“No way, man.” My heart shot into my throat when an arm banded around my waist and hauled me back against a hard body. The stench of pungent beer burned my nostrils and churned my stomach. “Would that make you feel better, baby,” he spoke softly against my neck, and I tried to curl away from him. “We can always share, too.”
He stretched his arm in front of me and held up his hand. The goliath that was holding Olivia high-fived my captor. Olivia’s glazed eyes met mine and began to fill with tears.
No. No, no, no. Adrenaline shot through my body. I used all my strength and slammed my heel down on his toe. He cursed in pain and pulled back, but still held tight to my arm.
“You fucking bitch!” He tossed me behind him, and with no one there to catch me, I fell, landing against a table pushed off to the side. Pain shot up my arm as it scraped against the corner. My head thudded hard against the edge, and I blinked to clear the black dots before me. Why wasn’t anyone doing anything? Tears burned my eyes in fear, embarrassment, and rage.
Ready to get up and fight him with an epic warrior cry, going down fighting for my friend, I was stopped when three guys stepped into the circle.
“Let her the fuck go, dickhole,” Connor said, his two friends at his side. One reached back to help me up. “Or we’ll report you to Coach and get you kicked off the team.”
I stood next to one of our heroes, still burning with rage, when the asshole tossed Olivia at Connor, where she stumbled into his arms.
“She’s not fucking worth it. Too fat.”
I stepped forward, aiming for his balls, but the guy who helped me up held me back, shaking his head. “Let’s just get out of here.”
They walked us out to our car, helping a sniffling Olivia into the front seat.
“You okay to drive?” Connor asked me.
“Yeah. I’ll be fine. Thanks for your help in there.”
“Evan and James are cunts and deserve to be kicked off the football team. I’ll be telling the coach anyway.”
“Thank you,” I said one last time before I got in and drove off.
I parked in the teacher lot outside of the science building because it was the closest to Olivia’s dorm. When I walked past, I looked up at Dr. Pierce’s office and saw the light on. What was he doing here so late? Looking at my phone I noticed it was only ten-thirty. Still late, but I almost laughed at how short a time we lasted at the frat party. Less than three hours and we’d already checked that off as an experience we’d never want to repeat again.
I got Olivia settled and tucked in with no protest and very little help on her part. The alcohol was hitting her. I left a bottle of water and some aspirin on her desk for the morning.
“Guys are jerks. Thanks for being my friend, Oak.”
“Any time.” I kissed her forehead. She was out before I even reached the door.
When I walked past the science building again, Dr. Pierce’s light was off. I must have just missed him.
Walking back to my car I remained vigilant. Looking around, partly scared that someone might have followed us for revenge or something equally dramatic. The adrenaline was wearing off, and the stinging in my arm increased. I needed to get home and take care of whatever damage was caused. The pain stretched down my arm and up into my shoulder. My head ached and each throb was a reminder to how vulnerable I was. Only ten more feet to my car.
I almost swallowed my tongue when a dark figure emerged from around the corner.
“Oaklyn?” a familiar voice asked.
My whole body shook as I fought off the fight or flight that gripped me. I was sure he heard it when I said his name.
“Dr. Pierce? Hey.”
He stepped into the light and his eyebrows furrowed. “You okay?”
“Yeah, yeah.” I took deep breaths to get my heart rate back to a normal pace. Tonight was turning out to be hellacious on my nervous system. “You just scared me.”
“Sorry about that,” he said looking unconvinced. “What are you doing on campus so late. You don’t live in the dorms, do you?”
“I was just dropping my friend off. Coming back from a party.”
He nodded his head, but still watched me closely. “I thought those ran later than eleven.”
“Maybe. I guess it just wasn’t for us. Especially when it’s filled with dickholes. Sorry,” I finished, apologizing for swearing in front of my professor. However, he didn’t seem concerned about that.
He walked a few steps closer, looking me over with obvious concern. “What do you mean? What happened? Are you okay?”
“Yeah,” I answered weakly. “Some of the guys were just getting handsy with Olivia and me, threatening things. So, I tried defending us.” I laughed humorlessly. “But you know, it’s hard to be five-five and move a mountain. I got shoved and fell pretty hard.” I gestured to my arm and watched his jaw harden. A muscle twitched in his cheek, and I rushed to explain the ending. “Some other guys stepped in to help and got us out of there.”