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Leo takes it from me, opening it before handing it back, dragging a chair along and placing it beside where he’s been so obviously sat stewing away. I sit with him, revelling in the simplicity of sitting with friends with a beer, as Wyatt begins to regale the tale of our last few hours.
But I can’t help how my gaze keeps flicking back to the escape rooms.
Did Emmerson and Jasper make it out in time? Are they on to the final, individual challenges? Who’s going to make it out and to the end? And who won’t?
ELEVEN
IVY
“So, is this all you do? Have pamper parties and drink coffee?” Ruby asks over the rim of her mug.
I think I prefer her casual indifference.
“Oh no, we’re having an actual party with the Devils at the weekend,” I reply, the words dripping with sarcasm.
Well, we are, but if she thinks that’s the sum of what’s going on here, she's got a lot to learn.
“Fun.”
“It’s about time we had a break from the rigorous lecture schedule and all this mentoring stuff.” As much as this feels like hard work right now, it’s not a chore.
The Big Sister training is only a couple of hours each week, and we’ve just started doing it by Zoom, which is much easier. No getting through the door, turning around and heading back out. Now we actually have time to turn around, it’s nice.
Or as nice as peer training can be, I suppose.
I was hoping the pamper session would have thawed her out a little, making it easier to talk, or at least be something more than trying to get blood from a stone, but it’s not quite worked that way.
There was definitely an interest in the Devils, Wyatt particularly, but her shyness around Leo is what caught my eye. She was bold around Nick and Jacob, and didn’t really pay any attention to the rest of the guys, but whenever Leo was in the vicinity she almost shrunk into herself.
He didn’t notice, but when do they ever? And I missed a lot of their interactions, too distracted by his dark eyes and the ripple of attraction that rolls between us. Perhaps that’s what she’s picking up on? Although, there’s a similar feeling around Wyatt and she’s definitely not noticing that.
God knows.
All I need at this point is for her to start getting to knowmea little better, and vice versa. I’m sure we’re not going to be tested on it, but this feels like something we’re being observed and marked on. Maybe not with an in or out decision like the Devils, but this isn’t without cause, I can feel it.
“Sounds taxing.”
“Hmm,” I reply. “And what do you do outside of attending college and meeting us?”
There’s got to be something exciting happening in her life, somewhere.
“Oh, you know, sex, drugs, and rock-and-roll.”
“Obviously,” I reply with a nonchalant shrug of my shoulders.
The conversation dries up, not that there’s been much of that as she snipes at every word from my mouth. My attention is grabbed by Stephanie gesturing her arms around wildly as she animatedly explains something at the other end of the coffee shop.
Why can’t our friendship come so easily? Why is this such a task?
“Do you know, Nick brought me here once,” I muse aloud. “When I first met him and Jacob, I didn’t realise they were twins. I’d only noticed one of them, so don’t hold it against me, but it took us all a minute to figure it out.” A smile creeps over my face as I remember the amused confusion on Jacob’s face as he joined Nick and me in that corridor.
The three of us were a boulder in the steady stream of people coming from their classes, and it feels like a lifetime ago. A group of barely adults dropped off, pushed out, or running from their families, seeking out a year or two for themselves. It’s hard to imagine that for some, this is all the freedom they’ll get.
Some of the students at Pendleton Prep will be heading to corporate jobs in firms created by their parents, or further back in their family history, going to roles that were selected for them a long time ago.At least I don’t have that to contend with.
No, in that respect I’m luckier than some.
“Anyway, he brought me for coffee, to get to know each other better after the mix-up,” I continue, attempting to shake off the memory.
