Chapter One: The Golden Boy and the Rain
The Philosophy building looked like a cathedral, tall columns, aging stone, ivy vines that clawed toward the sky like time itself had roots. Camille had passed by it a thousand times in the past two years, but never had it felt like this. Heavy. Like something was watching.
It wasn't just the rain or the early October chill that made her skin crawl. It was him.
He stood under the archway again, right on time, Adrian Mercer. He didn't speak, didn't gesture. He just watched, like she was a riddle he'd already solved.
Camille adjusted the strap of her bag and kept walking, not giving him the satisfaction of eye contact. She told herself he wasn't looking at her.
But she knew he was.
Every Tuesday and Thursday, after her literary theory class, he waited there. Some days with a book. Some days with nothing but that stare. At first, she thought it was a coincidence. Then she thought he was just some rich, bored upperclassman playing games.
Now she wasn't so sure.
"Miss Rivers," he said as she passed, voice deep and calm, like velvet over stone.
She stopped.
Against her better judgment, she turned. "You know my name?"
A faint smile tugged at the corners of his mouth. "Campus is small. Word travels fast."
His eyes were dark gray, storm-cloud eyes. Not like the boys she knew, who drank cheap whiskey and showed off their GPA. Adrian wasn't interested in impressing. He didn't need to.
Camille tilted her head. "Are you stalking me or just making a hobby out of unnerving people?"
"I don't stalk," he said, stepping closer. "I study."
The space between them narrowed until she could smell his cologne, clean, sharp, expensive. Her pulse betrayed her, quickening as if to warn her: Danger.
"I'm not a test," she said. "You won't pass."
He looked amused. "Oh, Camille," he said, like they were already old friends. "Some of us don't care about passing."
She swallowed. "Then what do you care about?"
He leaned in, just a fraction. Just enough to make her breath catch. "Seeing who flinches first."
She stepped back before she could stop herself, and his smile widened like he'd won something.
"You shouldn't play with people like this," she whispered. "You might enjoy it too much."
Adrian tilted his head. "Exactly."
She turned on her heel, walking faster this time. She didn't look back.
But she heard his voice, just above the sound of the rain.
"I'll see you Thursday, Camille."