Kay turned his head, and a grin began to slowly grow upon his lips, easily reading between the lines. “You have friends.”
“Peers.”
“Is that a new word for friends?”
“Shut up.” Rain playfully tugged on a strand of his hair, but that only seemed to egg him on.
“The serious Atty hasfriends.”
Rain huffed. “Well, anyway, there are six of us.” She shook her head. “God, Kay, how we hated each other at the start of term. I always felt that it was my responsibility to bring us all together. Itwas my burden to bear alone because I am student body president, and it is my job.”
Confusion pulled his brows together. “Why were you forced to surround yourself with them to begin with?”
“The Founder’s Society.”
Kay blinked as realization filled his eyes. “It’s twenty years this year.”
Rain only nodded. The implication itself brought forth a mental library of information from their youth. Stories, however vague, that their grandmother would tell them, away from the rest of the Jett family.
She never did speak so freely around their parents and the twins.
“Well… How did it go?”
“Thaddeus Saltford-Windsor is our mentor, and a small part of me feels exceptional sympathy for him.”
“Why?” He laughed.
“They drive him mad.” Rain tilted her head with a barely-there smirk. In those moments, she never did consider how thrilling it was to work as a team, no matter how small and childish their activities may have appeared.
But talking about them with Kay, reminiscing, made her smile despite herself. “August, Sasha always calls him bigmouth.” She pauses. “It’s an American term.”
He nodded along. “I’m quite knowledgeable in American English, thank you very much. Carry on.”
She rolled her eyes. “Alright, August convinced Thaddeus that he was imagining things and losing his mind after he’d walked in on us doing something completely mundane. I think we all just like the thrill. It makes camaraderie come easier.”
Kay hummed.
“Sasha… He’s new and of the secretive sort, always plotting something behind those eerie eyes of his. Doesn’t like anyone riffling through his past, but I know that he’s an orphan who comes from poverty. I guess that’s where he gets all the grit from.”
Now that she thinks of it, “Sasha reminds me so much of you.”
“Huh, and here I thought I was special. So, what is it, devilishly good looks? Intelligence beyond conceivability?" Kay said with bouncing brows and a very pompous smirk.
Rain placed a hand against the side of his head and shoved lightly. “No. I was going for personality. At first, I thought it was August because he couldn’t stop blabbering even if it would save his life. And then I thought of Paris, with her big grins and passion for grandiose. And yes, Sasha is on the quieter side, but I think his tough upbringing made him so hard on the outside; he doesn’t think people notice when that weak part of him comes out. Kind of like you.”
Kay waved her off. Rain could tell it was partly out of bashfulness. “That is not me.”
“I’m being as honest as a saint. He has a temper that he always takes out on anyone in a position of authority, and this straightforward attitude that sometimes even I envy.”
“Oh? I’m beginning to like this new me. Tell me more.”
At that, Rain began to ramble. She always did with Kay. “Sometimes I’m relieved when he’s around. I used to hate his presence, but then I realized… I don’t have to carry it all. For the first time, I don’t feel like it’s an attack on my own authority. In those moments, it feels like evenIhave someone that I can rely on. Someone who knows what to do next when everyone expects all the answers from me. I never realized it until our last dinner, when everyone just seemed to… gravitate around him. And yet, in a strange way, I’m not envious.
“He's become quite close with Wolf, too. They’re always whispering in corners or passing a cigarette in Sasha’s dorm.”
Rain was so giddy, she wondered what the rest of her club members would think if they saw her now. But with her younger brother, Rain could admit that she sounded like two different people. As if she only saved her opinions for him. Everyone else got the calculated information.
It had always been like that. Kay and Rain were hand in glove, and nothing could ever separate them growing up. Well, except for their parents.
