Chapter 35

OPHELIA I lean against the wall, watching droplets of rain sluice down the windowpane before funneling off the sill and dripping onto the rosebushes below. Despite the space heater blowing full blast beside me, I shiver against the cold. According to the thermostat, the room is balmy, but I’m still freezing. It’s been five days since that night at the house, and I’ve replayed every moment of it on repeat in my mind. The carnage in the parking lot by the river haunts my sleep, but the story about the car wreck seems to have been accepted by everyone, so my nightmares about spending the rest of my life in prison have abated. But mostly I can’t stop thinking about how the guys rescued me and how good they made me feel after. How my body lit up at their touch. The way it felt like they actually wanted me and weren’t simply pretending. Then I recall the professor and how mad he was. Malachi and Xavier breaking my heart when they walked me home. How despite them being a constant pain in my a