Page 21 of Phantom Flower

Marco was on me the second I stepped inside the building.

His wide eyes scanned me frantically from head to toe, hands hovering like he wanted to check for broken bones, which was probably what he was doing.

He didn’t even say hi at first, just searched every inch of me.

“Marco, I’m really okay,” I said, forcing a small smile as we started walking down the hallway together.

“Are you sure? You look… pale. And your voice sounds rough. If he did anything to you, Rei, we can—”

“I’m fine,” I cut in, bumping his shoulder. “Really. He was just being his usual psychotic self. Nothing I couldn’t handle.”

Marco studied me for another long second, then dropped it.

He always did that - never pushed when he sensed my walls going up. It was one of the many reasons I loved having him around. My timid sunshine boy who respected boundaries even when he was terrified for me.

He switched subjects smoothly. “There’s a party next month. One of my friends from the scholarship program is throwing it off-campus. You should come with me. Please?”

I didn’t particularly like parties. But the thought of an excuse to not be trapped in the house with Daniel’s fake smiles and my mother’s denial sounded like salvation right now.

“Yeah,” I nodded. “I’ll go.”

Marco’s face lit up with that cute, shy grin that made his cheeks pink. “Really? Great. I’ll text you the details. We can even match outfits.”

After morning classes, we had sports. I fucking hated sports.

Running, sweating, being watched while my body moved - it always left me feeling exposed.

Today was worse.

About twenty minutes in, I started getting dizzy. The coach noticed and sent me to the nurse with a grunt.

I detoured to the locker room first to change out of my gym clothes. The place was mostly empty, but the second I stepped inside, I saw him.

Dimitri Morozov stood just a few feet away, leaning against a locker. He wasn’t even in gym clothes.

He shouldn’t have been here at all right now.

I tried to bolt, spinning on my heel toward the door.

His hand slammed against the metal door before I could open it, trapping me between the surface and his much larger body.

“Where do you think you’re going, little fairy?”

I turned slowly, back pressing against the door as I looked up at him. He was so close I could barely breathe. “You’re not supposed to be here,” I rasped, throat still sore.

He smiled. “You haven’t been answering my texts.”

Texts? I blinked. I’d seen notifications from an unknown number this morning but ignored them like always.

He reached into my pocket and pulled out my phone. I lunged for it. “Hey!”

He grabbed both my wrists with one big hand and pinned them above my head against the door.

His body pressed against mine, trapping me completely. With his free hand, he unlocked my phone like it was nothing.

“How the fuck do you know my pin?!” I hissed, struggling uselessly.

He didn’t answer.