“I’m sorry,” he found himself saying. “I’ve been neglectful.”
“Not at all,” Sila corrected. “I enjoy your company. There are different levels to friendship, Trace. We don’t need to exchange diaries for me to consider us as such. I’m only curious what incited this change in you, that’s all.”
He snorted. “Shouldn’t I be the one saying that about you?”
“I’m a sophomore,” he shrugged. “I have to open up sometime.”
“Ouch.”
Instead of apologizing, Sila merely grinned and tapped the table. “Tell me what’s up. Maybe I can help, maybe I can’t, but neither of us will know until you ask me.”
“I have a date,” he said, opting to just rip the Band-Aid off and be done with it. “I’ve noticed you a few times with…” He paused, realizing he actually didn’t know if any of the people he’d spotted Sila with were potential romantic partners or merely other classmates he was getting to know.
“Ah,” he tapped his fingers again, the smile still in place. “You’re asking for dating advice. Is this your first date?”
He glanced around, a bit embarrassed by that, but if any of the other students packed into the cafeteria was paying them notice he couldn’t tell. “Yeah.”
“That’s nothing to be ashamed of,” Sila reassured. “Everyone’s got their own pace. Who’s the person?”
“I don’t know,” Rabbit said, elaborating when that had his friend quirking a questioning brow. “I mean, I haven’t met her yet. It’s an arranged meeting by our parents.”
“Potential marriage match?”
“Basically.”
“Do they go here?”
“No, they attend Guest.”
“The Fine Arts Academy?” Sila let out a low whistle. “Nice. Sounds like you two will have plenty to talk about.”
“Does it?” He wasn’t so sure.
“You’re both artists,” he shrugged.
“Dating someone like me doesn’t sound appealing.” As if it had a mind of its own, Rabbit’s hand slipped back into his pocket and this time he pulled the candy bar out, turning it a few times as he considered. His music kept him busy and distracted, but that now familiar panic always found a way to attack when he least expected it.
“Why not? You’re a catch,” Sila said. “You’re a prodigy with a set future, rich, hot, and you’ve got that whole mysterious thing men and women both eat up.”
Aside from that last part—which he wasn’t entirely sure he agreed with—all of those things simply meant Rabbit looked good on paper. In reality, he was an anxious mess with mommy issues. The only real thing he had going for him that he could see was at least he was self-aware enough to realize it.
“Is it a guy or a girl?” Sila asked absently, gulping down half his can of soda while he waited for a reply.
“Girl. She’s the daughter of this famous composer, Bin Zamir.”
“Doesn’t ring a bell.”
It wouldn’t since Sila wasn’t all that interested in the music scene despite it being a major cultural component to native Vitals—the people who originally populated the planet before intergalactic travel had come about over five hundred years ago.
“Did they show you a picture?” Sila motioned with his fingers for Rabbit to show him when he nodded in the affirmative and hummed when the picture was pulled up on his multi-slate and passed over for him to see. “She your type? We never discussed this before, have we?”
“We haven’t,” he said, taking the device back to peer down at the smiling image himself, “and yeah. She’s pretty.”
Arlet Zamir was a senior same as him and was apparently interested in getting married as soon as graduation. Her father was well-known throughout not only their galaxy, but the neighboring one as well, and Rabbit’s mother hadn’t held back when she’d pointed out how being a part of their family could aid his career in the future.
Because to December Trace, Rabbit would never be good enough to make it on his own.
He shoved that thought aside and focused on the picture, noting how friendly and open Arlet appeared to be. She had lovely lilac hair, silky and straight, shoulder length. Her eyes were round and the color of honey, practically gold in their luster.
