Page 59 of You’re So Vein

“Out of my way,” I growl.

I can’t face him. Not like this.

“It’s been years, Augustin. I thought that we could talk.”

“I don’t want to hear anything you have to say.” I blink away the droplets of rain collecting on my eyelashes. At least, I think they’re raindrops. My chest is an open cavity, flayed by my own foolish want.

Dante lunges for me. I lurch to the side and shove him, sending him sprawling into an Escallonia bush that desperately needs a prune. I rush past him, fleeing to the end of the driveway, my sick, sad heart collapsing in upon itself like a dying star.

“I was in love with her!” Dante yells after me as I flee. “I know you don’t believe me, but it’s true. You don’t know what love is, but it’s agony. I lost her, and I lost you, too.”

I do know.

I know because my chest is hollowed out, an empty hole where my heart should be.

I can’t do this now. I have to put myself together for Hannah. She’s all that matters.

Komal is disgusted by me. She doesn’t want me anywhere near her or her family. She’s made that clear.

Once again, I’ve allowed myself to become distracted by foolish hope. I believed that someone bright and clever and wonderful might choose me.

It’s fine. Now that I know there is no chance, I can focus. Everything must go perfectly with the Conclave if Hannah is to have hope.

Which means I must forget Komal Ahuja.

19Komal

Harish: Komal, I thought we were two Long-Toed Lovebeaks in a nest, but it appears we are more like a Washington Eagle trying to mate with an Incredulous Peep – one a majestic species with impressive wingspan, while the other is a pond-dwelling annoyance with a sharp beak and screeching call. I think you know which of us is which.

Argleton Weather Watch: Rain set to continue this week, with a concerning storm front building off the coast. Hopefully, it will pass us by and hit France instead. They deserve it for having superior breakfast pastries.

“I THINK I HAD TOO many pakoras,” Isis groans, stirring me from sleep.

Grey afternoon cloud and pattering rain illuminate the skylight above my bed. My alarm clock blinks 5.15 pm. Did we sleep all day? I crawl up my mattress and glance over the railing on my mezzanine floor. Isis, Dora, Beth and Maisie crawl out of their sleeping bags in various stages of disarray. Isis is clutching her stomach. Celeste appears at the door with a tray of teacups and a bunch of leftover party food.

“You are our absolute heroine,” Dora says as she accepts some cold sausage rolls and flips on the kettle. I pull on a Helitours sweatshirt and pad downstairs to join my friends on the couch. It’s lovely to have my home filled with their presence, and when we finally crawled into bed around 4 am, they were all too drunk to notice that I didn’t switch the lights off.

“Doesn’t this remind you of old times?” Isis glances around. “Sleeping over out here after school dances, eating your dad’s food, playing light as a feather, stiff as a board, attempting our first ever love spells?”

“None of them ever worked.” Dora laughs. “Although we did turn Davey Hendricks slightly green after he called you names.”

“That’s right! His parents took him to all those specialists. No one ever messed with us again after that.”

“You must have had so much fun together.” Beth sounds wistful. Not for the first time, I wonder what her life had been like before she came to Argleton. I want to ask her about being an orphan, but I’ll do it another time, when we’re alone and not hungover.

“We had a blast, but we have even more fun now that we moved out of our parents’—” Maisie’s face falls as she looks at me. “No offence, Komal.”

Awkward silence descends. My cheeks flare with heat, which only reminds me what a disaster my life has become, and why my friends are in my house – the launch party.

Augustin.

The echo of every word he yelled slams into me. Did he really mean all that? The way his features twisted with pain makes me think yes.

He’s in love with me?

His marriage resume was serious?

It would explain why he saved me from two bad dates now, why he comforted me in the closet, and why he seemed so jealous of Harish.