“Chill. I liked it.”
“Do you think I could transfer?” she asked.
“I don’t see why not.”
She skewed up her face. “Anything would be better than Heritage at this point.”
I texted her Julieta Cabrera’s email. “This is their guidance counselor. She is also their registrar. She is super nice. Like, she is the only reason I didn’t drop out in my freshman year.”
“What happened?”
“I didn’t know how to people. I was also angry and got upset over stupid, small shit and then let it spiral me out. Sometimes I would go and just sit in her office. It’s so nice. She has scented candles, and it’s quiet. It helped me with my temper.”
Tia sighed. “Not punching people is hard.”
“Yes. I had a real struggle while talking to Phillip. I had to leave him in the cistern for most of the conversation, because I didn’t trust myself. How did you put up with him for so long?”
“Like I said, he wasn’t like that at first. I was awkward. Those assholes look down on me because of my family and because I’m… I’m me. He was the only one who would talk to me. And then the tampon thing happened.”
“What changed, do you think?”
She snorted. “I know exactly what changed. I was there. We were in the lounge waiting for the assembly, and people weretalking about House warfare. Seth Floris made a joke. He said that if shit hit the fan, Phillip would be the only one to survive, because he would hide behind me.”
“True.”
“I know! And Seth didn’t mean it in a bad way. We spar sometimes. He was just giving me a compliment. People laughed. Phillip got this weird look, and now four months later he is AlphaBullshitProtocol or whatever that was.”
One joke. That’s all it took. Wow.
She leaned back and sighed. “I do not want to go back to that school. I just… I can’t. And my dad made a big deal out of me going to Heritage.”
“Talk to Ms. Cabrera. She will help. If anybody can talk your dad into it, she will do it.”
“Thanks,” Tia said.
“Any time. Do you mind if I ask you something?”
“Ask.”
“What is it with Ray and money questions?”
Tia rolled her eyes. “The Veiled Atelier.”
“The gacha game? The one where you buy the outfits?”
She nodded. “They had a special event and I got carried away.”
“How carried away?”
“Four thousand dollars.”
I almost choked on my steak.
“I was depressed.”
“4K worth of depressed?!”
She shrugged. “They’ve cut my allowance by half until I pay it off. Ray got the worst of it. His job title says bodyguard, but he’s more like my nanny. He was supposed to supervise me.”
