"If it weren't for the reputation of the two families, who would even bother with her?"

"Alright, alright. Don't be mad. You need to be celebrating tonight. Don't let her ruin your fun."

Andrew turned his gaze toward his gorgeous new girlfriend and promptly discarded the thought of the annoying Kaylee from his mind.

After all, by tomorrow, he thought I would be acting as if nothing had happened again. He thought I'd be waiting for him at his dorm and pestering him to go to class together like usual.

He had already seen similar antics from me in all these years.

...

The rain was pouring down while I was walking along the riverside.

I stood under my umbrella in the rain, thinking about the dreams I had a few days ago.

In these dreams, I had caused a huge scene when Andrew confessed his love to Sienna Slangdon. I even jumped into this river that very night in order to force him to break up with her.

In the end, I nearly lost my life.

Andrew only stayed with me for five minutes at the hospital before leaving resolutely.

The Johnsons, my adoptive family, found my attempt to end my life to be a stain on their reputation. Furthermore, because of Andrew's attitude, they concluded I was of no more use.

So, they forced me to drop out of school and sent me back to my biological parents—parents who were involved with every imaginable vice one could think of.

My life continued to spiral downward from there. In the end, I died a horrible death in a foreign land.

After I died, the one who took care of my body was the one who I had always kept a distance from and was afraid of.

In the meantime, Andrew was in his honeymoon period and enjoying life. Not once did he make an appearance through it all.

These past few days, the events from the dreams were materializing one by one.

If it were not for them, I would have already started spamming Andrew's phone with calls and eventually tried to force his hand by jumping into the river.

I was very thankful for these dreams. It felt as if I had been reborn; I could make changes so I did not end up with the same horrible fate.

Finally, on the third try, my call was picked up.

I held the phone tightly and held it close to my ear.

The name "Spencer" rolled across the tip of my tongue multiple times before I was able to say it out loud.

The rain was still pouring heavily, and it muted the surrounding noises.

Only Spencer Lithgow's voice, with a hint of tiredness, rang out, "Kaylee?"

"Spencer, it's raining heavily right now. I'm stuck by the river and can't get back. Can you come pick me up?"

The person on the other end of the phone fell silent, and I clutched tightly onto the umbrella. My palm was damp with sweat.

In my dreams, it seemed as if Spencer had cried when he took care of my skeletal remains. His tears dripped one by one onto my decomposed body and exposed bones.

I could feel the burn of those tears even through my dreams.

Afterward, he would carry a tiny bottle of my ashes with him, and it would remain with him for the rest of his life—a life that he spent by his lonesome as well.

I could not help but tear up, and a sob escaped from my throat.

"Why are you crying?" came Spencer's voice suddenly.

It was still the same indifferent tone, with just a hint of exasperation.

"I never said I wasn't going to get you."

"Then when are you coming?"

"Wait there. I'll be there in 20 minutes."

"Okay. I'll wait for you, Spencer."

He hung up the call without another word.

15 minutes later, I handed my umbrella to a mother and son pair who were waiting for the rain to stop.

So, by the time Spencer arrived, I was already fully drenched.

When he came out of his car, his lips were pressed tightly together, and his expression was as icy as a cold winter's morning.

I ran my fingers through my matted-down bangs, raised my head, and beamed at him. "Spencer, you're so punctual!"

"Kaylee, you might as well die from stupidity."

With a stony expression, he tugged on my arm and shoved me into his car before throwing a plush blanket at me.

"Wipe yourself clean. Don't dirty my car."

He peered at me using the rearview mirror, then swiftly turned his car around.

"Okay," I answered before obediently wrapping the blanket around myself.

I could not help myself and stole a look at him while he was focused on driving.

Whenever he had a blank expression, it always appeared as if he was very aloof and unapproachable.

There were a lot of girls at our college who liked him, but none dared to let him know their feelings.

He was roommates with Andrew.

I often went to Andrew's dorm. Every time I went there, Spencer always acted as if he hated me.

And like now, even though he came to pick me up, his attitude was still cold and stand-offish.

When he shoved me into the car earlier, he had not been gentle. My wrist was still aching, and there was even a red ring around it.

There was no way anyone could tell that he secretly harbored feelings for me.

I slowly lowered my eyes.

The events in my dreams were slowly coming true.

But now because of the changes I had made, a lot of things were changing in response too.

In that case, would Spencer still like me?

If he did not have those feelings, then would I not just be causing him a lot of trouble by doing all this?

"Going back to the dorm?" Spencer asked while turning around to look at me.

My heart skipped a beat. I do not know what came over me, but I answered, "Yes, back to your dorm."

Spencer gripped the steering wheel and snorted. "Andrew won't be coming back tonight."

"I know."

My hands that were clutching the edge of the blanket slowly tightened. "I'm not going there for him."

The car abruptly pulled over to the side.

Spencer turned around to look at me. The iciness in his eyes gave me a chill.

"Kaylee, don't you dare involve me in your games."

"I'm not…"

He stared at me for another beat, then took out his phone.

"I'll get you a cab. You can go back by yourself."

"Spencer…" I bit down on my lip and lunged for his phone.

