I have to find something else to focus on. And I don’t think mean-girl snark and fashion talk is going to cut it.
“He’s off my back,” I say breezily, trying not to think of the literal meaning of those words, and shut the locker door. “But I’d rather not piss off any more professors for at least another week. I’ve got to find some references in the library.”
I’ve already gathered that Stella has a family get-together she can’t miss and my other friends are going out shopping. Mia makes a regretful expression, but no one volunteers to join my study session.
Cadance heads toward the doors with a flip of her ringlets. “See you tomorrow, then! Don’t drown in those books.”
Stella casts one more pensive glance my way, but she sets off after the others.
I do go to the library first, both in case one of my friends has a sudden change of heart and to give time for more of my schoolmates to depart the academy grounds. Drifting over to the mythology section, I take a small comfort in noting the many volumes I immersed myself in as a kid seeking an escape… and as a seventeen year old searching for answers to my unnerving power.
Not that I ever found any actual answers or anything other than the most temporary of sanctuaries. But hope is worth something.
It keeps you going when you might not otherwise.
I’m making my way back toward the library entrance when another figure from my Divination class steps into my path.
Kenneth Hearst’s meek demeanor sets my nerves at ease. His slim shoulders hunch slightly as his eyes tick before they meet mine.
“Elodie,” he says. “I, um, was hoping I could ask you about something?”
He’s delaying my mission, but his nervousness brings out a pang of sympathy. This guy really didn’t deserve the bloody fate he met in my reality, not any more than Asher did.
And just like Asher, he never got justice.
I hope he’s living a much happier life here.
I offer him a mild smile. “Sure. What’s up?”
He looks down at his loafered feet and then back at me. “I heard you interned at the International Relations office last summer—since your dad works there? I’ve been thinking that’s a direction I might want to pursue after graduation… I was hoping I could pick your brain sometime about what it was like, any tips you have. I’m not sure if there’s any way I could help you out in exchange, but if you can think of something, I’m happy to.”
The pang expands through my chest. Here he is, planning the future the other version of him never got.
While I’m just trying to wrap up the last loose ends of Other Elodie’s snuffed-out existence.
I did see a couple of mentions of the internship in my double’s things, but I know nothing about it. I couldn’t help him anyway.
He’s gazing at me so avidly now that the words stick in my throat with a lump of guilt before I push them out. “I’ve kind ofgot a lot on my plate right now, but maybe later?” Like, after I’ve tumbled back to my own universe. “Or I could talk to my dad and see if he’d be up for a chat. He’d probably be happy to help.”
My spirits brighten with my suggestion—I can lend Kenneth a hand without sticking around. But my classmate’s expression deflates.
He wasn’t looking for more than just a professional connection, was he?
Before I can worry about that, he ducks his head even lower than before. “Thanks. I appreciate it.”
He hurries off before I can say another word. Did he think I was just brushing him off?
Oh, well. I can’t solve every problem in this world.
I’ll be lucky if I can solve even the one Daphne dragged me here to tackle.
I duck out a side entrance and skirt the back field where several of the juniors have set up a game of bloomblight. The ground shakes with a heave of ephemera, and shouts ring out as the ball flings through the air. No one glances my way.
A narrow path set with smooth stones leads past the grad building and down the slope to the road beyond. My senses leap to sharper alertness before I’ve even reached the sidewalk.
I wasn’t in any real danger last time, but that doesn’t mean I won’t face more hostility today.
Rather than wandering in circles, I decide to stand near the bus stop on the corner. It gives me a view down the north and west sides of the Beacon Prep campus so I can watch plenty of the activity around the school. I take out my phone and pull up a game Other Elodie has a pretty pathetic high score in to make it less obvious that I’m observing.
