WHERE LOVE SHOULDN'T BE

Lila had always believed that the best way to start a new chapter was to leave the old one behind. That was what she told herself as she stood in front of the mirror that morning, trying to decide whether her plain white blouse looked better tucked in or left out. She eventually left it out. It was one of those small decisions that shouldn't have mattered. But lately, Lila had learned to care about small things. At twenty, she didn't have much. No expensive clothes. No fancy car waiting outside. No family name that opened doors. What she had was a scholarship, a secondhand laptop, a small room she shared with too many books, and a place at Ivy College that she had worked harder than anyone knew to get. She smiled at herself in the mirror. "You're going to be fine." She said it quietly, as if she needed to hear it. Her dark hair was pulled into a simple ponytail. A few strands had escaped around her face, but she didn't bother fixing them. Lila wasn't the kind of girl who spent an hour getting ready. She liked simple things. Simple clothes. Simple conversations. Simple people. At least, that was what she thought she liked. She picked up her bag and walked out of her room. "You're late." She stopped. Brian was sitting at the dining table. Her older brother had been awake for hours. He always was. Brian was twenty-four, but sometimes Lila thought he carried himself like a man twice his age. There was something about him that made people careful around him. He was tall, broad-shouldered, and rarely smiled. His face was usually calm, but it wasn't a friendly kind of calm. It was the kind that made people wonder what he was thinking. Lila knew better. She knew the anger behind it. She knew the nights he disappeared without explaining where he had been. She knew the phone calls he refused to answer in front of her. And she knew there were parts of Brian's life he would never tell her about. "Good morning to you too," she said. Brian looked at the clock. "You said you'd leave by eight." "It's seven fifty." "Exactly." Lila picked up a piece of toast. "You're becoming an old man." Brian stared at her. She smiled. "Don't look at me like that." "I haven't said anything." "You don't have to." For a moment, his face softened. That was Brian with Lila. The rest of the world knew him differently. With her, he tried. Sometimes. "You have enough money for lunch?" he asked. "Yes." "Don't lie." "I'm not." He reached into his pocket and placed some cash on the table. Lila looked at it. "I don't need it." "Take it." "Brian—" "Take it." She sighed and picked it up. "Happy?" "No." She smiled. "You're impossible." "And you're stubborn." "I learned from you." Brian almost smiled. Almost. Then his phone rang. His expression changed immediately. Lila noticed. She always noticed. Brian looked at the screen. He stood and walked toward the other side of the room before answering. "Talk." His voice was different now. Cold. Lila couldn't hear what the person on the other end was saying. She watched him carefully. Brian turned toward the window. His jaw tightened. "Where?" A pause. "I'm coming." He ended the call. Lila frowned. "Everything okay?" "Yes." She knew he was lying. But she also knew better than to push him. "Okay." Brian picked up his keys. "I'll drive you." "I can take the bus." "I'm driving you." "You just said I was late." "I changed my mind." Lila stared at him. "You are strange." Brian opened the door. "Get in the car." She laughed quietly and followed him. Neither of them noticed the black car parked across the street. It had been there since before sunrise. And someone inside had been watching the house. Ivy College was the kind of place Lila had only seen in pictures before she got her scholarship. The buildings were huge. The lawns were perfectly cut. Students walked around carrying expensive bags and coffee cups that cost more than some of the meals Lila had grown up eating. She never complained about it. She simply reminded herself why she was there. She wanted a future. Something better. Something that belonged to her. She got out of Brian's car. "I'll see you later," she said. Brian nodded. "Lila." She turned. "Yes?" "Don't stay late." She laughed. "I have a library." "I'm serious." "So am I." Brian didn't laugh. Lila's smile faded. "Okay." He watched her walk through the gates before driving away. Lila didn't see the way his eyes stayed on the entrance until she disappeared. By lunchtime, Lila had already met three people. One was friendly. One was rude. And one had spent twenty minutes complaining about how difficult it was to choose between two cars. Lila decided she preferred the library. She was