CHAPTER 32

CHAPTER 3 2

MYRA

Making peace

A STORM HAD moved in overnight, turning the skies gray and dampening the overall mood of the day. I opted for comfort over style, donning jeans and a sweater under my coat and grabbing my umbrella before heading off for my first class.

Kristin had been uncharacteristically quiet when I got back to the room last night and even this morning had only offered a clipped "good morning," before ducking off to the bathroom. Just as well. I wasn't up for any more of her prying and unsolicited advice. My evening with Julianus had been close to perfect and I didn't need her ruining it for me.

My good mood lasted until literature class. That's when Ron made his first appearance in class since the attack. When I saw him enter, I pretended to be engrossed in double-checking the term paper that was due today. He slid into his seat without a word to me and pulled out his books, then leaned over to the guy on the other side of him to ask what we were doing today. He didn't even acknowledge me, and I couldn't decide if I was grateful or hurt.

The hour passed in awkward avoidance, until I was packing up to leave. I stood up and reached for my backpack when Ron looked over and met my eyes. I thought he was going to say something, then he seemed to change his mind and took off up the aisle ahead of me.

Asshole. I watched him leave the room, immediately sorry for the thought. That wasn't like me. When I got out to the hallway, I saw him walking alone toward what I knew was his history class, and part of me felt a pang of loss. The fact that I still didn't know what I had done to alienate him bothered me more than I cared to admit, and part of me wanted to run after him and confront him about it, but I knew I wouldn't. Maybe I was afraid of what he might say.

Instead, I opted to keep my promise to Julianus and ventured out in the pouring rain toward the cafeteria to grab some lunch. No more skipping meals. I didn't want another embarrassing fainting episode like last night.

As suspected, Kristin was already holding court at a table when I arrived. I shook out my umbrella and placed it in the rack by the door before getting in line for food, wishing I could find a table by myself to eat my lunch in peace. Unfortunately, Carly had already spotted me and waved me over. Lisa was with them, along with Renee and another girl I didn't know.

"I hear Ron went back to class today," Lisa said as I sat down .

I glanced up at Kristin, who shrugged, and busied myself with opening and spreading the packet of dressing on my salad before responding. "Yeah, he was in Mr. Edmonds' class."

"Did he say anything to you?" she pressed.

"No."

"That must've been awkward."

"Little bit," I agreed, wishing she would change the subject. No one said anything for a minute, then Renee spoke up.

"Here's something that will take your mind off it."

I glanced up at her expectantly, but it was Kristin who blurted out, "There was another murder last night."

Of course she had to be the one to deliver the news. She stared at me as though daring me to refute it. "Yeah? Where this time?"

"They found the body in her bedroom," Renee replied. "Police even saw a suspect in the house."

"Did they catch him?"

"No. He ran out the back and jumped the fence and disappeared."

"Was it the same guy?"

Renee shrugged. "They think so, though there was no rose this time. They figure they must've interrupted him before he had a chance to leave it."

"You say they found her in her room? How did they know to look there?"

"Anonymous tip," Kristin said. "Cops are trying to find the tipster since it gave them their first break in the case."

I took a bite of my salad. "Seems kind of fishy to me."

"What do you mean?" Lisa asked.

"Well, the first time this guy kills someone in their home and there's an anonymous tip? Like how did this person know unless they were there? "

"We could ask Jack," Renee offered. "His dad has been talking to the local police about this."

"Why would they tell him about an open case?" I asked. "I know he's a cop, but it's not like he works here."

"He told them he's interested because his son goes to school here."

Like the story about the anonymous tipster, it sounded a little contrived. But what did I know? I wasn't a cop. The fact that the killer was taking victims in their own homes now was concerning, however. First Lisa and Ron were attacked in their dorm rooms, now this? Could it all be the work of the same person? I looked at Lisa. "Do you think it's the same man?"

Her eyes skirted away from me, same as they always did whenever I asked about what had happened to her. "I don't know," she murmured before pretending to be absorbed in her soup.

"Maybe you could ask Ron?" Kristin said. "You know, if you were speaking to him?"

I glared at her. "And whose fault is that?"

Half of me wanted to get up and leave, but I had promised Julianus I would eat, and I wasn't going to let Kristin's pissiness drive me to break that promise. "If you've got something to say to me, Kristin, just say it. Otherwise, mind your own business."

No one was more surprised than me by my outburst. The others stared at me wide-eyed, like they were seeing me for the first time. They were really shocked when Kristin stood up without a word and stalked out of the cafeteria. We all watched her go, then Carly turned back to me.

"Girl, nobody talks to Kristin that way."

"Maybe somebody should," I mumbled. "Everyone's got a right to their privacy. "

I was really surprised when Lisa reached across the table and squeezed my hand.

? ? ?

After my psychology class I spent the rest of the afternoon in the library studying. I probably would've been more comfortable in my room, but I didn't want to chance running into Kristin. I knew I couldn't avoid her forever, but I wasn't ready for that confrontation just yet. I was still surprised by her reaction in the cafeteria. Had I actually hurt her feelings? From what I'd seen of Kristin since my arrival, I didn't think that was possible. I mean, sure, I knew she had feelings like everyone else, she just seemed immune to caring about what anyone thought of her. At least that's the way it seemed judging by how she ran roughshod over everyone else's boundaries. Ron had said it best when he told me Kristin was an attention hog.

