She frowns back at her phone. “Well, if you do see him in the next few minutes, will you let him know about the change?”
I blanch. Not only has she booked me on a stage with West, but now I’m expected to run errands for him?
She’s waiting for my response. I want to refuse, butwe’d hate to have to cancelis ringing in my ears. I promised myself that I wouldn’t be “difficult” this release cycle.
I sigh. It’s only fifteen minutes. It won’t even matter. “Sure. If I see him.”
“Perfect. See you Sunday!” She nods and hurries off, leaving me once again alone with too many thoughts. Maybe Daphne has the right idea with her endless audiobooks. I could use something to drown out my worries.
I don’t make it ten feet before I hear a low voice call my name. “Darling.”
Something heavy, and not half as unpleasant as I’d like, drops in my stomach.
“Why are youeverywheretoday?” I grouse, speeding up to make it harder for him to catch up with me. It doesn’t help, and he’s at my side in three long strides.
“Am I?”
“Yes,” I snap, thinking of the library stacks and the orange blossoms in the wind and the schedule in my hand. I can’t escape him.
“It’s notmyface on a banner in the bookstore,” he says.
I risk a sideways glance to find him staring down at me. “What do you want?”
“I wanted to let you know that I’ll save you a spot in my signing line.”
“How magnanimous of you.”
“There’s always space for my biggest fangirls.” He winks, and I loathe the way his eyes glitter almost as much as I hate the way my skin itches in response. I will not survive an entire weekend ofthis, but after my failed attempt to speak with Kate, I’m starting to worry that my original plan will not work. If the conference won’t kick West off the panel, one of us will have to drop out.
And it’s not going to be me.
I notice then that we’re walking toward Old Main, though his signing has been moved to the opposite end of the lawn. Something that feels suspiciously like inspiration flickers to life in my veins. It buzzes, growing, refusing to be ignored.
“Did you see the new schedule? I think your event was moved.”
“No.” West looks at me sharply. “Is that it?” He motions to the paper in my hand.
“There’s a bee problem. Very unfortunate. Can’t exterminate them without the utter collapse of our food production and ecosystem. And I know how much you like guacamole,” I say as I tilt the paper away from his face and pretend to read. “Your signing was moved to Modern Languages. Room 545.”
“Inside?”
“Several of the events are in classrooms.” Technically, this is true. Just not his.
He glances at the time, and his eyes widen as he realizes he only has a couple of minutes before his signing starts. “Thanks for letting me know.” He nods goodbye and jogs north toward the Modern Languages building.
I bite my lip as I watch him go. It’s not the cleverest idea I’ve ever had, but I didn’t have much time. With a few hours of planning, maybe I can figure out a way to make his weekend so miserable that he quits.
I remember my conversation with Daphne and grin.
Revenge arc, indeed.
10
13 Years Ago
Freshman Year, Second Semester
Failing a testis a bit like falling down a hill. You trip and lose your footing, and then you’re sliding. You put out your hands and scrabble for purchase. You grab for a rock or a tree, anything to stop the momentum. It might feel slow at first, fixable even. If not this question, you’ll get the one after. But next thing you know, you’re steamrolling hard and fast toward the edge of a cliff, and there are no options left. All you can do is close your eyes and hope you’re alive at the bottom.
