I'm Over It (Kihanna in College #2)

by Mercy Amare

  This is only the beginning.

  Welcome to hell, bitch.

  I throw the note and rose down.

  That night, I sleep on the couch.

  Friday, November 12

  7 a.m.

  Flattery.

  “Kihanna.”

  I jerk up, and look around, trying to figure out where I am.

  Oh, right. I’m in the living room. I slept on the couch last night.

  I look over and see Ty standing beside me.

  “Why are you asleep on the couch?” he asks.

  “Umm... note,” I say, still half asleep.

  “What note?”

  Ugh, it’s too early to be explaining things. “I got a note. In my room. I didn’t want to sleep in there after I found it.”

  “Why didn’t you come to my room?” he asks.

  “Because you can’t keep your hands to yourself and I’m trying to be good.”

  He smirks. “It’s not my fault you’re so sexy.”

  I roll my eyes and pretend to be annoyed. “Flattery won’t help you.

  Lie.

  Flattery is so helping.

  “Show me the note,” Ty says.

  “Okay,” I say, getting up from the couch. “I should probably take a picture and email it to the detective anyway.”

  “How is Brian getting into our apartment?” he asks. “We live on the twentieth floor.”

  “Brian is getting in the front door,” I answer. “But Brian isn’t the one leaving the notes. I bet Gabe got video footage of Olivia last night, which would be awesome. We were needing solid evidence.”

  “Wait, what?” Ty stops walking.

  “Oh, Gabe hacked into the camera in the hallway. Anytime somebody is out there, he gets an email of the recorded footage,” I explain. “It’s how he knew that Brian came to see me yesterday.”

  “We will come back to the Brian thing, but what I’m confused about is your Olivia comment,” he says. “When did you figure out that Olivia is the one behind this all? And how do you know?”

  “Brian,” I answer. “I didn’t want to believe that he was innocent, but I knew he wasn’t really stalking me. He was covering for somebody else. Olivia is the only person that makes sense.”

  “You don’t have proof yet?” he asks.

  “No. Not exactly,” I say. “Which is why we are keeping it quiet. We want proof before we tell anybody. Hopefully the cameras recorded her.”

  “Isn’t she at UCLA?”

  “She is supposed to be, but who knows,” I say.

  “Let’s find out. We’ll have Gabe work his computer magic and see if she’s enrolled.”

  “You are amazing,” I say.

  “I know,” he says. “Now, show me the note, then we will wake up Gabe.”

  10 a.m.

  I hate surprises.

  I had an early class that I couldn’t miss. We had a test. Plus, I’ve missed enough of this class. For some reason, I can always find a good excuse to miss an 8 a.m. class on Friday.

  After class, I go right back to the apartment to see if Gabe and Ty found out any new information. When I walk inside, they’re both sitting at the table in the dining room. They are so engrossed in what they’re doing they don’t even notice me.

  I grab a bottle of water from the fridge and sit across from them.

  “What’s up?” I ask.

  Finally, they look up at me.

  “Kihanna, hey,” Gabe says. “You won’t believe what all we found.”

  “What?” I ask.

  “First,” he says, “Olivia got kicked out of UCLA.”

  “For what?”

  “Hacking into the schools system to change her grade,” he answers. “She was also having an inappropriate relationship with one of her professors.”

  My mouth falls open. “Are you serious?”

  “Yep.”

  “That doesn’t sound like something she’d do,” I say.

  “You also didn’t think she was stalking you,” Gabe says. “You’re obviously not a good judge of character.”

  Ty smacks Gabe on the back of the head. “Don’t be a dick.”

  “Ouch,” Gabe says, rubbing the spot on his head. “Sorry, Kihanna. It’s not your fault. She fooled us, too.”

  I grin.

  Yeah, I can totally get used to Ty standing up for me like this.

  “I am a trusting person,” I say. “I don’t think that makes me a bad judge of character. Dating you, on the other hand, makes me a bad judge of character.”

