16. Archer

16

ARCHER

I walk across campus feeling the warmth of the sun on my face. It's been a good few weeks. Since we ramped up the pressure on Lyric, I've felt more like myself. She's become our release valve, our way of taking back control. Every time we push her, it feels like we're erasing a bit of the past, reclaiming our dignity.

The smells of vanilla and lavender linger faintly from my jacket, mixing with the fresh scent of the morning air. It's almost enough to make me smile. Almost.

As I reach the classroom, I can already feel the adrenaline kicking in. Making Lyric squirm has become my new favorite pastime. I push open the door and scan the room, my eyes locking on her almost immediately. She's sitting in the back, but she's not alone. She's talking to some guy I don't recognize, someone from a rival fraternity.

My mood sours instantly. I stride over, every step filled with purpose. Lyric's face pales as she sees me approaching, but she doesn't look away from the guy. I sit down next to her, forcing a smile that feels more like a baring of teeth.

"Who's your friend, Lyric?" I ask, my tone dripping with false sweetness. I know exactly who the guy is—his name is Cameron Grant and he went to Crestwood with us. He was always trying to compete, even back then and now he's in Sigma Theta, so he's a rival.

She glances at me, her eyes wide but determined. "Archer, this is Cameron."

Cameron offers a casual smile. "Hey, Archer. I was talking to Lyric about the upcoming charity event."

I don't bother acknowledging him. My focus is solely on her. "Charity event, huh? You didn't tell us you were getting so involved, Lyric."

She shifts uncomfortably, clearly aware of the threat in my voice. "He was just talking about it."

Cameron nods. "Yeah, Lyric has some great ideas. We could very much use her input."

I lean back in my chair, my eyes never leaving Lyric's face. "Is that so?" I say slowly. "Well, Lyric's quite the busy bee. We'll have to see if she has the time."

She swallows hard, the challenge clear in her eyes. "I'll make time."

The professor walks in and I lean in close to Lyric, my voice a low growl meant just for her. "Don't get ahead of yourself, Princess. If you don't think you're busy enough, we can give you more to do."

She nods stiffly, her attention on the professor but her mind clearly elsewhere. I settle back in my seat, annoyance simmering just below the surface.

As I listen to the lecture, our professor announces that our final presentation will be a group project and begins calling out the assigned teams. I'm not surprised when I'm paired with Lyric, but I am surprised when we're also paired with Cameron as well.

She allows us to break into our groups to discuss the topic of our presentation and the three of us shift seats, facing each other in a moment of tense silence.

"Well, this is lucky," Cameron jokes, smiling at Lyric. "I already know you have a ton of great ideas, so I'm sure with your help, this presentation will be awesome."

Something about Cameron has always irked me. He's got a baby face and boyish looks, but he always felt more like a viper to me.

"We should figure out what we're going to present," I say, pissed at how he gives Lyric a wide smile.

"What if we picked something from one of the topics we covered in the last unit?" Lyric offers. "We could do an offshoot of that."

"Dr. Dobbs is probably looking for fresh ideas," I tell her, shaking my head. "I think she wants to see what we come up with."

"I agree with Lyric," Cameron says. "Dr. Dobbs would probably like it if we utilized something we already went over but expanded it in a new direction."

I ball my hands into fists under the table. "I don't know, if we take off from the last unit, we might end up covering something that we've already learned. And Dr. Dobbs was pretty clear that she wants us to seek out information we haven't already covered."

"What if we listed out some possible topics?" Lyric suggests, glancing at Cameron, as though waiting for his approval. This pisses me off more, so I nudge her foot under the table and she goes stiff, then leans toward me.

"Did you forget our deal?" I hiss through gritted teeth.

"What deal?" Cameron asks, eyes wide as though he wasn't just eavesdropping.

"I'm helping Lyric with another class in exchange for her helping me get an A in this one," I lie.

