17 The Ways of Women

"He said what?!"

"He said, 'I know it's your first time and it's hard, but if you wanna go at it again, I got you, babe,' or something like that."

"He called her 'babe'?"

"Uh, no, but he might as well have."

Isabelle slumped back into her chair and sighed. Celia was sitting on an ottoman beside her, still leaning forward. They were in one of the many student lounges on campus. This particular one was Isabelle's favorite because of the overstuffed furniture and heavy wooden tables. It reminded her of her mother's sitting room.

Isabelle lay as far back as she could in the overstuffed chair. She clasped her hands together and rested them on her stomach. Celia stared at her friend's face, waiting for her reaction. She had just told Izzy that she had seen Hunter and Ash kissing in the library. She also told her about what she'd heard Hunter say to Ash, including what she thought he meant by it.

"She didn't tell us about it," Isabelle whined sadly.

Celia folded her knees into her chest and hugged her legs. "Well, she did have a fever."

" . . . "

"She probably would have told us eventually. I just happened to overhear them, that's all."

Isabelle straightened up in the oversized chair and looked at Celia.

"If they did THAT already, then it was really nice of Hunter to come by the dorm and check up on Ash the day after. That was sweet of him, don't you think?"

Celia pursed her lips and looked away. She hadn't told Isabelle that she had failed to mention Hunter's visit to Ash. She felt a twinge of guilt.

"You didn't tell her, did you?"

"I . . . may have . . . forgotten to mention that."

"I'm sure you did," Isabelle sighed, rolling her eyes.

"You're getting really good with the eye-rolling."

"Yes, I get to practice so much with you around."

***

Ash seemed distracted all afternoon. After their last class of the day, she quickly packed up her books. Celia and Isabelle exchanged knowing stares behind their friend's back. "Hunter," Celia silently mouthed to Isabelle who nodded discreetly.

"How are you feeling, Ashy?" Isabelle asked as they walked back to the dorm.

"Much better, thanks."

"You slept a whole lot over the weekend," Celia offered.

"Yeah. I had a lot of crazy dreams."

"Oh? Anything interesting?" Isabelle asked, genuinely curious.

"Not really. It was mostly just me wandering around. I think I was hallucinating coz I swear I thought I was in the forest for most of it."

"That's weird. You've never been in there before, have you?"

"No. I could lose my scholarship going in there."

Celia suddenly cleared her throat. The two other girls immediately turned to look at her.

"Hunter came by the dorm last Friday. He was asking about you," she said.

"Oh, did he? That's nice of him."

"Don't you think that's weird though?

"Uhm . . . weird, how?"

"Well . . . it's not like he's your boyfriend, or anything---"

"Woah, no! Of course not! We're not even friends!"

" . . . So, it IS weird. That he came by. So weird."

" . . . Uh . . . yeah. Weird. Definitely weird."

Ash shrugged and started to walk faster. Celia and Isabelle exchanged glances behind her back. It didn't seem like Ash was ready to open up to them just yet.

***

Ash stayed back in the dorm while Celia and Isabelle both went out to go jogging. Ash had begged off saying that she had just recovered from a fever. It was a reasonable excuse, but the two girls took it to mean that she was probably going to meet up with Hunter behind their backs again.

"I can't believe her! She's keeping it a secret from us!" Isabelle practically shrieked as they walked briskly on the track.

"She'll get around to it. Let's just give her some time."

"Yes, but what if you were right and he is just messing around with her?"

"I did not say that . . ."

" Yes, you did."

"Okay, maybe I did say that before, but Ash is smart. She's lived through worse things than Hunter Guzman. She can handle him."

"But what if he breaks her heart?"

Celia leaned in close to Isabelle and whispered in her ear.

"If he does, then we break his arm."

***

Meanwhile, back at the dorm, Ash was rummaging through her book bag, looking for whatever it was that Hunter said he supposedly gave her. She wasn't sure what she was looking for exactly, but she figured she would know when she found it.

[Maybe he gave me a ring or a necklace,] Ash thought, smiling.

She was familiar with the ostentatious gifts that the SBA students gave each other. It was nothing for most of them to give each other diamond tennis bracelets or limited edition watches. For a time it had been fashionable for couples to give each other pure silver toothbrushes with their names engraved on the handle. She couldn't help but feel a little excited at the thought of receiving a little trinket.

When she couldn't find anything in her bag, she looked under her bed, trying to find the uniform she wore the day before she got sick.

[Maybe he stuck something in my pocket,] she thought.

She found her uniform under her bed, and she was shocked at the state she found them in. Her blouse, her skirt, even her socks and underwear were all torn up. And they were all balled up in a leather vest that definitely did not belong to her. It must have been the thing that Hunter was talking about.

[What the hell happened between us?]

Ash couldn't remember anything after she had fallen into the deep dream sleep. She just knew that she woke up naked and in a different position from when she had gone to bed. She immediately thought the worst. She assumed from the torn clothes that he had broken into her dorm room and assaulted her while she was asleep.

She sat down on the floor and cradled her head in her hands. It felt like she had been punched in the gut. She felt sick to her stomach thinking about the possibility that she had been assaulted in her own bed.

She picked up her clothes and looked at them. Everything was in tatters, practically torn in half. Even her socks and underwear were ripped apart. And he had the nerve to leave his stupid vest behind!

Was this a crazy rich boy thing? And why did he leave a leather vest behind? Was that some kind of sick fetish? And he even went through the trouble of ripping up her socks!

She felt the terrible weight of injustice bearing down on her, and she lay down on the floor. She felt her vision starting to blur.

[Why me?] she thought, tears welling up in her eyes.

Just as she felt a wave of self pity come over her, her phone beeped. She got a message from an unknown number.

"Hi. This is Hunter. Where do I meet you?" the message read.

Ash immediately felt a surge of rage go through her. It was a heavy, searing anger that obliterated all the self pity she had almost wallowed in.

"I'll meet you in hell, motherf*cker," she swore through gritted teeth.

She changed out of her uniform and into a pair of sweat pants and a loose white T-shirt. She pulled her long hair into a tight high ponytail.

She was going to meet Hunter all right, and she was going to kick his ass.

In the woods, the swirling shadows continued to chant for blood.