I groaned the next morning when I heard my phone go off. 7am came too soon after the night I had with Chase.

"Hello." I groaned.

"Good morning sunshine!" I heard my obnoxious brother say.

"Go away John." I sat up annoyed. "Why are you calling me? I'm supposed to call you."

"I know, but I have an appearance in 30, and couldn't wait for you to remember to call me."

"Well, have fun. I have to try and get up for class." My body protested as I stood up. "Fuck."

"What's wrong with you?" John asked, kind of concerned.

I thought up a lie quick. "I've been working out, and swimming at the same time. My body hates me."

"And you think you can handle the ring?" John huffed.

"I'm going to go now before either of us say something we regret." I scowled at him. "Goodbye John."

"Love you kitty cat." He said before hanging up.

"Dick." I muttered, throwing my phone on my bed. I walked over to Kate to wake her up, but she was already gone. "Weird." Kate never leaves without me.

Getting dressed, I headed out. As I was locking my door, I heard Kate's familiar giggle, and saw her leave Chase's room.

Jealousy built up in me. You should have known better Cat. I turned away from them, walking opposite of where they were, hoping they didn't notice me. "Cat, wait up!" I heard Kate yell.

I forced myself to calm down before turning to them. "Hey, what's up?" I asked, popping my 'p'.

"Nothing much, Chase was just letting me copy our English Lit homework before class." Kate smiled innocently.

"At 7am?" I raised an eyebrow.

"Well, she couldn't do it in class." Chase shrugged.

"Right." I said. "I'm going to meet up with Caleb before class. So I'll see you guys later." I went opposite as them as we walked out of the building.

"Okay then." Kate said in a tone that I wasn't okay with.

I didn't miss the look Chase gave me when I said I was going to meet with Caleb. He couldn't honestly think that he could play this game, and I wouldn't play right back.

I shouldn't even be playing a game, he told me last night he wasn't leaving me anymore. I hadn't believed him then, and I sure as hell don't believe him now.

As I was heading to the parking lot, I felt a hand grab my arm. It spun me around to look at it's owner. "Cat-"

"Don't Chase," I stopped him before he could continue. "Anything you say to me won't be believed."

"She called me at 6:30 this morning Cat. I didn't find any harm in it." Chase held up his hands innocently.

"Only an hour after I left your room? That's cute." I snapped at him. "You realize she wants you, right?" There was no way he was this naive.

"She has Pogue."

"She doesn't give two fucks about Pogue. They keep fighting over you." I sighed, pinching the bridge of my nose.

"That sucks for her since I'm too busy fighting for someone else." Chase grabbed my hand as if it would reassure me. I pulled away.

"You're not fighting for me Chase. If you think you are, just know you're doing a shitty job at it." I walked past him, making sure to hit his shoulder with mine. I couldn't keep doing this with him. It was only the first week of school, and he was stressing me out.

I wasn't supposed to meet Caleb. Truth was, I had been ignoring Caleb, all for Chase. Now, here I was praying he'd pull up to the parking lot at any minute.

I got lucky, because only moments later he pulled in. "Thank you lord." I said out loud to myself.

Caleb got out of his car, and smiled at me the second he saw me. "Hey." He gave me a kiss on the cheek. "Where've you been?"

"Around." With Chase. "Thought we could walk to class together?"

Caleb smiled at me. "I'd love that." He took my hand, which took me by surprise. I didn't pull away though. "Is this okay?" Caleb asked, gesturing to our hands.

"Uh, yeah." I knew I didn't sound convincing, but I told myself to give this a try. If you can't have Chase, go for Caleb. I kept telling myself, but knew it was almost pointless.

We were standing in front of our classroom door when I pulled away. Honestly, I didn't want Chase to see us holding hands. Like he'd care.

When we walked into the room, ironically the only open seats were next to Chase and Pogue. Kate sat next to some girl I had yet to meet, I think her name was Anna. It didn't matter, because I knew she was probably mad at me after this morning.

I walked away from Caleb and sat next to Chase, trying not to make eye contact. Lord forbid he'd make it that easy for me. Leaning into me, he put his lips to my ear and whispered. "I think you pissed her off."

Now it may seem like an innocent gesture to most, but when Chase was this close to me, my body felt like it was on fire. Such a simple action made my panties wet. It disturbed me, the effect he had on me. The worst part was... he knew.

"What's wrong? Cat got your tongue?" Chase smirked at me. God I hated how much I wanted this man.

"No, but cats going to get yours if you don't back off." I gave a sly smile.

I could see Chase rub his tongue against his cheek before he smirked. "I'd think you'd know I like that at this point." He said quietly enough so that no one else could hear him.

