Hate to Love You

by Tijan

  I wouldn’t be a victim this time. She was giving me that opportunity. She didn’t sneak up behind me. She was coming at me from the front.

  I could fight back this time.

  I would fight back. I felt the need to do this rising up in me.

  “Hey!”

  I stopped.

  Time snapped back to reality.

  That was Casey’s voice.

  Phoebe stopped also, turning around. Both of my roommates were running toward us. They were in their pajamas. Kristina had grabbed a robe, but it flopped open, flying behind her like a cape.

  Casey had a perpetual scowl on her face. She pointed at us. “What’s going on? That’s my roommate.”

  Phoebe was a deer in headlights. She was right in front of me, a dumbstruck look on her face, and she gaped between us.

  This whole thing was surreal.

  Kristina was right next to Casey, our room phone in her hand. She was holding it up toward me. “Shay called. He said something was wrong.”

  Phoebe was trapped.

  I was standing in the only opened door. The other one was locked in place, and my roommates boxed her in. Her only way out was through us, or if the dorm room opened behind her. I doubted she could crawl through the window, and for what?

  I said, “Just give it up.”

  Beads of sweat formed on her forehead. She looked between my roommates and me.

  Then, one by one, the doors all along the hallway started opening until the RA came out and the lights were switched on.

  Our little triangle of four that had formed now doubled.

  The resident advisor saw Phoebe, then me, and stopped in her tracks. She let out a sigh. “Oh, boy.”

  Casey reeled to her. “Oh, boy? What does that mean?”

  She ignored Casey, looking at me. “What happened?”

  “Call security. She threatened me. She’s psycho because of Shay.”

  “Me?” I could hear from the phone in Kristina’s hand.

  She handed it over. “He’s on the phone. He said your phone cut out, and when he couldn’t get ahold of you, he called us. We called the cops.”

  “Yeah.” Casey waved her cell around. “They’re coming.”

  “No.” Two uniformed police opened the door from behind me with a security guard beside them. “We’re here,” one of the cops spoke, raking over the group. His eyes fell to me and then Phoebe. “We received a 9-1-1 call that hung up. It was traced back here. Took a bit to coordinate with campus security what dorm until,” he nodded at Casey, “your call. Thank you, ma’am.”

  “Ma’am.” She fought against grinning. “He called me ma’am. I don’t know if that’s insulting or flattering.”

  “Kennedy!” Shay barked from the phone, and I took it, saying into it, “Cops are here.”

  “Good, but why?”

  The first officer took out his notepad. “Someone needs to start talking.”

  The resident advisor ran a hand through her hair. “Uh . . .” Her eyes found mine again. “Go with Kennedy.”

  Casey shot her hand up again, cell phone still in it. “We came out to the hallway, and swear to God, we saw this bitch”—she pointed at Phoebe—“starting to chase our roommate.”

  “That true?”

  The cop was waiting, and I nodded, hearing Shay’s voice from the phone. “Yeah. I don’t know what she was going to do, but she was going to do something.”

  “That true?” The same question, directed at Phoebe.

  She only swallowed, her mouth closed, and she raised her chin.

  “You’re not talking?” The second cop moved forward, taking her by the arm. He asked the RA, “You know both of these girls?”

  “I know Phoebe, but not Kennedy that well. She and her roommates just moved in this semester.”

  “She’s Shay Coleman’s girlfriend.”

  Both cops and the guard looked at one of the girls who spoke. She had on a robe like Kristina, but hers was tied at the waist. “And Phoebe’s obsessed with Shay Coleman.”

  The resident advisor winced.

  Kristina and Casey both gaped at Phoebe before turning their wide eyes to me. “Is that true?”

  I nodded. “From what she was saying, yes.”

  “I’m not obsessed with Shay.”

  “No. She’s obsessed with her brother, who’s obsessed with Shay.”

  “Who?”

  My heart leapt at the same time I did. Shay appeared behind the cop, just on the other side of the opened door, his phone in hand and Linde following close behind.

  Shay found me. “You okay?”

  I started to nod but hurled myself into his arms instead.

