Total pages in book: 109
Estimated words: 104252 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 521(@200wpm)___ 417(@250wpm)___ 348(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 104252 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 521(@200wpm)___ 417(@250wpm)___ 348(@300wpm)
“Maribel, wait.”
I lift my head as someone calls out. Looking ahead, I find Amina and the redhead she’s always with. The redhead runs up to her and hands her something, then they hug and Amina ducks into the class I’m headed for.
With a smile, I pick up the pace and head to class. I want to surprise her, so I pull my hoodie low as I slip into the room quietly. The small lecture hall is already packed.
This course has one hour for lectures and one for labs. I’ll have to make up a few labs in the next few weeks, but I’m not sweating it. Chemistry is one of my strong suits.
A grin comes to my lips as I find a seat a few rows behind Amina. I watch as she talks to another girl while she laughs. It’s like people gravitate to her light.
Others flock over and join their conversation. I watch on, observing how gorgeous she is. I don’t think she knows how effortlessly she holds everyone’s attention.
The professor enters the hall and puts his bag and coffee cup down. He looks up at the little crowd around Amina and shakes his head. A smile comes to his lips.
“Why am I not surprised my star student is the center of everyone’s attention. Miss Maribel Jones. Why don’t you come to the front of the room? You can hand out the pop quiz I’m sure you’re going to ace,” the professor calls out.
I knit my brow and freeze as Amina stands and heads to the front of the room. Everyone else groans as they go to settle in their seats. I can’t take my eyes off Amina.
“Hey Maribel, spill his coffee on the papers,” someone calls.
Amina laughs and shakes her head at the guy who shouts out to her. I narrow my eyes as my chest begins to tighten. I’m confused.
Why would she tell me her name is Amina if it’s Maribel? We’ve been friends for weeks now. I thought I could trust her.
Clearly, she doesn’t trust me if she couldn’t even tell me her real name. I feel sick. The one person I thought cared, the person I was beginning to trust and thought I could bring into my inner circle, is nothing but a fucking liar.
My eyes are glued to her as she moves up row after row, counting off quizzes and passing the stacks down. When she gets to my row, I push my hood back and stare right at her.
She freezes and drops the remaining quizzes to the ground. I get up and move to the end of the aisle to help her pick them up. She looks up at me nervously.
“Good morning, Amina. Or should I say Maribel?” I bite out.
“Cam, I can explain.”
“Don’t bother.”
I grab a quiz for myself and hand her back the others. For the rest of the class, I act as if she doesn’t exist. I turn my focus to my exam and keep it there.
When I’m done, I turn it in and head out of class. I’m fucking fuming. At least with Kay, I know what I’m getting.
How could she lie to my face for weeks? If she could tell one lie how many others has she told. All I wanted was someone to be real with me and who I could be real with.
“Fuck,” I roar as I head toward the parking lot to get into my car and head home.
“Cam, wait. Cam.”
I don’t turn to acknowledge her. I’m too hurt to look at her right now. Trust is everything to me.
I almost risked my brother’s future to have this girl in my life. If she could lie to my face like this, there’s no telling the harm she could’ve brought to Caleb and my family.
“Cameron, please.”
I round on her and glare. She stops running and walks to me slowly. So many things fall into place as my mind races.
The time I called her name, and she kept walking like she didn’t hear me. The way she stiffened every time I called her Amina. I should’ve questioned it all from the beginning.
“What do you want?” I snarl.
“I want to explain.”
“You don’t owe me anything. I don’t know you, so you don’t have to explain anything to me. You have a good one, Maribel.”
“Cam,” she chokes out.
I shake my head at her. I have nothing else to say and I don’t want to hear anything else.
I keep walking. I’m so pissed off I can’t see straight. Un-fucking-believable.
“Hey, Cam.”
I stop and freeze. Before I can pull my thoughts together, everything is turned on its head. This looks bad. This looks really bad.
Maribel
I swallow hard as Cam turns to walk away. From the moment I saw him in class, I could see the hurt in his eyes. This is my fault.