DRAWN TO LOVE

Chapter 9-10

Tami pov

I slid into the lecture hall just as the professor started. My notebook lay open, pen in hand, but the words on the board blurred into nonsense. Every time I tried to follow, my mind betrayed me, dragging me back to the cafeteria—the tilt of his grin, Brittney’s glittering laugh, the way he leaned into her.

To make it worse they came in immediately after I was seated. Brittney’s hands were tucked under his arm as they made way to her seat thinking he would move to sit right back next to me. But instead, he had changed his mind, and he chose to sit close to Brittney. Sliding closer until she was practically pressed against him. His arm rested along the back of her chair, his head tilted toward hers, the picture of casual intimacy. And then, almost as if he knew I was watching, his eyes lifted and turned to look at me. That smirk returned, sharper this time. I quickly avert my gaze.

I tapped my pen against the margin, heart racing too fast for someone sitting still. Around me, students dutifully scribbled notes, nodded, typed. I only pretended. All I wanted was for the clock on the wall to move faster, for the hour to disappear so I could get out, breathe again, put distance between myself and the weight of his smirk.

When the professor finally dismissed the class, I was already halfway packed. I slipped out with the crowd, ignoring the chatter of classmates swapping notes, and headed straight outside. The campus was bathed in the soft gold of late afternoon, but the air felt heavier than usual.

Lola was already waiting for me at the parking lot, leaning against her car. “Hey,” she called with a small smile. “Rough day?”

“You could say that,” I muttered, tugging my bag higher on my shoulder.

“Come on. I’ll drop you off.” Lola said.

The drive was quiet, the kind that didn’t need to be filled. She glanced at me a few times, but didn’t push. I was grateful for that. By the time we pulled up in front of my house, the tension in my chest had only just begun to loosen.

“I’d walk you in,” she said as she parked, “but—” she held up her phone, which was buzzing insistently, her father’s name flashing across the screen.

I nodded quickly, understanding. “It’s fine. Go ahead, take it. Thanks for the ride.”

She squeezed my hand before she reached for the call. “Text me if you need anything, okay?”

“Okay,” I murmured.

I stepped out of the car and waved as she answered the call, then headed inside alone. The evening air wrapped around me, cool against my skin, but the echo of the cafeteria lingered—his eyes, and the certainty that this wasn’t over.

I walked into the parlor to find my mum watching the evening news, a soft smile crossing her face as she looked up.

“Welcome, dear. How was school? Did your friend drop you off?”

“She did, but she couldn’t come in—her dad called,” I answered quickly.

My mum nodded. “Alright then. There’s food in the kitchen.”

I shook my head. “No, Mum, I’ll just rest. I’m not hungry.”

My mother’s eyes lingered on me, concerned, but she let it go with a sigh as I headed toward my room.

Inside my room, the silence pressed close. I dropped my bag onto the chair, kicked off my shoes, and collapsed onto the bed without even changing out of my clothes. For a long while, I just stared at the ceiling, my body still but my mind restless.

No matter how hard I tried, my thoughts kept circling back to the cafeteria—the careless tilt of his smirk, the way Brittney leaned into him as if she had claimed him already, the spark of amusement in his eyes when he caught me watching. It burned through my chest like a bruise, invisible but aching all the same.

I rolled onto my side, hugging a pillow against my stomach. I hated that he could still do this to me—that after all the years and all the effort I’d made to leave the past behind, one look, one laugh, could unravel me so easily. I pressed my eyes shut, as if darkness alone could shut out the memory.

My phone buzzed once on the nightstand. A message from my friend: “I'm home”.

I smiled faintly, the first real smile since morning, and texted back a simple. Ok

But once the screen dimmed, the silence returned. I pulled the blanket over my head, trying to block out the world, trying not to picture tomorrow—walking into class, seeing him again, hearing Brittney’s laugh echoing in my ears.

Sleep didn’t come easily. When it finally did, it was restless, haunted by shadows of old hallways and voices from the past I thought I’d outrun.

Tomorrow would come, whether I wanted it or not.