*Two weeks later*

Zacky waited patiently. He had been waiting for almost an hour, but he didn’t mind at all. Once he saw the classroom’s door open, he backed away and waited for Victoria to appear.

“Hey Victoria!” He headed towards her once he saw her.

“Hi Zacky,” She smiled. “How did you know my schedule?”

“I ran into your hangover roommate.” He handed her a tall paper cup of coffee. Lie. He hadn’t talked to Karen; he didn’t even like her one bit.

“Thanks for the coffee,” She smiled after taking a sip. “I really needed it.”

“What’s wrong?” Zacky asked, although he already knew the answer.

“I went to a party last night with Karen.” Victoria rubbed her forehead. “I shouldn’t have gone with her, but she insisted so much…”

Zacky took a deep breath. “Maybe you shouldn’t hang out so much with her.”

Victoria chuckled. “I know that she can be a little bit…reckless sometimes, but she’s a nice girl and she’s my roommate, I can’t just ditch my roommate.” She patted his shoulder.

“I can…” The words came out from Zacky’s mouth in the form of a murmur.

“What did you say?” Victoria’s big eyes watched him sternly. The way she observed him unsettled him. Observing was what he did, and Victoria was taking that role from him. It was unnerving, unnatural for a watcher to be watched and it put him on edge, like if she had assumed the control.

“What? I didn’t say a thing.” He sounded calm.

“I have to go now,” Victoria continued as though Zacky had never spoken. “I’m going to meet Em.”

Once again he felt like he had been dumped. It was always about Emily; every time he tried to talk to her she had to meet Emily somewhere. Fortunately she seemed like a good company for Victoria. They used to study together almost every night and he barely saw them with guys, except for Michael and Christopher, who actually seemed more interested in Emily and Amanda than in her. There was only one thing he didn’t like about it. He hated hearing them calling her by Vicky. Victoria was a sophisticated name, full of poise and that nickname only made her look cheap.
He walked outside the building and saw Victoria talking to Emily, so he waited until they start walking to follow them. He followed them to the library and sat outside, smoking cigarette after cigarette and watching the day slowly ending.

He was clutching his hands together, resting his elbows on his legs and his eyes staring at the floor, when she heard Victoria’s voice.

“Hi Zacky.” He quickly got up and realized she was alone. “Were you studying too?” She pointed towards the building.

He hesitated for a few seconds. “Yeah…I was trying to, but I needed to get some air.”

Victoria nodded and said goodbye. “Do you want to go grab something to eat?” Zacky suddenly asked, making her stop and turn around again.

She showed him a small smile. “Sure. Where to?”

“Any place you want.”

A few minutes later they were outside CoHo, a trendy coffee shop that also made the best pastas on campus. The place was crowded as always, but Victoria loved its atmosphere, the cozy couches and jam sessions they had almost every night.
They sat near a window and Victoria looked at the end of the room, seeing someone waving at her. The short girl with curly hair started to walk towards their table.

“Victoria!” She yelled and Zacky gave her a judging look. “What are you doing here girl?”

Victoria opened her mouth to answer, but the girl kept on talking. “And who is this?” She smiled to Zacky. “I’m Caroline, Victoria’s classmate.”

“Zacky…” He mumbled, but Caroline wasn’t even listening anymore, talking like a mad girl again. And she didn’t stop. Not for one second. Not for a breath. She commanded the conversation, telling story after story. Occasionally Victoria would fill in the gaps, refresh her memory or correct a mistake, but all the conversation, if it could be called that, was directed, produced, edited and starred by Caroline.
Each time Caroline started a new subject, Zacky wanted to leap across the table and strangle her and after a while, the only thing he could hear were words jumbling around that didn’t make no sense at all.
Thankfully, shortly after an incredibly tall guy entered the coffee shop and called for her name, making her leave the table. Not without before kissing both Victoria and Zacky goodbye, despite his attempt to wriggle out of it.

“She’s something else, right?” Victoria giggled once she saw the obnoxious expression on Zacky’s face. “Come on, let’s order.”

Zacky parked his car on the other side of the road, the furthest possible from his target, but where he could still see it. The cloudless night sky framed the big bright full moon.
He watched Karen kissing a guy; a different guy from the one he had seen dancing with her the night before, when he followed Victoria to the party. He glanced at his watch, it was almost 2 am. A few moments later they said goodbye and walked in opposite directions.
Zacky waited for the guy to turn around the corner to finally leave his car, crossing the road fast but silently while putting his hood up.

Karen swayed her hips as she passed by the Tresidder Express Book Store, Starbucks and finally Jamba Juice before crossing the road. She decided to cut through the huge parking lot, even though it was almost empty and dimly lit.

He zipped up his jacket, making an almost inaudible sound and slowly revealed a knife; holding it along his body as if it was an extension of his arm and making it shine by the moonlight.
The cold autumn breeze made goose bumps on Karen’s skin. She was halfway through the parking lot when she heard the faint sound of someone whistling. She stopped and looked back but she couldn’t see anyone. She kept on walking, now faster than before, her eyes trying to find the dorm’s building, but the whistle kept on getting louder, in a defying tune, like if someone was taking pleasure on scaring her that way.
Then suddenly it stopped. Karen’s unsteady breathing was all that she could hear now. She stopped for a few seconds and turned around again, her eyes searching every inch of the parking lot. Nothing inside the cars. Nothing under the cars. Nothing behind the trees. There was no living soul out there.
She took a deep breath, her shoulders relaxing in relief and turned to the side where she was going, only to be thrown on the floor by someone. She tried to scream, but her face was pressed so hard against the concrete floor that it was impossible for her to move her mouth.

“Do you want to know what I think?” He whispered in her ear, the cold metal from his knife touching her skin and making her stop struggling. “I think you’re trashy little party whore.” He compressed her cheeks to the floor so that she couldn’t see his face. Karen’s breathing was fast and loud, a combination of sounds of pain and fear coming from her covered mouth. The knife slid down her neck, stopping just below her collarbone.
“You’re a bad influence on Victoria,” He spoke through gritted teeth, adding a little more pressure to the knife, causing Karen to whimper while the first drops of blood appeared. He stopped and held the knife against her neck again. “And if you tell anyone about this I will kill you.”