Page 2 of Sinful Secrets

“Mm-hmm,” I mumble as I walk past him.

This is just one of the downfalls of being in a co-ed dorm. I’d rather be in an all female, calm and quiet dorm. The guys are too rambunctious and always partying.

Most of the time, they don’t care if they inconvenience other students and make it hard for us to get sleep. They are here to have a good time and get a bullshit degree.

I’m here to learn about fashion and hopefully grow an empire one day.

I take the stairs up to the second floor to my suite and unlock the door. The television is already blaring. I guess Justine is already back from her graphic design class for the day.

In and out. Grab some cash and then head to class so I can eat and get started on my next design.

I open the door and freeze. Not only is Justine home from class early, but she’s also straddling the lap of my ex-boyfriend, Connor.

Her eyes widen to saucers when she turns around and sees me standing in the doorway.

“What the fuck, Justine?” My voice comes out as a whisper, even though I’m raging inside.

I always knew Connor was capable of doing something horrible like this, but never in a million years did I expect Justine to stoop this low. We’ve been roommates for the past three years, and until now, I always thought we were friends.

We’ve helped each other study for exams. We bought snacks and drinks for each other when we were having a bad day. And we ate ice cream and cried together after break ups.

Justine rolls her eyes. “What Savannah? We are all adults here, and if I recall, we are all single.”

I huff, not wanting to argue with her over semantics. “Yeah, okay, but I didn’t choose to end the relationship. He did.” I angrily thrust my pointer finger toward Connor.

“I don’t know what you want me to say. I’m sorry you had to walk in and see Connor and me together like this, but you were supposed to be getting lunch and then going to class.”

So it’s okay because I was supposed to be gone? How long have they been hiding this from me? Were they ever going to come clean about their relationship?

I ball my hands into tight fists, digging my nails into the flesh of my palms. Pain shoots through my hand, but I keep my fists hanging down at my sides.

“My meal card didn’t work, so I came home to grab some cash. Now I wish I had skipped lunch and went straight to class.”

I have always hated confrontation, ever since I was younger.

I’ve been pretty lucky over the past three years and have only had a couple of confrontations. One of them being the breakup with Connor just three weeks ago.

This isn’t a good time for confrontation, especially when I need to focus on class and my future designs, so I turn around and leave, not bothering to close or lock the door. Taking the stairs down to the lobby, I wipe the traitorous tears away.

I’ve already cried over Connor. I’ll be damned if he gets any more of my tears. He’s not worth my time or energy.

I jump into my driver’s seat and drive away from my dorm building as fast as I can, completely forgetting to grab the cash I came home to get.

I should go back and get some cash for dinner, but every fiber of my being is begging me to stay away, and like usual, I’m going to listen to my gut and avoid a fight.

Maybe one day, I’ll learn to stick up for myself and speak my mind, but until then, I’ll avoid Connor and Justine like the plague.

I park in front of the administrative and financial offices. As soon as I step inside, the women in the office whisper like they know about my situation.

Is this happening to more students? Or is this strictly a Savannah Whitlock issue?

The woman at the sign-in desk pushes her glasses up her nose. “Ah, yes. We were expecting you, Miss Whitlock.”

I guess that is my answer. It’s a problem for only me.

“I just tried getting lunch, but my meal card was denied. Is there a problem with my card?”

“Come to my office, dear, and I’ll explain what’s going on.”

---