the amusement I had for the attitude with which she entered my office disappears entirely, replaced by the authoritative tone even she can’t easily reject.

“She left,” Sophia says slowly. “She’s not answering her phone, and I don’t know where she is. When was the last time you spoke to her?”

“Last night,” I say. “She called me to wish me a good night, and I haven’t called her yet today. It’s barely eight in the morning, I didn’t want to wake her up. What’s this about, Sophia?”

“You didn’t see it?” Grace chimes in, her question making me halt.

“See what?”

Sophia and Grace exchange a worried glance, before Sophia takes out her phone. She does something on the device, taking her about a minute, and God, that fucking minute seems to last seven hours.

She turns the screen to me, and I grab her phone. The moment I read the headline, I already know where this is going, and when I see the images, my blood runs cold. It’s only for a brief moment, before it’s replaced by sheer anger.

“Who the fuck dared to take pictures of us?” I ask, my teeth grinding together. I’m no fool, I’ve been aware of that damned website for a long time now. Each time it gets taken down, it pops right back up as ifnothing happened.

“Does that matter?!” Sophia’s voice rises. “What matters is that someone snitched, which I’m not surprised about. Avalon? She’s young, I understand that she got comfortable. It’s you I’m pissed with,” she hisses. “You should’ve known better than to take her to all these public places! What were you thinking?! Because from where I’m standing, only one of you will face the social scrutiny, and it’s not you! You have all the power and wealth to hide behind. Avalon? Not so much. I swear to God,” Sophia leans in, her eyes blazing with fury. “If my best friend doesn’t pull through this, I will fucking kill you. And if you so much as try not to be there for her, I’ll hang you by the balls.”

The threat doesn’t faze me in the slightest, and I barely register what she’s saying. — my main priority is Avalon. I take my phone and immediately start calling her. My heart is thumping so loudly against my ribcage, the worry making it impossible for me to think straight.

However, each call goes straight to voicemail. I call her over thirty times in less than five minutes, and nothing comes through. I even send her a couple of texts, begging her to tell me that she’s safe and sound. Because God knows how much this has affected her, and her mind must be in the abyss.

“Any idea where she might be?” Grace asks, her tone softer than Sophia’s.

My head goes into overdrive, all inside of me screaming to go out and find her. There are only a handful of places she could’ve gone to, and none are the kind of places I could barge into without so much as letting her know, and without her answering my calls, it’s even more difficult.

“No,” I breathe out. “When did you notice she was gone?”

“When I woke up,” Sophia responds, and even she seems resigned. “If this gets out, Avalon will face a lot of backlash.”

“I won’t let that happen,” I respond immediately.

“I want to believe you,” she says, brows narrowing, “but I don’t. And if you don’t fix it, I swear, I’ll make you regret it.”

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