Page 106
I want you to be mine.
LIAR.
The lead in my pencil snapped, tearing a hole through the page.
“Mia?” A warm and concerned voice chirped from across the small table.
The bronze lamp hid my face as I blinked up, dragging myself out of a night-kissed memory and back to the present, wincing as I brushed the broken bit off the paper. The teal mechanical pencil clicked a few times, jamming and stuttering, before I could use it again.
The library was draped in hushed, focused whispers, and I cursed myself for spacing out, when we were supposed to be discussing Vaughn’s group assignment.
The skylight spilled down, touching the few heads huddled together to study and highlighting every line of worry in Pri’s face.
“Sorry, coffee hasn’t hit yet.” I took a large gulp that had gone cold in my cup and averted my eyes, focusing on the golden WA logo on the matte black instead.
The knots in my stomach eased as Oliver and Emily arrived, and we settled down to work at last, and I thanked my lucky stars things were always busy at the Academy.
I told myself soon, the ache would fade, and everything would go back to normal.
Under the cover of our two group mates whispering and underlining notes, Pri leaned in closer and I mirrored her.
“Yesterday… what were you talking to Josh about?”
Her tone was casual, a little amused, as if inviting me in on a private joke, but I flinched like she’d slapped me.
Her eyebrows shot up, and I rushed to smooth my expression.
“Ugh, he was offering help with IP Law,” I said, with a huff and put-on eye-roll that hurt. “You know how he is,” I added, trying to sound exasperated and not raw and aching underneath.
She searched my face as she took a slow sip of coffee, eyes narrowing a sliver, before she let it go, though my pulse didn’t quite get the memo.
“I know something that might cheer you up.” She changed tack, spearing me a warm smile.
“I’m fine,” I huffed, ducking my gaze a little too fast.
She opened her mouth as if she might argue.
“—his dick’s pierced,” a voice hissed nearby from the table to our right.
I blinked a few times—mourning the library’s ears bleeding around us—before Pri and I whipped around at them as one, but the two girls huddled close together were too engrossed in their gossip to notice my glare and Pri’s curious peek.
“I heard he slept with the whole campus,” the brunette sighed. A silhouette passed by their tables, kicking up barely stifled giggles.
“Groupies,” Emily grumbled, rolling her eyes, like this was just another Tuesday. Oliver looked decidedly uncomfortable, ears red, glancing around anywhere but at us.
My gaze followed the girls’s despite myself, but I only caught messy black hair and broad shoulders before their quarry was swallowed behind a nearby bookshelf.
Another wistful sigh from their table had me white-knuckling my cup as I fought the urge to chuck it at them. Mercifully, they fell silent, and so did we—the scratch of pen and paper and rustle of pages the only sounds in our little bubble.
The sun had dipped and the skylight had dimmed, until the only lights were the amber glows of sconces and little table lamps peppered throughout. And still, we worked, shoulders loose, shrouded in deep focus, scribbling fast—until the clock tower chimed eight, signalling dinnertime.
As one, we breathed a sigh of relief and packed up our things, with Oliver and Emily going ahead, while I shifted on my feet and debated whether to linger.
Pri huffed something under her breath, shoved my coat into my hands, linked her arm with mine, and as good as dragged me out.
Upon reaching the locker area, my feet skidded to a violent halt right by the arched entryway.
Once, the chequered floor stretched under rows of wooden lockers, and the only things on the ceiling were the strips of pale, warm light illuminating the way.
