LISA

I listen to that voicemail for the fifth time as I walk down the campus sidewalk. She sounds so miserable and upset. In a fucked-up way it makes me happy to hear it, to hear the anguish and pure sadness in her voice as she cries into my ear. I wanted to know if she was as miserable without me as I was without her, and here is the proof that she was. I know I forgave her quickly for kissing that asshole, but what else was I supposed to do? I can't be without her, and we've both done some fucked-up shit—not only her.

This is Rosé's fault, anyway; she knew how fucking vulnerable she would be when we split. I know she fucking knew that: she saw her crying and shit, then she goes and kisses her a week after she left me? What kind of fucking dickhead does that?

She took advantage of her, of my Jennie, and I won't fucking have it. She thinks she's so smooth and she gets away with shit, but not any fucking more.

"Where's Rosé Park?" I ask a short blond girl sitting by a tree near the environmental studies building.

Why the fuck is there a giant-ass tree in the middle of this stupid-ass building, anyway?

"In the plant room, number two eighteen," she informs me with a shaky voice.

I finally reach the room with "218" printed on the door and open it before I can think about my promise to Jennie. I wasn't actually going to leave Rosé alone anyway, but hearing how distraught Jennie was on the night they were together made it ten times worse for Rosé.

THE ROOM IS FULL of rows of plants. Who would want to mess with this shit all day for a living?

"What are you doing here?" I hear her before I lay eyes on her.

She's standing next to a large box or some shit; when she steps out I take a step toward her.

"Don't play fucking stupid, you know exactly what I'm doing here."

She smiles. "No, sorry, I don't. The study of botany doesn't require psychic powers."

She mocks me with those dumb fucking goggles on her head. "You actually have the nerve to be a smug asshole about it?"

"About what?" "Jennie."

"I'm not being a dick at all. You're the one treating her like shit, so don't get pissed when she runs to me because of it."

"Are you that fucking stupid to mess with what is mine?"

She backs away and walks down the aisle next to me. "She isn't yours. You don't own her," she challenges.

I reach across the boxes of plants to wrap my hand around her neck— and slam her face into the metal barrier between us. I hear a crisp snap, so I already know what happened. But when she lifts her head up and shouts "You broke my fucking nose!" while struggling to get out of my grip, I have to admit that the amount of blood pouring from her face is a little alarming. "I already warned you over and over for fucking months now to stay away from Jennie, but then what do you do? You fucking kiss her, have her sleep in your goddamn bed?" I stride down the aisle to get to her again.

Her hand is covering her broken nose as blood pours down her face. "And I already fucking told you that I don't give a fuck what you've got to say," she snarls, taking a step toward me. "You just broke my fucking nose!" she yells again.

Jennie is going to fucking kill me.

I should just leave now. She deserves to get her ass beat, again, but Jennie's going to be furious.

"You've done worse shit to me, you keep messing with my girlfriend!" I shout back.

"She isn't your girlfriend, and I haven't even begun to mess with her yet."

"Are you actually fucking threatening me right now?" "I don't know, am I?"

I take another step toward her, and she surprises me by swinging on me. Her fist connects with my jaw and I stagger backward, knocking into a wooden box of plants. They crash to the ground, and as I recover, she swings again in a fury, but this time I'm able to block her and stumble to the side.

"You thought I was just a bitch, didn't you?" She grins a deranged and bloody grin and continues to walk toward me. "You really thought you were a badass, didn't you?" She laughs, pausing to spit blood onto the white tile floor.

My fingers wrap around the material of her lab coat, and I push her into another row of plants; the plants and our bodies hit the ground. I climb on top of her, making sure not to let her be in control. Out of the corner of my eye I see her raise ber arm, but by the time I realize what's happening, she's slammed one of the small pots against the side of my head.

My head jerks and I blink rapidly to restore my vision. I'm stronger than her, but it seems she's a better fighter than she had led me to believe.

But there's no way in hell I'm letting her get the best of me.

"I already fucked her, anyway," she chokes as I grab hold of her hair and slam her head into the floor. At this point I don't give a fuck if I kill her or not.

"No, you didn't!" I scream.

"Yes, I did, she was . . . nice and t-tight, too." Her voice is strangled and choppy, spitting out its venom with my hands still on her face.

My fist snaps her head to the side and she half screams from the pain, and for a brief moment I consider gripping her broken nose between my fingers to cause her even more. Her feet kick frantically under me to try to lift my body from her. Images of Rosé touching Jennie are fueling me, pushing me further than I've ever been pushed before.

Her hands grip my arms, trying to lift my body from her. "You will never fucking touch her again," I say and bring a hand to her throat. "If you think you're going to take her from me, you're fucking wrong."

I tighten my grip around her neck. Her bloody face is turning red and she tries to speak, but I only hear broken gasps for air.

"What the hell is going on in here?" a male voice shouts behind me.

When I turn my head around to see who the voice belongs to, Rosé attempts to wrap her hands around my neck. Not fucking happening. Another punch to her cheek is all it takes for her arms to drop to the floor next to her sides.

A hand wraps around my arm, and I shove it off. "Call campus security!" the voice says, and I hurry to climb off of Rosé.

Fuck. "No, don't," I say and stumble to my feet.

"What's going on? Get out of here! Go wait in the other room!" the middle-aged man yells, but I don't move. I assume he's a professor. Fuck.

"She came in here and attacked me," Rosé says, then starts to cry. She literally starts to cry.

Her hand is covering her swollen and crooked nose as she stands to her feet. Her face is bloody, her lab coat is splattered with red, and her smug smile has evaporated.

With an air of authority, the man points at me and commands, "Stand against the wall until the police arrive! I mean it, don't move an inch!"

Fuck, the campus police are coming. I'm so fucking screwed. Why the fuck did I come here in the first place? I promised to stay away from her if Jennie would.

Now that I've broken another one of my promises, will she break hers?