Page 91 of For I Have Sinned

When I lift my eyes to the table behind ours, my heart deflates when I remember Alex isn’t sitting there. It’s been a few days since he left, and I already miss messing with him while we are in the dining hall. It’s fun to see him get all fidgety when I do something to tease him.

I feel someone staring at me, and when I slide my gaze over, I find Father Keaton is observing me. His dark eyes make my skin break out in goosebumps, but I fight the shiver that travels down my spine.

Instead, I swallow down the awkward feeling and flash him a smile. Father Keaton returns the gesture, and once he does, I divert my eyes quickly. When my attention falls back on the table I’m sitting at, I don’t miss the way Joanna stares at me. There is a subtle, angered expression on her face as her eyes leave mine to look at Father Keaton.

The tension in the dining hall thickens, growing uncomfortable. “I’m going to use the bathroom before our lesson.”

After I make the announcement, I stand and leave the dining hall. In the corridor, I wring my hands together while I walk toward the bathroom. The sensation of someone following me weighs heavily on my back, and when I peek over my shoulder, Father Keaton is walking down the hall.

I stop, not wanting to rush away from him because I don’t want him to think that I’m running. Turning around, I face him with my hands behind my back.

“Father Keaton, is something wrong?”

“You left the dining hall abruptly. I wanted to check on you.”

“Will you be following me around now that Father Alexander is gone?”

A slight smile appears on his face. “I hope you don’t mind me having him keep an eye on you. Given your first day here and trying to run.”

“It’s been almost a month since then. I’m not going to do anything stupid.”

“I would hope not.” He inches towards me. “I figured having a friend by your side throughout all of this would make it easier.”

“I have Esther.”

His mouth opens slightly as he says, “Ah, yes. Not the person I would hope you would be friends with.”

It’s the same thing Alex said to me, except Father Keaton doesn’t elaborate on why being friends with Esther is such a bad idea.

“Would you rather me be friends with Joanna?”

I watch closely for his reaction to her name. A flicker of his eyes, or a twitch of his lip, but he gives nothing away. “Aren’t you friends?”

Inhaling deeply, I tell him, “I merely sit with her at meals.”

“I see,” he says. “And will you be joining us for movie night?”

“I’ve already seen the movie when I was little, so no, I will not. I have a lot of things to get done in the library for Sister Greta.”

He hums, disappointment flashing across his face from the news that I will not be attending movie night.

“Maybe next time, then.” Father Keaton takes one more step, the gap between us almost non-existent. His chest is eye-level, and I stare at it as my heart begins to pound in my chest from the lack of space. “If you’d like, I can tell Father Alexander to tone down his watch on you. Unless you enjoy your time with him.”

I lift my eyes to meet his, and with the way his eyes gleam, I know he knows. When and how he found out, I’m not sure, but the man knows what Alex and I have been doing behind closed doors.

Standing tall, I don’t let my face falter when I say, “As you said, it is nice to have a friend in this place.”

His gaze leaves mine, dipping down to glance at my body. Chills litter my skin again at his sudden switch in demeanor, disgust rolling through me as a slight smirk tugs at his lips.

With dark eyes, Father Keaton meets my gaze and says, “It is nice.”

A motion catches my attention, and with how we are positioned, I can slightly see a figure standing a few paces outside the dining hall.

Joanna.

From here, the rage on her face is evident. It seeps out of her, flowing down to where we stand, and sinks its claws deep into my skin. This is another side to her that I’m not sure anyone has seen before.

Not even Bekah.