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“You know, I really don’t mind giving you some money,” she says.
The offer is even more tempting now, but I still shake my head. “I’ll handle it.”
“Are you working tonight?” she asks. “Want to meet for dinner after classes?”
“I’m on the late shift tonight, but I can eat with you beforehand.”
XV
Tori
Iknow from clocking out this morning, that this evening, I’ll be in the kitchen on dish duty. For the last couple of weeks, aside from a couple of difficult students like Pepper-Rose, where I’ve made sure to be particularly careful with how I serve them, for the most part, most people ignore me.
Since I started in the dining hall, the amount of people who bump into me, acting like I’m not there to the point they don’t even acknowledge they’ve knocked me, seems to be increasing daily. There are a couple of people in some of my classes, and it’s the same.
Like I don’t exist.
Maybe there really are people out there who just don’t acknowledge people’s existence when they have certain jobs or status.
With every class I attend, the homework seems to double. I’ve saved a little bit more money, and this weekend, I hope to get into Keyingham to buy a couple of books, which should help cut down the amount of time I spend in the library. Even doing the bare minimum just to pass is sucking up all my free time.
Penny is in a bubbly mood all through dinner, looking forward to tonight already because she has a ‘date’ with Jake and Nicole. But I’ve stopped paying attention.
Royal has walked in.
He’s one of the people who seem to be completely oblivious to my existence. Even when he comes up for food, and I say hello, he doesn’t even react. It’s like I imagined speaking.
It’s not like I was expecting a proposal after our hookup, but even I have to admit him acting like he can’t see me does hurt more than I want it to.
This evening, Royal is with Syn and Gemini. I’ve noticed that the three of them don’t tend to eat breakfast together all the time. For the past few days, it’s usually Syn and Royal with Gemini appearing later—if at all. I’ve not worked over the lunch hours because of my classes, but when I’ve been in to eat, their table is always empty.
This week, it’s been hit and miss for even just one of them to eat in the evening.
I’m not even sure why I care.
“I’ve already arranged for a car to pick us up. Tori?”
“Us?” I tune back into Penny. Sitting opposite me, she’s staring expectantly. Our food was finished a while ago, but we’re still in the dining hall, waiting.
“We’re going to Manhattan tomorrow. You said you’d go with me.”
Trying to keep a distance from Penny has been impossible. Although, at this point, I’m not even sure I want to. It’s been so long since I’ve had a friend, and she’s always appearing, waiting for me so we can go eat together, that I… like it.
While she doesn’t join me at the library—and mostly, we’re in different classes anyway—for our Comm class, I usually join her in her room, studying as we graze on snacks.
Penny is… nice. She’s smart and determined, and the more time I spend around her, the more I start to believe that she really could change the country one day.
“I did, and I will,” I tell her as my eyes drift over to Royal, Syn and Gemini. They’re at their usual table. There are twelve first year students, and they all seem to rotate serving those three. Currently, a guy called Devon and a girl called Margarite are clearing their finished plates away.
Over the past few weeks, I’ve learned a little more about them. Syn is this year’s president of the Elite, and as his best friends, Royal and Gemini, have earned vice-president status. From what I can gather, their service is part of the hazing of the freshmen initiates.
Of course, there’s no such thing as hazing on this campus because that’s illegal… but from some of the college horror stories I’ve heard, this is easy.
“Good.” Penny gives me a bright smile before frowning as she picks up her phone for the dozenth time. She lets out a loud sigh before setting it back down. “For fuck’s sake, when are they going to give this big announcement?”
Earlier in the afternoon, between classes, a campus-wide message was sent out. Naturally, the first reaction was panic, because why would a message be sent to everyone unless something was wrong. But it turned out to be a message requiring all students be present in the dining hall for a 7 p.m. announcement.
Whatever it is, it’s the last thing on my mind. I’m more preoccupied with the fact that practically every chair in the dining hall—which is big enough to seat almost every student at the university—is taken. And that means the pile of dishes I’ve got waiting for me in an hour is going to be enormous.
