Page 39 of Feral Touch
It was desperate of me, but I didn’t know what else to do.
“What’s this I hear about a certain someone receiving an anonymous scholarship?”
Natalie poked her head into my room with a grin only to find me curled up on my bed. She was immediately concerned.
“What’s wrong?”
I tried to wipe the morose expression from my face. It seemed like all my friends ever did anymore was ask me what was wrong. I had to get back to the person I used to be. I had to get back to my old life, pre-Ren.
“Nothing’s wrong.” I forced a smile on my face. “Just trying to work through some stuff.”
She raised an eyebrow. “School stuff or boy stuff?” She came into my room and sat on my computer chair, swiveling around to face me. “Or both?”
“Don’t worry about it. I’ll figure it out.”
Natalie wasn’t convinced.
“You’re my friend. Of course I’m worried. Is it school? You can’t be failing, you’re one of the best students Opus has. Is it Ren?” Her face turned sad. “Did you guys break up?”
“We weren't even dating in the first place.” I didn’t want her to get the wrong impression. “It’s just…never mind.”
“Ivy, tell me.”
I debated for several long moments. I hadn’t wanted my friends to worry, but they’d find out eventually when I got kicked out.
“I’m having trouble covering my tuition. Ren offered to pay.”
Natalie waited, looking at me expectantly. “And?”
“I can’t let some guy throw money at me, Nat!”
“Why not?”
“Because it’s gross!” Didn’t she understand? “I’m not going to let some famous rich guy swoop into my life and pay to get rid of all my troubles. I’m not some damsel in distress. Ren can’t just buy me like I’m some shallow gold digger.”
“Whoa, hold up.” Natalie held out a hand. “Where is all this coming from? Ren probably thinks he’s just being a good friend. Helping you out. I’m positive he doesn’t think you’re a gold digger.”
“I’m not going to be some clichéd, poor struggling student who’s just waiting for a billionaire to come into her life and sweep her off her feet with jets and fancy dinners and private islands.”
I caught a hint of a smile on Natalie’s face. “Ivy, it’s just tuition.”
I struggled to keep from jumping off the bed and shouting. “It amounts to the same thing. I can do this on my own.”
“Well, if you’ve made up your mind, then why are you so sad?”
Sad? I thought the lump in the pit of my stomach was anger, maybe fear. Did I look sad? I looked down at my phone. There were still no messages from Ren.
“I think I hurt Ren’s feelings when I turned him down.”
She nodded thoughtfully. “He might think you’re rejecting him completely, not just his money.”
“That’s just it. He thought if he paid my tuition, I'd have a reason to be with him! As if I was that shallow. I can’t be with someone who uses his fame and fortune to make girls throw themselves at him.”
Her lips twitched. “I guarantee you he doesnotneed to flaunt his money to get girls.” She pulled out her phone and tapped on it, then turned the screen around to face me. There was a picture of Ren in concert, no jacket or tie, his collared shirt unbuttoned halfway down his chest, his handsome face illuminated by the stage lights. “Are you really going to let your pride get in the way of getting some ofthat?”
She didn’t know that I’d already gotten some of that.
“Are you blushing? Oh my god, you are!” Natalie clapped her hands together. “So you actually did it? You did, didn’t you! You and Ren?”