  Ty laughs.

  Gabe doesn’t.

  “Harsh,” Gabe says. “But I completely deserved that.

  “Yep,” I say, agreeing. “So, what about the video? Did we get a good shot of her coming into our apartment?”

  Gabe doesn’t answer. He just clicks on something and turns his computer around so I can see the screen. It’s a video of our hallway. I can see a girl in a black hoodie and black pants walking down the hallway. Her head is down, so I can’t see her face. Finally, when she gets to our door, she looks up, but you can’t see her face. She’s wearing a mask. Her body is well covered. You can’t even see her hair, or anything that would help distinguish her. She’s even wearing gloves.

  “That is so frustrating,” I say.

  “She’s smart,” Ty says.

  “Obviously,” I say. “She was at Bayside Academy on a scholarship.”

  “Do you think this is Olivia? For sure?” Gabe asks.

  “Well, this girl looks about the right size and height, but it’s hard to be one hundred percent certain,” I say. “Brian is smart, too. What if he planted the idea of Olivia in my head and hired this girl to do this?”

  “How is Brian going to get money to pay somebody?” Gabe asks.

  I shrug. “I guess he could pay in other ways, not just with cash.”

  “Brian Asher?” Gabe asks, saying the name with disgust.

  “No matter what you think of him, the guy is hot,” I say. “Have you seen him without a shirt?”

  “We don’t need to hear how hot your ex-boyfriend is,” Ty says.

  “Right now, it could be Olivia or Brian,” Gabe says. “We need to keep both of those options in mind. I will look and see if I can find Olivia Asher. I’ll start watching her every move until we can prove one way or the other.”

  “Don’t let your grades suffer for it,” I say. “Finals are coming up.”

  “My grades are fine,” Gabe says. “Besides, I don’t have to make good grades or even get a college degree. My dad is obviously going to hire me.”

  “At least you know what you want to do once you graduate,” I say. “I have no clue.”

  “I thought you were going for film,” Ty says.

  “Yeah, but I’m not one hundred percent sure that’s what I want.”

  “You’re crazy famous online,” Gabe says. “1.7 million Instagram followers and close to that on Twitter. You should think about doing social media for a company. Or start your own social media website. It worked for your dad.”

  “Yeah, maybe,” I say.

  Gabe gets up, grabbing his laptop. “I’m going to get to work now.”

  He leaves the kitchen.

  “When does Micah’s band play?” Ty asks me.

  “Tomorrow night,” I answer. “But I was thinking about telling him I couldn’t come. Since all this is going on, I am just not in the mood to go to a party. That whole scene isn’t really my thing anyway.”

  “Good,” he says. “Because I made plans for us.”

  “I hope those plans don’t involve a hotel room.”

  “They do,” he says. “But I got a room with two beds.”

  “Where are we going?” I ask.

  “I’m not telling you,” he says. “You just need to go pack.”

  “Well, what are we doing?”

  “I’m not tell you that either.”

  “Well, how am I supposed to know what to pack?” I ask.

  “Just pack casual,”
he says. “Everything else is taken care of.”

  “I hate surprises.”

  “No, you don’t,” he says. “Now, go pack, because we’re leaving in thirty minutes.”

  I get up from the table. “So bossy.”

  I still do what he says.

  12 p.m.

  How did you know?

  I am sitting in the passenger seat of Ty’s car, wondering where we are going, but he’s not telling. All I know is that we have been driving south for about an hour now, and that he won’t even give me a little hint on what we’re going to do.

  “Why won’t you tell me?” I asks.

  He laughs. “Because it’s a surprise.”

  “Fine,” I say. “I give up.”

  “Good,” he says.

  “Maybe just a little hint.”

  He shakes his head at me. “No way, Kihanna. I’m surprising you. I’m being romantic and spontaneous. I thought you’d like this.”

  “I do. I am just dying to know,” I say. “I’ll try and be patient, as long as you let me listen to One Direction.”

