Trying to shake away the worst of my thoughts, I looked up to see the giant metal and glass complex that was the Arrowhart Medical Complex. I’d been so wrapped up in my head that I hadn’t realized the complex was on my way back to the dorm.

When I looked up, I saw a familiar figure. And an unwelcome one.

Hunter was walking toward me in a weathered brown bomber jacket. Stubble on his face indicating he hadn’t shaved in a few days and mussed up hair didn’t compromise his attractiveness. Ada was by his side wearing a black North Face winter coat that went down past her knees.

She had her arm around him.

My jaw dropped as I stopped in place. I was unwittingly reminded of my first boyfriend coming out of the movie theater with his arm around my best friend. How could something like this be happening again? Could this day get any worse? A million questions flew through my mind as I stood there, feeling my limbs freeze over. Every cold breath in my lungs made me feel closer to throwing up. I wanted to curl up in a little ball right there in the snow and not move.

Hunter’s eyes widened when they found mine. He brushed Ada’s arm from his back and hurried toward me, arms out. “Lorrie, I was just going to text you,” he said. Ada was trailing a few steps behind him.

“Where have you been?” I asked, my voice unsteady.

He came closer and stopped a few feet from me. “Listen, this isn’t what it looks like.”

I’d barely been able to keep myself together the past week; I’d been crying, sleeping, failing my classes, missing Hunter when I needed him most . . . So the sight of Hunter—the man I loved, or thought I loved—threw my emotions into turmoil. He had been my anchor but now . . . I didn’t know what to think. Overwhelmed, tears burst from my eyes. “What’s going on Hunter? I needed to talk to you! Where were you?”

His features softened further as he looked at me pleadingly. “Lorrie please calm down.”

My fists clenched and I stomped my feet, blinking away tears that fell down my cheeks. “Calm down? Now? Why should I be calm? You’ve disappeared for a week, didn’t respond to my texts or call, and now I see you with her! I thought we were supposed to be a team, why are you with her when I don’t know what’s going on?”

Hunter opened his mouth to respond, but Ada jumped in front of him before he could get the words out. “Shut up,” she spat, pointing her index finger at me. “How dare you? You barely try to find your boyfriend when he’s been gone and then yell at him the instant you see him? Seriously, a couple of texts? Give me a break. I would have called the police! You have no right to be screaming at him. He should be mad at you!”

Mad at me? What? I could barely leave my room for days and just flunked three exams, how was it my fault? How did she know about the texts, anyway? Was she checking Hunter’s phone?

“What are you talking about?” I responded angrily. Knowing that Ada and I had barely interacted, I struggled to make sense of her aggressive accusations. The time we’d met at dinner might’ve been awkward but this was ridiculous. Was this what Hunter was referring to when he said Ada was pushy? “Are you jealous?” I shot back.

She reared back for a second before laughing bitterly and turning toward Hunter. “Oh my god. Are you serious right now? Hunter, what the hell do you see in this girl? Is it her ability to be a thick-headed moron? Is that what you relate to?”

Hunter looked conflicted. “Ada, please stop,” he said, his eyes getting softer by the minute. “Lorrie, we can talk—”

“Stop?” Ada screeched. Her eyes were darting between Hunter and me wildly. “Stop what? Trying to look out for you? This girl’s crazy, Hunter. Anyone can see it in two seconds. I get that you feel sorry for her and everything, but it’s okay to leave the rescue job to someone else. You have your own shit going on.”

Feel sorry for me? What was she talking about? My face was burning. “Crazy? You don’t even know me! You think I’m crazy because I want some answers from Hunter?”

She turned to Hunter—whose face was an uncharacteristic combination of panic and confusion—and shook her head. “This is impossible.”

“What?” I snapped, furious heat coursing through my cheeks. “That you’re the other woman?”

Her jaw fell open. “Good lord, now this? I should f**king slap you.”

Several people stopped to look at the source of the commotion we were causing. This was quickly becoming a scene.

“Ada, please stop,” Hunter pleaded, looking around. Deep concern was etched into his expression but he lacked the fervor he had when he knocked out Jimmy for talking shit about me. Was Ada that important to him? More important to him than me? “You’re embarrassing all of us.”

I stared, dumbfounded and in shock. Why wasn’t he defending me? Why was he still by her side?

“What were you doing in the health center in the first place?” I asked, trying to regain my composure though I was on the edge of hysterics. “Did you get hurt from a fight? Why didn’t you tell me?”

His eyes were frantic as he looked around at the people who had stopped to gawk—some didn’t even bother hiding their interest, having their camera phones out and recording the scene. “I’m sorry, I promise this isn’t what it looks like.”

I threw my hands up in the air. “I don’t even know what this looks like Hunter! What is it?”

“Just wait,” Ada spat. “You’re going to feel like such a bitch when you find out the truth. You think you’re the only one with problems, Ms. Sob Story? I'm going to tell her, Hunter. I swear I'm going to tell her."

"NO! Ada, you can’t do this to me! Not now!” Hunter yelled at her.

Tell me what? What was Ada going to tell me?

Ada shook her head in disgust before stomping past me, her shoulder knocking mine in the process. I stumbled back a few steps, barely keeping my balance on the slippery concrete.

Hunter’s eyes looked panicked as they darted between me and Ada. “Lorrie, listen, we need to talk, but just—just wait okay? I need to talk to Ada first, but I want to talk to you okay? I—I love you, nothing’s changed, everything's gonna get back to normal, just let me talk to Ada first."

My vision was blurry with the hot tears flooding my eyes. “Give me something, Hunter. Please, don’t leave me with just this.”

I don’t know if he heard it or not, but Hunter was already hurrying after Ada.

He left me to go after Ada.

People were staring at me, waiting to see what I’d do next. What the hell just happened? This was a nightmare that I couldn’t wake up from. I adjusted my beanie and put my head down, walking the way I’d come, which was the opposite direction Hunter was walking. My face was already streaked with tears and my eyes were brimming with fresh ones, but I had to hold it together. Just a little longer Lorrie. Just a little longer.

I felt the eyes of the people who had been gawking bore into my back as I hurried away. My face was flushed with embarrassment; whatever I’d been expecting when I saw Hunter, total humiliation hadn’t been it. I could practically see the text messages being sent by onlookers as I slogged through the snow. This was a gossip gold mine.