“I’m all right,” Odette rushed to say. “I just don’t feel well. I have the flu.”
She had to be lying. “You were at ballet practice yesterday.”
“So? Athletes don’t get sick days. You know that, Emma,” she shot back.
I’d skated through colds and the flu plenty of times, but I knew that wasn’t it. “When was the last time you ate?”
Odette scoffed. “This morning. Quit pestering me. It’s not right.”
“What did you eat?” I demanded to know. Gods, I knew she’d been dropping weight, but I figured she was toning up due to all the practice she had day in and day out. I should’ve known better.
Odette wrapped her arms around herself. “I told you I’m fine. You need to believe me.”
She wasn’t going to budge. I sighed. “If you have the flu you need to go to the hospital wing.” The nurses there would see what was going on. They’d stop this.
Odette narrowed her eyes. “I’ll be over it in a few days. I just need to rest.”
“Rest isn’t going to help. If you want to keep the part of Juliet, you have to nourish yourself, and—”
“Stop it, Emma!” Odette shouted. I reeled back— Odette had never raised her voice to me, to anyone, so to hear her scream was kind of scary. “This part meanseverythingto me! You don’t understand how much I want this. If I knew you were doing everything to win your competition, I wouldn’t stand in your way!”
“I’m not standing in your way,” I pleaded. “I’m trying to help you.”
“Then let me be the best Juliet I can be, and leave me alone!”
Odette slipped past me and ran out. My heart dropped. I knew what was wrong with her, but I didn’t want to admit it.
Yet the reality was staring me in the face. Odette had an eating disorder. She needed to get better, because losing this part wasn’t the worst thing that could happen to her.
The alternative was too scary to consider. At the same time, who would I tell? I didn’t know her parents. I could tell a teacher, but Odette was of age. No one could force her to get help unless she wanted it.
Theo. I could tell Theo. I grabbed my bag and hurried through the hallway. I saw many alicorn boys in the crowded hallways, but none of them were Odette’s mate.
I gave up and went to the library. Maybe Delmare would know where he was. She always kept tabs on everybody.
Kiara wasn’t there yet when I arrived. Delmare had taken a square table by the window, between a few shelves that were isolated from the rest of the library.
I slipped into the seat beside her and threw my bag on the table. “Have you seen Theo around?” I asked. “It’s an emergency.”
Delmare didn’t hear me. Her head swiveled this way and that... as if looking for something. Or someone.
“What’s wrong?” I asked.
But I had my question answered as a figure slipped out of the shadows. Andrik— the ugly dragon shifter that always hung around Elijah— lurched out from one of the shelves. Delmare’s face became disgusted as he came into view.
To my outrage, Andrik placed his brutish hands on Delmare’s shoulders and began giving her a massage. I wanted to break his fingers.
“Hey, sweetheart,” Andrik lulled. “Where have you been hiding?”
Delmare cringed away. “I will seriously punch you in the dick if you don’t back off.”
Maeve was at a table nearby. She was watching Delmare carefully, in case she had to get a teacher. Maeve was kind of a loner, but she was loyal to her friends— and she’d caught on that Andrik was a total creep.
Andrik squeezed Delmare’s shoulders, and it looked like it hurt. Delmare winced, and he said, “That’s only a teaser, baby. You know I like it rough.”
“Hey, asshole,” I snapped. “Leave us the fuck alone.”
Andrik ignored me. He leaned down to whisper in Delmare’s ear. I watched goosebumps travel up her arms as he said, “Come on. Let’s go somewhere more private.”
