Opening the first door, I find a huge closet with more space than I could fill in a lifetime, let alone with the single case I’ve brought to school with me. The second door reveals a bathroom, with teal-blue walls, white tile and a claw-foot tub.

A smile spreads across my lips. This might not have been my first choice school, Evan might have tried to mess with me today, and I might be living in a house with kids rich enough that I’m sure they’ll hate me on sight. But this room makes it all worthwhile. This place will be my sanctuary.

Grabbing my case from beside the door, I lift it onto the bed and unzip it. All of the housing at Kingsacre comes fully furnished and with a maid service, so the bed is already made up with beautiful, soft, duck-egg-blue cotton sheets. In comparison, my case looks ratty and out of place.

I lift my things out, making piles of clothes, toiletries, books and so on. By the time it’s empty, the whole bed is covered. Closing my case, I lift it up, glancing around the room, searching for a place to stash it that won’t be in my way. I do a double take when my gaze lands on the wallpaper. Dropping my bag to the floor I take a step closer to the wall, my heart beating double time as I lift my fingers up and run them over the images.

Bird cages, gold ornate bird cages, imprisoning tiny little brown birds. My hand shakes as I snap it back to my chest. It’s the same paper that was on the wall in the bedroom at Sebastian’s house. Could this be the most fucked-up coincidence in the world? Wallpaper is generic, it’s not like the stuff on the walls at Sebastian’s house was made specifically for him. That could easily explain it being here in my room, couldn’t it?

Except this, combined with the Mrs. Starling Lockwood bullshit doesn’t make it feel coincidental. It feels orchestrated. I had the audacity to run from the GAA Elites and Sebastian Lockwood. Could they still be holding a grudge years later? And if they are, would they go to this much effort to frighten and unsettle me?

The truth is, unless I want to pack my things away in my bag and go back to Maine, there’s nothing I can do other than let things play out and see what happens. There’s no one left in my life for them to use against me. My wonderful, humble, sweet father has proven that he has my back, and I don’t have any friends or boyfriends they can use to punish me with. I’m all alone, just like Sebastian wanted me to be. If they try to ruin college for me then I’ll just leave, like I did before. I’m not above embracing a strategic retreat if that’s what I need to do.

With a contingency plan in place, I shove my case beneath my bed and one pile at a time, I unpack all of my stuff into my new beautiful bedroom. The next time I get off campus I’ll buy some fabric to hang over the wallpaper so I don’t have to stare at tiny captive birds, but until then I’ll ignore them, just the way I’ve ignored him and all memories of him for the last two years.