“Balls. Lou is hugging Sister Margaret,” Tyler declares as he draws at a table.

A couple weeks after Thanksgiving, Piper tells me the Dragons didn’t win a state championship, but they came in second, and considering how awful their last season was and the fact that they lost one of their best players in Liam this year, she says the entire school is thrilled.

At the end of December, nearly four months after I left Camden, word comes from the DA that Liam accepted a plea deal instead of going to trial. His “trophies” were confiscated at his house, along with videos of the party no one had seen, specifically of him videoing me and murmuring he was going to get lucky. They also found a stash of cocaine and Rohypnol, a common date rape drug. His fingerprints were on the bottle, not Dane’s.

Piper told me she heard through the gossip mill that Liam did indeed say it was Dane, that he planned everything and helped him—just like Knox said he would. I lay awake at night and hope Dane’s doing okay, hope he’s recovering. I picture Knox by his side every step of the way, going to therapy with him, right there supporting him at school.

In addition to Dane’s recollection and testimony, Camilla came forward and told the police that Liam sexually assaulted her at his house freshman year. She couldn’t remember all the details, possibly drugged. Then a girl from another school stepped up. The Tennessean, the biggest paper in the state, ran a whole story detailing what happened to me and his arrest. Instead of risking the possibility of more years locked up, his lawyers encouraged him to take the guilty plea for my assault. He did and was sentenced to fifteen to twenty years, which my victim advocate said was rather steep considering he was a minor when the crime occurred. It’s not enough—never—but he’s gone for now, and that settles me.

By the time January rolls around, it’s truly a new year, and my beginning.

25

A year and nine months later

I’m late. So late. “No more crack-of-dawn classes,” I grumble under my breath as I jog between students, moving like a ninja with my backpack, my coffee, and my laptop. But, I know I’m lying. Early classes are the best. It gives me time to start the day, study, and check in with Tyler after he’s done with school at Camden.

“Sorry,” I mutter to a pretty coed who gives me side-eye when I accidentally bump into her. My hand protectively covers the coffee I grabbed from the cafeteria this morning.

“Ava!” Piper catches up with me on the sidewalk. She’s cute today in her mini skirt and crocheted top, her strawberry blonde hair up in a ponytail. She walked with me from our dorm to this side of campus since she has a class near me, but her short legs can’t keep up. I’m raring to go. Something new and fresh is in the air, an expectant feeling lingering with possibilities. Tingles dance over my skin. Goose bumps—in late August!—cover my arms. “Girl. Will you slow down?” she huffs.

“I’m late. It’s the first day of this sociology class my advisor wanted me to take. At least it’s a break from my normal.” My normal this semester is organic chemistry, biochemistry, a genetics class, and two labs. I’m frantic just thinking about it. My advisor warned me that this year would be insane, and boy was she right. I’ve got the MCAT to study for, plus an application for med school on the horizon. Today begins my sixth semester here, counting the summers.

She blows at her bangs, her shorter legs pumping. It makes me laugh that I can out fast-walk her when she’s constantly moving. “You’re going to Hess Hall, right? I’m headed to my curriculum class.” She’s working on a teaching degree.

I nod then Wyatt waves at us and jogs over, catching several girls’ eyes with his tattoos and his usual sardonic grin, not that he notices. He ended up coming to Vandy to be close to his mom. Jagger pops up next to him and my smile widens. “Guys!”

Hugs are given all around. We haven’t seen them much with the craziness of the new semester.

I tell them I have to dash, wishing I could talk more, but the clock is ticking.

“I’ll see you at work,” Piper calls, referring to Blue’s Bar. I’m the bartender and she’s a server. I gave up Lou’s when I came to Vandy, although I still pop in and eat with Tyler sometimes. “Later,” she says, taking the fork in the sidewalk.

“See you at work!” I look over my shoulder at them to wave bye and slam right into a hard muscular body.

Whump!

His book goes flying, right smack into a girl next to him, then lands on the ground. She yelps when the textbook hits her cheek. She drops her purse, and the contents roll over the sidewalk. Students dodge them, most of them unconcerned as they head to class. My coffee spills straight down my shirt and I wince at the hot liquid.

Geeze. Way to start the semester. “I’m so sorry, guys. I was in a hurry and wasn’t looking. My fault,” I mumble as I hurriedly brush off my crop top. My boobs will smell like hazelnut all dang day. Obviously, I don’t have time to go home. At least my skinny jeans appear unscathed. I bend down and grab my cup, feeling devastated that the coffee is gone. It was the only thing keeping me going. The book I knocked down catches my eye, hung on the corner of the sidewalk, the pages opened, the spine ominously cracked. I close my eyes. Textbook—expensive.

I let out an exasperated breath.

“No worries. It’s okay.”

Nice voice. Deep. Growly. I raise my head up and look at the person I tried to tackle.

A breath whooshes out of me.

I push my sunglasses up on my head to hold my hair back.

HOLY HOT GUY.

He’s tall, several inches over six feet, broad shoulders in a tight gold Vandy shirt, low-slung jeans that are molded to him, and black Converse. Dark mahogany hair—longer than what’s normally found on guys who catch my eye—is chin-length with soft waves, framing his face.

My heart jumps off a cliff and does a swan dive right into stormy waters. My hands get clammy, and I close my eyes and open them again quickly, wondering if he’ll disappear.

Nope. Drop-dead gorgeous is still in front of me.

“My cheek hurts,” whines the girl next to him.

Ah. I blink and check her out. Pretty, someone I could see him with. Long, shiny, light brown hair, big green eyes, and a curvy figure.

She gives me a glare and stoops back down to pick up her lipstick.

“It’s the first day. I get kinda nuts. Sorry.” I grab her wallet and push it into her hand.

“You should slow down,” she mutters.

I look back at Hot Guy. He’s staring at me.

I bite my lip.

Then get nervous.

Butterflies flutter in my stomach, and that hasn’t happened since…well, since high school.

The girl stands back up and asks him if he’s ready to go.

He hasn’t budged, nor does he reply to her.

I smile on the inside because he didn’t offer to help her pick up her stuff either.

“Are you okay?” he asks me.

Am I?

Oh, yeah. Totally. Completely.

On impulse, I know what I have to do. I stick my hand out. “Hi. I’m Ava, sometimes Tulip if you know me well. I apologize for the book. I hope it’s okay.”

A long moment stretches, and I’m not sure he’s going to say anything, and good grief, how stupid would I feel then—