Submitting to My Best Friend's Dad by Scarlett Rossi
Chapter 706 -

*Caterina*

"I am so sorry!"

The guy who knocked me down rolled off me and reached for me to help me up. I pursed my lips, staring at the guy's offered hand before sighing. I took his hand, not wanting to spend any more time on the floor, letting him pull me to my feet.

His hand was sweaty like he was nervous and once I was steady, I immediately dropped it. As he stepped back to help me up, he stepped onto one of my pencils, which snapped under his weight, and I stared incredulously at the pieces. "I'll replace that. Uh, here"

He immediately got onto his knees, gathering up the splintered pieces of my pencil and offering it to me with a sheepish look.

I stared at him with a frown, unwilling to take it. He was cute, in a boy-next-door kind of way, around my age, and he looked incredibly guilty about the mess, but I wasn't in a forgiving mood right now, though I knew I shouldn't have been rushing.

"Forget about it." I sighed, brushing my hair from my face as I grabbed the pieces and stuffed them into my back.

I began to gather the rest of my stuff one by one, and the guy helped me, gently placing them in a pile in front of me. I had to admit his long arms came in handy.

Once everything was picked up, my hand automatically moved to zip it back up and with just my luck, the metal zipper broke off in my hand.

"Uh," the guy said, looking just as shocked as I was.

I glared at the broken zipper, throwing the piece into the bag as I gave up on it. I knew I should've gotten a new bag due to how old this one was. One little fall and now it was broken.

"I'm so sorry about that," the guy said, getting to his feet. "I didn't even see you. Are you okay?"

"It's fine. I'm okay, only one casualty here, the pencil," I said as I dusted off my clothes.

"I really am so sorry!" the guy said again, giving me a guilty look. "I should have been looking where I was going."

"It's fine, really," I said, mustering up a polite smile.

I grabbed my phone from my pocket, glancing at the time. Luckily, I still had a few minutes before class started.

"I need to get to class," I said.

I dodged around the guy, heading down the hallway to my class in a speed walk.

"Wait, let me make it up to you!" The guy jogged up next to me. "My name is Elijah. Here, I can give you my number and I'll send you the cash for a new bag and pencil."

"It's really fine, okay," I insisted. "I don't need anything. I shouldn't have been rushing either, so don't worry about it. I really have to get to class, though, so goodbye."

But it seemed Elijah wasn't taking no for an answer. Though he fell silent and didn't push any further, he continued to walk beside me all the way to class. I gave him a weird look, but he just grinned in response.

It wasn't until we arrived at the classroom that I finally turned to him. "This is my class, so thank you, but I've got it from here," I said firmly, knowing that I probably looked stand-offish, but after having him follow me all the way there, I felt a bit defensive.

He blinked, surprised and seeming not to get it until realization flashed in his eyes and a sheepish look came across his face. He rubbed the back of his head, looking more awkward than when he had knocked me to the ground.

"Uh, yeah, about that." He laughed nervously, "I wasn't following you. This is my class too. I've, uh, actually seen you in class before."

He trailed off, standing there awkwardly and I swallowed, my face heating up in sheer embarrassment. No matter what I said, it would just be a loss.

Sure, I'd been busy with Elio taking over the base of operations in the US, replaceing my own place in all of that, the ongoing search for Junior and school on top of all it, but that was not really a good excuse.

"I'm sorry," I said, fully chastised, ducking my head as I entered the classroom.

I just wanted the whole day to be over and done with and maybe tomorrow will be better. I locked eyes with Professor Donovan, a rather young guy with a beard and a no-nonsense attitude, who stood at the podium with a very displeased expression.

My face burned with embarrassment as I realized the only empty seats were at the front of the class, and the silence as we walked between the rows to the front of the room was worse than I expected. I felt like everyone was staring at me and to make things worse, Elijah was still trailing behind me slowly, not a single word from his mouth either.

I settled into one of the seats and to my chagrin, Elijah took the seat next to me, though admittedly, he didn't have much choice. The professor scowled at both of us and then turned to the board to continue his lecture.

I was relieved to have all eyes off me, but it didn't last long.