  As soon as I hit his strong chest and his arms folded around me, I could breathe easier. Phoebe might not have been the same as my first attack, but it didn’t matter. It’d been the second time something almost happened, with the first actually putting me in the hospital. I’d been more in shock until Shay was there. Standing in his shelter, the fear started coming down on me.

  I was trembling soon, and he gathered me close, tucking his head down beside mine. He whispered so no one could hear, “You’re okay.”

  He ran a hand down my hair and back.

  “You’re Shay Coleman? The football guy?” Both cops shared a look.

  The security guard nodded, hitching up his pants. “Yep. That’s Shay Coleman.”

  The cops turned to the guard, shared a brief look, and turned back to Shay.

  “Yeah.” Shay nodded.

  They looked at Linde, asking, “And you are?”

  “That’s Raymond Linde. He’s an offensive lineman for our team, too.” The security guard’s keys jingled as he gestured to Linde. He sounded all authoritative, clearing his throat. “We never usually have trouble with those two.”

  “Uh, yeah. He’s a roommate of mine.” Shay frowned at the guard before asking me, “What exactly happened?”

  “We’ll take both girls down to the station and ask ’em some questions, but it looks like nothing happened.”

  “This time.”

  Both stilled, looking at Shay.

  He repeated, his jaw clenching as he raked over Phoebe, “My girlfriend was attacked before. She didn’t walk from the scene the last time.”

  The first cop pointed to Phoebe. “By her?”

  “No.” I cleared my throat, tucking my shaking hands into my sweatshirt. “By two guys.”

  “They obsessed with your boyfriend, too?”

  I shook my head. Both cops thought this was funny. I could hear the amusement in one and saw the glint of laughter in the other before he coughed, covering it up. But this wasn’t funny. It was so far from funny.

  I looked right at Phoebe. “I’m going to get a restraining order.”

  Her eyes narrowed, but she looked back down to the floor. The resident advisor was right next to her and said to the second cop, “I’ll go with you guys. I can answer some of your questions about Phoebe.”

  The humor fled as both seemed to assess the RA for a second time, raking her up and down. It was as if they realized something more was going on. The first one clipped his head in a nod, reaching for his radio. “Sounds good.” He pressed the button, speaking quickly into it. He looked at us. “You want a ride in the squad car or follow behind us?”

  We moved as one.

  I moved back into Shay at the same time he moved forward, folding me behind him. “We’ll meet you there.”

  “I’m coming with you guys.” Casey’s shoulders were rolled back and set in a determined line. Kristina was next to her, and Casey clipped her head to the right. “Her, too. We’re Kennedy’s roommates.”

  “Sounds good to me.” The first cop led the way. “See you all at the station.”

  The second cop trailed behind, holding on to Phoebe’s arm with our resident advisor behind them.

  “Are they arresting that girl?”

  Casey snorted. “They should.”

  “Come on.” Shay nodde
d to Linde, guiding me forward with his hand behind my back. “I’ll drop you off—”

  “He can ride with us.”

  Casey spoke again, and Linde stopped to appraise her. She looked at him. “If you want.”

  He narrowed his eyes and then nodded slowly. “Okay. I’ll ride with them.”

  Kristina stepped forward, leaning close to me. “Are you okay?”

  She genuinely wanted to know, and it was enough.

  The tears burst free.

  Shay pulled me back into his arms. “Come on. I have you.”

  I have you.

  I clung to those words and Shay’s hand through the rest of the morning.

  After I recounted the entire story to the police officer, we were led into a room. A detective came for a few questions to wrap everything up. It was then that we learned they were aware of Phoebe.

  Phoebe had stalked two girls and a guy in high school. All were connected to her brother so a protocol was put in place when she was accepted to Dulane University. She was supposed to have been checked in on twice a day, once by the RA and once by another staff member. If they noticed any changes in behavior, they were to notify her parents.

  Phoebe had been fine, but they hadn’t known about her connection to Shay Coleman.

  The more I heard, the further my stomach dropped.

  I could only shake my head at the end. “I don’t get how she can go to school and live across the hall from me. I mean, it sounds like she’s dangerous.”

