They can be combined?I glance at Reid, and he shrugs.
“Uh, sequentially.”
Professor Mallory raises her brow, then turns to Reid. He nods, confirming he did it that way, too.
“As I said. Gaps in your knowledge.”
She proceeds to ask us several other questions about our experiences, tapping her chin as she ponders each of our answers.
“The fact is, I cannot advance you to either the second or third year, because while you are adept in some areas, you lack a strong foundation in others. But if I keep you with the other first-years, you’ll waste away without stimulating challenges.” She paces around the room as we watch in unspoken agreement that it would be unwise to interrupt her.
My ribs constrict with every passing second. There has to be a place for us.
Finally, she sits back down. “Here’s what we’ll do. You will attend the foundational classes—History, Geography, Strategy, and Writing—with your fellows. For your elementals, each department will develop an advanced curriculum for you. It will, unfortunately, have to be mostly self-study, as our professors all have a full class load, but based on where you two are at, I’m sure that’s familiar territory. At least now, you’ll have a partner.”
I sink into my seat. All I wanted was to escape self-study, to be around other people for once. Not just one person, even if heisnice to look at.
As far as I’m concerned, this is the worst possible outcome.
Chapter 3
Ellie
With instructions to return before the first morning bell to get our schedules, we file out of Professor Mallory’s office into the stale, colorless hallway. Reid walks ahead of me, hands in his pockets, with his coat draped over the crook of his arm. My gaze keeps catching on the lines of his waistcoat, following it down to the gray trousers that fit snugly around his hips.
While a nervous flutter flits through my chest at the thought of spending so much time with Reid, this is not how I wanted things to go. I’d been expecting—hoping—to make friends with my classmates: intelligent, like-minded young women who’d get together for study groups, gossip, and emotional support. If most of my time will be spent in self-study with Reid, the odds of that happening are slim.
I descend the stairs to find him waiting, lost in thought.
“I suppose I’ll see you tomorrow,” I say, pausing as I pass him.
“Wait.” He faces me, running his fingers through his chestnut hair. “We should do something together. Get to know each other?” He exhales. “We’re gonna be spending a lot of time together, so we should get on good terms, yeah?”
“I suppose that’s true…”
“Glad we’re in agreement,” he says, except I don’tquiteagree. “We should—”
“No offense.”What’s the best way to word this?“I’m not comfortable going off with you alone. I barely know you.”
Reid laughs. “You don’t need to worry about that. You have any friends?”
My mouth tightens. “I have roommates.”
“Great, let’s find them.” He tugs his coat on and heads for the exit, leaving me to hurry after him.
A sizable portion of the earlier crowd lingers outside, looking for people they know or conversing with friends. Within seconds of stepping into the brisk, late afternoon air, Alexis plows into me.
“There you are,” she exclaims as I recover my balance, pulling out of her spirited hug. Her warmth sticks with me—perhaps I’m doing better at making friends than I thought?
“I passed five of the tests!” she says. “They said I might have an affinity for water. How’d you do?”
Reid clears his throat, drawing her attention. She blinks, as if suddenly realizing he was walkingwithme instead of near me. He quickly introduces himself.
Alexis shakes his hand while side-eyeing me. “Your study partner?”
“We both placed advanced,” I explain, unable to meet her eyes. Steeling myself for the anger that I hadn’t clarified my skill level. “The only two. We’re stuck together.”
“Really?” She doesn’t even attempt subtlety as she looks Reid up and down, but it calms my nerves that she moved on so easily. “You make that sound like that’s a bad thing.”
