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Chapter 36
Astrid
I leave first after we clean ourselves up, hurrying back down to the first floor. I have no clue how long I’ve been gone. Gillian has left, but Bobby is scribbling notes on a pad.
“I thought you had left,” he says. He points his stylus at the empty chair. “She gave up. Too bad. She needs to pass.”
“Or what?” I ask, sitting down across from him, hoping I don’t smell like sweat and cum.
“She’s off the team,” Bobby replies, “and she’s counting on going to college for track.”
“I thought Gillian could afford college.”
He smiles at my assumption. “She can, but she doesn’t have the grades to get in. Gillian needs to be on the team to get accepted. All those ribbons on her wall are not decorations.”
My phone chimes, and the message is from Pierce. I hesitate to tap it, feeling my face flush, but when I open it, it’s only a text.
Pierce: Avoid the Pit, babe.
Bobby glances at his phone when it buzzes and then at me. “I haven’t been there in a while,” he whispers, “Not since it changed. I don’t need an STD. Coach will kick my ass from here to Boston. What’s going on tonight?”
I shrug my shoulders, not entirely sure. “I don’t know, but I guess we’re not going there.”
Another phone pings at another table, and then another one chimes. One by one, phones go off in the group study room, and kids pull them out to look at the screen. I get a chill. It is happening tonight. I smirk as thoughts of the ultimate fuck-you swirl through my head.
***
Walking back to the dorm, I can’t stop thinking about what happened in the boys’ bathroom, and I giggle, thinking about all the places people find to hook up in semi-private around Stonehaven. At Monarch, most kids don’t even bother to hide when they suck or fuck. It’s like bragging rights and claiming what’s yours. Being seen with a cock in your mouth is no big deal. Or with a boy’s hand in your jeans. At Monarch, they show off who owns them, but here, we’re not so bold. It takes me a moment to realize that I just referred to Monarch as them and Stonehaven as us.
I pass Wren in the hallway, and she’s wearing different clothes. I wonder if she’s scrubbed herself down, feeling filthy and repentant. I wonder if she pretends not to enjoy it. I only think those thoughts because she looks smug while Gemma stares into her face. They catch a glimpse of me and immediately shut up.
Roni isn’t in our room, so I hurry into the shower. My skin is going to dry out. I pull on a pair of sweats and lie down on my bed, reading the next chapter for English Lit homework. I hear laughter out in the hallway as the door to the room swings open. Roni comes bouncing in with flushed cheeks and frizzy hair, looking like she also just had sex.
“What’s up, Astrid?” She practically sings my name. “Are you eating at the dining hall tonight?”
“What happened?” I get straight to the point. “Why are you being nice and happy?”
Roni sighs, tossing herself down on her bed. “I was talking to this guy after class, and you don’t know him, but Terri walked up and wanted to talk to me in private.” She looks at me, waiting for me to add something, but I want to hear it from her mouth. She continues, “Well, he’s thinking about breaking up with Charlotte.”
“Thinking about it?” I ask.
“He’s going to do it,” she clarifies. “As soon as he sees her.” I frown, but not for the reason Roni may think. “Terri said the two of you talked, and you thought he should do what he thinks is the best.”
Maybe I phrased it like that. Roni glows with happiness, and I want to smile, too, but I keep remembering all the things that Charlotte said. I’m not sure if Terri’s worth any of the pain he’s causing. I never got his nerd appeal, but that’s not my problem either, I guess.
“But you don’t know when he’s going to do it?” I ask.
“Yes, I do.” She leans back in bed and smiles at the ceiling. “He’s doing it now.”
