He Took Her to Europe With My Money Chapter 02

He Took Her to Europe With My Money Chapter 02

Leona suggested that we walk around campus one last time.

She stayed beside Darien, her shoulder brushing his arm every few steps.

I followed several yards behind them like a shadow.

As we passed the basketball courts, Leona pointed at the bleachers and laughed.

“Darien, remember the championship game sophomore year? You made that game-winning three-pointer, and I got so excited that I spilled my Coke all over Marcus’s head.”

Darien grinned.

“How could I forget? Marcus demanded money for dry cleaning, and I ended up paying him for you.”

Their easy familiarity shut me out completely.

Sophomore year, I had wanted to bring Darien water during one of his games.

He turned me down immediately.

“I know you don’t fit in with my crowd. You can barely talk to strangers without stumbling over your words.”

“I’m not going to force you to hang out with my friends. You’d only stress yourself out.”

He kept me hidden.

But he brought Leona directly into his inner circle.

We passed the auditorium, where workers were dismantling the stage from the graduation gala.

Leona grew sentimental as she talked about the homecoming dance.

“You were such a terrible dancer. You stepped on my feet three times.”

Darien corrected her.

“You’re off by one. It was twice.”

The warmth slowly drained from my fingers.

I had borrowed a dress for that dance and waited backstage for Darien all night.

Later, he told me, “Take it off. You hunch your shoulders, and that dress only makes it more obvious. You look ridiculous in it.”

“I don’t want everyone staring at you and making you feel worse.”

Every part of college life I had wanted to experience somehow ended up becoming one of Leona’s memories instead.

My shoelace came undone.

I crouched down to tie it.

By the time I looked up, they were already far ahead.

I brushed the dust from my hands and turned back toward the dorm.

It was moving day.

I packed four years of belongings into three heavy bags.

One of the wheels on my suitcase had broken, and the handles had rubbed my palms red and raw.

I still could not lift it.

I called Darien.

The phone rang for a long time before he finally answered.

“I have too much luggage. Can you help me carry it downstairs?”

His irritated click of the tongue came through immediately.

“Camille, you disappeared without saying anything while we were walking around campus. Leona was worried sick about you, and now you’re calling to order me around?”

My fingers tightened around the phone.

“I’m not ordering you around. I just can’t lift everything by myself.”

“Then figure it out.”

“Make two trips. Or three.”

“You’re about to enter the real world. You can’t keep expecting other people to do everything for you. Consider this my last lesson before graduation.”

“I have to help Leona load her things into the car. I’m busy. Handle it yourself.”

He hung up.

At that exact moment, an email appeared on my screen.

It was an acceptance letter from Linden University’s graduate program in medical research.

Darien had once told me to give up on graduate school.

“You’d spend every semester crying because you’re away from home. Just work as an assistant at my family’s company. I’ll take care of you.”

Now, I would rather struggle on my own than live comfortably under his control.

Leona pushed open the dorm room door, humming, with two iced milkshakes in her hands.

Darien could not come upstairs because guys were not allowed past the lobby, so he was waiting for her downstairs.

She held one out to me.

“Packing is exhausting, isn’t it? Have something to drink. Darien bought these for us.”

My cramps had already started, and the thought of an ice-cold milkshake made my stomach turn.

“No, thanks.”

She opened her jewelry drawer and began packing.

Something fell out with a quiet clink.

It was a simple silver necklace with a hollow star pendant.

On the back, I had scratched a tiny mark with a compass.

A “D” for Darien.

He had given it to me on my birthday during freshman year.

It disappeared during the second semester of sophomore year.

I had cried until my eyes were swollen.

Darien ruffled my hair.

“It’s just a necklace. You probably misplaced it because you’re always forgetting things. I’ll buy you a gold one next time.”

Next time never came.

Leona bent down and picked up the necklace.

“I mentioned that I liked it once, and Darien gave it to me. I wanted to return it, but he said that once you give something away, you don’t ask for it back.”

“He told me to keep it.”

“Camille, if you want it, I’ll give it back right now.”

I shook my head.

“Keep it.”

Even if she returned it, I would not want it anymore.