Thinking about Ron brought me back to his behavior in class today. I could chalk up his reaction to me in the hospital as a by-product of the assault, but that was days ago now. And Lisa had said he was the same way with Toby. The Ron I had gotten to know over the previous week had been caring and well-mannered. Was I that wrong about him, and if not, what had happened to change him so much in the matter of a day?

As angry as I was at his attitude, I still wished I could talk to him and get an answer. If nothing else, to have some closure. I thought we had something special. He had even talked about taking me home to meet his family during Thanksgiving break. The whole thing bothered me more than I wanted to admit.

When it was still raining by late afternoon, I assumed I wouldn't be seeing Julianus tonight and headed back to the dorm. I was going to have to face Kristin sooner or later unless I wanted to sleep in the library, so I might as well get it out of the way.

She wasn't there when I arrived, so I pulled out my copy of Mr. Edmonds' latest assignment, The Picture of Dorian Gray . This was another book I'd read with Poe, but I was determined to approach it with fresh eyes. I was lost in the tale when my roommate finally made an appearance.

She looked over at me and huffed before dropping her backpack on her bed. I bit my lip to keep from asking her what that reaction was for. There was no point in provoking her further. She plopped down on her bed and pulled her history book out of her bag, setting it aside and looking around the room before her eyes finally landed on me. I watched out of the corner of my eye while pretending to ignore her until I could stand the weight of her stare no longer. I took my time slipping a bookmark in my book before giving her my attention.

"I'm sorry," she said, shocking me.

That was not what I expected to come out of her mouth, but I wasn't letting her off that easily. "For what?" I asked.

Her eyes bounced around the room, avoiding mine. "For being a brat, I guess."

Well that was something. Still… "Do you mean that or are you just saying it?"

She rolled her eyes and sighed. "Look, I can't help how I am. I've always been, well…"

"An attention hog?" I supplied, using Ron's words.

She frowned then shrugged. "Yeah, I guess that's fair. I grew up in a family of four brothers who all excelled at something. If I didn't toot my own horn, no one would've paid attention to me. "

"I did not know that."

"I don't talk about them much. I'm the baby sister and they're all grown up and successful whatevers. I was kind of a surprise to my parents. They were older when they had me, and I guess they kind of spoiled me and ignored me at the same time."

"Sounds rough," I teased. "How did that work?"

"They would buy me everything I wanted so they didn't have to interrupt their lives for me. I learned early on the best way to get their attention was to badger them relentlessly."

I snorted. "Seems like you mastered the technique."

"Shut up." She pretended to be mad, then grinned sheepishly. "I'm not completely horrible, am I?"

"Not completely. But you could work on your people skills."

"Like you're one to give advice about that."

She had me there. She was quiet for a few minutes, then drew in a deep breath as though preparing for a major dive.

"Okay, don't get mad at me, but I did something this afternoon."

Great, now what, I wondered. "Yeah?"

She seemed hesitant to continue. "I went to see Ron. Now, before you say anything, just listen, okay?"

I sighed. "Okay."

"I asked him what the hell was his problem. Why was he treating my girl like crap."

I bit back a chuckle; I could imagine his reaction to that. "And what did he say?"

"Well, at first he was kind of surprised that I was talking to him. Apparently he's managed to alienate everyone he knows since the attack like a total dick."

"Did you tell him that? "

"That he was acting like a dick? Yeah, I did."

I couldn't help it, I laughed out loud. "Bet that went over big."

She shrugged. "I call ‘em like I see ‘em. Anyway, he wasn't going to answer me at first, but when I made it clear I wasn't leaving until he did, he kind of caved."

"You are a bit relentless."

She smirked. "It's one of my better qualities."

"That's debatable," I muttered. "So what did he say?"

"He told me he was embarrassed."

"Embarrassed? By what?"

"By the assault, I guess. I mean, didn't you say the nurse told you he was raped?"

"She said it looked like he'd had sexual contact."

"Do you think that was consensual?"

I thought back to how Ron had left me the night before the attack. I'd gone over this in my head a hundred times, wondering if he somehow had a male lover I didn't know about. I hadn't known him that long, but Toby was his best friend and roommate and he was adamant that there was no way that was possible.

"No, I don't."

"Then it was rape. And I guess, looking at it that way, you can kind of understand why he feels embarrassed. I mean, it's bad enough for a woman when she's raped, but for a guy? They're supposed to be strong."

"Yeah, but he has to know no one who cares about him would hold that against him."

"It's a guy thing. They're clueless about stuff like that."

"Maybe. But that's no reason to ghost everyone. "

"You and I see that, but like I said, he's a guy. And now that he's done it, he doesn't know how to undo it."

I thought back to his hesitation at the end of class today. "Well, I can't do it for him."

"No, but maybe you can be a little more open to it?"

"Meaning what?"

She shrugged. "Give him a chance. Unless you're totally into this new guy."

I thought about Julianus and I couldn't help the heat that rushed through me. Kristin must have seen it, too.

"Yeah, that's kind of what I thought. Whoever he is has done a job on you quick."

I looked at her and made a decision. "Not so quick."

"What do you mean?"

"You remember the guy I drew in my notebook?"

She narrowed her eyes. "That's him?" I nodded. "Okay, yeah, I can see where you're coming from now." She shook her head and grinned at me. "You got to admit, it's a nice problem to have."

"What?"

"Two hot guys up in your business? Damn, girl. I never would have thought of it with you."