The Past Always Comes Back
388 Words
Chapter Nine: The Past Always Comes Back
Cole didn’t speak for a long time after Marissa left.
Layla just stood there, heart pounding, stomach in knots, her mind spinning.
> “You knew her,” she said finally.
It wasn’t a question.
He looked up slowly.
> “She was in my class. Last year.”
> “Just your student?”
A pause.
> “She… wanted more.”
Layla felt something tighten in her chest.
> “Did you give it to her?”
His jaw clenched. “No.”
> “But she’s acting like you owe her something.”
He looked away.
That was answer enough.
---
They sat in silence. The tension between them wasn’t romantic this time — it was razor sharp and heavy with unsaid things.
> “What aren’t you telling me?” Layla whispered.
> “She’s not just dangerous because she has video of us.”
> “Then why?”
He closed his eyes.
> “Because the last time I got close to a student… someone ended up in a hospital.”
Layla’s blood ran cold.
> “Are you saying—?”
> “I didn’t hurt her,” he cut in. “But I was involved. Emotionally. Maybe too much. I thought I could handle it.”
A bitter laugh escaped him.
> “Turns out, I couldn’t.”
---
Layla felt like the room was tilting.
> “And Marissa knows this?”
He nodded.
> “She was friends with her. The girl from before. She knows everything. She’s been waiting for me to slip up again.”
> “And I was the slip,” Layla whispered.
Cole looked at her, and for the first time since she’d met him, he looked scared.
> “You weren’t a mistake,” he said.
> “But everything that comes next might be.”
---
That night, Layla sat on her dorm bed, staring at the flash drive Marissa had left behind.
She hadn’t told anyone. Not even her roommate.
But the weight of it burned in her palm like a fuse waiting to explode.
She thought of walking away.
But deep down, she knew—
> She was already in too deep.
And Cole Ashford wasn’t the only one with secrets.
- Writer
