I put a finger to my temple in a miniature salute. “If you want to apologise and grovel your way back into my affections, you know where to find me.”
I walk away from her, not bothering to turn and check that her mouth is hanging open in fury at my lack of apology. What does she expect? If we were allowed free rein to date whoever we like, Kari would come well down the list.
She’s beautiful. Cultured. Polished. Completely free from the burden of human emotion.
I can’t imagine her coming apart in my arms like George did last night. Even during an orgasm, Kari’s more concerned about how she looks than how she feels. Everything’s staged.
Fair enough. I don’t imagine it’s easy for a girl to be raised in our fathers’ world, but it’s no fun for me, either.
My dad’s warning echoes in my mind. I need to make up with her, make sure she lets Soren know I’m back to toeing the line.
But a day of fun at her expense surely isn’t too much to ask. She’s the one who started this mess, after all.
I push all thought of Kari out of my mind as I take my seat inclass beside Calvin, one of the school’s more studious geeks. Given the competition, that’s saying something.
“Need a favour.”
His eyes cut across to me, staring for a long moment, then he shrugs. “Long as you’re paying.”
“Of course.”
I take out the small plastic bag with one pill remaining. It didn’t poison George but I’m still curious about what’s in it. Her reaction to me forcing her to take it means she didn’t bring it along with her to guarantee a good time.
The moment my thoughts became less clouded by alcohol, I realised it was unlikely she brought the pills along with her at all. Tandi would have mentioned something, even in a quiet aside, if she discovered it while dressing her.
That means she got them from someone inside the house. If a staff member’s handing out drugs at the mansion, I want to know who and I want to know exactly what.
Depending upon those answers, I might ask more important questions like how much and what else can you source because I’m also in search of a break and the usual avenues are hard to navigate when your dad owns the means and methods of supply for half the city.
It doesn’t help that he’s teetotal. Foreverything.
No wonder the bastard’s so mean. He never gets a break from himself, and I can vouch for how horrendous it is to be stuck in his company.
“Soon as you can,” I finish with, after giving Calvin his instructions.
While I’m slaying tasks, I text through to Alastair, a friend of mine who’s good at sourcing things that are hard to find. I give him the brief description that George gave me of hermother’s engagement ring and wedding band, along with the photo I took of her dad for my records.
It’s probably stupid, but I like the idea of replacing them and handing the jewellery back to her. She won’t ever have to know they were gone, though sparing her father his rightful wad of guilt pains me.
Even before deciding she could be a last-minute fill-in for my date, the sight of that empty box tugged at a sympathetic nerve that, if asked, I would have sworn was long dead. To make her whole, give her a piece of her mother back, feels like a good use of my time.
Especially, if she’s grateful.
I bet a grateful George is even more amenable to being touched than an indebted one. I bet a grateful George would be happy to, as my dad said,be discreet.
The jewellery will be a pain to find if it can even be done, but Alastair is my guy because he doesn’t share those concerns with his customers. He gives me a thumbs up and a cash emoji, leaving me free to go about the rest of my day.
If only everyone in my life was that easy to manage.
After second period, there’s a fifteen-minute break between our next classes. Not enough time to run back to my room and grab a nap, though that’s what I want most in the world.
I sit outside the maths block, crunching on a couple more paracetamol while a few guys chatter about the winter ball coming up next month.
Last year, it had been a much bigger deal. There’d been some elaborate invitations, the results filmed and uploaded. Mostly by the askee but with one memorable declinature, it’d been uploaded by a parade of gleeful observers instead.
This year, the faculty has specifically requestedwe not do that. Part of me wants to kick up against the order, but most of me is relieved.
For the previous invite, I paid for some kid to write a poem and set up Kari’s locker to look all fancy. Rose petals, champagne, gold letters on the invitation. She’d jumped up and down, all excited, like I had any choice but to ask her. But back then, we were still playing the game. Pretending that a relationship was exactly what we wanted.
