Song : Betcha - BAEKHYUN

The crowd grew by the second as screams continuously erupted. Bystanders that weren't aware of what was happening knew instantly as the news of who was on campus spread.

"JORDAN!JORDAN!" hundreds of voices joined in unison as they begun to chant his name. "JORDAN WOLFE! JORDAN WOLFE!"

I could see him from where I stood, elevated enough to see the star of the hour despite him slowly being swallowed by the avalanche of college students that called for his attention.

His hair had grown a couple of inches and he was more tanned since I last saw him. The smile that always lit up the room was on his face, as he said something that was drowned out by the hundreds of people.

A small part of me ached as I remembered the way he always smiled at me as we tried our best to keep the reporters from finding out about our relationship. The way he winked at me when he knew no one was looking at him, or the way he'd slowly trace my fingers under the table during one of those production dinners where'd he'd somehow always be sitting next to me. He'd always be wearing a polite smile as he chatted away with the investors or the producers, all innocent while I was the one that was burning with embarrassment.

As if he sensed my gaze out of the hundreds that gathered around him, he turned to his right and the eyes that I concluded to be the most beautiful shade of brown pierced into mine. Recognition dawned in them before they lit up.

He turned to the people surrounding him and even from this distance I could tell what he had said. "Excuse me please." Then he turned and started to make his way through the crowd.

Towards me.

It was slow given the number of people around him, but people gradually started to let him through.

My eyes widened as I realized that he was coming to me. In front of everyone. Even though he knew people were watching, he was walking towards me.

Despite knowing very well that I hadn't wanted to meet him, nonetheless talk to him. If anything, I wanted to pretend like he didn't exist.

He knew the repercussions of meeting me so publicly, especially in front of hundreds of people who could instantly broadcast whatever he intended to say. However, despite that, he was walking towards me with an almost determined look on his face that I always said was dangerous.

Determined Jordan didn't care about repercussions. Determined Jordan did whatever the hell he wanted to do. I used to like determined Jordan, but right now I hated him.

"Phillipa, he's com-," Chloe began.

"I know," I cut her off. I turned to face her, my eyes darting to the left and right looking for the nearest hiding spot. "I need to go. Can you pl-"

She nodded, cutting me off. "I'll distract him. Go!" She pushed me towards the direction of the car-park, knowing that I didn't want to meet my ex.

Without even saying anything to Elliott or Jace, I cast another glance towards Jordan, who thankfully was stuck by a group of girls giving autographs, before I turned and ran towards where my car and my peace of mind lay.

Hoping that Chloe would keep Jordan busy enough, I took the quickest route to the car-park, not caring for the curious looks being cast my way or the quick chatter being relayed of Jordan Wolfe's presence in USC.

Just before I reached the car, I felt someone grab my arm, pulling me to a stop.

I tensed as I tried to catch my breath.

Was Chloe unable to stop Jordan? But how could he get here so fast?

Or was it... my thoughts stopped as I realized that I had been too focused on Jordan Wolfe that I had forgotten all about the person that was blackmailing my father and had left Jace behind.

My blood froze as I contemplate doing a spin kick like Bruce had taught me when I was a kid. Granted it had been years since then, but I might still have something up my sleeve.

Before I could muster up the courage to do so the grip on my arm tightened as the person forces me to turn around.

The scream died in my throat when I saw who it was.

Anger and confusion came off of him in waves.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" Jace demanded, his brows furrowed together as his hand tightens around my arm. The rapid rise and fall of his chest is the physical sign that he had chased after me. He ran his free hand through his hair and messes it up with frustration.

I sighed in relief, for the first time since his arrival, grateful that he had been the following after me, and that it wasn't Jordan or someone that wished to do me harm.

"Thank God!" I exclaimed as my shoulder visibly relaxed. A small smile forced its way to my face.

"Thank God? Are you crazy? Didn't we already discuss not leaving without me?" Jace was visibly getting irritated as he stared me down from his great height.

"Calm down," I began. "I know I shouldn't have but I just needed to get out of there quickly. Besides, I knew you were going to follow me. So no harm done, right?"

Jace huffed out a breath of frustration as he continued to frown at me. "Who was that back there?"

I hastily cast a look towards where we came from, as if the fact that Jace had brought him up would suddenly cause him to appear. "No one," I brushed it off, hoping I wouldn't have to talk about him.

Jace arched a brow at me as if he knew what I was trying to do. "It didn't look like anyone judging by the number of people that were gathered around him."

I sighed as I cast another look over just as a couple of students walked past. Fortunately none of them was Jordan Wolfe. "Haven't you heard of the Luna series? Bitten? Full Moon?" I listed off the movie franchise that had led to Jordan's current fame.

Jace looked confused as he shook his head.

