AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Chapter 14 - Archer
Archer felt like he was hanging onto his sanity with his fingernails as the semester break made its agonizingly slow approach. He was spending just about every minute of his day waiting for the term to end… he’d even written up a countdown to hang up in his room, where he’d resolutely tick off each day as it passed. Two weeks wasn’t much time off, in the grand scheme of things, but at this point, he’d take what he could get. Even an hour out of this place would have been welcome.
Everything was a nightmare. He was pretty sure he was going to fail half of his exams, given how incomprehensible most of the revision guides they’d been handed were. Most of his professors were still hounding him for unfinished assignments that he hadn’t submitted, so he was flat out trying to scrape something together for all of those based on what little he remembered from the relevant parts of his classes. To make matters worse, all of his friends had suddenly developed an interest in their academic performance, so there wasn’t even anyone to hang out with when he needed to blow off steam. That meant he was spending a lot of time alone, and time alone had never been good for Archer.
He just kept replaying the confrontation in the Great Hall over and over in his mind. Every single time he did, he came to a different conclusion. She’d been too cold. He’d been too casual. No, she was the villain here, storming off before they could talk about it more. No, he was the asshole, he was the one who’d blocked her initial attempts. No, it was her who’d confronted him in public—some shitty power move, or something. It was manipulative. No, it was brave.
But no matter which way he looked at it, it didn’t change the underlying truth that Morgan was never going to want to have anything to do with him, ever again.
Why did that bother him so much? He was no stranger to the wrath of women he’d had entanglements with… not every one-night stand or casual fling had ended with the mutual acceptance of everyone involved. He generally tried to make it clear that he was there for a good time, not a long time, but there were always women who got the wrong idea, expected more of him than he was willing to give. It was always unfortunate, but he’d gotten pretty good at detaching himself, and it never played on his mind very long. Unless they made the mistake of trying to play the ‘soulmate’ card with him. That was a surefire way to make him angry.
That archaic, old-fashioned crap wasn’t something he had any time for, and he always felt grossed out when the subject came up. His mother and father had always been dismissive of the idea, to the point that he’d been well into his adolescence before he’d learned that most dragons took it very seriously. He’d been utterly flabbergasted. People really believed that there was some magical romantic destiny out there for them? That one day, they’d lock eyes with a complete stranger and fall wildly in love with them forever? That forming an intimate partnership with someone was the kind of decision you could base on gut instinct and nothing else? Not that intuition wasn’t real, of course… he had a lot of faith in his gut. But it had to be backed up by something. If he ever felt like settling down with someone, the decision was going to take a lot of careful thought.
That was how his mother and father had gotten together, after all. It had taken years of discussion, not only between the potential couple but between their families and their business partners, too. His mother’s family had considerable wealth as a result of land and real estate holdings on Isthmus, and while his father lacked generational wealth, what he did have was a promising young business that needed an investment to take it to the next level. The match had been perfect, and both families had profited handsomely from the partnership… not to mention Archer’s mother and father, who as co-owners of the company, were now two of the wealthiest individuals across the known world. Did they owe that to impulsive romantic decisions? Absolutely not.
Sex and romance were fun, certainly… but they had nothing to do with more serious relationships, that was what his father had always told him. Maybe that was why he was so annoyed by Morgan’s attitude to the rumors spreading about them. So what if people thought they’d slept together? It wouldn’t have mattered if they had. Sex didn’t mean anything. As for the kiss they’d shared…
That was always the point in his reflections where he’d get out of his seat and go and find something new to distract himself with.
The exams flew by in a haze of dread. Archer did his level best to at least attempt an answer at all of the questions, but the relief of getting out of the exam hall on the last day was tempered by the grim suspicion that he hadn’t done well. Well, there was no helping it now. All he could do was start to prepare for the inevitable tongue-lashing from his mother and father once they got word of his poor grades. It was probably too much to hope that they’d pull him out of the school, he thought with a heavy sigh.