walking across the courtyard when she heard someone call her name. "Lila?" She turned. A girl with long brown hair hurried toward her. "I'm Mia." Lila smiled. "Hi." "You've been in Professor Hale's class, right?" "Yes." "I sit behind you." "Oh." Mia laughed. "You never look around." "I concentrate." "I can tell." They started walking together. Mia talked easily. Lila liked that about her. Within ten minutes, she knew that Mia hated early classes, loved coffee, had a younger brother, and had already decided that Ivy College was going to ruin her social life. Lila laughed. For the first time that day, she relaxed. She didn't notice the black SUV that had just entered the campus. She didn't notice the security guards straightening as it passed. She didn't notice several students turning to look. Mia did. "Oh." Lila glanced at her. "What?" Mia stopped walking. "Nothing." "You're staring." "I wasn't." "You were." Mia looked toward the SUV. "That's Vincent Kane." Lila followed her eyes. The vehicle stopped near the main building. A moment later, the back door opened. A young man stepped out. Vincent Kane. Twenty-three. He had the kind of face that attracted attention without asking for it. His dark hair was slightly messy, like he couldn't be bothered to fix it. His clothes were simple but expensive. Everything about him looked effortless. But it was his expression that made people move aside when he walked past. Cold. Unreadable. He didn't smile. He didn't greet anyone. He barely looked at the people around him. Mia leaned closer. "He's trouble." Lila looked at her. "You know him?" "No." "Then how do you know he's trouble?" Mia shrugged. "Look at him." Lila almost laughed. "That's not an answer." "It is to me." Vincent walked toward the building. Students moved out of his way without being asked. One boy accidentally stepped into his path. Vincent stopped. The boy immediately moved. Vincent continued walking. Lila watched him for a few seconds. There was something strange about the way people reacted to him. She couldn't explain it. Then Vincent suddenly stopped. He turned. His eyes moved across the courtyard. And for one brief second, they landed on Lila. She didn't look away. Neither did he. Mia touched her arm. "Lila." "What?" "Don't." "Don't what?" Mia lowered her voice. "Don't get involved." Lila looked back toward Vincent. He had already turned away. "I wasn't planning to." Mia nodded. "Good." They continued walking. Lila didn't know why, but she looked back once. The entrance was empty. Vincent was gone. That evening, Vincent sat in the back of his car with his phone in his hand. He wasn't looking at the messages. His attention was somewhere else. "Who was the girl?" The voice came from the front seat. Vincent looked up. "What girl?" "The one you were looking at." Vincent's face remained blank. "I wasn't looking at anyone." The driver laughed softly. "Sure." Vincent turned toward the window. The campus disappeared behind them as the car moved through the city. He didn't think about the girl again. At least, not until his phone rang. He answered without checking the number. "Hello?" There was silence. Then a man's voice came through. "Your father wants you home tonight." Vincent frowned. "Why?" "He didn't say." The call ended. Vincent stared at his phone. Something about the call didn't feel right. He looked out the window again. For the first time that day, his expression changed. Only slightly. But enough. Because he had received unexpected calls before. He had received threats. Warnings. Even lies. But this one was different. Someone had used his father's name. And they had sounded afraid. Vincent looked at the driver. "Turn around." "Where?" "Back to the college." The driver looked confused. "Why?" Vincent didn't answer. He simply stared through the window. Something was wrong. He just didn't know what. And by the time he returned to Ivy College, someone had already left a small brown envelope inside his locker. There was no name on it. No address. Nothing written on the front. Vincent opened it. His eyes stopped on the first photograph. For the first time in years, the cold expression on his face disappeared. It was a picture of a man and a woman standing outside an old house. A much younger Vincent stood between them. He knew the people in the photograph. He hadn't seen that picture since he was a child. His fingers tightened around it. Then he pulled out the second photograph. His breathing stopped. This one was different. It had been taken recently. At Ivy College. And standing in the middle of the crowded courtyard was Lila. On the back of the photograph, someone had written four words. Ask her what happened.