Lyric nods, looking uneasy at the lie but going along with it for Cameron's sake.

"You know, I don't see how listening to Lyric's ideas would mean your grade might suffer," Cameron argues. "Give her a chance. C'mon, Hudson, you got something against her?"

I wonder how much he remembers from high school. Surely, he remembers the incident at the pep rally and the aftermath? I glare at him but realize that if he doesn't know what's going on, he's not going to understand my deal with Lyric.

"Fine," I mutter. "Let's write down a list of possible topics. If you're so sure that Lyric has a brilliant idea, you write them down, Grant."

"I can do that," Cameron says, entirely too cheerful for this whole conversation. It continues like that as we jot down ideas, with Cameron praising all of Lyric's suggestions and defending her when he thinks I'm getting too snippy.

If that's not bad enough, the next step he takes feels like one step too far. "So, Lyric," he says as he writes down an idea that I had insisted on, "there's a party at Sigma Theta coming up. I was wondering if you had any plans to go."

"She's busy," I snap, my pencil almost breaking in half as I struggle to contain the annoyance within. "She's got a kid, plus she's… doing tutoring work," I throw out.

Lyric gives me an irritated expression, her brows drawn together, lips pursed. "I wasn't thinking about it," she admits, ignoring me. "As Archer mentioned, I've got quite a full schedule. But I might stop by if I have time."

"You should come," Cameron says, giving her a soft smile. "We Sigma's know how to have fun. Our parties are way more entertaining than the Alphas are."

"What the hell?" I ask, shooting daggers at him. "Are you trying to one-up me?"

Cameron chuckles, holding up his hands. "Relax, man. It's all in good fun. Some healthy inter-frat rivalry, right?"

"Thanks for the offer," Lyric says, noticing the tension between the two of us. "I don't know if I'd have time, to be completely honest."

"You heard the lady," I mutter, relaxing back down. "She's busy. Respect the no, bro."

"Doesn't sound like a no to me," Cameron points out. "I'll give you a wristband if you want to come to the next one. Just stop by if you're not busy that night," he says, winking at her.

"Alright, enough," I say, curling my lip. "Let's get the fuck back to work. We have to come up with a presentation idea today so we can get started working on it. This is like forty percent of our grade, so try not to make googly eyes at each other for the next few minutes while we work."

Lyric glances at me out of the corner of her eyes, frustration evident from the way she holds herself stiffly and how her brow is creased. She frowns and looks back down at her notes. "Yeah, let's get back to work," she mumbles.

Satisfied that I nipped whatever that was in the bud, I throw myself into the project as we brainstorm a few more possible ideas before we have a good-sized list.

"This one looks promising," Cameron points out. "It kind of touches briefly on something we covered in the unit, but it also lends itself to a fresh perspective. What do you think, Lyric?" he asks, pushing the paper toward her.

I glance down as Lyric looks at it, reading it silently next to her.

Her frown slowly turns into a smile. "That's not a bad idea," she says, grinning up at Cameron. Something sharp and hot punches through my gut, but I ignore it.

"It's decent," I agree with a shrug. "We could make it work. It's going to be a lot of research, though. How will we divide it up?"

The rest of class time is spent with the three of us discussing who will take what part of the project. By the time class ends, my anger is mostly forgotten.

That is until Cameron gives Lyric a brief hug on the way out of class. My irritation flares to life once more and I pull her aside as we step into the hallway.

"Hey, I don't like how cozy you were acting with that guy," I tell her.

Lyric gives me an incredulous look. "He's our project partner," she points out. "And he was merely being friendly."

"Friendly?" I scoff. "I doubt it. From now on, unless you're talking about the project with him, and you're with me, I don't want you talking to Cameron anymore."

Lyric's eyes widen. "I mean it," I continue. "I just don't trust that guy. Never have. He's a snake and I don't want you alone with him."

She ignores me, instead choosing to walk away. She'd better listen if she knows what's good for her.