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I narrowed my eyes. “You don’t think they would like me?”
“I think they would like you too much,” he muttered under his breath.
“Somehow word hasn’t spread yet about you’re different. I think it’s best we keep it that way for as long as possible.” Theo kept his eyes on his plate.
I turned to Hannah and Daniel. “What does he mean?”
Daniel shrugged. Hannah was still glaring at Sai and Theo, so Malik answered, “Most people don't know about you having two affinities. Either the witches haven’t noticed you going to two classes or they don’t care.”
“Oh, they will.” Hannah’s voice was low. “They just haven’t realized it yet. It’s only been a week, and she’s kept a pretty low profile.”
“It’s a matter of time,” Sai agreed.
“So what? You said people would want to be friends with me when they found out. That doesn’t mean anything to me. I don’t want to be friends with people who are only interesting in what I can offer them. I’m not ditching you guys.” None of them seemed to believe me. I wasn’t sure how to make them trust me. It would take more than words. I’d prove it to them.
“Once you realize what some of the others can offeryou,it could change your mind.” Hannah’s shoulders slumped.
“What could anyone offer me that’s better than what you guys have already done? You all stuck it out with me this weekend. You sacrificed so much time and energy to make sure I passed that exam, and thanks to you guys, I can stay in this year and on track. There’s nothing that can beat that. I promise.”
They went silent at my declaration until Malik slammed his fist on the table. “That’s it. I don’t care what the rest of you say, we’re keeping her.”
Sai balled up a napkin and threw it across the table at him. “Shut up.”
Theo shook his head. “Don’t listen to him. If anything, we’d vote to kick him out to make room for you.”
“Oh, in a heartbeat,” Sai said.
I smiled at their teasing, but their easy banter put me on edge. I got the initial impression Theo and Sai were friendly, but not actually close friends. After this weekend and seeing how they interacted, I realized how wrong I was. They had different class schedules, which was why they were rarely with each other throughout the day, but now I knew they were really close, which was bad news for me.
How was I supposed to hide my crushes, as teeny tiny as they might be, on both of them? What would happen when they talked about me and realized I flirted with both of them? That I was drawn to both of them?
I’d never been in a love triangle before, not that I was in one now, but as romantic as they seemed in books, I doubted having guys fight over me was something I’d enjoy. I needed to let one, or both, of them down. But how could I choose?
“Saige?” Hannah’s voice cut through my panic.
“Yeah?”
“We’re talking about the party. Do you want to do it in the woods?” I glanced around and realized everyone was watching me. How long had she been trying to get my attention?
“Sure.” Since I had zero experience with parties here, I wasn't sure why they were asking for my opinion. I didn't know any of the other options.
“We should have as many as we can while the weather is still nice and we can be outside,” Theo said.
“What do you mean?” He made it sound like there will come a time when we can’t be outside.
“Come November or December, we’ll be stuck inside until spring,” he answered. “Except for the shifters.”
“Yeah, most of us can brave the cold, and none of us want to go without shifting for months at a time,” Sai explained.
“How do we get to our classes if we don’t go outside?” I was obviously missing something if no one else seemed to think it was a big deal.
“The tunnels the vampires without amulets use,” Theo replied.
Oh. Right. Daniel mentioned those, but I hadn’t given them much thought.
“All the buildings, even the barn, are connected through the tunnels. It takes longer to get from place to place, especially with everyone having to use them at the same time, but it works.” Hannah took another bite of cake.
The entire campus crammed into tunnels? That wasn’t something I wanted to spend too much time thinking about.
