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I looked down at my ripped jeans and University of Oregon T-shirt. Yeah. Definitely not wearing this.
Fifteen minutes later, we cut across the quad back over to the commons, laughing as we recounted how a particularly clumsy classmate of ours had given himself a black eye in practice this week. Moving quickly over the frozen ground wasn't easy in heels, and he kept grabbing my arm to keep me from falling over, half-dragging me along. It made us laugh that much more. A happy feeling started to well up in me - I wasn't entirely rid of the ache for Lissa, but this was a start.
Maybe I didn't have her and her friends, but I had my own friends. It was also very likely that I was going to get head-over-heels drunk tonight, which, while not a great way to solve my problems, would at least be really fun. Yeah. My life could be worse.
Then we ran into Dimitri and Alberta.
They were on their way somewhere else, talking guardian business. Alberta smiled when she saw us, giving us the kind of indulgent look older people always give to younger people who appear to be having fun and acting silly. Like she thought we were cute. The nerve. We stumbled to a halt, and Mason put a hand on my arm to steady me.
"Mr. Ashford, Miss Hathaway. I'm surprised you aren't already in the commons."
Mason gave her an angelic, teacher's-pet smile. "Got delayed, Guardian Petrov. You know how it is with girls. Always got to look perfect. You especially must know all about that."
Normally I would have elbowed him for saying something so stupid, but I was staring at Dimitri and incapable of speech. Perhaps more importantly, he was staring at me too.
I had on the black dress, and it was everything I'd hoped it could be. In fact, it was a wonder Alberta didn't call me on the dress code right there and then. The fabric clung everywhere, and no Moroi girl's chest could have held this dress up. Victor's rose hung around my neck, and I'd done a hasty blow-dry of my hair, leaving it down the way I knew Dimitri liked it. I hadn't worn tights because no one wore tights with dresses like this anymore, so my feet were freezing in the heels. All for the sake of looking good.
And I was pretty sure I looked damn good, but Dimitri's face wasn't giving anything away. He just looked at me - and looked and looked. Maybe that said something about my appearance in and of itself. Remembering how Mason sort of held my hand, I pulled away from him. He and Alberta finished up their joking remarks, and we all went our separate ways.
Music blasted inside the commons when we arrived, white Christmas lights and - ugh - a disco ball casting the only light in the otherwise darkened room. Gyrating bodies, mostly underclassmen, packed the dance floor. Those who were our age stood in too-cool clusters along the edges of the room, waiting for an opportune time to sneak off. An assortment of chaperones, guardians and Moroi teachers alike, patrolled around, breaking up those dancers who did a little too much gyrating.
When I saw Kirova in a sleeveless plaid dress, I turned to Mason and said, "Are you sure we can't hit the hard liquor yet?"
He snickered and took my hand again. "Come on, time for your surprise."
Letting him lead me, I walked across the room, cutting through a cluster of freshmen who looked way too young to be doing the kind of pelvic thrusts they were attempting.
Where were the chaperones when you needed them? Then I saw where he was leading me and came to a screeching halt.
"No," I said, not budging when he tugged my hand.
"Come on, it's going to be great."
"You're taking me to Jesse and Ralf. The only way I can ever be seen with them is if I've got a blunt object, and I'm aiming between their legs."
He pulled me again. "Not anymore. Come on."
Reluctant, I finally started moving: my worst fears were realized when a few pairs eyes turned our way. Great. Everything was starting all over again. Jesse and Ralf didn't notice us at first, but when they did, an amusing array of expressions played over their faces. First they saw my body and the dress. Testosterone took over as pure male lust shone out of their faces. Then they seemed to realize it was me and promptly turned terrified. Cool.
Mason gave Jesse a sharp poke in the chest with the end of his finger. "All right, Zeklos. Tell her."
Jesse didn't say anything, and Mason repeated the gesture, only harder.
"Tell her."
Not meeting my eyes, Jesse mumbled, "Rose, we know none of that stuff happened."
I almost choked on my own laughter. "Do you? Wow. I'm really glad to hear that. Because you see, until you said that, I'd been thinking it had happened. Thank God you guys are here to set me straight and tell me what the hell I have or haven't done!"
They flinched, and Mason's light expression darkened to something harder.
"She knows that," he growled. "Tell her the rest."
Jesse sighed. "We did it because Mia told us to."
"And?" prompted Mason.
"And we're sorry."
Mason turned to Ralf. "I want to hear it from you, big boy."
Ralf wouldn't meet my eyes either, but he mumbled something that sounded vaguely like an apology.
Seeing them defeated, Mason turned chipper. "You haven't heard the best part yet."
I cut him a sidelong look. "Yeah? Like the part where we rewind time and none of this ever happened?"
"Next best thing." He tapped Jesse again. "Tell her. Tell her why you did it."
Jesse looked up and exchanged uneasy looks with Ralf.
"Boys," warned Mason, clearly delighted about something, "you're making Hathaway and me very angry. Tell her why you did it."
Wearing the look of one who realized things couldn't get any worse, Jesse finally met my eyes. "We did it because she slept with us. Both of us."
TWENTY
MY MOUTH DROPPED OPEN. "Uh...wait...you mean sex?"
My astonishment prevented me from thinking of a better response. Mason thought it was hysterical. Jesse looked like he wanted to die.
"Of course I mean sex. She said she'd do it if we said that we'd...you know..."
I made a face. "You guys didn't both, uh, do it at the same time, did you?"
"No," said Jesse in disgust. Ralf kind of looked like he wouldn't have minded.
"God," I muttered, pushing hair out of my face. "I can't believe she hates us that much."
"Hey," exclaimed Jesse, reading into my insinuation. "What's that supposed to mean? We're not that bad. And you and me - we were pretty close to - "
"No. We weren't even close to that." Mason laughed again, and something struck me. "If this...if this happened back then, though...she must have still been dating Aaron."
