Page 19 of Damsel in Disguise

Dad spent years teaching me that some surnames open doors before mouths ever have to.

I hate relying on it even though that’s exactly what I’m doing now.

The older guard’s posture shifts almost imperceptibly. “Alright, I’ll be very clear, Miss Keinston. If you have official business with the university, there are proper channels.”

“I understand.”

“If you wish to meet a member of faculty, appointments exist for a reason.”

“I understand.”

“And if we see you running from security again—”

“I won’t,” a very optimistic lie.

The younger guard gestures toward the gates. “Since we’re finished, I’m going to politely ask you to leave.”

My shoulders loosen for the first time since they stopped me.

No reports. No police. No humiliating phone call to Dad asking him to retrieve his mentally questionable daughter from Oxford.

I incline my head with what I hope resembles dignity. “Thank you.”

The guards nod.

I turn without another word, but I don’t hurry.

My pulse is still trying to escape through my throat. But I force myself to walk at a measured pace across the courtyard, through the crowds, past the ancient stone buildings that somehow managed to witness my humiliation and remain completely indifferent to it.

Only when the university gates disappear behind me do I let out the breath I’ve been holding.

That could have gone far worse.

It also could’ve gone significantly better.

I wasn’t arrested.

I wasn’t escorted into a police station.

I wasn’t permanently banned from Oxford.

On the other hand, I had just used my family name to escape the consequences of stalking a professor who didn’t even know I existed.

Dad would call it influence.

I prefer to call it inherited shamelessness.

Either way, I should probably feel guilty.

Instead, my mind drifts straight back to the engineering building.

To the empty courtyard.

To the glimpse of a dark coat disappearing into a sea of strangers.

People would call it a crush. It started as one, harmless. Temporary.

Like a song you’ll eventually stop listening to.