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I shake my head. “It’s not up to him. You know this is the Council’s decision. There’s no point.”
He steps up to me, embraces me, and kisses my hair. “Well, I’m on your side,” he says in an attempt to comfort me. His embrace alone helps relieve some of the pressure in my chest. We walk together to the classrooms. He holds my hand the entire time. A few students look at us in surprise, and some of them even look dumbstruck. But I don’t care. I lean against him, thankful to have him by my side. We part ways outside his classroom. He bends down and kisses me, triggering a pleasant tingle in my belly. I want more, and I wish I could skip class. But now I have math, and Ayden has a different subject.
“I’ll see you after,” he says, kissing me again before going inside. I watch him go and ignore the looks of those around me.
I make my way to my classroom, and I’m so lost in thought that I don’t notice Mr. Brian until he’s only a few feet away, calling out my name.
“Miss Franklin, good to see you. How are you today? I heard the test didn’t go so well.”
I swear I can see a smug smile playing at the corners of his mouth. But maybe I’m imagining it.
“I did my best, but in the end, I guess that wasn’t enough,” I reply as neutrally as possible. I can’t afford to provoke him.
“Hmm, that’s one way of looking at it. From what I hear, you didn’t exactly shower yourself in glory.”
I look at him incredulously. I don’t understand why he feels the need to rip into me right now.
“And you prepared so diligently for the test,” he continues. This time I’m sure that’s a smile on his face.
“Of course I did. Who would go into a situation like that unprepared? I don’t understand what you’re trying to say.” I stare at him expectantly.
“Oh, I’m sure you know exactly what I mean. Other students would probably have simply trained hard and turned to their teachers for guidance. But instead you leaned on your ex-boyfriend – probably just to have an excuse to meet with him.”
My eyes widen; my jaw drops, and I’m about to say something, but he holds up his hands defensively.
“You don’t need to explain yourself. I know you pretty well by now. You’re a lot like your great aunt in so many ways. I’ve warned you repeatedly to get your curiosity under control before it gets the better of you. And I guess I was right.” He lowers his voice here, and there’s a hint of malice and triumph in it.
I stare at him in disbelief, and then it dawns on me. “You set me up. You only told Mr. Collins about the books because you knew I was listening. You knew I’d want to read them…”
“Oh, Miss Franklin, what an alarmingly vivid imagination you have. Why would I do a thing like that? You’re accusing me of deliberately feeding you false information so that you’d fail the test?”
For a moment, I can’t utter a sound. That’s exactly what Mr. Brian did. He knew I’d try everything and that his false tip would seem like a lifeline. But he made sure that I did exactly the wrong thing.
“I don’t understand,” I mutter. “Why…. why do you want to get rid of me so bad?”
“Miss Franklin,” he says in that tone I can’t stand. It sounds like he’s talking to a crazy person who needs everything to be explained very slowly. “I don’t know what’s going through that head of yours, but you’re obviously seeing conspiracies everywhere where there are none. Just like your great aunt. I urgently advise you to seek help and not go down that road.” The bell rings for the start of class, and he nods curtly at me. “You should go in. I don’t want to make you late for class.”
With that he leaves, and I stare after him in disbelief. All this time I though Mr. Brian and I had an unspoken truce. We dislike each other, and we don’t trust each other, but I figured we’d both decided to live and let live. And all this time he’s been plotting against me and finally had a chance to take action. How blind could I be! I’ll never underestimate that man again.
Chapter 20
I’m drying my hair after showering, and Kate’s already getting dressed. Training today was exhausting, and yet I would have given anything for it to last a while longer. But I can’t pause time. Soon the Fabricis’ people will be here to help me with the move. My hands are tied, so I simply try not to think about it. Anyway, I have plenty of other things on my mind right now.
“I don’t get it,” says Kate as she pulls her sweater over her head. “Mr. Brian orchestrated this so that you’d have to move out of the residence? Does he really hate you that much?”
“I shouldn’t have underestimated him,” I reply. “That was a big mistake. I figured since we both had dirt on each other, I didn’t need to worry about him. But I guess he resented being in that position and did everything he could to get rid of me. Or maybe it was some kind of revenge or a warning to me not to mess with him in future. I’ll never underestimate him again.”
“I don’t know what I’ll do without you. It’s going to be really hard not having you here anymore.”
Kate looks dejected. And it won’t be easy for me either. I’d do anything not to have to leave.
“I’ll be here during school hours. Basically I’ll only be spending evenings and nights at the Fabrici house.” I’m not sure if it’s Kate or myself that I’m trying to reassure here.
“I guess the fact that you’re back with Ayden makes it even harder,” she continues, finally managing a smile. “I’m so happy that you guys are giving things another chance. I really believe you belong together.”
“I’m happy too,” I reply. “But it also complicates things.” I’m thinking of Noah, and Kate knows this.
“When will you see him again?”
