Page 62 of An Arcane Education
“But I thought he was dating Aldrich?”
My stomach knots. “I was not aware of this until about an hour ago, when I saw them together, so…”
“Well, shit. That really sucks. Were you guys fucking or what?” Her callous question, despite being entirely too intrusive, makes me laugh despite myself.
“No. We might have made out, though… But you can’t tell anyone. Seriously.”
“I won’t. I promise.”
Now that the floodgates have opened, I can’t stop the rest from pouring out. “I just feel so stupid, you know? Like, we’ve had this tutoring session going on for a couple months now, and he’s intentionally touched me more times than I can count in ways that were fairly innocuous but definitely past the line of professional. And he’s said some things to me that were definitely not appropriate fora normal student/teacher relationship. I don’t know, maybe it was stupid of me to hope for something more.”
Max shakes her head. “I don’t think it’s stupid. I’m sure he’s aware that basically everyone on this damn island thinks he’s hot, and he took advantage of that alongside his position of authority. Men, especially ones with egos, are manipulative bastards.”
“I don’t know. I don’t really think he intentionally manipulated me or led me on. Like, I get what you’re saying, but I think he and I just had different understandings of what our connection meant. It’s not like we agreed to be exclusive or even have a relationship. We just kissed, and I let myself build things up in my head.”
Max harrumphs, clearly not wanting to give Alaric the benefit of the doubt. “He still should’ve been straightforward with you.”
I shrug. Regardless of what happened between us, it’s not worth arguing about the how or why.
“Are you going to any parties this weekend?” Max asks when I don’t respond.
“No. I’ll probably stay in and study.” I haven’t attended any parties after the one I’d brought Max to due to a combination of academic stress, busyness, and the lingering embarrassment of how drunk I got last time (and how I subsequently made it Alaric’s problem).
“Okay. Well, you know I’ll be in all weekend too. Would you be interested in going down to the common room to play board games or something tonight?”
Her question takes me by surprise. Normally, she hates anything that involves being in the same room as others,and shedefinitelydoesn’t propose social activities. “What’s the catch?” I ask.
“The catch is that my other option is dealing with your miserable ass cooped up in this room all weekend,” she fires back, but her tone holds no malice.
“Fair. Okay, we can do that,” I answer.
“Great.” She stands and brushes the wrinkles from her long black skirt. “I’ll be back in an hour or two.” With that, she leaves the room, and I take the opportunity to wallow in my sadness while I have the room to myself.
An hour and a half later, Max reappears, poking her head past the door. “Are you decent?”
“Yeah,” I call out from my bed. In the time she was gone, I let myself cry out my ridiculous emotions, then wiped off my smeared makeup and reapplied my mascara. I had also changed into more comfortable clothes, knowing we’d be hanging out in the dorm building for the rest of the evening.
To my surprise, Max isn’t alone as she enters the dorm room. Behind her, Callista sweeps in with two large tote bags over her shoulder, and I notice that Max is holding a smaller bag she hadn’t left with.
“What’s all this?” I ask, sitting up from my half-reclined position on the bed.
“We’re hanging out because I heard that you’re feeling down,” Callista says matter-of-factly as she plops down beside me on my bed. Then she adds in an excited, sing-song tone, “Wine and paint night.”
I raise my eyebrows at Max, and her expression stays neutral as she shrugs. “I know you tend to like all that sentimental junk, so here you go.”
I smile at her attempt to minimize the kind gesture, which I’m sure is uncomfortable for her considering how averse she is to socializing and showing affection. “Thank you. That’s very thoughtful of you.”
She shrugs again. “The other two will be showing up any minute, so let’s head downstairs.”
“The other two?”
Callista grabs my hand and pulls me to stand. “Yep! I invited Delilah, who you met at the suite party, and another friend of mine named Avery.”
I follow the two women downstairs, and Callista and I wait in the foyer for the other two to arrive while Max takes it upon herself to secure a table in the common room. She must have either not mentioned my sour mood or explained that we shouldn’t discuss it, because nobody brings it up, which I appreciate. The last thing I want to do is make up a lie about why I’m upset.
Delilah arrives first, and she looks genuinely happy to see both of us. She and I head to the common room while Callista hands me her bags and waits for the woman named Avery.
Despite the busy common room, Max has managed to find a spot at a table off to the side with five seats free, though I doubt it was empty when she came in. A few people cast sidelong glances at her, and I can only hope that she didn’t threaten them or do anything too severe to get people to move.
