I pressed my fingers to the side of my head. “I’m sorry. You’ve taught me a lot in our lessons, but I just can’t process any of it today.”
“Stressed out?” he asked, taking the braille paper back. “I hear ya. I’ve got some relationship problems of my own.”
“It’s notrelationship problems. Not this time, at least.”
I didn’t want to talk about my issues, but Alistair could be a good distraction at times, so I asked, “What relationship problems are you dealing with?”
He lowered his voice. “There’s this guy I like, but I don’t know how to tell him.”
“It’s Eddie,” I stated bluntly.
“What?” Alistair squeaked. “No! It’s… yeah, it’s Eddie. How’d you know?”
“You two shared a moment,” I said, before realizing Alistair’s memory of our fight in the prison yard must’ve been a bit fuzzy after he’d taken that memory-wiping potion. Eddie, on the other hand, had remembered the whole thing. Memory-wiping potions were apparently like noxite— a supernatural restraint that didn’t work on Elves— because Eddie had met me at my dorm like he’d promised after my meeting with Captain. He remembered the whole thing, though he’d never let the guards catch on to that.
“What moment?” Alistair demanded. “Did Eddie say we shareda moment? Because if we did, I’m totally clueless, and I want in on it. I wanta moment.”
I smirked. “You’ll have one. I’m sure of it.”
Alistair leaned forward and whispered. “Eddie’s gay, right? Has he said anything about me?”
I shrugged. “Why don’t you ask him?”
Alistair squealed a little. “Should I? I should, shouldn’t I? I can’t.”
He was practically begging for me to call Eddie over. I guess I could play along.
“Hey, Eddie.” I whistled lowly, and Eddie slammed a book shut and hurried over to us.
“Yes, sir— I mean, Charlie?”
Beside me, Alistair practically bounced in his seat. He was so excited.
“Alistair has a question for you,” I told him.
“Oh?” Eddie sounded intrigued. “Ask me anything.”
Alistair fidgeted with the edge of the table, making scratching noises with his fingernail. “Are you— do you… do you like cats?”
Pig meowed and padded across the table toward Eddie. She started purring.
“I love cats,” Eddie said kindly. “They’re gentle companions. Always wanted one myself.”
“Really?” Alistair squeaked a few pitches higher than normal. He was obviously starstruck.
It was clear our braille lesson was over, and to be honest, I wasn’t into it today anyway. I had a lot on my mind, along with another fight tonight to prepare for. Not like I wanted to sit here and listen to these two flirt.
“I’ve got class in a bit,” I announced as I stood. “You guys have fun.”
Neither of them heard me as I excused myself from the library. I really hoped it worked out between them, because as much as I enjoyed Eddie’s company, I appreciated a moment to myself every now and then. If I wasn’t with Oberi, Eddie was following me around like a puppy. And he could really loosen up a bit. He was always so proper, with thesirand everything. I thought Alistair would be good for him.
It was the one good thing that happened all day. It was nice to know that somewhere in the Institute, something was going right forsomeone. Because it certainly wasn’t me.
I sat in the locker room at the fight club that night, my shoulders slumped. Chancey bounced on his toes across the room, grunting as he threw practice punches into the air. Crowds cheered from outside, but I barely heard them. It was the only way to deal with fight club these days— to deal withanything, really. I had to dissociate. My body was here, but my mind wasn’t.
“Whatcha sitting there for, Charlie?” Chancey asked, pulling my attention to the present. “You’re in the ring next. You’ve gotta warm up.”
I sighed. “What’s the point? I’m sure Captain’s gonna pit me against one of the toughest guys in the league. I’ll lose anyway.”
