Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
Chapter Fifteen
✦
IT WAS A shallow and short word that felt like an insult to everything I've ever done to defend myself against that.
I would rather scour through the earth with nothing but my bare hands than beg for something.
Especially from a man.
Voiding my face of any obvious emotion, I simply shrugged. So be it.
If it wasn't going to wash my sheets, I just wouldn't sleep there. So instead, I shoved past him aggressively, collapsing heavily into his bed. It smelled like Zavier. Awkward but compatible mixes of his body sprays and his colognes.
"Kaiyo?" He questioned, though it was more of a statement as he waited for no answer. "What the fuck are you doing?"
My heart was beating faster than I'd like to admit, but I didn't let him see that. Instead, I buried my face carelessly into the pillow and groaned.
"Sleeping."
I was facing the wall, trying to distract the pounding in my chest and the shadow Zavier cast above me by observing the posters taped to the wall. Numerous musicians and video games, some I recognized and some I didn't, were scattered and layered on the wall.
I felt the weight in the bed shift as Zavier lay down next to me, slightly shoving me closer to the wall. "Sleep well then, darling."
I ignored him, his reaction to my actions confusing me with each passing moment. Why wasn't he mad? Not even annoyed? Why'd he sound rather... amused?
"But unfortunately, I fucked her where you're laying, too," he concluded, flipping off the lamp beside the bed as the room felt pitch dark.
What the fuck.
I knew I was never a neat sleeper. I'd always wake up in random positions strawn out across the bed, sometimes sweating aggressively from whatever nightmare decided to possess me that night, and sometimes sleeping like the dead from how out of it I was.
But today I awoke with ease, situated with one hand underneath the pillow as my left cheek laid against it, and my other hand tucked beneath me. From what I could recall, not even a single nightmare occurred that night.
I didn't have to wake up panting and out of breath, telling myself to silently calm down so that Zavier wouldn't have to be the one to wake me up again.
Instead, I woke up with the blankets half tangled, half-tucked around me as the sun from the one window in the dorm beat down on my face.
Blinking a few times, I lightly stretched and glared around the room. Realization of the position I was in a hit like a brick.
Oh.
Looking over to my side of the room, I saw that the bed was made. Dressed in gray bedsheets that certainly weren't mine, all put together nicely with my clean white sheets folded in a pile on the corner of the bed.
Above all, I saw that I was also alone in the room.
Zavier had cleaned my sheets after all, and although it was such a minuscular task it filled me with great pride knowing that he had done so, all because of me.
That ounce of power that I'd been feeling drained of flew back into me like a breath of fresh air after coming up from a swim. Relieving, to say the least.
Climbing out of the bed, I wasted no time changing into an outfit for the day.
I was determined to scout out more places to hide away in the depths of night. As my previous one outside seemed to have already been occupied by a presence I never wanted to interact with again.
Deciding to take my time with the act, I walked slower as I exited the dorm room, taking in the things around me that I'd previously deemed to be irrelevant.
It was cold in the shade, the warmth from the sun wasn't there to balance out the cool breeze, but as I wrapped my brown sweatshirt around me tighter, I didn't mind all that much.
The dorm room was on the 4th floor. The hallway itself was completely open to the outdoors, similarly to a motel except for a million times fancier. The walls were painted in a bland white color with a tint of blue, in contrast to the girl's dorms building that was tinted a deeper shade of pink.
It was so clean, the building looked almost new. Although, the small cracks and paint chippings near the ceiling and floor, revealing just how outdated it all was. Deciding to take the elevator, I pressed the button to go down and waited.
With my luck, I should've expected the sight I'd see when the doors opened. Revealing the man I thought I'd be able to escape for just a day.
Zavier himself.
Leaning back against the wall of the elevator, one hand tucked in the pocket of his black dress pants, why the other scrolled mindlessly through his phone. His eyes were furrowed as if whatever he was looking at wasn't appealing enough. As he looked up, his eyes locked on mine, and there was nothing but a tense yet peaceful silence for a few seconds.
Such contradicting emotions, such a beautiful clash.
Pursing my lips, I stepped into the elevator. But he didn't step out.
"Thanks," I said, breaking the silence carefully. I didn't have to say for what, as I'm sure he'd figure that out himself.
There was nothing in response, so I kept my head down, trying my hardest to ignore his tall demeanor. He was dressed rather fancy for a casual Saturday morning, it was strange seeing him in any attire other than loungewear or the school's uniform.
"Where to?" He suddenly questioned, as the elevator reached the ground floor.
Stepping out, he followed cautiously. Rolling my eyes, a familiar flavor of disgust breeched my mouth. "Gonna babysit me on weekends too now?"
I glanced behind me, watching carefully as the corner of his mouth lifted up into a sly smirk. I looked away before he could meet my gaze. "I'm not here to babysit you, barbie. Just bored."
"Following me, just like a little dog," I mocked, a small grin of dominance breaking my frown.
Zavier's smirk dropped, reverting back into his usual dull frown. "Hilarious."
I shrugged carelessly, using the act as a way to brush off the pet name and the chills I received from hearing him call me that.
What was happening to me?
The way a warm feeling circulated my stomach as he followed close behind, his shadow cast on the ground yards taller than mine, despite my own height being far from short.
The way that warmth sparked into something deeper as the thought of him trailing me like a dog entered my mind.
For once, I was able and prepared to admit it, and the idea flourished beneath me as we walked.
I wanted to make Zavier mine. I wanted to watch him bow down and crumble at my every command.
Just the thought of that was enough to make me willing to try.
