16. Maddison

Maddison

M y eyelids flutter open, and the first thing I notice is that my head is pounding. The next thing is that my mouth tastes like ass.

“What the hell?” I groan as I move to sit up. The movement makes my stomach muscles throb. That’s when the memories start trickling back to me.

The party.

Whiskey pong.

Getting grabbed.

Leaving with River.

The note on my door.

Getting sick.

Vomiting.

Wanting to die.

River …

River holding my hair …

River telling me that everything will be okay …

I groan again as I recall how he witnessed me puking at least three times. While the memories are hazy, I know he took care of me, holding my hair back while I puked, then he helped me to my room.

I think I passed out after that.

Why did I drink last night?

Better yet, why is River being so nice?

I check the time and hate myself even more. I have class in an hour. How the hell I’m going to make it through it is beyond me, but I have to.

Dragging my butt, I sit up, lower my feet to the floor, and stand up. For a flash of a moment, I think I’m going to puke again, but it’s a false alarm. Taking a deep breath, I collect a pair of torn jeans and a T-shirt before heading out of my room.

Lily is in the sitting area, reading a book, with her hair pulled up, and she has sweatpants on, which is kind of an odd thing to see.

When she spots me, she closes the book. “You’re alive!”

“Barely,” I mumble as I trudge across the room. “I feel like I may have died last night and been resurrected.”

“So, you’re saying you’re a vampire?”

“No way. I feel more along the lines of a zombie right now.”

She snorts a laugh as she rises to her feet. “I’m sorry. I feel like this is my fault for basically making you go to the party.”

“You’re fine. I’m the one who chose to drink.”

“Still, I feel like I shouldn’t have taken off at the party and left you. And with Finn. I mean, I love my brother to death, but he likes to drink and party.”

“Lily, I swear it’s fine. It’s not Finn’s fault. It’s no one’s fault but my own.”

She doesn’t appear convinced as she gathers her book and a bag that’s sitting on the coffee table. “I have to leave for this yoga class Wren and I are taking, but I’ll be back in like an hour. If you need anything at all, text me, okay?”

I nod, even though I won’t, and she starts for the door, throwing me a wave.

When she exits, I note that the message that was written on the door last night is gone.

Did Lily get it cleaned up? Or was it River? Probably the latter since Lily didn’t mention it to me. I feel like an ominous message on the door is going to be on the conversation agenda list.

I wish I’d have at least gotten a photo of it, because I feel like it needs to be looked into. Unless it wasn’t for me …

I’m pretty sure it was, though.

I’ll talk to River about it when I see him again, after I apologize for him having to take care of my pathetic ass last night.

I remain in the shower for longer than I should, desperate to scrub off last night’s events. I wash my hair then climb out, dry off, and get dressed. I brush my teeth way longer than required. By the time I’m finished, I feel a tad bit better and am even slightly hungry. Food will have to come later because I need to get to class.

I’m heading toward the door with my bag slung over my shoulder—my laptop in it—when someone knocks. I tense. Getting grabbed last night and the message on my door has me on edge.

Hesitantly, I open the door.

River is standing on the other side. He’s wearing a pair of baggy sweatpants, a T-shirt, along with sneakers. He also has what looks like a to-go box in his hand.

His gaze fleetingly sweeps across me. “You’re alive?” he jokes.

“Barely. I told Lily I think I died and came back as a zombie.”

His lips quirk. “You did basically puke your brains out last night.”

Guilt and embarrassment weave through me. “I’m so sorry. I feel like an idiot.”

He grows serious as he shakes his head. “You don’t need to apologize. Everyone’s gotten too drunk at least one time in their life.”

“I know, but how many people have gotten too drunk in their life and made some guy, who barely knows them, take care of them while they yakked their guts out.”

“You didn’t make me,” he stresses. “In fact, you told me to leave like a dozen times.”

I fidget, crossing my arms. “Why didn’t you, then?”

He shrugs. “Because you were sick and could barely hold your head up. I wouldn’t leave someone like that—ever.” He pauses, and a trace of amusement glitters in his eyes. “And while I saw things last night that will probably haunt my nightmares, I’m glad you seem semi-okay now.”

I shake my head while biting back a smile. “So, you have a joking side to you? Again, you surprise me, River Averson.”

His brows knit, as if he didn’t realize he had been joking with me. Then he hastily clears his throat. “So, I brought you a burger. Whenever Finn gets trashed, he likes to eat burgers because he says the grease makes his stomach feel better.” He hands me the to-go box.

I take it from him, looking from the box to him. “You brought me food?” I ask, flabbergasted. No one has ever done something like this for me, and my mind doesn’t even know how to process it.

He nods, brushing strands of his hand out of his eyes. “You seem shocked by that?”

“I … I’m just not used to people doing stuff like this for me.” I shake the shock out of my head. “Thank you.” It might be the most sincere thank you I’ve ever given.

“You’re welcome.” His gaze flicks down the hallway as a guy shouts, “River, hurry up. We’re going to be late.” He returns his focus to me. “I have a weight class I have to get to, but if you need anything, just text me … Wait, we should probably exchange numbers, right?” He leaves the question hanging in the air between us.

“Yeah, probably.” It’s a new experience for me as I retrieve my phone and we message each other. I’ve never given my number to a guy before, but that’s okay. I can have a guy for a friend.

That’s what I tell myself as I program River into my phone under the title, “ Gothic Prince .”

“All right, I’ll text you later if I haven’t heard from you, so we can figure out what time to meet in the mornings for training.” He begins to back away, slipping his phone into his pocket.

“Wait just a second,” I hiss, causing him to pause. I motion for him to come close, and when he does, I ask, “What happened to the message on the door?”

“I had it cleaned up,” he explains while peering around suspiciously at the people roaming the hallway. “If anyone else saw it, it would’ve led to gossip about either you or Lily.” He looks back at me. “I did take a photo of it, just in case.”

I lean against the doorframe. “Can you send it to me?”

He nods. “Are you sure it was for you?”

“I’m not positive,” I reply. “But I do think it’s weird that the same night I got grabbed at a party, a message was left on my dorm room door. Maybe it’s a coincidence. I don’t know. Would anyone leave a message like that for Lily?”

He wavers. “Honestly, there’s a small chance it could be for her … She’s had some problems with getting bullied before.” Tension flows off of him. “Please don’t say anything about that to her. And if you could keep quiet about the message on the door until we can figure out more about it, I’d really appreciate it.”

While I loathe the idea of keeping a secret from Lily—or anyone—I also know that I owe River. Big time.

“I can do that,” I say, checking the time on a clock on the wall across from us. “It’s the least I can do for you after you spent last night watching my stomach give itself an exorcism.”

He smashes his lips together, on the verge of smiling again. “You’re fine, Maddy. I’ll see you later, okay?” He wavers then spins on his heels and walks off down the hallway.

I watch him walk away, convincing myself that I’m not staring at him for that long.

But the truth is, I am.

The brutal truth is, I think I might like River Averson. And that makes me uncomfortable, more than even the note on the door.