ANOUSHKA
"Should we really be doing this?" Wren whispers as I attempt to pick the lock of Ivan's door.
"We have to," I whisper, sighing out of frustration as another hair pin breaks.
I hold my hand out and Wren puts another one in it. "Let me try." she says. I scoot to the side as she leans down on the lock. I look around the empty hallway, hoping that no one would walk past us. I mean it was halfway through assembly so no one would be out of class. I hear the lock click and I smile as Wren pushes the door open.
I look down at the timer I put on my phone. 20 minutes left. "We have to be quick." I say, walking inside the dorm.
Ivan had his own dorm because he joined this school recently so I had an advantage. "Where should we put it?" I ask.
Wren stares at me bewildered. "You didn't plan it out!" she says.
"Well I thought anywhere would be good." I reply.
She shakes her head as she takes the clear bag containing Iris's hair out of my hand. "Rule 101 of framing someone else. Use gloves."
I give her a tight-lipped smile. "We don't have gloves."
"Shit." she murmurs, looking around his dorm. She notices a lot candle and walks over to it. "Wax will work." she says. "It'll burn like a bitch." she continues.
"I'll do it." I say, dipping my forefinger and thumb into the burning candle wax. I hiss as my fingertips burn from the fire of the candle.
"Few more seconds." she says.
I nod stiffly and she finally tells me to pull them out.
"Fucking hell." I whisper-shout. "This better be worth it."
"Take the hair out," she tells me and I do as she says.
"We'll hide it inside his bedside table."
I walk over to the bedside table and I discretely hide the pieces of hair.
"That should be fine."
I look down at my phone which read 10 minutes left. We walk towards the front door. "Perfect timing."
I lean down to open the door until the door handle begins to turn. My eyes widen and I turn back to Wren, who was also watching me wide-eyed. "Bathroom." I mouth.
We bolt to the bathroom and I gently close the door. "Oh my God." I whisper, running a hand in my hair.
"Bathtub." she says. We both stand in the bathtub, pulling the shower curtain to disguise us.
She lays down on the flat of the bathtub and I lie beside her. "How long is he going to be here for?" she whispers.
"I don't know," I whisper back.
The bathroom door rattles and I hear footsteps approaching. Wren closes her eyes tightly. "Wren!" someone whisper-shouts.
Wren's eyes shoot open as she rips open the curtain and jumps out of the tub. Luca was standing in the bathroom, glaring at Wren. She jumps into his arms and he holds her close to his chest. "Oh my god!" she says, holding him close.
When he sees me, he lets out a heavy sigh. "Of course, you are here. Whenever you two are together, nothing good ever happens."
"How did you know I was here?" she asks him.
"You left your phone open, I read the messages between you two and I happened to not see you at assembly."
"Where's Creighton?" I ask.
"Here." a voice replies and I glance to see him, standing in the door frame.
I smile as I walk over to him. "We have to get out of here." I tell him.
"Let's go," Luca says and we subtly leave the dorm. We thought it was best to break up and meet back at the dorm. I lean into Creighton as he wraps an arm around my shoulders. "We thought it was Ivan." I tell him.
"Nope." he replies, popping the p. I take out my phone from my pocket, checking the timer. "He'll be at his dorm by now."
"What happened to your fingers?" he asks, clutching my hands and staring at my red fingertips.
"I had to dip them in wax to cover my fingerprints. It was hot."
He looks at me unimpressed before glancing back down at my fingers. "How do you feel about soaking your hands in cold water? We'll go back to my dorm and we can relax." he says.
I nod my head, smiling. "Anoushka and Creighton." someone calls out.
I freeze and look back to see the Principal watching us.
Fuck.
I forgot we weren't allowed to be together. "It isn't what you think." I say immediately.
"Yes it is," Creighton says, sighing. "Don't you think it's ridiculous that you are putting all this effort into making sure Anoushka and I aren't together? How much is her dad paying you to do that?"
Her cheeks tint and she shakes her head. "I will not be discussing this with you. It is confidential."
What?
Tears burn my eyes immediately as I inhale a shaky breath. "My dad's paying you to make sure Creighton and I aren't talking?" I ask, my voice shaky.
I'm so sick of my dad trying to break apart everything good in my life. I need Creighton and I love him.
I storm off, leaving Creighton and the principal in the hallway. I head to my dorm, grabbing my car keys before signing out and leaving the campus. Anger and hatred stream in my veins as I park my car outside my house.
