Chapter 61

**SCARLET**
I cringed, almost squealing. I then immediately turned off my phone with my shaking fingers. My heartbeat raced. It couldn’t be him. It was too long ago. He would never come here. He had already left.
“Hey, what’s wrong?” Katherine elbowed me on the side.
“Huh?” I glanced at her. “Nothing.”
“Nothing?” Katherine grabbed my hand. “Your hands are shaking. What’s wrong?”
“I said I’m fine, Katherine Collins!” I snapped.
“Scarlet,” she said softly. “Calm down.”
“Miss Carter, is there a problem?” Our professor’s voice echoed through the whole room. Dozens of eyes shifted to me. Damn. I forgot I was still in the classroom.
“Nothing. I’m sorry, Mr. Donald. I’m sorry.”
The professor cleared his throat. “Eyes back at the screen. All of you.”
“We will talk later,” Katherine hissed, and she set her eyes back on her laptop’s screen.
After the class, we came out of the classroom and headed to the next lesson. Katherine was watching me as if waiting for me to speak. But I remained quiet. I still couldn’t get the message I’d received out of my mind. It could be Raoul, but someone who wanted to play with us.
Nate suddenly appeared behind us. He grabbed Katherine’s arm and mine. “Come with me.” He whispered while scanning the place suspiciously. As if someone was watching us.
“But we still have a class,” Katherine told him. “What is going on?”
“Shh!” Nate hissed. “Just come with me. “This won’t take long.”
Katherine stared at me. She gave me the same look. I nodded.
We walked discreetly in the opposite direction. Nate took us to the library. We followed him until he stopped on one of the bookshelves.
“Pick one too.” He took one book from the shelf, pretending that he was reading. We did as he said.
“Listen,” he whispered. “I got a message.”
“What is this all about?” Katherine asked. “You two are acting weird.”
“He’s here.” Nate swallowed hard. Our eyes locked.
“Who’s here?” Katherine frowned.
“Raoul,” I answered in a whisper. “I got one too.”
Nate’s shoulders fell. “He’s coming to our graduation.”
“Is that what he told you?” I asked.
Katherine interrupted. “Wait, wait! Guys, am I thinking the same person here? The one who—”
“Yes, Katherine.” I finished her sentence. I didn’t want to hear her say anything about who he was to me. “Then, my suspicion is correct. It was him. He texted me during class.”
“I received one. What did he tell you?” Nate asked.
I pulled out my phone and showed them the text.
“That son of a bitch,” Nate cursed. He gripped the book hard. “I received a different one. He said he was going to take me down for playing with him. He said he came back to see me. I don’t even know what the hell he means.”
“And? He said he’s coming to our graduation?” Katherine asked. “Oh, God!”
“Yes. He said he couldn’t wait to watch us on stage. That’s his last message. But I’m sure he’s already watching us.”
“How can you say that? He’s here?”
“I’m not sure. But we have to be careful. You have to be careful, Scar.”
“You need to go,” Katherine said suddenly.
“What?” I looked at her.
“Now is the time to decide, Scar. You have to leave Cambridge. We are leaving together after graduation.”
“Wait, what do you mean you’re leaving?” Nate grabbed his girlfriend’s arm.
“She’s coming with me to Edinburgh. We’re going to be employed in the same company. She’s not safe here.”
Nate frowned. “And why didn’t I know about this?”
“She hasn’t told anyone yet. You too, Nate. You have to go back home. It isn’t safe for you either.”
“You two are going to leave me here? That is your plan after graduation?”
Katherine sighed. “Scarlet is going to leave anyway. If it’s not Scotland, she’s going home to her mom. But it’s not safe for you to go home either, Scar,” Katherine said.
Yes, with my stepbrother’s situation and the family. God, what should I do?
Nate bit his lip hard before he spoke. “She’s right. It’s not safe.”
“I can’t run away from him forever, guys.”
“The last time I remember, you almost killed yourself,” Nate said.
“I’m scared,” I whispered.
“You should be,” Nate told me.
Katherine pulled me into a tight hug. “You’ll be alright. What are friends for?”
“Don’t tell anyone about this. It’s too dangerous. That includes your boyfriend.” Nate said.
“I know.” I nodded.
I texted Luke in the afternoon. I told him that I couldn’t come to his apartment tonight. I was suddenly anxious to go out. If Raoul was really here watching us, he might find out about Luke. I couldn’t risk that. I won’t put Luke in danger because of me.
“Hey, are you still going to Episode?” Katherine asked, snapping me off of my thoughts. “Aren’t you supposed to be there tonight?”
“I won’t go there anymore. It’s just a time anyway, but it’s fun.” I smiled.
“What did you tell Sean?”
“That I was much busier now with our thesis.”
Katherine nodded and sat on my bed. “Hey… Do you think he’s really here? You know who I mean.”
“Let’s just assume the worst.”
“Well, he could be here… or he’s probably just trying to scare us, but you must be careful. Heard anything from your boyfriend?”
I shook my head. “He hasn’t replied yet.”
“I’ve been thinking…” Katherine laid next to me. “Why did he come back now? Why not a long time ago?”
“I don’t know.”
“And if he’s really here?”
I shook my head. “I don’t know what else he wants from me.”
“Don’t you think it’s time for you to tell your family about it?” she suggested.
“I can’t tell Mom about that. She’ll freak out.”
She rolled over. “How about your boyfriend? He deserves to know.”
“And he’ll hunt him down, and it’s on me if something happens to him. God!” I wiped my face down. “This is freaking complicated. I haven’t even replied to one of his texts because I wouldn’t know what to say, but I wanted to see him.”
“If you want to see him, maybe just ask him to come here.”
I looked at her and smiled. “Maybe that’s a good idea after all.”
“Yep, now cheer up, and let’s have dinner.” She got up again and hopped out of bed. “Come on. I will wake Nate up.”
Katherine squeezed my hand, walked to the next room, and heard the sound of a slap. I chuckled.
“Wake up! Lazy head,” she shouted.
“Ouch! What?” Nate complained.
“Get up!” She slapped him again. “Let’s make dinner.”
“Alright! Stop doing that. It hurts.”
“I didn’t even—ouch!”
I heard Nate laugh. Katherine giggled. I imagined him pulling Katherine back on the bed to squeeze her in a tight hug, just like he always does. I chuckled. Maybe it was really better this way. I still have friends, and they’re not going to leave me. We may have problems and secrets, but they are the only reason I survived. They helped me millions of times and are willing to do it again. I think that was more than enough reason to listen to them now.
I checked my phone to see if I’d received any message, but there was still nothing in my inbox, so I messaged him instead.
Are you busy? – Scar
A reply came a minute later.
I’m sorry, love. Something came up. I have to leave for London right away. It’s urgent. I’ll see you at your graduation. I love you – Luke