No one dared to stop them, not even the professors who arrived when they were departing. The students only stared at Kace in awe while Derek’s friends picked him up and left.


    "I still have one ss remaining," she mumbled under her breath when she noticed them leaving the college.


    "It wouldn’t hurt to skip a ss," Kace replied.


    Allison didn’t talk anymore. She quickly wiped up her tears and sniffed back the remaining ones that wanted to stream down her face. Her jaw already hurt from crying so much.


    Kace stopped the car at a park. It wasn’t bustling like a park should be since it was already dusk. Only a handful of people were taking a stroll around the park.


    "What are we doing here?" She asked him.


    She didn’t know why she’d listened to him and got into the car when he wanted her to. But now that her senses were starting to clear, she couldn’t help but question their location.


    "I don’t know either. But I figured you wouldn’t want to stay back in college and watch your boyfriend nearly bleed to death after he pped you in the face."


    Kace’s words seemed to have pressed the button that would make her tear up again, but she restrained herself.


    "Thank you," she appreciated, staring at the park. "I needed fresh air."


    Both of them got down and sat on an empty bench. Kace excused himself to go to a nearby store.


    Allison stared at his back until he disappeared into the store. She mped her hands together, still shocked by what had happened.


    Derek had never hit her in public—he only punished her in private which was why she’d been shocked by his actions earlier.


    He’d already beaten her up when he saw the pictures of her and Kace together. Allison could only wonder who took those pictures. There were over a thousand students at Aurora Heights University, so it could be any one.


    Either way, she didn’t want to think about it. What’s done is done. Now, everyone thinks she’s a slut. And then her mother is going to me her for messing things up again.


    Allison covered her face with her palm as she tried to suppress a sob.


    "Here." A hand holding an ice pack stretched towards her. She stared at Kace with a questionable expression. "Your cheek is all red and swollen up. I wouldn’t want people to think I was the one that did that to you, so you need to ice it up."


    Reluctantly, Allison took the ice pack and mouthed a ’Thank You’.


    She ced the ice bag on her cheek which soothes the burn she felt there immediately.


    Kace handed her some snacks and some juice which she nearly rejected, but her belly rumbled in hunger. So, she hesitantly took it and munched it as if her life depended on it.


    As she got busy munching on the snack, they fell into apanionable silence.


    "I never thought there was anything you would willingly collect from my hands," Kace joked to ease up the tension that sat between them.


    His blood still boiled, feeling the urge to go back and beat Derek up again. But thetter had already passed out after taking just one hit.


    ’Such a weakling,’ he thought to himself.


    Allison stiffened when she heard his words. She just realized it was true. Kace and Allison weren’t enemies, but the way he bothered her each time he came to the university always made her want to kick him between his legs.


    "I guess that’s a good start to a wonderful friendship," he added when he didn’t hear her speak.


    Instantly, Allison snapped her head to look at him.


    "We are not friends," she stated matter-of-factly, raising an eyebrow at Kace, who seemed slightly taken aback. She then turned back to her snack. "But thanks for what you did earlier, for taking down Derek and his friends. If you ever visit the university again, I’m sure everyone will want your autograph," she added, swatting away a fly that nearlynded on her donut.


    Kace frowned. "What do you mean?"


    "Derek is the number one bully in Aurora Heights. Every student is scared of him, and no one dares to cross his path. Those he had bullied don’t dare to giveints since his father is a professor in Aurora Heights. They fear he might fail them and never let them graduate," she exined.


    Kace couldn’t help but scoff.


    "You’ve got to be kidding me. People are scared of that little weiner?" he asked, scoffing as he nced at her. Noticing a single tear rolling down her cheek, he added, "Do you love Derek?"