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“That’s my job?” I ask.
Dr. Wright’s eyes narrow. “What do you think a T.A. does?”
Standing, I smooth my skirt out before I look at the professor. “I wouldn’t know. I didn’t receive a job description. So if there are things you wish for me to do for you, I suggest you show me when we meet later.”
Without bothering to push my chair under the table, I leave him there, joining the small crowd of students leaving the room.
Since I started JKU, I’ve bitten my tongue and stopped myself from saying things I really wanted to. The more I’m around Syn, the more I have to fight to appear submissive—weak. I know he can make my life miserable with the snap of his fingers, and worse, he can kick me out of Denali House before I ever have the chance to look around.
Although I’m sure Dr. Wright will have something to say later, right now, I don’t care. The worst he can do is fire me from a job I didn’t even apply for.
When I enrolled at JKU, my goal was to find out the truth about my brother. I figured, at worst, I’d be here for a year, which means I don’t even have a major. I just picked a bunch of classes which seemed like they’d have the lowest impact on my schedule.
Penny, by comparison, is determined to become a Supreme Court Justice, which means she’s pre-law. Aside from Wright’s Mass Comm’s class, the only other class we have together is Literature, which means we do have at least one class together every day. But even if we didn’t, I know I can rely on her being in the dining hall.
I’ve had to run back to the house to change, before running to the dining hall to beat Syn there, and Penny is already at her table, waiting.
Syn arrives for lunch early. Considering he’s had me waiting until the last minute for all the other meals, I’m sure he’s gotten his hands on my schedule to know I’ve got a very small window to get here and have everything set up before he arrives.
Today, he’s not alone. Royal is with him. I take their order, serve their food, and they’re both gone within half an hour. Royal tells me that Gemini won’t be coming to eat lunch, but otherwise, everything is quick and painless.
After cleaning up, I go to grab one of the gourmet Reuben sandwiches—slices of steak instead of corned beef—and slide into the seat opposite Penny.
“Aside from that atrocious outfit…” Penny frowns and cocks her head, looking at the top half of my uniform. “Which your tits look great in, by the way, and giving you no clue as to when their lazy asses are going to be eating, this?” She gestures vaguely between me and in the general direction of Syn’s table. “Seems relatively painless.”
With my mouth full of sandwich, I just nod.
Penny folds her arms and narrows her eyes. “Don’t let your guard down. I don’t trust them one bit.”
Trying to quickly chew and swallow, I nod again. “Not for one minute.”
“How is it in the house?”
I’ve only been there a few days, and she’s texted me every morning and evening since with a variation of that same question. “Pretty much the same.”
“Do you have plans this evening?” she asks.
“A meeting with Dr. Wright about the T.A. job.”
Reaching over, Penny takes one of the air-fried vegetable chips from my plate and pops it in her mouth. “He was serious about that?”
I glance around the room. It’s early, so the place is filling up quickly, which means there’s a lot of noise and conversation around us. I still don’t trust anyone here except for Penny. “He needs a T.A., and I have that extra credit project I need to take.”
“What about dinner duty?”
“Oh, that’s still happening. Dr. Wright emailed Syn and informed him that I was required to be in his office by 7 pm, and if he needed me, he had until then. Which, I’m sure means he’s going to arrive for dinner at 6:30.”
“You want to come to my room after?” Penny steals another chip. “We’ve still got assignments, and I’ve got hot chocolate. Plus, it’s quieter in my room.”
And away from prying ears.
“I’ll need to go back to the house first, because I’m sure if Syn does have plans for me, he’s not going to tell me until right before, but hell yes.”
If Syn is in the house tonight, I won’t be able to look around thoroughly, and after more than three hours with Dr. Wright today, the idea of curling up on Penny’s bed with a hot chocolate and being able to chat feels like a little spark of light in a very dark room.
Besides, after our Mass Comm class this afternoon, I don’t have any more classes, which means I have a few hours to clean Denali House—and of course, start looking around.
For the first time, I’m able to enjoy my lunch before Penny walks back across campus with me so I can get changed. We get to Dr. Wright’s class early, and I pull out my laptop to start taking people’s names as they come in. Even if I know it’s not the correct system for logging them, I’ve still not been told how to do this, and I can at least make sure I can transfer an accurate list over later.