Knocking twice, I wait for someone to answer. The door opens and my mum's face shifts from calm to shocked in a second. "Anoushka." she says.
"Where's dad?"
"In a meeting in his office. Do not interrupt him."
I walk inside the house, heading straight to his office. Pushing his door open, I see him sitting at his desk. His laptop is open in front of him.
"Are you seriously kidding me?" I shout.
He shakes his head in disbelief as he presses a button on his laptop, probably to mute himself.
"Anoushka." he says.
"Why do you want me to suffer so badly?" I say. "Why do you want Creighton away from me? Why do you hate me?" I exclaim.
He doesn't reply.
"I tried to be the daughter you wanted. Even after, everything that Isabella did. You don't even know what she put me through." I whisper, my voice cracking. "The nudes were fake. She locked me in a room with a man who was going to rape me. She kidnapped me, Dad. I was tied up naked and frightened for my life. They cut me." I tell him, pulling up my sleeves and showing my dad the healing scars that were still red. "I would've died knowing my dad hated me." I cry out.
For the first time since I was a child, my dad's eyes flared with something more than just anger directed at me. He looks down at his computer as if the sight of my arms hurt him.
Creighton saved me.
Both times.
"You were too blind to see because of your hatred and your disappointment in me but please stop trying to break Creighton and me up. I love him so much Dad. I want to spend the rest of my life with him and he wants the same. He saved me both of those times."
I could have sworn his eyes soften. "You will have to marry Ivan in summer but in the meantime I won't forbid you and Creighton." he says, his voice void of any emotion.
No hug.
No comfort.
Just those empty promises.
I nod stiffly. It was better than nothing. The plan will work and Ivan will be framed. I leave the house, avoiding my mum especially. A huge weight lifted off my shoulders as I realised that I finally told the truth. My dad knows what Isabella did to me. A tear runs down my cheek and I brush it away with my finger. My phone buzzes in the passenger seat and I lean over to grab it.
Creighton: where did you go?
Creighton: I hate it when you leave like this.
Creighton: Call me as soon as you get this.
I call him immediately. "Hey." I whisper, sniffling.
"Angel." he whispers breathlessly. "Where are you? I'll come and get you right now. Just tell me where you are." his voice pleading.
I close my eyes tightly as I register the soft, caring tone in his voice. The care that I longed for my whole life. That's what being with Creighton felt like; security, protection and happiness all in one. I wanted that with him forever.
"I'm coming back," I tell him.
"What happened? Where did you go?"
"I went to see my dad. He said we can be together until summer."
"No. There is no limit on how long we're going to be together."
"I know. If we frame Ivan then the marriage won't happen."
"Come home to me, Anoushka. No amount of punishment will keep me from comforting you tonight."
"I'll be ten minutes," I tell him.
I hang up and I get back to the campus as soon as I could. I knock on Creighton's door and he opens it, his hair is messy and his green eyes were reassuring. "Angel," is all he says.
That's all he needed to say for me to crumble into him. I wrap my arms around his neck as he holds me close to his chest as I cry into him. I felt everything right now.
The broken relationship with my dad.
The kidnapping.
My dad forcing me to marry Ivan.
Being to blame for Iris's disappearance.
"What happened baby?" he asks quietly.
I tighten my grip around him. "I spoke to my dad." I say, sniffling.
That's all that needed to be said before he pulled away, brushing my hair away from my face. "Let's go to my room," he tells me. I needed Creighton. I yearned for his safeness. He pulled me to his bedroom where he changes me into one of his oversized sweatshirts and we lay in bed silently.
"I finally got you to wear my sweat shirts." he says quietly.
A small smile tugs at my lips as I nod. "It's more comfortable then any of the other ones I have."
"You still have your ex's sweatshirts?" he asks, a dangerous glint in his tone.
I tense. "I haven't gotten around to throwing them out."
"I'm thinking a bonfire." he tells me.
A laugh ripples out of me as I shake my head. "I was going down the charity shop path." I say.
He kisses me. "And that's what makes you a better person than me."
I lightly smile at him. "Are you okay?" he asks me. "When you ran off and you weren't in your dorm, I was scared Anoushka. I thought something happened to you."
I shake my head. "I'm sorry." I whisper. "I just want all of it to be over." I say quietly. "I want them to find Iris alive and safe. I want Ivan gone and I want Isabella gone for good."
"I'll make it happen," he whispers. "I'll make it all go away, Angel," he tells me.
I close my eyes tightly as his lips brush my forehead.