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Blake paused his waving, seemingly surprised. “That’s all? Why haven’t one of you already paid it?” He jerked his head toward his cousins. “Come on, guys, our family is crazy rich. 10k is nothing.”
Theo pursed his lips. “We’ve all offered, but Raina would prefer we didn’t.”
“We’re all working together to do this,” Raina informed Blake. “It’s not a ‘one person pays for it all and then we’re done’ thing.”
“Fine. Your loss, then.”
Dean sighed audibly. “Zara, why don’t we go to the library? You have math homework to do.”
Raina glanced over at Zara, only then noticing her pale, clenched fists.
“Fine.” Zara stood, shoving her chair away from the table before she stormed out of the room.
Dean gave everyone an apologetic look before following his twin, and Raina exchanged knowing glances with Gracie. Zara must have been really upset in order for her to leave the table to domath homework.
Blake coughed. “Was it something I said?”
ChapterTwenty-Five
“We can only work for an hour or two,” Nicole said distractedly, her eyes darting across her laptop screen as she moved to sit cross-legged on the common room floor with her laptop resting on her knees.
With all the hustle and chatter around, Raina had paid more attention to overhearing conversations than to writing her essay. She would’ve suggested they go up to their dorm, but with Blake’s appearance at Trinity yesterday, the Ashcrofts and Gracie were holed up there.
“Got it. Do you have plans later tonight?”
Nicole stretched her arms above her head, grabbing her phone from her bag. “It’s family dinner tonight,” she said as she checked her messages.
Raina frowned, her mind jumping to the Ashcrofts. They were the only people who had enough family here to have an actual family dinner. “You have family dinner too?”
“No, Theo decided he wanted to have a family dinner with the family members that he actually likes. Kind of as afuck youto his dad, but also because he pointedly decided not to invite Blake.”
“Oh,” Raina said quietly.
Did it mean something that Nicole was invited and she wasn’t? Gracie, being Dean’s girlfriend, would’ve been invited. Why hadn’t she?
“Jesse didn’t tell you?” It was a question, not a statement.
Raina closed her laptop halfway. “Tell me what?”
“Ugh, that boy can’t do anything. I don’t know why I even bother with him.” Nicole flipped open her copy ofRomeo and Juliet, sticking her nose in the pages as she spoke. “You’re invited, too.”
Raina was so incredibly confused. “Um. I am?”
“Oh yeah,” Nicole said, her fingers now flying over her keyboard. Every couple of seconds, she’d pick up the book and glance down at the page before going back to her computer. “So it’s not an official family dinner, but since Aaron and Alex haven’t made any moves to reschedule, Theo took it on himself to arrange a dinner for tonight. Dean invited the adults, but who knows if they’ll show up. I think Dean’s hoping at least one of them does. Personally, I’m rooting for Aaron. Zara’s more likely to blow up at him, and that’s always amusing.”
“Why?”
“She’ll hold back with Alex for Theo’s sake. Anyway, Jesse was in charge of telling you. Clearly, he didn’t.”
Other than a quick good morning text, Raina hadn’t spoken to Jesse today. She shook her head in answer to Nicole’s question.
Nicole sighed. “He had one simple task. Well, now you know. What are you writing your essay about?”
“I chose the question about the contrast between Romeo and Juliet,” Raina replied, transitioning to the new topic. “I’m writing about how Romeo often acts before thinking; contrary to Juliet, who uses logic throughout the play.”
“But in the end, Juliet ‘takes over’ Romeo’s impulsiveness when she stabs herself,” Nicole pointed out. “How do you account for that?”
Raina looked at her thoughtfully. “That’s a good point. I hadn’t considered that. Maybe I’ll put in something about how people’s actions have effects on others.”
