Page 36 of Sweet Nightmare

But still, something isn’t right with him. And I just can’t let it go. The rain starts falling harder, and I find myself pulling up his number. I can at least text him, tell him about the orders to get back to the dorm. Right?

But when I pull up our conversation, the last few texts jump out at me.

Jude: Meet me outside the gym.

Me: I can’t. The assembly is mandatory

Jude: Come on, Mandarin. Live a little

Me: Easy for you to say, Sgt. Pepper

Me: We’re going to get in trouble

Jude: I’ll protect you from the big, bad wolves

Me: So you say

Me: But it’s not you they like to chew on

Jude: That’s because you taste better

Me: How do you know what I taste like?

There’s a lapse, and then two minutes later, he wrote:

Jude: Maybe I’d like to know

Needless to say, the conversation ends there. I hightailed it out of the assembly so fast it’s embarrassing to think about. Especially knowing how that night turned out.

Even worse, there are a few more texts after that—all from me, sent at different times over the following few days.

Me: Hey, Bungalow Bill! You weren’t in class this morning. You good?

Me: Should I be worried about you?

Me: Hey, what’s up?

Me: Where are you? Please answer me. I just found out they took Carolina and I’m freaking out

Me: No one will tell me what happened with Carolina. How could they just send her away in the middle of the night?

Me: WHERE ARE YOU?

Me: What’s going on?

Me: Seriously, you’re just going to walk right by me in the hall like I don’t exist?

Me: I don’t understand what’s happening here

And then a couple of days later:

Me: I really miss you

And then, that’s it. Not another text from either of us for the last three years. Until now.

Humiliation churns in my stomach, but I type a quick message.

Me: The storm’s turning into a hurricane. My mom says everyone needs to report to the dorms as soon as school is out

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