Chapter 7

• DANI
• Beth and Tina were waiting at my parking spot when I drove into the campus parking lot. The only reason my loyal friends did it was to offer me the support they knew I needed. I wasn’t ready to face everyone alone.
• After giving myself a pep talk, I put on my fiercest and bravest face, ensuring I was dressed confidently and immaculately, in a blazer and short set in pastel blue, my dark chocolate hair blown out and brushed until it gleamed. Inside I was a train wreck but my outward appearance reflected that none of the gossip or curve balls thrown my way would bring me down.
• “Got your favorite,” Tina announced with a pleased smile, thrusting a steaming cup of a caramel and hazelnut latte into my hand on our way to the computer block. “I may have added a dash of liquid courage, just in case,” she added with a wink.
• “So…” A sheepish smile tugged Beth’s cupid’s bow. She was trying to tamper down her excitement unconvincingly. “I’m guessing Remy Le Roux personally delivered our message.” She was just about to explode with excitement but was still trying to read my response.
• “He did,” I replied, keeping my face and tone neutral.
• “Are you mad?” she bared her teeth and tilted her shoulders.
• “I should be.”
• My friends had used underhanded tactics to get me to come to school, but I was grateful. We were having final exams before the university closed for the festive season.
• “We didn’t think you’d mind.” Beth scrunched her nose and fluffed her wild mane. “You weren’t responding to our texts or calls…and you’ve been crushing on him since forever!”
• “And he asked us so nicely!” Tina finally exploded, bouncing on the balls of her feet. “He approached us in the library and asked about you!”
• “You move fast, mami,” Tina wagged an accusing finger at me. “I take it you two have already met because he sounded like he knew you very well.”
• “We met last week,” I said rolling my eyes to the sky. “He was having sex in the backseat of my car.”
• “No!”
• “What??!”
• We drew closer to the building and I gave them a short version of my first memorable encounter with our celebrity crush.
• “I would have hurt somebody!” Tina’s small fist collided with her open palm. “There would have been bloodshed, chica.”
• “What a jerk!” Beth shook her head in disgust.
• “That’s what I said,” I agreed.
• Campus was buzzing with the excitement of the arrival of Remy and the Homecoming Dance this Friday. I would have been just as caught up as everyone else but after my encounters with Remy, my eyes had been open and I’d crowned him the king of Jerkville. Word in the corridors was that he was here to finish his double major in mechanical engineering and computer science. As for homecoming, Zack and I were supposed to go together. Tina and Beth had dates and were still trying to convince me to third-wheel, but I would just miss the dance this year. It wasn’t that deep.
• This morning I had an exam and had the pleasure of seeing Mrs. Miller. Remy was sitting a few seats away from me in front of the room, his brows creased in fierce concentration. Though all the fangirls surrounding him could only focus on his every move, forgetting they had a crucial paper to write. He had a GPA of Five-Point-O and was known for his intelligence. I guess they allowed him to write to test said knowledge. He finished the paper in record time and left the class with two bodyguards shadowing him.
• “Dani, can I see you for a minute?” Mrs. Miller’s sickeningly polite voice caught me just as I passed her desk. “I won’t take up much of your time.”
• “Please don’t,” I reinforced with a sugary sweet smile. “I have someone waiting outside.”
• “It wouldn’t happen to be Remy Le Roux?” She rounded the table and rested her hip on the edge, smiling at me like we were friends. “I noticed he couldn’t keep his eyes off you.”
• Clutching my iPad against my chest, I narrowed my eyes. “You wanted to see me?”
• “I just thought I’d clear the air about the whole Zack thing.”
• “Zack means nothing to me but thanks for wasting my time.”
• “Wait.” Her hand shot out and fluttered hesitantly on my back. “I know you think I lied-after what you saw-but I…the day after that incident, I told him I couldn’t-that we couldn’t see each other again and he…he forced himself onto me.”
• “Right,” I half-snorted, half-laughed.
• “It’s true.” Was it? Did he really force himself onto this bag of loose morals? “I know you won’t believe me even after I found out that I’m carrying his child-”
• “And there it is,” I laughed cynically and slowly turned around. “You just couldn’t help throwing it in my face, could you?”
• “Oh, no…I’m so sorry!” Her azure eyes blinked rapidly and she pressed a hand to her chest. “I didn’t-I thought you knew…” Zack was out on bail but was suspended from this university until his name was cleared. “He came out and he said you’d talked.”
• “And you’re sure he’s the father and not your husband?”
