Chapter 131: the morning after

Chapter 131 — The Morning After

Roxanne woke to sunlight and the sound of someone humming. Isla was already dressed, sitting on the edge of her bed with her shoes in her lap and an expression of deep, suspicious cheer.

"Good morning," Isla said.

"You’re humming."

"I’m in a good mood. Did you enjoy the social?"

"I did."

"That’s all?"

"It was a very good social."

Isla tied one shoelace with great care. "I saw you dancing with Lucien."

"You saw me dance with a lot of people. I stepped on Jace."

"And I also saw you dancing with Kai."

Roxanne sat up and pushed her hair out of her face. "Dancing with someone isn’t a relationship."

"Of course not," Isla agreed. "But you looked comfortable. Not guarded. I haven’t seen you look like that at an event before."

Roxanne opened her mouth to argue and found, annoyingly, that Isla was right. She pulled her knees up under the blanket. "I had a good time. I don’t want to turn it into something I have to explain."

"Then don’t," said Isla, and went back to humming.

At breakfast, the dining hall was still buzzing. Someone at the next table was complaining that the music had been too loud, and someone else was insisting it had been too quiet. A group of second-years argued fiercely about whether the ring toss had been rigged, and Roxanne caught Tessa glaring at them over her otter, which sat beside her plate like a guest.

Liam dropped onto the bench opposite and spread his arms. "A triumph. The evening was a success because my presence improved the atmosphere."

"You spent ten minutes arguing with a broken microphone," Roxanne said.

"I was negotiating."

"Liam broke it," Jace confirmed, sliding in beside him with a plate of toast.

"It was already malfunctioning," Roshan said quietly, from the end of the table. He did not look up from his tea.

Liam brightened. "Then I was the hero who revealed its flaws. My contribution is undeniable."

Nobody asked Roxanne about the dances. Nobody leaned in with a knowing look. The conversation rolled on to whether the cider had been spiced, and she ate her porridge in peace. When Lucien arrived later, carrying a folder and wearing his chairman’s face, he stopped by her chair only long enough to ask whether the volunteers had submitted their final report.

"Tonight," she said.

"Thank you." He inclined his head. For a moment his eyes held hers, perfectly ordinary, and then he went to find a seat. She decided that was the right amount of acknowledgement, and was grateful for it.

The trouble arrived during the afternoon activities period, when the academy announced that every club would share its upcoming schedule to avoid overlapping events. Roxanne arrived at the activities office to find two groups glaring at each other across a counter.

"This is our room," said one of her volunteers, a lanky first-year. "We booked it for the follow-up. You should have checked the schedule."

"You should have checked," retorted a girl from the astronomy club. "We’ve had it for weeks."

Roxanne could have joined in. Instead she held out her hand. "May I see the original booking confirmation?"

The first-year handed over a crumpled slip. The astronomy girl produced her own. Roxanne laid them side by side on the counter and read both slowly. Both carried the same room number, and both had been stamped by the scheduling office.

"It isn’t your fault," she said. "Or theirs. The office entered the wrong number on one of them."

Both groups stared at the slips. The first-year deflated. The astronomy girl crossed her arms, then uncrossed them.

"Before we ask the office to sort it out," Roxanne said, "why don’t we compare what each of us actually needs the room for?"

She felt someone beside her and glanced up to find Roshan, who had stopped on his way past with a book under his arm.

"I can explain the booking process, if it helps," he offered.

"Please explain it," Roxanne said. "Don’t fix it."

His mouth twitched. "Of course." He led her to a board at the side of the office, where a long schedule hung beneath a sheet of glass, and showed her how groups could request changes and where the forms were kept. He spoke simply, pointing out each step, and then stepped back and let her carry it from there.

She went back to the counter. The astronomy club needed the room for evening telescope sessions with the blinds drawn. The volunteers needed it in the afternoon, with the lights on and the tables moved. The equipment barely overlapped.

"Afternoons for us," the astronomy girl said slowly. "Evenings for you."

"That works."

They shook on it, and the first-year looked as though he had narrowly escaped a duel. Nobody had been blamed for something that wasn’t theirs.

"You handled that well," Roshan said, when the others had gone.

"I mostly read the paperwork."

"Knowing when to read the paperwork is an underrated skill."

She laughed, and he smiled, and he went on his way without lingering.

Later, she found Liam and Jace loading crates onto a cart behind the main hall, returning the last of the equipment. Liam had a lantern under each arm and a wounded expression.

"Everyone has forgotten my heroic contribution," he said.

"What contribution?"

"I carried a box of decorations. I tested the refreshments. I raised morale."

"He ate half the refreshments while testing them," said Jace, heaving a crate.

"Quality control takes sacrifice."

Roxanne laughed. "I’ll acknowledge your contribution in the volunteer report. Under the heading Unexpected Problems We Successfully Survived."

Liam pressed a lantern to his chest. "Cruel. Deeply cruel." He was plainly delighted. When she turned to go, he called after her, "Movie night sometime? A proper one?"

"Yes. As long as you don’t choose the film."

"You have no faith in me."

"I have excellent faith in your taste, and it’s terrible."

"That," said Liam, "is the nicest thing anyone has said to me all week."

That evening, she walked back to the dormitory with Isla in the long amber light, their shoes crunching on the gravel.

"Do you think anything has changed between you and the brothers?" Isla asked.

Roxanne thought about it properly. "I’m more comfortable around them than I used to be. But I don’t know if that means anything beyond friendship. And attraction, perhaps."

"Perhaps."

"Don’t look so pleased."

"I’m not pleased. I’m interested." Isla bumped her shoulder. "You don’t have to define every feeling the moment it appears, you know."

"I’m learning that."

"Good."

You are becoming surprisingly sensible, her wolf remarked.

You can ruin the moment if you keep talking, Roxanne told her.

I am only observing.

Roxanne ignored her, and found that she was smiling.

Her phone buzzed just before dinner. The message came from the academy’s student activities coordinator, and Roxanne read it standing in the doorway.

The room-booking issue had been resolved, the coordinator wrote, with thanks. But there was another request. The student volunteers had been invited to help welcome a group of visiting students arriving the following week.

Roxanne read it twice. She had volunteered to organise one social. She had not agreed to become a permanent fixture of the activities committee.

Before she could reply, her phone buzzed again. Tessa.

Please tell me you’re not volunteering us for another event.

Roxanne typed back: I haven’t agreed to anything.

Yet, her wolf said at once.

Roxanne tossed the phone onto the bed. I’m ignoring you.