"Where were you? Under a rock?" I asked, surprised that there was actually someone that didn't know who Jordan Wolfe was. But then again, there was someone that also didn't know who Dylan Rush was, which was way more impossible.

"I was in London, remember?" he said in a 'duh' tone.

"Yeah, I remember," I snapped, leaving us both in silence and my sudden change in tone. "Forget it," I continued after awhile as I dug through my bag for my car keys. I didn't want to waste another minute staying there. That was just another minute for Jordan to come. "That was Jordan Wolfe, a famous actor."

Jace nodded thoughtfully as he took in the information. "And you two know each other how exactly?"

"And what exactly makes you think we do?" I finally found my key and unlocked my car, throwing my bag inside, before I turned back around to Jace.

He gave me a straight look. "The fact that he recognized you and was walking towards us and the way you hightailed it out of there so fast when you noticed."

"Fine," I muttered, pausing long enough to earn a stern look from Jace. "He's... my... ex," I added, making sure to keep my voice low in case someone was eavesdropping nearby.

Jace stared at me blankly for what seemed like ages before his brows furrowed together and he muttered, "Oh."

Just that.

He just said oh before he returned to staring at me like a blank statue.

I waited for him to say anything further but he didn't.

Confused at his sudden lack of an answer, I waved my hand in his face, "Jace?"

After giving a couple more seconds, of which he didn't say anything further, I shrugged, not having the patience to deal with him and said, "I'm going home," before I got into my car and drove off, thankful that Jordan hadn't appeared despite Jace having wasted my time.

* * *

Only once I reached home did I check my phone.

I had 7 messages.

One was from Georgia saying that Krystal and her just wanted to confirm if we still were getting coffee later. I replied and told them that I'll meet them at the nearby coffee house in an hour.

Another message was from Chloe telling me that she had managed to convince Jordan that I had gone to my next class, which was on the other side of the campus. So that bought at least thirty minutes for me if Jordan waited outside to meet me.

Another was from Elliott telling me that he had told Jordan to leave me alone and he was asking me how I was.

Three messages were from the devil himself aka Jordan. One asking me when I was going be finishing from class. Another to tell me that he was waiting outside class for me. And the last to tell me that he would be waiting somewhere else because the crowd was getting too much for him.

I scoffed at how audacious he was. He actually thought I would call him after I had literally just sent him a message to leave me alone.

I didn't bother sending him a reply. Instead I deleted all his messages.

The last message was from an unknown number. I clicked on it as I tried to jog my memory to remember the number. Nothing came up.

The message was confusing.

It's Seems Earnest Enough.
You Own Us!

I furrowed my brows together, confused as to what the message meant. I read it over and over again and nothing came to mind.

After a couple of minutes of trying to decipher it and coming up short, I threw my phone on my bed, resigning it to it being code betwene friends and that the sender had obviously sent it to the wrong number.

My phone buzzed as a text came. I picked it up and smiled when I saw that it was Georgia.

See you there :) xoxo

After sending a reply, I got up and started to get ready.

I smiled as I thought of meeting Georgia and Krystal. I missed meeting up and hanging out with my best friend and I never expected I would be doing it ever again.

If there was anything good that came out of Jace coming back, it was that he had undeniably fixed my relationship with Georgia. I knew for a fact that if he hadn't taken me to the Burns' mansion then, that I would never have had worked up the nerve to go and meet them.

I sighed and shook my head as I realized that I was grateful to the douche for helping out in that regard.

Looking at the clock above my dresser, I smiled with excitement as I realized that I was also excited to get to know Krystal too. I was very curious about the girl that had finally made Douglas get over Georgia, something that if you had asked me years ago was next to impossible.

As I exited my room, Jace stood by the door, making me step back in surprise at his sudden appearance.

I rolled my eyes as he stood there without saying a word. "Nice to see you caught up," I said sarcasm dripping into my voice.

I was actually hoping to be able to go meet Georgia and Krystal without having someone tagging along. But apparently my chaperone had arrived.

"Where are you going?" he asked. To his credit, he didn't come off demanding, just curious and friendly.

"To meet Georgia and Krystal," I replied.

He nodded, thoughtful.

"Are you coming along?" I asked, trying go hide the dread I felt at having someone tag along on something so normal.

To my surprise he replied, "No. I have something to discuss with Bruce."

"Oh!" I tried to hide the elation from my voice but judging by the smug look on his face, I knew I failed.

"Owens is tagging along," he added. "Please don't ditch him."

I shrugged.

"Please Phillipa. If not for me, do it for your father," he gave me a pleading look.

Without hesitation, I nodded. "Fine." I studied him, wondering what exactly took precendence over him looking after me, which they considered fo be top priority. "Now what did you want to talk to Bruce about?"

Jace smirked as he leaned in, his lips inches from my ear as he said, "You. And how you're slowly driving me crazy."