Kiss Of The Enemy I Married

THREE

EMERY VALE'S POV:

It's the first day of school, and I already want it to be over. The weight pressed on my chest like a heavy weight, restricting me from breathing.

Every smile I see is laced with questions, and every whisper feels like it is about me.

I kept telling myself to blend in. To breathe. To survive the day without drawing any more attention to myself.

One more year until he vanishes, Lord, I pray my patience doesn't run thin before then. Glancing at my phone, I sighed, increasing my pace.

On my way to my first psychology class, I ran into Lila.

"Hey, do you offer psychology as well?" She asked, her smile too wide, too innocent.

My grip tightened around the strap of my tote bag and I nodded my head. "Yes,”

She rushed towards me and wrapped her hands around my arms. “Thank goodness, I heard the elective is open for second and final year students, I had to pick it because it's going to be funnnnn,” she said in that high-pitched bubble voice that was starting to piss me off. “Why did you pick the course?”

“Just because,” I responded while working in the class.

I was fighting to push her away from me but she just kept coming my way.

“Let's sit over there!” She said, pointing to a seat in the third row.

“Ow?” A familiar voice muttered, “You're taking Human Behavior as well, this is going to be fun,”

Savannah.

“I don't want your trouble, Savannah. Let me be,” I mumbled while dragging Lila with me.

“And who said you, gremlin-looking ass b***h has a choice?” She asked, and I came to a screeching halt.

I turned around, my hands untangled from Lila’s. My upper lip lifted in a smirk as I sized her up.

“Gremlin?” I smirked, stepping closer so she had to look at me.

“Come on, Savannah. Why lie?” I whispered loud enough for people around to hear, my hands folded under my chest. “If I am a ‘gremlin looking ass b***h’, what does that make you, the girl he still won't touch. You must have forgotten that Killian Cross picked me over you on multiple occasions, that's why you're salty.”

A few heads turned, whispers buzzing at Killian's name. My stomach twisted in a knot— the last name I wanted dragged into my life.

Savannah's face twisted, her lips parting for a comeback but the door swung open.

The low scrapes of expensive shoes on the tiles and the heavy silence that followed grabbed everyone's attention.

Then he appeared, with his clique of friends. Oh my goodness.

Killian Cross walked into the class like he owned it. His gaze sweeps the row until it lands on me, and he stares at me swiftly, barely acknowledging my presence before his eyes swayed towards Savannah.

“Did we miss something?” Cole Queen's grin was sharp enough to cut glass, his arm slunged around Killian's shoulder. “Not Cross's girls fighting, what is this? Is it 2023 again?”

Laughter rippled through the class, and my stomach clenched. Biles stings the back of my throat.

The Governor's last boy hasn't changed much, I see. Still ruining people's lives and going scot-free with it.

“Give her some slacks, Queens.” Damian Hunter drawled behind his book, his grin slow and cutting. Closing the book, his eyes flick to mine, deliberate, “Looks like you're in your element again, Savannah.”

I wanted to roll my eyes, to act unaffected, but Killian's stare pinned me down like a target.

He adjusted the strap of his bag, his lip curving into something else, not a smile… something sinister.

“What did I just walk in on,” his voice was lazy, smooth, but every nerve in my body tightened. Not again.

Savannah's hand shot up, her sharp stiletto nails pointing at me like a dagger. “She was just telling everyone how you picked her over me,”

The room crackled into another fit of murmurs. Lila whimpered as she shrank beside me as though she was the one getting picked apart by wolves. My hand ball into a fist, my heart hammering against my chest.

And Killian….. Killian's eyes never left me. He was staring at me like a predator, that look made my heart jump and my body tremble.

This wasn't what I signed up for.

“Now, everyone, go to your seat. The class is about to start.” The professor announced, his voice brooking no arguments.

The crowd fell into their seats, everyone fiddling with their bags.

Savannah flicked her hair, muttering something under her breath but obeyed. She strutted towards the fifth row, her cult trailing her closely.

Lila tugged weakly at my arm, "Come on,” she whispered, her voice shaky but still annoyingly light. As if we weren't just circled by wolves.

My legs refused to move. I could still feel his pressing gaze on me. Still watching me….. Killian. The way his presence pressed against my back was too suffocating, like I was standing by an open flame.

I didn't have to look back to know he was watching me. He had always had that effect on me. Some things…. Some things just never change even though it is hard to accept.

