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Jules pushed Tyler back with a frustrated groan. “I’m sorry, I’ll just-”
“Don’t worry,” he said with chuckle. “I get it. If it was my phone I’d be distracted too.”
She smiled at him, feeling her chest filling with warmth, then reached for her phone. The smile dropped from her face when she saw the name on the screen, but she tried to keep the annoyance at bay. Maybe it was actually something important this time.
“What do you need, Ophelia?” she said quickly, shooting an apologetic grimace Tyler’s way.
“I’m- I can’t- I made a mistake. Jules, I’m- I need help.”
The moment she heard Ophelia’s breathless, hoarse voice Jules had turned away from Tyler, her heart beating quicker. This wasn’t something ridiculous; this had to be important. Ophelia never sounded like that, so shaken. Weak. Something was deeply wrong. She lowered her voice, not wanting Tyler to hear. “What’s going on? Where are you? Are you hurt?”
“I-I don’t know. My leg, it’s- it’s bad, Jules. Jules, I really messed up. I’m so sorry. I messed up.” The hitch in Ophelia’s voice sounded suspiciously like crying, and Jules had to swallow hard to not raise her voice in a shout. All she wanted was to rush to wherever Ophelia was and hold her close and shield her from whatever was hurting her.
“It doesn’t matter what you did. Tell me where you are; I’ll be there as soon as I can.”
“The auditorium. I’m- the auditorium. I’m hiding. Jules, there’s a guy here. He’s so much stronger than I expected. I didn’t mean to, but I saw him attack a girl, and I stopped him, but then he went after me and I couldn’t beat him up, and I fell before and my leg got really messed up, and I don’t think I can hold him off if he finds me.”
That was definitely crying. Jules closed her eyes, taking another deep breath, then grabbed her backpack. “Don’t worry. I’m on my way, do you hear me? I’m going to be there soon, I swear. You stay hidden until then. Just stay there, I’m coming to get you. I won’t let that guy hurt you.”
“Okay. Just… hurry, okay?”
“I will. I swear it.” Ending the call was hard, but she couldn’t completely focus on what she needed to do if she was talking with Ophelia too, and she had no time to lose. She had to go now.
Tyler was shaking his head when she turned to him, waving his hand with an understanding face. “Go,” he said.
Jules smiled quickly, thanked him, then rushed out of his apartment. All she could think of was Ophelia, hurt and alone and scared, waiting for her. She had to hurry.