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As I trudge out of Baxter’s office, her final word to me rings around my head.
Expelled.
It hadn’t exactly been unexpected, but I’d tried every trick in the book: puppy-dog eyes, fighting back, casual blackmail… The only thing I couldn’t try was bribery, and that’s only because I had absolutely nothing of worth to offer.
They’ve had enough of me, that much is crystal clear.
With a sigh, I scale the staircase with its frost-tipped greenery, wondering how many more times I’ll get to make this journey to the girls’ tower. The plan is to stay here until tomorrow, then catch the earliest flight to America. There had been no real consideration as to where in America, only America in general, as though the priority was to kick me across to another continent as soon as humanly possible.
I turn back and watch the parents begin to file out of the hall. There isn’t much talk. I think I may have ruined the happy jolly atmosphere the school had been aiming for.
When I see Danny and Finlay rushing upstairs together, all I want to do is hide.
I’ll never see them again…
My heart pangs at the sight of them and I curl my fingers around the trailing ivy. It’s real, I realize, as though the forest has come indoors.
For reasons I don’t understand, Danny is grinning at me. It’s a bright, deliriously happy thing.
“Where do you think you’re going?” he pants, coming to a stop beside me. “You werephenomenal. You were the star of tonight — no offense, Fin.”
I know he’s just being kind, but his easy praise lifts my heart nevertheless.
“No offense taken, Dan,” Finlay replies, just as smooth. Wait,Dan?Dan and Fin? Since when have Danny and Finlay been on buddy-buddy nickname terms? I give them both a weird look, my body still doubled over the banister.
Like a hungry tiger, Finlay’s gaze skims every patch of bared skin displayed by the opening of my black robe. I don’t understand why. I’m a disaster.
But then Finlay murmurs in a quiet voice that’s for my ears only, “Was kinda hot, watchin’ you dance wi’ the others.”
I turn my head in his direction. These aren’t the words I expected. These aren’t the words I ever expected. Maybe “it was kinda hot” at a push — it’s what I’d been aiming for, after all. A way to ensnare these stupid boys’ attention. Apparently, from Finlay’s words, it’s easier than I thought. But it’s the last part, the “watching you dance with the others” part, that really sets the butterflies free. Finlay’s easy way with compliments, with charm… I can barely look at him, I’m still so embarrassed about exactly what I did on stage.
When Finlay looks at me in that way, like I’m something worth admiring, then it’s not as easy to remain cool and unaffected. It’s not as easy to do basic things, like breathe or blink. I think I’m blinking too fast — and breathing? Well, I’ve forgotten how to do that entirely.
“I need to go,” I tell them numbly. “I have to pack.”
“You don’t have to packnow,” Danny says, taking my hand and ushering me into a small dance. I succumb, just because it’s Danny. He doesn’t know. Neither of them does. When I mean pack, I mean forever. And I… I don’t want to ruin this moment. This rare moment of joy, dancing in Danny’s arms, with Finlay watching behind us.
“You.”
I hear his voice before I know he’s there. I feel Finlay react first, tensing like he’s about to pounce.
I turn my head to see Rory quickly stomping upstairs, his storm-gray eyes set on me.
“What doyouwant?” Danny says, instantly moving in front of me. I hold his arm, stroking the soft cotton of his school shirt. There’s a fierce look on his face like he really doesn’t like Rory. Like it goes beyond what I know about them — a shared personal history that escapes me but still reverberates between them today. There’s something about Danny’s cold tone that brings to mind the time he called Rory a coward, and when Rory had given him an amused little smile in response.
“Cute bodyguard, little saint,” Rory says, his gaze never leaving my face.
But I feel Danny tense in front of me, and I feel Finlay’s eyes on all of us, like he’s waiting for his moment to step in.
“I want to talk to you,” Rory commands, and he holds out his hand. He’s wearing a serious expression, the kind of expression that’s used for double-bluffing.
I don’t trust Rory. I never have.
But there’s something that draws me to him, and that, I believe, draws him to me. And so, out of curiosity, I find myself yielding to his coldly spoken demands, slipping past Danny to stand beside him.
I don’t take his hand, however.
