Her footsteps come closer with each passing second.
My face heats and panic grips me by the gut. If she finds me with Aiden, I can kiss my clean, perfect record goodbye. I will endanger Cambridge and everything I’ve worked for.
Aiden releases me and strides to the window. He throws me one last indecipherable look before he jumps down and disappears.
I release a shaky breath as I pull the towel up my body. My legs are trembling and barely holding me upright.
Coach Nessrine comes into view. “Is everything all right?”
“Yeah,” I whisper.
Not really.
Not at all.
Chapter Eleven
Aunt Blair and I switch from a side plank to a meditation position.
Eyes closed, we just feel.
The sound of the birds chirping in the trees fills my ears like soothing music. The humid air sticks to my cheeks and ruffles my hair back.
For as long as I remember, Aunt and I have shared this moment of inner peace.
The only difference is that I can’t focus right now.
The confrontation I had with Aiden in the locker room yesterday keeps replaying in the back of my mind like a recurring nightmare.
My skin prickles with unease.
Or is it unease?
My body didn’t forget how close he got. How he touched me like he had every right to.
Since my return to school this year, everything has been spiralling out of control. The inner peace I’ve been doing my best to protect is being chipped, chewed, and thrown out. Or maybe it’s been crumbling for the past two years while I’ve been doing my best to be strong.
Or the ten years before that.
Damn Aiden to the darkest pits of hell.
He’s stirring a part I’ve been keeping under wraps from everyone. Hell, I’ve been shielding myself from that part, too.
Haunted memories.
Excruciating pain.
Dead eyes.
Every time I stare into his smoky gaze, I see a hint of the darkness I left behind. I’ll be damned if I let him or anyone else force me to remember that nightmare.
“Elsie?”
My eyes snap open to find Aunt sitting cross-legged in front of me. She’s staring at my clenched fists with furrowed brows.
“The idea is to relax.” She’s smiling but concern is etched on her creased brow. No wrinkles whatsoever.
Aunt is an ageless beauty, basically.