I FELL FOR THE WRONG GIRL

Chapter 4: Hands

CHAPTER 4: Hands

Ivy’s POV

I still had her phone.

I had carried it in my pocket all evening. Every time it stayed silent, I felt both relieved and strangely unsettled.

I kept telling myself I would give it back tomorrow. Or leave it at the front desk. Or throw it at her the next time I saw her.

I didn’t do any of those things.

By the next afternoon, the entire campus seemed to know something had shifted. People still stared, but the whispers had changed.

Now they weren’t just talking about the girl who talked back to Ava. They were talking about the fact that Ava hadn’t publicly destroyed me yet. That silence made people nervous.

Tessa noticed it too.

“She’s planning something,” she said as we left our last class. “Ava doesn’t let things go. Especially not when someone sees her weak.”

I hated that word.

“Weak.

It didn’t feel right after what I had witnessed, but I also couldn’t forget the way she had shoved past me and told me to stay away.

I was walking alone toward the library when I felt it again, that sudden drop in the air, the way conversations around me slowed for half a second.

Ava was leaning against the low wall near the path, arms crossed, waiting. Nina stood a few steps behind her, watching with open satisfaction.

Ava pushed off the wall the moment she saw me.

“You have something of mine.”

I stopped. “I was wondering when you’d show up.”

She held out her hand. “Phone. Now.”

I didn’t move. “You could say thank you.”

Her eyes narrowed. “For what? Sticking your nose where it didn’t belong?”

“For making sure you didn’t completely fall apart in public.”

The muscle in her jaw flexed. Nina made a quiet sound like she was enjoying the show. Ava took a step closer.

“Give me the phone, Ivy.”

“Ask nicely.”

That was a mistake.

Ava moved fast. She closed the space between us and reached for my pocket. I twisted away on instinct, but her fingers caught the edge of my jacket.

The next second we were struggling, it was angry and sharp.

“Let go” Ava said.

“Give it”

I tried to pull my arm free. She tightened her grip and shoved me back a step. My shoulder blades hit the wall behind me harder than I expected.

The impact knocked the air from my lungs for a second. Ava didn’t step back. She stayed right there, one hand fisted in the front of my jacket, the other braced against the wall beside my head.

We were too close.

I could feel the heat of her body. I could see the anger in her blue eyes up close, the way her breathing had picked up.

“How can someone with such beautiful eyes be so cruel?” I thought to myself .

“You don’t get to touch me,” I said, voice low and furious.

“You don’t get to keep what’s mine.”

I shoved at her shoulder. She barely moved. Instead she leaned in harder, pinning me more firmly against the wall.

Her thigh brushed mine as the sudden contact sent a jolt straight through me that I hated myself for noticing.

“Get off,” I snapped.

“Or what?” Her voice was rough. “You’ll lecture me again? Tell me I’m a bully? You don’t know a single real thing about me.”

“I know you treat people like they’re beneath you.”

“And I know you can’t mind your own business.”

We were both breathing harder now. Her hand was still locked in my jacket.

Nina cleared her throat loudly. “Ava. People are watching.”

She loosened her grip and stepped back.

The sudden loss of contact left me colder than it should have.

She held out her hand again, palm up. This time I didn’t argue. I pulled the phone from my pocket and dropped it into her hand without letting our fingers touch.

Ava looked down at it, then back at me.

“This doesn’t make us even,” she said quietly. “And it doesn’t mean I owe you anything.”

“I never asked you to owe me.”

She stared at me for another long moment. “Stay away from me,” she said finally.

“Gladly.”

She turned and walked away. Nina fell into step beside her, already speaking in a low voice. I stayed against the wall until they disappeared, my heart still beating too fast, the place where Ava’s hand had gripped my jacket still warm.

I hated her.

I hated how she spoke to people, how she looked at me like she was already two steps ahead. And I hated, most of all, that I already knew this wasn’t over.