“Are you any good at it?” I said.
“At what?”
“Hypnosis.”
She shrugged. “My roommates say I am. Professor McDougal said I’m the best he’s had in his class in a decade, but I think he’s just trying to get in my pants.”
“You’re not wearing pants.”
She looked down at her legs and processed this information in that slow way drunk people do. Then she looked back at me and smiled. “Nope. No pants.”
I spotted Willy across the crowd, watching me. He gave me a thumbs-up and nodded vigorously.
“I should probably get home,” I said, glancing in the direction of my apartment.
“You can’t leave until the snow is gone, that’s the rule.”
“Well, you did say I was a rebel.”
“Please let me hypnotize you.”
“What do you think you’ll learn?”
She tilted her head. Some of whatever was in her cup spilled over the side and landed on my shoe. “For starters, why you’re at a party and you’re not drinking.”
“Maybe I’m not very good at it.”
She stepped closer and took a drink. This time, I smelled the rum. “It’s not that hard.”
“You’re not doing it right, either. You’re drinking rum at a keg party.”
She brought a single finger to her lips and smiled. “Shh. Maybe I’m a rebel…too.”
Willy was still watching, and I wondered if he’d phone Matteo tonight to report in or hold off until morning. He would at some point.
I counted at least twelve people wearing white coats.
“Do you live on campus?” I asked her.
She nodded to the left. “East Residences.”
“How about I walk you home,” I said.
“Okay.”
Apparently, the melting snow had been forgotten.
Kaylie and I crossed the quad and took a shortcut past the tennis courts. At some point, her hand found mine.
She lived in Geary Hall on the second floor.
She fumbled with the lock, pushed the door open, and stumbled in, falling on a bed to the left. Her roommates weren’t home.
I turned on the light, closed the door, and helped her out of her shoes and jacket. Her cup of rum disappeared somewhere along the walk. I hadn’t noticed her drop it or set it down.
I could have slept with her, but I didn’t.
Instead, I waited until she fell asleep, then turned her on her side. A quilt was bunched up at the foot of the bed. I pulled it over her shoulders and tucked her in.
