“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.”
When I had dropped the girl off in front of the student office, I had rushed to the registrar’s office to do whatever might help me start over. And I had completely forgotten to ask her for her name and phone number. Damn it…
Annoyed that Hunter and Amber had upset me so much, I entered the spacious office.
Unlike Ezra, I didn’t have the urge to become like my parents and continue living the life they had not been granted to live. I had struggled to be a normal teenager. Going to parties, getting involved, and making friends. The last had always been hard for me, and the second was my way of dealing with all the crap life threw my way.
“Are you sure you want to be involved in so many things?”
The chubby, curly-haired lady with the big nose eyed the clipboard suspiciously, then me.
“I’m sure.”
I sounded confident. That’s exactly how it should be.
The woman just nodded, put the sheet in a pile and slid me a package containing a pine green hoodie, keychains, drinking bottles as well as other Vanderwood merchandise and smiled.
“Welcome to Vanderwood University.”
Chapter 12
Bayla
Julian had taken me to the secretary’s office after staring at my letter for an unbelievable two minutes. There, we were informed that there had been a serious error in the administration and that some of the letters had probably not made it to their rightful recipients.
Great. Somewhere out there were people who desperately wanted to visit this gigantic Hogwarts replica but couldn’t, and I had received this stupid letter. If that didn’t reek hugely of irony....
I walked through the campus forest, dragging the suitcase along the path behind me, and slowly I doubted that this path would lead me to my destination.
Students who passed me on the way occasionally gave me new hope and if I read the map of the campus correctly and there was not also a printing error in the sketches of the crossroads, it was not far anymore.
At one crossroad I had to think for a moment, but when I saw the black raven hopping across the path, I listened to my gut feeling and decided to take the other path. I had no desire to be attacked again by these unpredictable animals. It was enough that this town seemed to be their home.
“Oh, hello, girl!” chirped a way-too-high-pitched girl’s voice that sounded strangely familiar.
My head went up, and it was one of those moments where you wish you hadn’t looked.
I blinked at the tall blonde girl with the puffy lips and clipboard.
She stepped toward me and held out her hand. “Jenny Bexley.”
So, I hadn’t mistaken her. Great. But it was only now that I spotted the second girl standing behind her like a shadow, staring at me with a dead expression that sent chills down my spine.
I immediately recognized the resemblance between the two.
“You must be new in town because I don’t know you. Anyway...” she continued with a wave of her hand. “This is my business card.” She held out a little blue-red card to me, with a definitely photoshopped profile of her on it, the name of the local news station next to it, and her contact information. “If there’s anything interesting happening, feel free to message me.” She winked at me, and only now did I notice the false eyelashes. “It’s good to have allies in a town like this.”
And without hesitation, she scurried past me, in the direction I had just come from.
The other girl followed her, sighing.
For a while, I stared after the two of them.
What an absurd encounter...
I looked down at the business card.
Allies. The last thing I needed in this creepy little nest were allies.
However, I had made it. Now I was standing in front of the door with the number 113, remembering Mum’s words that we would be staying in residential wings.
