But in truth, I’m the idiot. I wonder just how obvious my attraction is or if Lexington is just particularly good at deciphering my feelings because he’s known me a long time. When you grow up around people, especially in towns as small as Fury Hill, their nuances are second nature to you.
He seemed to know about my attraction to people regardless of their gender before the rest of town did, sometime back when I was a teenager. It’d been a common question, as I devoted a lot of time to the Westwoods’ only son, Zachary, and folks are naturally curious.
Giving Zachary my virginity had only solidified the fact that it wasn’t just women I was interested in. I desiredpeopleand didn’t spend much time taking gender into consideration past that.
I’ve never felt the need to formally address my pansexuality, as if it were some secret that changed who I was. Many of Fury Hill’s residents are openly queer as it stands, so it isn’t as if this made me different.
Wanting an Anderson, though, would cause them to stumble a bit. Especially one as formidable and disruptive as Elle.
I don’t even notice she’s standing before me until she’s practically falling into my lap, leaning in with narrowed eyes. She rakes her gaze over me as though she’s searching for flaws or evidence of some misdeed.
Instinctively, I jerk backward, my knees catching on the edge of the stage. She shouldn’t be this close in general, but certainly not when there are other students still lingering in the auditorium.
“Someone’s jumpy,” she says.
“You shouldn’t sneak up on people.”
“I’d hardly call approaching you in classsneaking up. It’s not my fault you weren’t paying attention.”
Sighing, I pinch the bridge of my nose. A migraine skirts around the outside of my skull, peeking in as Elle’s presence taunts me. “What can I do for you, Ms. Anderson?”
“I’ve been thinking?—”
“Dangerous.”
She frowns, glaring at me. “I want to joinVisio Aternae.”
“Haven’t we already discussed this?”
“No,youdiscussed it with yourself. You didn’t even give me a chance to make a case for why I’d be a good addition.”
“You wouldn’t,” I tell her, looking quickly around the room at her remaining peers. “They’re a philanthropic student organization. Unlike the Curators, whose focus is networking, or even the Daughters of Persephone with their secretive enrollment efforts, Visio Aternae is entirely merit based, open to anyone who wants to join, and focused on bettering the community. But that opportunity cuts off at the start of the semester, and I’m afraid you wouldn’t be a good fit.”
Percy pushes Meg up the aisle, leaving Lexington behind as he speaks with a couple ofCuratorstoward the middle of the room. Sabrina sits right up front, her eyes glued to us, and I wonder how much she can hear.
Elle crosses her arms. “Factually untrue, and I have a résumé to prove it. From ages nine to fourteen, I spent every summer at theater camps that ‘benefited the community.’ We put on plays to raise money for animal welfare, food pantries, and arts subsidies. From fifteen to eighteen, I volunteered as a counselor at these camps, so I know how to organize and delegate. I’m familiar with the acting world, and I’mtalented.”
“Yet you’re the only student of mine who didn’t audition for their place in my class. Something I require for all incoming enrollees.”
“If you’d like, I can still do it.”
For some reason, that idea makes my heart thump faster. I look at Sabrina from the corner of my eye, then focus back on Elle. “Perhaps this conversation would be better suited for a different time.”
She blinks. “It sounds like you’re trying to brush me off so you can pretend I agreed to drop it.”
“I’m just suggesting that this may not be the best setting for a discussion that has nothing to do with our class. I like to compartmentalize so I don’t lose sight of my goals.”
She looks down and to the side for a moment, as if trying to understand where my attention drifted. Clearing her throat, she nods. “Fine. Tell me where you’d like to finish.”
Warmth spreads its limbs down the sides of my neck. I wonder if she even realizes how often she engages in double speak.
“You may visit during office hours. They’re posted on the schedule in the annex.” I pause, groaning internally as Lexington turns, evidently waiting for her to join him. When I speak again, I lower my voice. “Though if you want to prove you’re serious about the organization, you may want to reconsider the company you keep.”
She glances over her shoulder, then back at me, her mouth twitching. “I wasn’t asking for advice.”
“As the faculty sponsor for Visio Aternae and the one who decides enrollment, I’m giving it free of charge. Lexington Abbott is trouble.”
He isn’t. Not any more than the other students, but I don’t like the way he’s looking at her. I didn’t like it in the Apollodorus basement, and that hasn’t changed.