• “My husband hasn’t touched me for months,” she scoffed.
• “So, you turned to my boyfriend instead.”
• “He was having the same problem so we just helped each other I guess.”
• “You’re both sick.”
• “I don’t want to come between you and Zack but I thought you deserved to know the truth. I wasn’t lying about the fact that he violated me and he has to face the consequences.”
• “You are welcome to, Zack.” Stepping forward, I speared her with an icy glare. “Under any circumstances, I don’t want him back. Now or ever. Let that sink into your thick blonde skull.” With a toss of my hair, I spun on my Gucci heels and strutted right out the door.
• Now that all the D-bags at college had seen my boobs on camera, they thought they had the right to treat me like the campus slut. All week, I’d found different-sized vibrators and leather busters on my windscreen. The names they called me, the things they said and did, were hurtful and degrading. I was none of those things but it hurt nonetheless.
• Beth and Tina were still in an exam and I was left to face the wolves on my own. I had to cut across the quad to get to the parking lot and the jeers started as soon as my red leather soles hit the concrete path.
• Noah blocked my way, grabbing his crotch. “You look thirsty. I have something that can fill you.”
• “Not in this lifetime,” I muttered, walking around him.
• He grabbed my arm, pulling me back. “You should be grateful, I even made you an offer.”
• “I’m not,” I growled through gritted teeth. “Let me go.”
• “I’ll let you go after the boys and I have a go,” he snickered, looking around as his boys laughed. “Get it?”
• “Not interested,” I ground out, struggling to break out of his grip. “Let. Me. Go.”
• Noah grabbed my wrists and caged them between his chest and mine. Roughing me up as everyone looked on without stepping in to help me. “You’re trying to play hard to get now, are you?”
• “You should do as she has asked,” Remy’s lazy drawl sounded from beside me, accompanied by the flick of a lighter and the smell of nicotine. “It’s not a request, comprenez-vous?”
• “You may be famous and all that, and I don’t know how you run things in France but this, is my turf,” Noah snarled and his squad stood behind him, ready to pounce. “Stay in your lane, French boy.”
• “Funny,” Remy laughed, a cigarette hanging from his lips. “You think you’re funny. But, I’ll show you what happens to losers who harass helpless women.”
• “You’re the funny one, calling a college whore helpless.” Noah cracked his knuckles but Remy was not intimidated at all. “I’m not afraid of you. You should run along and record an album, take selfies with your groupies or something.”
• “Hmm…” That laugh again. “Tres bien,” he nodded and two trees of bodyguards appeared on either side of Noah, clamping his arms in their burly hands. His crew knew when to back off and all of them scattered in different directions. “Throw him in the dumpster,” he told the trees. “That’s where trash belongs, yes?”
• “You’ve started a war!” Noah shouted as he was lifted off the ground like he weighed nothing. “You’re going to pay!”
• Stepping on the stub of his cancer stick, Remy threw me a side glance “Did he hurt you, ma chouette?”
• “I’m your owl today?” I inched an eyebrow, my eyes sparkling with amusement. “What happened to, little doll?”
• Leaning his head closer, his lips quirked. “When it comes to your hypnotic big eyes, the difference is the same, no?”
• “You didn’t have to come to my rescue,”
• “I didn’t.”
• “Then why did you do it?” Pinning my hand on my hip, I creased my forehead. “If you think this is going to make up for what you did, you’re terribly mistaken.”
• “Your friends told me that you have the biggest crush on me, pretty girl,” his lips curved into a cocky grin, his accent more pronounced. Gosh, how could someone sound arrogant and sexy at the same time? “I had to at least do something, for my number one fangirl.”
• “I used to have a crush on you, cochon,” I emphasized, patting his chiseled cheek. “But, you single-handedly crushed it by traumatizing me for life. I don’t think I will ever see you the same way again.”
• “Let me make it up to you?” his hand settled on the small of my back as he walked me back to my car. “I can prove that I am that guy that you fell in love with.”
• I glanced briefly at his hand, wondering if I’d imagined the sparks I’d felt at his touch. “You and I will never bump uglies, so you can waste your efforts on someone who will.”
• “Never is a very long time, petite poupée.” His smile was self-assured and playful all at once as he held my car door open for me. “Go to the Homecoming Dance with me.” It sounded more like a command than a request. “I’ll pick you up at seven. Be ready, I hate waiting.” Without waiting for a response, he turned his back and sauntered away, an arrogant swagger in his step.