Julian Mason jolted awake the next morning to his roommate Russell Bryant shaking his shoulder. Sunlight poured through the window—a dead giveaway that he was dangerously close to being late. He rubbed his temples, head pounding as he tried to piece together the blur of the night before. When he finally sat up, he caught his roommates trading odd looks in his direction.
“What’s going on?” Julian asked, a knot forming in his stomach under their stares.
“Not a thing,” Russell replied, flashing a shit-eating grin.
Once the others cleared out of the dorm, Russell pulled Julian aside. “So what went down last night? You finally come to your senses or what?”
“Come to my senses about what?”
“You seriously don’t remember how you got back here last night?”
Julian was infamous for blacking out when he drank, and last night was no exception. He struggled to pull up even a single memory—until a hazy image flickered through: Aleena Cook guiding him back to the dorm.
“She dropped you off at the building entrance. I was mid-chess game when she called me down to help haul your ass upstairs. Dude, you were all over her like a lovesick puppy.”
Mortification hit Julian like a truck. That’s how Aleena had brought him back? Unbelievable. Humiliating didn’t even begin to cover it.
Across his morning classes, he couldn't focus for shit. His eyes kept drifting to Aleena, sitting near the front, fully absorbed in the lecture. Frustration simmered under his skin. He wanted to keep his distance from her, but with their schedules so tangled up, there was no easy escape.
Meanwhile, his friends kept egging him on to get with Aleena, but Julian had a meeting lined up with Aya Morales anyway.
“I’m Aleena’s friend. She really cares about you, so don’t mess with her head!” To Julian’s surprise, Aya dragged Aleena into their conversation out of nowhere.
“Her feelings are her problem, not mine,” he shot back, playing it cool.
“You don’t actually think Aleena can’t function without you, do you? There are plenty of guys lining up for her. Just last week, a senior took her out to some fancy restaurant and confessed—right then and there!” Aya’s words were tossed off casually, but they carried a sharp edge, hinting that Aleena wasn’t exactly as loyal as she seemed.
Unbeknownst to Aya, Aleena had already gotten wind of this little meeting by slipping a recorder into Aya’s bag. She listened as Aya ran her mouth, fully aware of what Aya was doing—twisting the truth to make her look unfaithful. Aya was sly; her manipulation game was painfully smooth.
Julian’s jaw tightened. “If she’s got so many admirers, she can go run to them.”
“Aleena grew up in a loving home. She’s never been treated like crap. Why should she put up with yours? You should just stay away from her!” Aya declared, spinning on her heel to leave—only to slip and hit the ground with a grimace of pain.
“You okay?” Julian moved closer, concerned despite himself.
“I’m fine!” Aya insisted, scrambling up even though her face told a completely different story.
Julian watched her limp off, then offered, “Which dorm are you in? I can help you get back.”
“No need. I don’t dorm here. I’m heading home.” Her voice was stiff, playing the part of independence.
Leaving her like that didn’t sit right with him. “Is home far? I can give you a ride.”
And just like that, Aya found herself perched on the back of Julian’s bike.
On the other end of the recording, Aleena let out a long sigh. As a soul contractor with powers beyond measure, why was she stuck untangling this messy romantic knot for some girl? But then she thought of Aleena—the regret and sorrow she'd carried before her untimely death. If helping this unlucky girl find peace was the price of the contract, then maybe it was worth it after all.
