Page 27 of Virgin Sacrifice

“Oh.”

“Do you really trust him to keep you safe?” I blurted out as we stood in front of our respective doors.

“W-what?” She seemed almost taken aback by the question.

“You agreed to let him walk you around campus, so you must trust him to keep you safe,” I said, unsure of what was driving me.

“Oh, um,” Autumn hemmed, apparently struggling to answer a simple question. “Sometimes it’s just easier to agree with him than to, like, argue with him.”

“So, I’m nuts for walking alone, but you’re letting some guy you just met a couple weeks ago chaperone you around campus like he’s your knight in shining armor.” I snorted, failing to hide the frustration in my voice.

“It’s Aaron,” she hissed, her eyes darting around to see who might have overheard us. “He’s our friend.”

I rolled my eyes.

“His parents just played golf with mine, like, two weeks ago,” she huffed, her arms crossed over her chest defensively.

“Oh well, if his parents golfed with your parents, they must be good people. No bad people have ever in the history of the world golfed with someone’s parents before,” I snapped back.

I couldn’t articulate why I’d started lashing out at Autumn, but in the face of her privilege and naivety, my indignation somehow felt justified.

“That’s not what I meant,” she sputtered, and I could see tears starting to well in her eyes before something sparked in them and her expression suddenly shifted. “Luz, do you . . .” she paused, clearly reading the tension bleeding out of me and trying to figure out how to proceed with caution. “Do you . . . Are you jealous of Aaron walking me?”

I nearly choked. “Am I jealous that the human equivalent of a golden retriever without the charm is escorting you around campus?”

I didn’t like being mean, not like this, not to Autumn, but I was operating on instinct at this moment.

Autumn’s face was bright red at this point, and if my goal had been to make her feel as shattered as I was, I was doing a great job of it, if the tears and anger building in her eyes were any indication.

“It’s just . . .” She stumbled, unable or unwilling to finish her thought as her chin wobbled, but still, she refused to look away from my gaze.

The silence churned furiously between us, and I couldn’t even remember what had started our fight, but I found myself unable to back down.

After a couple of heavy moments, something in Autumn relaxed and her heavy sigh broke the quiet as she took a step back and placed her hand on the doorknob.

“Maybe we should, uh, just take the night . . .” she said softly, and the nerves in her voice struck me like a dagger to the chest.

“Right,” I said tightly, swinging around to get to my door before either of us could say any more.

I winced as the door closed behind me with more force than I intended. Seconds later, Autumn’s did the same about eight feet to the right of me, sending vibrations through the wall.

Overwhelmed with exhaustion, I slid down to the floor, no longer bothering to hold back my tears.

Chapter thirteen

Luz

Sitting at my desk the following day, I was reviewing my notes from my Japanese tutorial, when there was a familiar knock on my door. I had successfully managed to avoid Autumn until now, but it appeared that my time was up.

I opened the door to find her standing there looking bashful but determined.

“I’m sorry!” she blurted out before launching herself at me and wrapping her arms around me in a binding hug. For a moment, I stiffened up and struggled with the urge to push her away, but as the warmth of our embrace washed over me I found myself softening in her arms.

“I’m sorry too,” I mumbled through a mouthful of her hair.

I wasn’t ready to share the story of my father’s abuse or why thinking about the missing women triggered me, but in the harsh light of the morning, I could admit that my behavior last night had been more about my issues than Autumn.

Pulling out of the hug, we both sniffled and wiped our eyes, wearing matching bleary but relieved smiles.

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