“Hunter...”, I remarked, overwhelmed, rubbing my arm. “You study here too?”

His gaze dropped to my arm. 

“Fuck, did I hit you bad?”

“You hit her with your fucking football!” the girl snapped at him, crossing her arms in front of her chest.

“It’s okay, I’m fine,” I tried to defuse the situation. 

Admittedly, my arm hurt like hell. But this was Hunter. Nash’s best friend. And after all these years, I didn’t want him against me, either. 

But if he was here, Nash couldn’t be far. I resisted the urge to turn around and even more that urge to ask him how Nash was doing. 

“You shouldn’t be here, Mady,” Hunter sighed, automatically broaching the subject.

“How is he?” I finally asked, trying to push away the uncomfortable feeling of not being wanted.

Hunter looked around as if he were really close. Then he heaved a sigh.

“Better, but he won’t be happy to see you here.”

I gritted my teeth. “Good, because I’m not here for him.”

I walked past him, and the girl followed me.

“Wow, how rude.” She shook her head. “What were you guys talking about?”

“My ex-boyfriend,” I snorted. 

This was off to a really good start.

“Ouch. That must suck. At the same university with your ex...”

I laughed bitterly. “I didn’t choose it.”

“Oh, hello, Madelin, gorgeous!”

The girl and I stopped abruptly as two other girls walked toward us. Street mutt blond hair, decidedly tall, and so thin that I instantly recalled Grace Blair’s comparison of them to walking matchsticks. Jenny and Penny Bexley.

While Jenny, who was three years older than me and had been up to her mischief as an annoying reporter on the Vanderwood campus for some time, had grown into an Aphrodite over the years, her younger sister, with braces and uneven bangs, looked out of place next to her.

Penny and I had gone to the same class. But we had never exchanged a word, and I honestly felt sorry for her because being born into the Bexley family had to be hard on an introverted mouse like her.

Jenny – on the other hand – blossomed in her role as campus reporter. And she knew my name, which was because she had been hunting for my brother for quite some time.

“Hey...” I said, trying to be friendly. The last thing anyone wanted was to have a sensationalist reporter against them.

“Do you happen to know if your brother would give us an interview regarding the Copeland Hospital situation? I’m afraid we can’t find him.”

Which was perhaps because even he was running from her...

Penny wrinkled her nose next to her sister. Poor thing.

“Ezra went that way,” I lied, pointing in the direction of one of the paths that led into the campus woods.

“You’re a sweetheart, girl!” Jenny laughed, briefly putting her hand on my shoulder and finally pulling Penny behind her.

Inwardly, I hoped she didn’t go too deep into the woods, even though the thought of her being eaten by one of the local wild wolves was tempting.

“Who was that?” the girl next to me asked with raised eyebrows.

I waved it off. “Oh, just the Bexley’s daughters. The whole family works for the local news station. Or let me rephrase: They are the local news station.”

The girl just laughed in amusement, and we started moving again. But it wasn’t long before the next pair of black high heels stepped into our path.

“The Sunshine Girl.” I stopped. The nickname hit me as hard as Hunter’s football. “You, here.”

It sounded more like an unpleasant statement than a question, and when I saw who it came from, I clenched all my remaining good humor that hadn’t yet perished from the toxicity of this town and tried to smile.

“Anyone else you know?” it came again from the girl next to me. 

I really needed to ask her name.

The person in front of us, a dark-haired girl in the latest designer clothes, raised her eyebrows and eyed us both disparagingly. 

“My name is Amber. Remember it. It could become important.”

That was Amber Smith. The devil on Vivienna Westcode’s side. And when she was out on her own, she was even sneakier than when she was with her two besties. We’d been on the cheerleading squad together in high school, and she’d done her best to make sure Vivienna and I never became friends again. Successfully. 

“Are you here to keep stalking your ex?”

And since I’d been with Nash, the three of them hadn’t exchanged a word with me anyway. 

That had been the problem with Nash. It was like he was part of a gang, and it was the same with Vivienna and the other girls. They hated the guys and the other way around.

I sighed, “No, Amber. I have a life of my own. Imagine that.”

“Who’d believe it?” she laughed and turned away to drag her two silver hard cases across campus.

“Who the fuck was that this time?”

I pressed my lips together. “That was one of the rudest people you’ll meet in this town.” 

“Great…And why did she call you Sunshine Girl?”

The last pieces of relaxation slipped out of my body and what remained was nothing but memories.

“Long story.”