The whole university was abuzz with energy on the last day of the term. Everyone was looking forward to getting home for the two-week break, catching up with family, getting some rest time before the next term began. The ebullient atmosphere in the halls couldn’t have been more different from the grim pre-exam quiet. It made Archer feel like he was stuck in the past as he walked through the halls to a destination he didn’t want to reach. That morning, exam results had been posted. But before he’d had a chance to look at them, he’d received word that the Dean wanted to see him in his office. Something told him he wasn’t going to be receiving a commendation for his work ethic.
“Archer, thank you for coming. Please take a seat.”
The old dragon’s face always had been hard to read. That polite, professional mask he wore reminded Archer of his father, which always put him on edge. He sat on the uncomfortable chair opposite the Dean’s beautifully carved wooden desk, and braced himself for the bad news. Whatever it was, he wasn’t going to let it ruin his holiday.
“Firstly, I wanted to offer my thanks for your assistance with the school’s social calendar this term. I’ve heard nothing but good things about the events you’ve arranged.”
Archer managed a smile, but right now, nothing could be further from his mind than parties. The end-of-term bash was still going ahead that night, but he’d organized the whole thing on autopilot, his mind heavy with other concerns. His heart just wasn’t in it anymore. “It was nothing. Parties plan themselves, really, if you get the right people involved.”
“Don’t undervalue a skill just because it seems to come naturally to you,” the Dean told him firmly. “Let me assure you, this school has had its share of unsuccessful social events.” He took a breath. “But I’m afraid that I didn’t call you here just to discuss event planning.”
“I didn’t think so,” Archer said, unable to keep the exhaustion from his voice. “How bad is it?”
He sighed, lifting a sheet of paper from a pile on his desk. “Quite bad, I’m afraid, Archer. You’ve scraped by with a borderline pass for one of your subjects, but I’m afraid you’ve failed the others outright.”
Archer absorbed the information, feeling oddly hollow. It was worse than he’d thought. He’d known it was possible he’d failed one or two subjects, but nearly all of them? “Which—which did I pass?” he heard himself ask.
“Astronomy.” The Dean raised an eyebrow as he studied the sheet of paper in front of him. “Professor Rowton notes that your passing grade was secured by particularly good performance on the first assessment of the year.”
Of course, he thought, fighting the urge to scowl. Ofcoursehe wasn’t going to be able to get through this stupid conversation without yet another reminder of Morgan. It made sense that the assignment she’d helped him with was the one good thing he’d managed to do this year. Maybe if he’d managed not to be such an asshole, she’d have helped him with the others… “Okay. So I’ll have to retake the other three next term?”
“I’m afraid the situation is a little more serious than that,” the Dean said, his expression apologetic, though there was a faint sternness in his voice that made Archer sit up a little straighter. What was he getting at? “When Brisant was first founded, the failure of even one subject was grounds for the ejection of a student, who would then be required to reapply for admission. Since then, we’ve relaxed that restriction somewhat… but it does remain in the school’s governing documents that a student who fails more than half of their subjects in any given term is not invited to re-enroll.”
“Not invited…” He swallowed hard. “Are you saying I’m going to be expelled?” He could feel his heart pounding, adrenaline surging through him. Getting bad grades was one thing, but being asked to leave the university altogether? His father was never going to forgive him for this. There was a cold, icy weight in his stomach and only one question on his mind. “Does my father know?”
“No,” the Dean said immediately, and there was something cryptic in his expression. “My first responsibility is to my students, not to their families. You and I and your teachers are the only people who are aware of this.”
“Great,” Archer said numbly, slumping back in the chair. “Guess I get to break the good news to him myself. What a treat.”
“It may not need to come to that.” Archer’s gaze shot up. The Dean was looking at him intently, and Archer felt hope flare treacherously to life in his chest. Hope was a dangerous thing, he reminded himself. Hope made disappointment all the more painful…
“What are you saying, sir?”
“I know your father quite well, Archer. I’m not sure if he ever mentioned that he and I were classmates here?”
Archer nodded, watching the Dean closely. His father had mentioned it a few times, usually as a means of reinforcing his reputation as a man with connections. Any friend in a sufficiently high-status position tended to get mentioned a lot in Archer’s family home. Was the Dean going to let him stay as a favor to his father? It wouldn’t be the first time he’d gotten special treatment because of who his family was, though people weren’t usually so explicit about what they were doing.