I forced myself forward, ignoring the dryness of my throat. My tote bag strap bit into my palm as I clutched it too tightly, anchoring myself. Lila led us to the third row, and I dropped into the seat as though I weighed nothing.

I looked back, Killian slid into a seat two rows behind me, deliberately in my line of sight. His friends spread out around him, laughing quietly. Too casual, too at ease. Cole leaned across Killian's desk, whispering something into his ear that earned a faint smirk from him.

That smirk.

God, that smirk had been my undoing once.

I looked away. Nails digging into my skin through my skirt.

The professor cleared his throat, dropping his laptop on the podium. “Welcome to Human Behavior class, for some of you who don't know, I am Professor Langley and I'll be taking you through this class this semester,” he said and pushed the rim of his glasses down to the bridge of his nose. “This elective examines…..”

His voice faded in the background. My attention splintered, caught between Savannah clinking her tiny dagger-like nail on the desk, occasionally snickering two rows behind me, and Killian’s unignorable presence behind me. Every time I dared to glance his way, he wasn't pretending to listen or take notes… his attention was on me. Intense. Promising something.

Lila scribbled in her notebook, humming under her breath, as if she lived in a bubble world where it was just her and her notebook.

“Emery,” she whispered suddenly, jerking me from my trance.

“Huh?”

“Why aren't you writing? The professor said this class is heavy on participation.”

I blinked at her. And back at my blank note sprayed in front of me. The words on the projector blurred, shifting in and out of focus.

Human Behavior? The irony. I couldn't even control my own.

Behind me, a low chuckle curled around my ears. I didn't need to look back.

Killian.

My pulse hammered so loud, I was sure the two rows at the front could hear it. I grip my pen tight. So tightly, my knuckles whitened, I needed to write something, anything. If only to look busy.

The room settled into a rhythm; Langley lecturing and students scribbling.

A soft scrape on the floor and a soft inhale that wasn't mine grabbed my attention.

I looked up.

Killian leaned back on his seat, his long legs stretched out, arms folded.

My mouth went dry. I dropped my eyes to my notebook, the words that I wrote making less sense to me.

One more year left for him to leave. Can I survive that long?

Langley's voice pulled me back. “Human behavior is often very unpredictable. But a pattern exists. And when you study and recognize them, you can understand anyone,”

Laughter spread out throughout the room. Everyone laughed at his last sentence. Everyone but me.

Because I knew one person I'd never understand again.

My chest tightened. I could almost feel the ghost of his touch. His hot breath flanked my neck as he whispered sweet nothing to my ear, promises that curdled into knives.

Killian Cross was a pattern I thought I recognized….. only to realize too late that they were traps.

And here again, after two years, he was in my class, watching me like he never left.

My pen slipped from my grip and landed loudly on the desk. The sound was too loud, it grabbed the attention of the entire row.

My cheek burned. If there were a mirror, I'm sure I would look like a tomato. I stretched my hand to grab it but another hand beat me to it. Quicker.

Long fingers adorned with two huge skull rings. The middle one was probably his family heirloom. And the other? The Echelon’s.

He twirled the pen between his fingers and leaned forward. “You dropped this,”

My breath caught in my throat. Slowly, I turned to face him, our faces inches from each other. Killian’s face gleamed, dark and unreadable, and then curved into that undoing smirk.

I snatched the pen from his grip, forcing my hand not to shake. “Thanks,” I mumbled. My voice is flat. Clipped. A contradiction from what I was feeling inside.

His smirk widened like he had won something by getting me to thank him. He leaned back, satisfied and breath rushed back into my lungs.

Professor Langley in front of the podium, oblivious to what was going on.

But to me, the lecture was already over.

Because this was it for me. No matter how I preach to myself that I'd survive Killian Cross. No matter how much I plan it meticulously. He'll always find a way to torment me. He is Killian Cross.

And as I sat there, my hand trembling under my desk and my lips pressed in a thin line. One thought screamed louder than the whispers in my ear.

This wasn't what I signed up for.

*****

“How was today?” Dad’s voice rushed into my ear as I pressed the phone.

I sighed, pushing in the door. “It wasn't that bad,” I murmured, pulling off my shoes and sliding my feet into my flipflop.

Glancing to the side, I saw another set of flipflops.

“I think my roommate is here,” I said, making my way into the room.

“Alright sweetheart, I'll call you later,”

I dropped the phone inside my bag and let out a deep breath.

“Hi, nice to meet you,” I greeted as I entered the room. I stopped in my tracks, my eyes widened.

“Lila?”