Page 81 of The Cruelty of Thorns

“We could ask Jack,” Renee offered. “His dad has been talking to the local police about this.”

“Why would they tell him about an open case?” I asked. “I know he’s a cop, but it’s not like he works here.”

“He told them he’s interested because his son goes to school here.”

Like the story about the anonymous tipster, it sounded a little contrived. But what did I know? I wasn’t a cop. The fact that the killer was taking victims in their own homes now was concerning, however. First Lisa and Ron were attacked in their dorm rooms, now this? Could it all be the work of the same person? I looked at Lisa. “Do you think it’s the same man?”

Her eyes skirted away from me, same as they always did whenever I asked about what had happened to her. “I don’t know,” she murmured before pretending to be absorbed in her soup.

“Maybe you could ask Ron?” Kristin said. “You know, if you were speaking to him?”

I glared at her. “And whose fault is that?”

Half of me wanted to get up and leave, but I had promised Julianus I would eat, and I wasn’t going to let Kristin’s pissiness drive me to break that promise. “If you’ve got something to say to me, Kristin, just say it. Otherwise, mind your own business.”

No one was more surprised than me by my outburst. The others stared at me wide-eyed, like they were seeing me for the first time. They were really shocked when Kristin stood up without a word and stalked out of the cafeteria. We all watched her go, then Carly turned back to me.

“Girl, nobody talks to Kristin that way.”

“Maybe somebody should,” I mumbled. “Everyone’s got a right to their privacy.”

I was really surprised when Lisa reached across the table and squeezed my hand.

♦ ♦ ♦

After my psychology class I spent the rest of the afternoon in the library studying. I probably would’ve been more comfortable in my room, but I didn’t want to chance running into Kristin. I knew I couldn’t avoid her forever, but I wasn’t ready for that confrontation just yet. I was still surprised by her reaction in the cafeteria. Had I actually hurt her feelings? From what I’d seen of Kristin since my arrival, I didn’t think that was possible. I mean, sure, I knew she had feelings like everyone else, she just seemed immune to caring about what anyone thought of her. At least that’s the way it seemed judging by how she ran roughshod over everyone else’s boundaries. Ron had said it best when he told me Kristin was an attention hog.

Thinking about Ron brought me back to his behavior in class today. I could chalk up his reaction to me in the hospital as a by-product of the assault, but that was days ago now. And Lisa had said he was the same way with Toby. The Ron I had gotten to know over the previous week had been caring and well-mannered. Was I that wrong about him, and if not, what had happened to change him so much in the matter of a day?

As angry as I was at his attitude, I still wished I could talk to him and get an answer. If nothing else, to have some closure. I thought we had something special. He had even talked about taking me home to meet his family during Thanksgiving break. The whole thing bothered me more than I wanted to admit.

When it was still raining by late afternoon, I assumed I wouldn’t be seeing Julianus tonight and headed back to the dorm. I was going to have to face Kristin sooner or later unless I wanted to sleep in the library, so I might as well get it out of the way.

She wasn’t there when I arrived, so I pulled out my copy of Mr. Edmonds’ latest assignment, The Picture of Dorian Gray. This was another book I’d read with Poe, but I was determined to approach it with fresh eyes. I was lost in the tale when my roommate finally made an appearance.

She looked over at me and huffed before dropping her backpack on her bed. I bit my lip to keep from asking her what that reaction was for. There was no point in provoking her further. She plopped down on her bed and pulled her history book out of her bag, setting it aside and looking around the room before her eyes finally landed on me. I watched out of the corner of my eye while pretending to ignore her until I could stand the weight of her stare no longer. I took my time slipping a bookmark in my book before giving her my attention.

“I’m sorry,” she said, shocking me.

That was not what I expected to come out of her mouth, but I wasn’t letting her off that easily. “For what?” I asked.

Her eyes bounced around the room, avoiding mine. “For being a brat, I guess.”

Well that was something. Still… “Do you mean that or are you just saying it?”

She rolled her eyes and sighed. “Look, I can’t help how I am. I’ve always been, well…”

“An attention hog?” I supplied, using Ron’s words.

She frowned then shrugged. “Yeah, I guess that’s fair. I grew up in a family of four brothers who all excelled at something. If I didn’t toot my own horn, no one would’ve paid attention to me.”

“I did not know that.”

“I don’t talk about them much. I’m the baby sister and they’re all grown up and successful whatevers. I was kind of a surprise to my parents. They were older when they had me, and I guess they kind of spoiled me and ignored me at the same time.”

“Sounds rough,” I teased. “How did that work?”

“They would buy me everything I wanted so they didn’t have to interrupt their lives for me. I learned early on the best way to get their attention was to badger them relentlessly.”

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