First step down. Now, the only question was, how long did we wait to view the footage? How long did we give him before we really sat down and planned this all out? I supposed that depended on what, if anything, we saw when we went back to watch the cameras. In all truth, we might not see anything.
Knowing Dean, though…there’d be something. There always was.
Chapter Fifteen – Kelsey
My stomach was in knots as I headed to the union. The day was brisk, definitely a late November day. The days varied in temperature, but I was pretty sure today was the coldest day we’d had so far. My hoodie did not do enough to keep my body heat close. I paired it with a baseball cap to keep my brown hair from flying around, and as I walked to the union, I put earbuds in and listened to some of my favorite songs.
I hadn’t listened to music since driving home from Hillcrest the weekend before Halloween. It was crazy how much time had passed since then, how much things had changed. No longer was I wallowing in what I did and how horrible I felt—I hardly had time to think about Ash and how I hadn’t talked to her.
She was mad at me. She had to be pissed, and she’d be pissed for a while. I didn’t blame her. I fucked up, and I would have to make amends sooner or later. Right now, though, all of my attention was on Mel and what Dean did to her. I hated that douchebag more than any other guy in the universe, and that was saying something. I had a lot of hate to give, trust me.
Dean. He deserved to be tied up and dragged through the mud, laughed at for the rest of his life, made to feel as if he was nothing, like he didn’t matter. That guy was just a bully, and he resorted to childish pranks and cruel jokes when he didn’t get his way.
All because I told Mel to steer clear of him. All because I never agreed to help him get Mel back. All because Levi wouldn’t help him. Dean was a fuckup, and I was determined to make him realize just how much of a fuckup he truly was.
I made it the union, taking off my hat and running my fingers through my hair, untangling some of the knots that had formed in the walk over. It couldn’t just be cold outside—no, it had to be windy, too. Windy and cold equaled miserable.
The cafeteria area wasn’t as bustling as it was during peak mealtime hours. Only about half of the tables were full, and I chose a seat on one of the end ones, as far away from everyone else as I could be. I set my phone on the table before me, angling my head down as I typed out a message to send to Dean.
I was so not looking forward to this little chat, assuming he came, but it was the only way we could think of to get him out of his room. As long as he was with me, I knew he wasn’t with Levi. I had to suck it up and talk with him like a civilized person and not a chick who wanted to kick his balls up into his stomach.
I waited to send the message to Dean until I got a text from Levi saying he’d left the frat house. On his way to the rec with the other guys, but I was ninety-percent sure that if I mentioned Mel in the text, Dean would come running. The sick fuck still liked her, but he was toxic. A toxic man who did awful things to the people who refused to do what he wanted.
You didn’t act like that. Normal people didn’t act like that. Dean needed to learn that he would not skate by in life by acting like such a big bag of dicks.
It was a few minutes before I got anything back.
He was coming. He was coming right now, a dog chasing a bone, but what he didn’t realize was that he was on a treadmill, and the bone hanging in front of him, in this case Mel, hung a few feet before him, off the treadmill. He’d never reach her. He’d never get her again.
I wanted to crush that man-boy’s hopes and dreams and make his life as miserable as it could possibly be. Did that make me evil? I knew I was already a bitch, rash and stupid sometimes, but to be so spiteful…
Eh, he deserved it.
I texted him back and told him where I was, and then I waited, looking bored. With my phone resting before me, I gazed all around. The minute I saw him walking in through the side entrance of the union, I hurriedly texted Levi and told him that he was here, then I hid my phone in my hoodie’s pocket, not wanting Dean to see any messages back.
Yeah, if he saw Levi’s name flash across my screen, he might get some ideas. Hell, he might get some ideas anyway, but it was worth a shot.
Inner revilement bubbled up the moment Dean spotted me, sauntering up to me and slipping in the chair facing me. He had a gym bag around his shoulder, which he immediately dropped to the ground beside him. His black hair was cut short; he must’ve recently gotten a haircut. His face looked a bit better than it did before, his nose no longer wearing whatever brace he had last time. Some bruising was still there, though the swelling of his nose had gone down.
Kind of marred his physical attractiveness, which made me smile.
What
