Chapter Twenty

I shoot him a glare before turning back to get caught up on my notes, though I only manage to catch a few bits of useful information before the class is over, thanks to Adrian’s distractions. As soon as the lights come back on in the lecture all to let people out safely, I jab an elbow into his ribs as payback.

He doesn’t seem to notice of course and shoots me a look as he begins to pack up my belongings for me.

The girl beside me shoves her stuff back into her bag without much organization, shooting me a smile. “Here’s your pen back. I really appreciate it, again,” She says, holding it out for me to take.

I reach out to accept it, but Adrian rudely reaches beneath my elbow to snatch it from her, silently putting it into my purse with the rest of my things. I roll my eyes at his behavior but match the girl’s expression. “Sorry about him, he’s just hungry,” I say as if it can excuse his impolite attitude. “It’s no problem.” I expect the conversation to end there and begin to stand up, brushing the wrinkles from my skirt.

The girl follows me into the walkway, ignoring Adrian’s grumble as she walks with us. “You’re a new face, did you just transfer to this class?”

“I just transferred schools, actually,” I say, pausing to let someone out in front of me.

The guy smiles politely at me, but it turns into a grimace once he locks eyes with Adrian. He scurries past us and weaves through the crowd of students to bolt out the door.

“Oh, really?” She asks, sounding surprised. “Would you like to get some lunch with me then? I know your boyfriend must be hangry,” she chuckles, catching on to the vibes he’s giving her.

I catch Adrian giving her a warning look behind his shoulder before ushering me ahead as if to prevent me from letting anyone else ahead of us. Why is he being so rude to her? My brow furrows and I squeeze the life out of his hand, as a deterrent, hoping that he fixes his attitude. I’ll talk to him about it later either way because he’s acting like a totally different person on campus.

“Sure, we’d love to,” I say, knowing very well that Adrian has to come with me wherever I go, so I may as well do what I want. “My next class isn’t until 1:30 anyway.”

He can play domineering daddy all he wants, but I’m free to do as I please. It doesn’t say anywhere in the contract that I have to listen to him.

The girl’s face lights up as we step into the hallway, and I notice that she’s undeterred by the stares that we immediately get. “Awesome! My name is Serene.”

I didn’t notice before, but her outfit is really simple, yet cute, which tells me alot about her personality. She’s wearing a pair of ripped jeans with fishnet stockings underneath, with a black sweatshirt and a white-collar sticking out of the neck. She’s the only person who’s approached us, let alone tried to befriend me since we got here, and I’m determined to make friends with her. She seems rebellious, and I like that in friends.

I smile charmingly, my mind made up. “I’m Lydia. This asshole is my boyfriend, Adrian,” I say, gesturing to him. “You’re welcome to ignore him.” Adrian rolls his eyes at the way I decided to introduce him but continues to look straight ahead as we head towards what I assume is the dining hall.

Serene glances at him, her cheery expression faltering. “Yeah, I know who he is. We all do,” She says, ignoring the look that he gives her. “I’m just surprised to see someone as nice as you with him,” She confesses.

I furrow my brow and take Adrian’s hand pointedly. “He’s actually a nice guy under this facade,” So he must have been telling the truth when he said that he’s respected, or feared, or whatever it is. Why though?

Serene looks doubtful as we turn the corner to enter a remotely empty dining hall. “I wouldn’t guess that. What’s your major?”

I’m grateful for the change of subject. “Fashion, but I don’t know what that’s called here,” I confess, allowing Adrian to pull me through the line with both of our plates on a tray.

Serene follows behind me, grabbing her own plate. “Really? You don’t seem to know alot about this school, so what made you want to transfer?”

I wince at the question, wishing that I could have avoided that topic in conversation. I guess it’s only natural for her to be curious though, considering that she’s right. I don’t know anything about this school, other than it being really secluded and private for some reason. “My dad is an alumnus, he wanted me to come here.”

Serene piles some salad onto her plate, giving me a sidelong look. “Mine too. What’s your last name? I wonder if our parents went together.”

Adrian leans behind me to shoot her another glare, but she’s too busy assembling her salad to care.

“Loveday,” I say, giving Adrian a strange look. Why does he keep glowering at Serene like that? I assumed that no one knew him very well, but she seems comfortable enough with him to be unbothered by his attitude.

“Huh,” She pauses to look at me, her eyes suspiciously wide. She glances from me to Adrian before placing the tongs back where they belong and moving forward again. “I’ve never heard of him,” She shrugs.

Now at the end of the line, Adrian digs a card from his jacket pocket and swipes it twice, one for each meal I assume. I follow him to a table, pausing to let Serene catch up so I don’t lose her in the growing line of people. Adrian pauses to look back at me, but not before shooting a glare at someone passing by.

I roll my eyes and continue to follow him to an empty table by the back wall, and he sits on the end again, offering for me to scootch in beside him. As I get myself situated, I notice that the room begins to fill up now, though the seats around our table remain empty.

Serene remains unbothered by the stares in our direction as she walks around to the other side to sit beside me. “So do you live off-campus?”

I nod, reaching past Adrian to grab the plate he assembled for me. “Yeah. Do you?”
I’m surprised to see the food is about the same quality as my previous dining hall, and Adrian seemed to pick out the foods I favor. He must have been paying attention to the foods I ate over the past few days to get a portfolio of my eating habits. It definitely scores him some points for being attentive.

“Nope, I live here,” Serene answers around a mouthful of her greens. The lack of meat makes me realize that she might be vegetarian, and hope that the shrimp in my noodles won’t distress her.

Looking at Adrian’s plate though, I doubt that I’ll be the offender in this scenario. He has an unusual amount of food on his plate for what I’m used to seeing him eat. Hopefully, he hasn’t been starving himself for my sake, since I eat so much less. He wordlessly begins to dig in, eyes roaming the cafeteria at all of the new people.

I notice professor Clatt from my history class joining the line, and his eyes brush over me, falling briefly on Adrian. He nods subtly before looking away as the line begins to move forward, cutting the acknowledgment short. So even the professors know him?

“So, did you just move in then?” Serene draws my attention back to her.

“Yep, just this weekend. There’s still a lot of decorating to do,” I say, giving Adrian a pointed look that he ignores.

“Really? I hope it’s not too soon to offer, but I’m majoring in design so I’d love to help if you need it,” Serene says excitedly, taking a sip of her water.

Adrian stares at her incredulously as he stuffs a bite of steak into his mouth, looking like he’d kick her if he thought I wouldn’t notice. I decide to beat him to it and place my heel on his toes. He might be my landlord, but I’m allowed to have friends over if I want to. I’m not a child.

“Wow, really?” I ask in surprise, glad that she asked. “For sure, I’d love some help! It’s alot to do for one person.”

Serene nods, ignoring Adrian’s glare dutifully. I’m so glad she’s not easily intimidated by guys like him, unlike everyone else. “Cool! I can show you around some places if you want, too. I know there’s not a lot to do in Whitefish, so I can take you to a couple of stores and warehouses to look at some decor.”

I give her a grateful look. “Thanks, Serene. I’d hate to bore Adrian with that kind of stuff. You know how men are when it comes to shopping.”