Professor Donovan was a very unforgiving man. He called on me and Elijah constantly for the next two hours. Elijah was quite smart and managed to answer all the questions flawlessly, which was impressive. Much to my surprise, the earlier awkwardness was forgotten due to the professor's sudden attention on us both.

My relief was palpable when the buzzer went off and class was over. I gathered up my things and Elijah and I escaped into the crowd.

"Thanks for jumping in on some of those questions," I said to Elijah once we'd made it down the hall.

"No problem," he said, winking at me. "You answered the ones I couldn't handle, after all. And I'm still sorry about crashing into you earlier."

"We'll just call it even," I said, turning to head to my next class. "Oh, wait!"

I looked over my shoulder at him and he gave me a crooked smile.

"Uh, I was wondering if you'd like to get coffee or something," he said. "We could bounce some things off each other since we seem to work pretty well as a team, like a study date, or not a date, but just like a hangout—"

As flustered as he was and as kind as he seemed, red flags went off in my head. I took a step back on reflex, not even realizing it until his face fell in dismay. I felt bad for him, but truthfully, no matter what he seemed like, I knew firsthand the lies men could tell, the masks they hid behind to ensnare unsuspecting victims.

Even the slightest act of kindness could result in another Junior, or another Alexi.

Plus, I didn't want to make Elio worry either, though I doubted he'd get jealous.

"Um, sorry," I said hesitantly. "I really can't. And from what I saw, you're very smart, so I'm sure you'll be fine. But thanks again for the help."

"Wait-"

I ignored his calls, disappearing into the crowd. I knew Anna would be waiting for me in the courtyard. Her classes didn't start until noon, but she would always come early to get breakfast at the commissary.

Sure enough, it didn't take long to replace her planted at the fountain edge, sipping on a juice box.

"There's my girlie!" Anna greeted me as I took the seat beside her.

I sighed heavily and she raised an eyebrow. "Rough day?"

I nodded silently.

"I've got you, girl," Anna reached into her bag, pulled out another juice box, grape-flavored, and stabbed it with the straw before passing it to me.

The juice was still cold, and it was refreshing after such a tiring morning.

Anna didn't push me, just hung out until I was ready to talk, and I was so grateful for her because of that.

"This guy ran into me," I explained. "I fell on the floor and my stuff went flying. He helped me pick it up, but it made me late to class. Turns out the guy, Elijah was my classmate, but I didn't know that before I accused him of stalking me to class." Anna snorted.

"It's not funny," I sent her a serious look. "I humiliated myself. And then the professor got mad at us for being two minutes late and kept calling on us to answer question after question, me then Elijah, then me, and-ugh, it drove me nuts!" "I told you not to take his class. There's a reason I dropped out of his class last semester." Anna shrugged.

"Yeah, well, Elijah actually helped me out by picking up some of the questions I didn't know. I was thankful for that, but...."

I paused and then sighed.

"But what?" Anna asked, taking a bite of her breakfast.

"Well, he asked me for coffee to study with him, or at least, that's the excuse he gave. Of course, I said no, but it was weird, you know? I just met him."

"Hm, that's not too unusual," Anna said thoughtfully. "You are gorgeous, my friend, after all. Of course, guys would ask you out. Was he hot?" "Uh, what?" I asked.

She just stared at me expectantly and I thought about it. "I guess so. I didn't really think about it."

"Cool, then here's what you do," she said. "Introduce him to me, and I'll figure out if he's weird or just likes you."

I had to admit, she had a good idea. Anna was oddly really good at getting things out of people. She could've been a psychologist or profiler if she wanted, but she preferred a more 'exciting life' in her words.

But I didn't hate the idea of Anna scoping him out for me. If someone was after me the way Junior or even Alexi had been, then I needed to know.

I glanced at the big clock tower, sighing once I saw it was thirty past ten and already time to head to my next class.

"I've got a class to go to, so I'll see you later," I said. "Thanks for the juice."

She hummed in acknowledgment. "Love you!"

She waved at me as I headed to the far building for the next class. Before I even left the courtyard, my phone started vibrating in my pocket and I fished it out. Nobody was supposed to be calling me during school hours. "Hello?"

"Hey." It was Elio's voice that greeted me. "I have some news."

My stomach dropped.