Innocent cravings

Chapter Eight : Brewing Storm

Alice had promised herself she wouldn't think about him again.

She told herself that the look Brian gave her that day was meaningless. A slip. A mistake. Something her tired brain made into more than it was. But no matter how many times she repeated it, the memory lingered. It clung to her like perfume you couldn't wash off.

Now, sitting on the campus steps with Sophie, she tried to shove the thought down. Sophie was rambling about a professor who gave her too much homework and how she planned to bribe him with cookies, her voice quick and playful, her hands moving as if she was on stage. Alice smiled, but her thoughts drifted again, drifting where she didn't want them to go.

She hated that Brian Carter had taken up space in her head. She hated it even more that she noticed the way her heart had stumbled when his eyes locked on hers.

"You're not listening to me," Sophie announced suddenly, poking Alice in the arm. "I'm here pouring my soul out about my academic suffering and you're staring into thin air like you've seen a ghost."

Alice laughed weakly. "Sorry. I didn't sleep much."

Sophie tilted her head, narrowing her eyes. "Mmhm. Sure. And here I thought it had something to do with a certain tall man in a very expensive suit."

Alice stiffened. "What? No. Don't start."

Sophie grinned, wicked and sharp. "Oh, I saw it. I saw that look. He looked at you like the rest of us disappeared, and you looked at him like....well like I should go write the both of you into a romance novel."

Alice's cheeks burned. "You're making it sound like something it's not."

"Sweetheart, if it wasn't something, Clarissa wouldn't have looked ready to commit a crime right there in the parking lot."

The mention of Clarissa made Alice's stomach twist. She hated attention, and Clarissa thrived on it. The blonde girl was a shadow always looming over her, dripping with wealth, beauty, and everything Alice wasn't.

And as if the universe wanted to prove Sophie right, Clarissa's voice cut through the air like sharp glass.

"Well, well. If it isn't the charity case and her little sidekick."

Alice froze. Sophie groaned under her breath, already rolling her eyes before turning toward Clarissa.

Clarissa stood there with two of her friends, their arms crossed, smiles sharp. Her blonde hair gleamed under the sun, her outfit probably worth more than Alice's entire semester's rent. She looked down at them like a queen inspecting peasants.

Alice hugged her books tighter, wishing she could vanish. But Sophie shifted beside her, folding her arms and grinning like she'd been waiting for this.

"Clarissa," Sophie said sweetly. "Didn't your stylist ever tell you you're too young to look this washed out? Or is that just your personality shining through?"

Clarissa's lips thinned. "How cute. Always trying to cover for your little friend. Tell me, Sophie, is it exhausting babysitting her? She barely belongs here. Everyone knows she's here on scraps and handouts. Do you really want to waste your time?"

Alice's chest tightened. She wanted to shrink, to walk away, but Sophie wasn't having it.

"My time is my own," Sophie snapped. "And if I want to waste it on someone with an actual brain and heart, I'll do that. Better than wasting it on someone who thinks breathing is a talent just because their last name buys them everything."

The students nearby began to whisper, watching like it was entertainment. Clarissa's cheeks flushed, but her smile stayed fixed, though it faltered at the edges.

"Don't get too comfortable," Clarissa said coldly, her eyes sliding to Alice. "Some people need to be reminded of their place. Especially girls who think they can stare at men who are far, far above them."

Alice's stomach dropped. She knew exactly who Clarissa meant.

Sophie laughed loud enough for everyone to hear. "Oh, please. If you're so confident in your relationship, why are you pressed about a look? Maybe you should focus on keeping your man's attention instead of policing who he glances at."

Gasps rippled through the small crowd. Clarissa's face hardened, her composure cracking.

"You'll regret that," she said, her voice low and venomous. "Both of you."

She spun on her heel, her friends scrambling after her.

Silence hung for a moment, then Sophie stretched her arms wide like she'd just won a performance. "And that, my dear Alice, is how you deal with poisonous snakes."

Alice let out a shaky breath. "Sophie... what if she really does something? You know what she's capable of."

Sophie slung an arm around her shoulder. "Let her try. She can't scare me. And she shouldn't scare you either. You've got me. And trust me, I can fight dirt with dirt if I need to."

Alice smiled faintly, comforted, but the knot in her stomach didn't ease. Clarissa's words weren't empty. Alice had seen the way her eyes burned with promise.

As they walked away, Alice tried to laugh at Sophie's jokes, tried to focus on class and work, but her mind drifted again. Not to Clarissa. Not to the whispers around campus.

To Brian.

To the way his gaze had lingered, even if only for a moment.

She hated herself for it. She hated how her chest tightened and warmed at the thought, even while fear coiled around her ribs. Clarissa wasn't bluffing. She was planning something.

And Alice had a sinking feeling she had just been pulled into a storm that she couldn't run from.