  Ty groans. “Fine.”

  I pull out my phone and start playing music lightly in the background. “I’m glad we are at least getting out of Berkeley for the weekend,” I tell Ty. “I mean, I know that Olivia, or Brian, or whoever this person is who’s stalking me, will follow, but I always feel safer when we’re somewhere else.”

  “I hope we won’t have any surprise visits from Brian this weekend,” he says.

  “Me, too,” I say, truly meaning it. I need answers, but I just want to have a nice weekend with Ty. “I’m ready to feel normal. Since I moved in with my dad, my whole world has turned upside down. I mean, the summer was great, but it was just a break from this reality. I want to truly be safe, you know?”

  “Yeah, I get it,” he says. “You’ll never live a totally normal life, just because you’re Mark Evers’s daughter. But hopefully, soon it’ll be somewhat normal. You know, stalker free. I’m glad that Gabe is watching Olivia. Hopefully we will get some proof and she will be behind bars.”

  “I can’t believe Gabe is helping me after all I did to him.”

  “You didn’t do anything to Gabe,” Ty says. “You broke up with him because he was a bad boyfriend. He understands that. He knows that he didn’t treat you right. Either way though, he isn’t the kind of guy who would leave you when you need help. For that reason alone, if Lily hadn’t died, he would’ve stayed with her. She needed him.”

  “I wish I could’ve met Lily.”

  “She was a bitch,” he says. “Gabe always talks about her like she was awesome, but he was the one who killed her, so he feels guilty talking bad about her. I don’t feel guilty though. That girl was a spoiled rich girl with daddy issues.”

  “So why did you date her?” I ask.

  “I didn’t,” he answers. “I fucked her. Big difference. Actually, you’re the only girl I’ve dated. Aside from you, I’ve never taken a girl out and romanced her. No girl has made me try before. Maybe that’s part of the reason why I fell in love with you. You’re the first girl who wouldn’t sleep with me. Well, that, and you’re kind of perfect for me.”

  “I’m trying to figure out whether that is a compliment or not,” I say.

  “It’s a compliment,” he says. “I never believed in love before you.”

  “You shouldn’t talk about me like that,” I say. “You’re only eighteen. What if something happens and we break up?”

  “If we break up, no matter what, you will always be my first love,” he says.

  I think about what he’s saying.

  I wonder if Brian was my first love. I did love him, but was I in love with him?

  If things had turned out differently, would I have eventually married him? I guess I will never know. But I think it was a definite possibility. I loved his family. I still miss them. Hell, I miss Brian. I hate that I still miss him.

  “Falling in love with you would be very easy,” I tell Ty.

  It’s the truth. I’m pretty sure I’ve already fallen, but I’m not telling him that. Not until I’m one hundred percent certain that it’s true. I don’t want to lead him on. I’ve moved too fast with all my relationships in the past and I’m not doing that again. Not this time.

  “I’ve spent the last year wanting to hear you say the words ‘I love you’ to me,” Ty says. “I can wait a little longer. When I hear it, I believe it will be the best moment of my life. I’ve not had anybody tell me that they love me, aside from my mother. And you, the first time we dated.”

  And I broke his heart.

  Well, I only broke up with him because he cheated on me.

  I’m still glad we broke up. I needed that time to grow up. Now I know more of what I want from a guy and a relationship. As long as Ty doesn’t cheat on me again, he’s exactly what I want.

  “I wish I could’ve met your mom,” I say.

  “Me, too. She was awesome.”

  “I can’t imagine my mom being murdered,” I say. “But I know that I miss my mom a lot. I wish she were still around. I think she’d like you.”

  “She’d probably hate me,” Ty says. “I cheated on you.”

  “I know. It took me a long time to get over that. I think the only reason I’m over it is because you’ve proven to me that you’re not that guy,” I say. “I know you won’t cheat on me.”

  “No, definitely not,” he agrees. “I’ve fought too hard to win you over just to lose you all over again.”