  “She can be if she isn’t on the right meds.” The detective brought the advisor into our room, and she was answering our questions. She was choosing her words carefully. “She never hurt the other victims, and it’d been a few years since the last incident. I really and truly had no idea her connection to Shay.” She looked at him. “I’m so sorry. If I’d known, I never would’ve let Kennedy move to our floor. You have to believe me. I feel awful that something could’ve happened.”

  He glanced to me, worry lines forming around his mouth and bags under his eyes. “Just move into the house. For now, anyway.”

  I shared a look with him, but that wasn’t going to be a problem.

  “I’m so sorry again, Kennedy.” My RA extended a hand toward me, laying it on the desk.

  I ignored it. “Is she going to stay there? Or is she going to get kicked out?”

  “Uh . . .” She glanced to Shay before clearing her throat and pulling her hand back to her lap. “She will be removed from campus. Her parents are already on the way. She will be suspended for at least a semester.”

  “A semester?” I’d have to see her again?

  “I can’t speak for what the administration will do, but—”

  Shay added, “Her parents are wealthy.”

  A flicker of anger surged in me. I schooled it down, locking away all of my emotions. “What do you mean?” I looked from her to the RA. “They’ll fight it?”

  She nodded, a flash of apology in her eyes. “My guess is that they will. They’ve gone to extraordinary lengths to have her attend college as a normal student. I doubt they’ll stop, even with this incident.”

  “What if we can prove she came here under false pretenses?”

  She and the detective both frowned at him. The detective leaned forward. “What are you talking about?”

  He held up his cell. It wasn’t the one he’d been holding in his hand before. “Kennedy did call me, and the call does go in and out, but I recorded it. I heard it. She admitted that she came to this college under the pretense of watching me.”

  “How’d you call the other phone?”

  “My roommate’s phone. I kept this one on.” He looked to me. “There was no way I was leaving her alone, even on that line.”

  The detective took the phone. “That’s helpful. We’ll take this, then?”

  He nodded.

  She said further, “That recording, as long as it says what you say it says, will come in handy. We’ll see how much weight we can put behind the university expelling her.”

  She stood, and it was an unspoken message to the rest of us. We followed behind her toward the front lobby.

  Casey, Kristina, and Linde were all waiting.

  They weren’t alone.

  Sabrina was also there, pale and haggard.

  She stood and started to cross to me. “Oh, my gosh, Kennedy—”

  I stepped back from her. “Get away.”

  Her hands had lifted for a hug, but she jerked to a stop. Her body swayed forward from the abrupt motion, and I watched, waiting. Guilt filled her eyes, darkening them before her hands crossed back in front of her.

  “Kennedy.” Her voice was so soft. “I didn’t know.”

  “Bullshit.” She had to have. “You should’ve warned me.” I shook my head, feeling . . . I didn’t even know anymore. I turned it all off, but it was still there. Still pressing into my chest, my stomach, flipping all around and reminding me too much of worse memories. “I thought you were so nice, Sabrina. I felt bad for you, and I thought—” I stopped, feeling the tears in my throat. I shoved them down. “I thought if Shay didn’t love you, then what chance did I have with him?”

  “Kennedy.” It was just my name, but I still heard the plea from her.

  I shook my head again, stepping farther away from her. “No matter what you say, you knew deep down. You might not have known the extent of her crazy, but you knew she was dangerous.”

  “I didn’t—”

  “You knew in your gut.”

  As I said those words, I saw the truth. She did, and she was admitting it to herself. I didn’t care if it was the first time or the last time. She knew, and she stood by and let it happen. As far as I was concerned, that was worse in some ways.

  “Maybe.”

  “You knew.”

  I let my disdain drip from those two words before I left. At this point, I didn’t care who walked behind me.

  I was fed up with being attacked. I was fed up with being scared. I was fed up with being a target.

  Shay followed behind, calling my name.

  I ignored him, walking to his Jeep in a fast clip. I waited, my hand on the handle, and he paused behind me. He stood there, watching me, but I kept staring forward. I saw his gaze in the window. After a second, he went to his side and unlocked the doors.

  I opened mine, but looked back.

  Kristina, Casey, and Linde were leaving the station, too.

  “You okay?” Kristina asked.

  I wasn’t. “I’ll be fine.” I forced a smile.

  Kristina narrowed her eyes. “You sure?”