"I so hate you." I glared at him.

If it was possible, Chase lowered his voice even more than before. "You know as well as I do that you love me. Just admit it to yourself Cat."

It was meant to be a joke, I knew it was, but there was truth behind it. "I'll admit it to myself, when you admit to me that you play this game, cause you're scared that you're in love with me." I whispered back and gave him a smirk when I realized my words surprised him.

He leaned back, and his face went straight. "You're right."

"What?" I whipped my head to look at him. I didn't know what else to say or do. Did Chase just admit he loved me in his Chase-like way?

"Alright class, quiet down." The teacher entered at the worst time possible. He continued on, but I heard nothing.

All I could think about was what Chase just said to me, and how close he was to me now. His leg was barely touching mine, but I felt like I was going to melt. This couldn't be normal.

"Cathy," my thoughts were interrupted by the teacher. "The Provost wants to see you in his office."

I looked at Chase confused, and so was he. Maybe he found out about our nightcaps, and was going to give me a warning. If that were the case though, Chase would be going with me.

I grabbed my bag, and exited the class. My nerves were shot to hell. What kind of trouble could I be in?

When I entered Higgins' office I was met with police officers, my stomach dropped. "Ms. Cena, have a seat."

"He found me, didn't he." It just slipped from my mouth. I could be wrong, and this could have nothing to do with Tim, but knowing my luck he's been stalking me this whole time.

"Who has found you?" One of the officers asked. I read his badge and it said Daniels.

"My ex," I took a deep breath, then took a seat. "He's been looking for me for weeks now. I have a restraining order on him."

"Ma'am, what is your ex's name?" The other officer asked.

"Timothy Hathaway, Sargent Timothy Hathaway." I felt my stomach turn saying his name. "Did my family send you to get me?" I asked them. Fear and anger was running through my veins.

"Ma'am, Tim was found dead in his jeep in the Dells this morning." Daniels said.

"We found your student I.D. card on him." The other officer said. "We wanted to know your relation to the deceased."

A wave of relief ran through me. "Well, he wanted me dead. If I knew Tim as well as I think I do, he's probably had eyes on me for at least a week now, maybe more." I said numbly. Both officers nodded their heads.

"Why don't you go to your dorm Cathy. Take the rest of the day off." Higgins said.

"I really shouldn't miss class sir." I said weakly.

"I'll make sure your absences are excused. I insist. You should go." He gave a small smile. He probably meant for it to be comforting, but on him it was creepy.

"Thank you, sir." I said, leaving the office for the three men to finish their conversation.

I ran to my dorm room, and the second I was in and shut the door I dropped to my knees and started sobbing.

So many of my fears were lifted off of me. I no longer had to glance behind me every 30 seconds. I could go home without being scared of being found.

At the same time, Tim was so close and I didn't even know. He easily could have killed me, but a freak accident prevented that.

I was honestly lucky. Well, luck shouldn't be the word. One shouldn't be lucky simply because someone else died.

I decided I needed to call John, Randy, and Natalie to let them know.

I started with John, but he didn't answer, so I left a message to call me back. When I called Natalie, I got the same thing, but I knew she was in class.

Hoping third time was the charm, I called Randy. "Aren't you supposed to be in class?" Randy answered.

"No, 'hello' or 'how are you?'" I rolled my eyes.

"Hello my dear kitty Cat. How are you? Why the hell aren't you in class?" Typical Orton.

"They pulled me out. Tim's dead." I said with no emotion.

"I- I hate to say this, but I'm glad." Randy stuttered. "Why'd they pull you out for that though?"

"Welllllll..." I trailed on, knowing he was going to freak out. "Tim had been stalking me, and they found my student ID card in his jeep. So, the police pulled my out of class and-"

"Excuse me, WHAT?!" And there it was.

"He's dead though! So it's okay." I said reassuring.

"Cat, you can't tell me you weren't a little freaked out." Randy said softly.

"Well, I am a reck." I said honestly. "Good news though, I don't have to pester you every night and John every morning now."

"You're not a pest Cat."

"Orton, I am and you know it." I huffed. "Look, I need sleep. So, can you tell my brother for me, cause I couldn't get ahold of him. My message was pretty vague."

"Will do kitty Cat."

"Thanks Orton." I said, I was going to hang up, but he stopped me. "What?"

"I'm glad you're safe now Cat. Please try to live a normal life now."

"I'll try." I gave a small smile.

"Bye Cat."

"Bye Randy."

I wished things would be normal now. I thought I would be safe. Boy, was I wrong.