  That’s what I’m banking on.

  “You have fought pretty hard,” I say.

  “Do you think your dad will ever like me?” he asks.

  “My dad already likes you.”

  “I know he likes me, but do you ever think he’ll think I’m good enough for you,” he clarifies.

  “I’m pretty sure my dad already knows how I feel about you,” I tell him. “I can’t hide anything from him. He would say something if he didn’t approve. He has never said anything against you, but he didn’t want me dating Gabe.”

  “Is it weird that my mom and your dad had sex?” Ty asks.

  I shrug. “I don’t ever really think about it. It’s not like they got married or anything, so why would it be weird?”

  “I’m really glad you’re not my stepsister.”

  “Me, too,” I say.

  “I’m pretty sure Toby was upset in the beginning, when he saw how hot you were,” Ty says.

  “He was just joking then... when he’d hit on me,” I say.

  “I don’t think he was joking. I think he really thought you were hot.”

  “Ew,” I say.

  “If I were your stepbrother I would’ve been pretty pissed,” he says. “I’d probably still try to date you.”

  I laugh. “I’m really glad you’re not my stepbrother. Because it would be weird if I was this attracted to Toby. I guess I never found Toby attractive like this because in my head he’s always been my brother.”

  “I’m trying to imagine you and Toby dating,” Ty says. “Even if you weren’t related, I’m pretty sure you wouldn’t date.”

  “You’re right. I wouldn’t have even noticed him at school,” I say. “He always hung out with the stoners. I don’t think I ever would’ve noticed Gabe if he wasn’t Jack Johnson’s kid. Kind of hard to ignore somebody who’s always there.”

  “Girls like his blonde hair and blue eyes.”

  “I like green eyes better,” I say, without thinking.

  Ty smiles. “I have green eyes.”

  “I know. I love your eyes,” I say. “They’re the first thing that I noticed about you.”

  “It was love at first sight when I saw you.”

  I shake my head. “No it wasn’t.”

  “You’re right,” he says. “It was lust at first sight. Love came later.”

  “How do you know that it’s love? What is love?” I ask.

  “I guess I always thought love was a feeling, and it is, but it’s more than
that,” he answers. “It’s an action. I want to show you how much I love you, and not just with sex. I want to romance you and make you fall so in love with me that you won’t even want to look at another guy.”

  “You think jealousy is a part of being in love?”

  “A little,” he says. “I get jealous when you spend time with Micah. I think a little bit is okay.”

  “How did you know?” I ask.

  “When I lost you, I just felt empty,” he says. “I don’t know how to describe it, but I know I don’t ever want to feel like that again.”

  “And you never wavered on your feelings for me?”

  “I don’t think so, no,” he answers. “I mean, I got mad at you for a while because you hooked up with my best friend. I deserved it though. I tried to fill the emptiness I felt from losing you with sex, but nothing was satisfying. I talked to Toby and he told me if I ever wanted to win you back, I’d have to stop being a man whore. So I did that. And I was really patient. It sucked seeing you with Gabe all summer, but it was worth the wait. I don’t have any doubts that you and I will end up together.”

  Ty is really sweet.

  I wish I could be as certain as he is.

  5 p.m.

  So bossy.

  We arrive in Malibu later that day, and memories flood back to me... memories of everything that went down with Mike Newman. What happened to me here was scary, and I am not sure that’s something I’ll ever get over.

  “I let Angela have his house here,” Ty says, as if reading my mind. “I didn’t want to go back there. Too many bad memories.”

  “We have some good memories there, too,” I say. “The first time we stayed the night together.

  Ty grins. “Slept, but didn’t have sex.”

  “Was it worth the wait?”

  “Definitely,” Ty says. “And it will be worth the wait again.”

  Ty pulls the car off an exit.

  “So, we’re staying in Malibu?” I ask.

  “Yep,” he answers.

  “Is that all I’m getting?”