"Kaylee."

He stared at me, but there was no anger or disgust in his eyes. However, they appeared bottomless, as if they were hiding all sorts of emotions.

I was suddenly overcome with an indescribable sadness.

"Spencer, I don't want to go back to my dorm room. They'll all laugh at me. I don't dare to go home either. Can you let me stay in yours for one night…" I said in a small voice while hiding his phone behind my back.

"But, if you really hate me, and don't want to see me, then… never mind."

The moment I finished speaking, tears started to fall soundlessly from my eyes.

Spencer did not say anything else to me, but he started his car again.

The car headed in the direction of the campus, and, finally, he parked in front of his dorm.

I followed Spencer into his dorm room.

He went to the closet to get me a clean hoodie and said, "The bathroom is over there."

Spencer was quite tall, so the hoodie was rather big on me. It just about reached my knees, like a dress.

After a shower, I put the hoodie on and came out with my bare legs showing.

Spencer glanced at me before averting his eyes.

I walked past Andrew's bed and went to sit on Spencer's. My hair was dripping wet, and soon enough the sheets had turned damp.

The fragrance from the shampoo and body gel I had used all smelled of Spencer.

In that small place, similar fragrances started to diffuse and swirl, causing an unspeakable sense of romance to burgeon.

Spencer grabbed a box of cigarettes and lightly cleared his throat. "I'm going to go smoke," he said as he headed out to the balcony.

I studied his bed out of curiosity. The bed sheets and blanket were a light gray color, and everything looked clean.

There was a computer and books on the desk. They were also arranged nicely.

I was about to go look at the trinkets on his desk when my phone suddenly rang.

The name flashing across the screen was none other than "Andrew."

I did not answer.

Soon enough, the phone started ringing again, and it appeared as if the other person had no intention of stopping anytime soon.

I simply muted my phone and placed it back into my bag.

"Spencer," I yelled out to the balcony.

He quickly turned around, put out his cigarette, then walked over. "What's wrong?"

I was sitting on the bed and had to lift my head to be able to look at him.

Spencer locked eyes with me for two seconds then looked away.

However, I managed to catch how his earlobes were turning slightly red.

"I've gotten your sheets wet. They can't be slept on now."

He glanced at me, then at the wet patches on the sheets. His Adam's apple bobbed forcefully before he turned around and handed me a towel.

"Go blow dry your hair first. I'll change the sheets so you can sleep."

With that, he went to grab clean sheets from the closet.

I clutched onto the towel and could not help but smile while thinking about how his ears turned red earlier.

After I finished blow-drying my hair, Spencer had also changed the sheets.

"You go ahead and sleep."

"What about you?"

He pulled out his chair, and without even glancing back, he said, "I'll be gaming."

"Okay."

I sat on his bed feeling a little disappointed.

Spencer was just about to put on his earphones when his phone suddenly rang.

He glanced down at the screen, then glanced over at me before picking up the call.

"Andrew? What's up?"

My heartbeat quickened, and I unconsciously held my breath.

"Yes, I'm in the dorm room.

"You're saying someone saw Kaylee come into our building?"

Spencer turned to face me again. "I…"

Out of desperation, I did not wait for him to finish his sentence. Instead, I walked right over, straddled him, and hooked my arms around his neck.

Right when Spencer was about to push me away, I leaned in and whispered right into his ear, "Spencer, tell him I'm not here."

My hands, which were still on his neck, could feel his skin suddenly burning up.

I could see the veins that were running down his neck popping, while his Adam's apple bobbed vigorously. Even his heartbeat was racing.

I tilted my head upward to look at him while he lowered his eyes to look at me. Deep within the recesses of his eyes, a hint of desire was swirling.

"No, I've been here the whole time.

"She's not here. Yup, you should ask someone else."

With that, Spencer promptly hung up the call.

He tossed his phone, then he wrapped his fingers around my waist.

He gripped me tight and then enveloped me in his arms.

I suddenly, and very clearly, felt a fiery volcano beneath me.

My ears rang loudly, and my first thought was to run away.

However, Spencer only held me even tighter.

"Kaylee," he rasped.

His warm breath fell on my ear and on the side of my neck.

I shrank away wanting to hide, but his lips fell straight onto mine.

"Don't tempt me… I don't want to do anything to you in a place like this."

"Spencer…"

I shifted a little, wanting to adjust how I was sitting, but instead felt the volcano becoming so ferocious, it seemed as if it was about to erupt.

When we finally came up for air, I grabbed the opportunity to ask, "If you don't want to do anything to me, then why are you kissing me?"

Spencer slightly tilted his head, then pressed his forehead against mine.

While our breaths interlaced, he closed his eyes, as if trying his best to calm himself down.

"Also, do you even know how to kiss? My lips are all swollen."

"Kaylee," Spencer said without opening his eyes.

He loosened his grip on my waist ever so slightly.

His fingers were long and powerful, and even though he was holding my waist over the hoodie, it still felt both painful and torturous.

"Spencer…"

I could not help but frown and wanted to push his hands away, but Spencer just grabbed hold of my fingers.