Page 34 of Into Ruin

Me and Lucas built it this afternoon, so it’s all set for you to come back

…

Are you pissed at me or something?

Don’t make me resort to calling Mom…

Those were sent over the last three days. Guilt hits me.

I send him back a thumbs-up emoji, which isn’t a lot but it does prove I’m breathing, and switch to Olivia’s thread.

Me

I think I need to go back to the hockey house tonight

Her reply comes immediately.

Olivia

With a knife under your pillow just in case, right???

I snicker, but it dies off relatively fast. Suddenly, the idea of Camden sneaking in and repeating what he did before is the least of my worries. I already know my objective: go tohim. Get the profile name changed.

Watch out for stalkers hiding in my closet.

“Hey! Harper!”

I tuck my phone in my pocket and turn.

Cynthia hurries across the lawn toward me. She’s dressed for winter, with a thick scarf wrapped around her neck, and a puffy coat zipped up to it. All that’s missing is the hat with a pom-pom and knit mittens.

“I’ve been searching for you everywhere.” She joins me on the path and loops her arm through mine. “Gosh. You were a good roommate, you know? But now that you’ve moved out, they replaced you with some nerd who gets up at the crack of dawn. And she chews so much gum—but I’m pretty sure she swallows it when she’s done. You’re supposed to spit out gum, Harper, it can stay in your stomach forseven years.”

Wow.

I try to untangle myself, but she only holds harder.

“So she leaves to go to the gym, and I get a knock on the door. Open it up, and it’s this hottie looking foryou.”

I freeze. My mind immediately goes to Max Keegan. “Excuse me?”

“Some hockey guy. But if it’s not Camden Church, I don’t know his name.” She lifts a shoulder. “I’ve seen him around before, though.”

“So not some random weirdo?”

She shakes her head. “Nah. Definitely a teammate.”

I blow out a long breath.

“Probably Royal,” I guess. “My brother. I haven’t been in contact in the past few days, so… he probably didn’t know where else to go.”

“Right. Well, he assumed you were with me, which is really sweet but also kind of misguided. I had to inform him that since you moved out, the housing department assigned me a hippie nut.” Her voice drops. “I can’t even have sex with my boyfriend, Harper. She doesn’tcare. We were getting frisky under the covers one night and all I could hear was her gum snapping.”

I wrinkle my nose. That sounds like the definition of a buzzkill, it’s true. But also, this just proves moving out of that room was the right call for me. This new roommate sounds like the perfect match for Cynthia and her inconsiderate antics.

“Don’t worry about my brother,” I say. “I’m going to his house tonight.”

She nods along. “Right, well, that doesn’t solve?—”

---