Chapter 1 The wrong side of the wall

BRISELLE’S POV.

“You know I might get punished for that,” I said, looking straight into my sister’s eyes. This was not a plea. It was a contractual, legally binding warning that she was jeopardizing my entire future over a man whose fashion sense peaked around the year 2003.

“Well, don’t get caught!” Veronica shot back at me, as she walked towards our tiny shared wardrobe.

The audacity. The sheer, unadulterated senior-year audacity. There was no ounce of care or pity in her gaze, only the bright, manic gleam of a girl whose sole focus was a midday rendezvous with her “crusty dusty musty ass boyfriend.”

My sister had the focused ambition of a senior who needed her academic burdens handled, and I, Briselle Valdez, was to be my her academic proxy. She had already decided I would sign her in for the mandatory Senior Literature Seminar today and tomorrow. This was full-blown, high-stakes identity fraud at St. Eleonora’s College, and the consequence was a potential suspension, or worse, my expulsion before I even mastered the campus coffee machine.

“And if I decide not to help you out?” I asked, pushing back, even though the futility of the effort was already sinking in.

She turned to face me, the change in her expression was sudden and sharp. The casual dismissal vanished, and was replaced by a cold, visible anger. “You wouldn’t want to do that, would you, Briselle?” She walked a few steps toward me with her arms crossed tight. “Don’t test my patience. Just sign it, it’s not a big deal.”

My sister’s version of “not a big deal” was always inversely proportional to my personal safety and mental stability. I’m a freshman, and a certified Rule Follower who preferred the safety of the margins. My academic integrity was apparently worth less than the price of a half-hour lie.

“Fine,” I sighed, letting my shoulders slump. I adjusted my thick-rimmed glasses and tugged the hem of my enormous, navy-blue sweater. It was a garment chosen for maximum camouflage, designed to signal to the world that I was both entirely uninteresting and completely unavailable for conversational exchange.

“But if I get suspended, I am telling Mom about the guy from the water polo team you told her was ‘your study buddy.’ His name is Chad, not Chuck.”

Veronica grinned, a flicker of genuine amusement returning to her face. “His name is Chuck, and noted. Don’t be late. Professor Albright is a nightmare.” She grabbed her keys, gave me a dismissive wave, and was gone.

I had fifteen minutes. I grabbed my worn backpack, feeling a sudden, desperate urge for moral support, and pulled out my phone.

The call connected almost instantly. “Jenna, emergency. I’m being forced to commit a felony.”

“Wait, what? Are you getting arrested again for trying to smuggle snacks into the library?” Jenna’s voice, my best friend, was filled with immediate concern, though a dash of sarcasm was always unavoidable.

“Worse. Veronica is making me sign her into Senior Lit Seminar. Now, I’m walking to the Senior Academic Wing.”

Jenna gasped. “Are you insane? That’s where the actual scary people go. You’ll stick out like a sore thumb, Elle. Albright knows everyone. He’ll recognize you in a second.”

“I know, I know! I look nothing like Veronica. She’s five-eight and wears clothes that actually fit.” I spoke quickly, weaving through the crowded walkways between the freshman dorms and the hallowed halls of the seniors.

“Just breathe. Find the sign-in sheet, forge the ‘V. Valdez’ signature in your absolute worst handwriting, and leave. Do not make eye contact with anyone.”

“Too late for that. I’m walking into the marble mausoleum now,” I muttered, pushing open the grand oak doors of the Senior Wing. The atmosphere immediately shifted into something dimmer, quieter, and smelled of aged paper. “Wish me luck.”

“Good luck, Elle. Don’t talk about anything more complicated than the weather. And please, just try not to trip.”

I hung up, taking a deep, shuddering breath. I located the room: AH 412: Post-Colonial Narratives. The door was heavy dark wood, suggesting that only serious, irreversible decisions were made behind it.

I slipped in just as Professor Albright, a small, bird-like man, began his opening remarks. It was a large, oval-shaped table, and my initial fear was confirmed…the class was small, intimate, and packed with students who looked like they were plotting the overthrow of a minor European government.

I scanned the room, desperately seeking a blind spot. The professor’s podium was at the far end. My only focus was getting there, signing the roster, and then…I needed to sit down, or I would look too conspicuous. I looked around, trying to find a sit.

Every damn seat was filled, except one.

It was the very last seat, tucked against the wall, shielded by an imposing, muscled figure. I didn’t stop to question why it was empty, I only saw a haven of shadow. Visibility was my enemy, and that corner offered maximum cover.

With my head down, I power-walked the perimeter, my backpack swinging awkwardly. I squeezed past a girl who gave me a look that could curdle milk and finally arrived at the vacant chair.

It was only then, as I braced myself to sit, that I registered the sheer physical presence of the man next to it. His arms, resting casually on the table, were works of intricate, shadowed art…sleeves of dark, geometric tattoos that climbed up to his neck. He wore a plain black T-shirt that did nothing to hide the lean, formidable build beneath it.

As I slid into the chair, the wood scraped against the floor in a sound that felt sickeningly loud in the sudden, concentrated quiet. My inner thigh accidentally brushed against his under the desk. It was a meaningless contact, but it felt like the final trigger.

The entire room, which had been murmuring with intellectual discussion, fell silent. Every face in the seminar, including Professor Albright’s, snapped to attention. They weren’t looking at the professor, they were staring at us. At me!

I felt a cold wave of pure terror wash over me. They know. They know I’m a freshman. They know I’m not Veronica. My carefully constructed plan of invisibility had failed spectacularly, replaced by a sudden, harsh spotlight. I refused to move, however, terrified that any motion would confirm their suspicions.

I pulled my notebook out, trying to look deeply interested in the blank page, hoping they would mistake my panic for profound concentration.

The staring didn’t stop. It was a dense, heavy silence that felt engineered to make me crack. I gripped my pen so tightly my knuckles went white, trying to mind my own business. The seconds unfolded into eternity.

Finally, I couldn’t bear the collective judgment anymore. Without turning my head more than an inch, I whispered to the man beside me, with a frantic, barely audible voice.

“Why is everyone staring like that?”

He didn’t move. His body remained perfectly still, his attention seemingly fixed on the front of the room. But then, without turning his head, he spoke. His voice was a low, chilling rumble that settled deep in my chest. It was the kind of voice that made you think of distant thunder.

“Because I don’t usually get company. They know better.” He said.

Huh? What’s that supposed to mean?

My eyes dropped to the desk…to the faint words carved into the wood : ‘The Dead Zone.’

I blinked, confused. The dead zone?

I shrugged it off. Weird guy. Probably some senior cult behavior. I faced my notebook again, determined to outlast the class in this battle of wills. Professor Albright was resuming his lecture, though the tension still hung thick and oily in the air.

I focused on the forgery I needed to commit, slipping my hand subtly toward my backpack to get the sign-in sheet I was supposed to have intercepted. That’s when the voice came again, even lower this time, a cold, dry whisper right next to my ear.

“Tell Veronica that if she needs to skip this badly, she should at least use her own glasses.”

My pen froze half an inch above the page. He recognized me? How? How did he know I was signing in for Veronica?

Slowly, I turned my head, my thick glasses amplifying the terrifying intensity of his gray eyes. He wasn’t looking at me…he was staring straight at the professor.