Chapter 32. Eloise
Eloise
I lace up my boots over the Ace bandage and open the door to my bedroom, my hair still wet from my shower and hanging loosely down my back. It’s Friday morning and we’re running out of time.
“Sleep well, Claws?” Grayson asks cheerfully as I step into the living room of our suite, like our fight last night never happened.
“We can drop the fake dating ruse if it’s too much,” I say, because despite everything, he was right that he shouldn’t have to lie for me.
In a rare moment for Grayson, he actually winces. “I was being an ass last night. I don’t want to drop the ruse,” he says, and plucks a to-go cup off the table and hands it to me. The words Kelly’s Café are printed on the outside.
My eyebrows shoot up. Was that an apology? “You went somewhere?” I say.
“I run in the woods most mornings,” he says easily. “Kelly’s is right next to the trail. I’ve been going there since I was a kid.”
I stare at him. There’s something about his voice that I can’t quite place, like what he’s saying is important to him.
“It’s not poisoned. Cross my heart,” he says, laying on the charm. “I didn’t know your preference so I got you the s’mores latte—since you said you like to roast marshmallows with your sister.”
How can one person be so thoughtful and so deceiving?
We stand there for a long awkward moment before I take a sip of what can only be described as the most luxurious coffee of all time. I think a small embarrassing sound of pleasure leaves my mouth.
And damn it if he doesn’t look ten kinds of satisfied. “That good, huh?”
“Better,” I admit. “I only get flavored coffee once a year.”
His eyebrows push together, and for a brief second he looks bothered. “Only once a year? Why?”
I shrug. “That’s all we can afford.”
For the first time ever, Grayson actually looks embarrassed. “Right. Yeah, I should have known that.”
“Should have known how poor we are?” I say, and the look of horror on his face makes me snort.
“That’s not what I—” he says.
But I just wave him away. “My mom takes us to Perky Potions at the end of every school year as a celebration. I get a drink and my little sister and I both get cherry chocolate tarts. She goes bonkers over them. But this year—” I stop, sighing.
“Never mind. What I’m saying is, this coffee is really good. So, thanks.”
Only he doesn’t gloat the way I expect. “What happened this year?”
I look at him sideways. “You don’t seriously want to know.”
“And if I do?”
I give him a come on look, but he doesn’t waver. So, I tell him the story of how Naomi swooped in and stole the tart from Delilah and how my mom stopped me from arguing about it.
His grip on his cup tightens. He doesn’t immediately say he’s sorry or some other platitude. In fact, he looks mad.
When he does open his mouth to respond, he gets interrupted by the grumpy Gran voice: Breakfast will only be served until eight a.m., students. Things don’t run on your schedule. They run on mine. Make haste.
Grayson pulls open our suite door and I bring my latte with me. But the moment we enter the hall, my nerves get the better of me. It’s our first full day of pulling off this fake dating ruse.
Maybe he can tell I’m nervous, because he slips his arm over my shoulders and the weight of it is strangely calming.
But the calm only lasts a handful of seconds before awareness sets in.
Awareness of his side pressing into my shoulder and my arm dangling between us with nowhere to be.
My heart beats a thousand times a minute and I know logically that I’m breathing, even though it doesn’t feel like I’m getting any air. Also, everyone is staring.
He leans down by my ear and whispers, “You can put your arm around my waist if it’ll make you more comfortable.”
“Comfortable is a relative term,” I say quickly, and he chuckles.
But to prove I’m fine with this, I do it.
I put my arm around his back and rest my hand on his hip, and the feeling of his muscles shifting under my fingers makes me immediately regret my decision.
Especially because I can’t stop thinking about how strongly he reacted to Adrien’s ring and I keep wondering if it meant maybe this could be more real for him than he lets on.
“They’re all looking at us,” I say, generally flustered.
“That’s the idea,” he replies with a smile. “You blush a lot. Did you know that?”
“I do not,” I say in full denial, probably blushing harder.
“I beg to differ,” he says, and winks at me.
To top things off, as we pop out of the stairs in the main foyer we run directly into Maggie. I disengage from Grayson like I just got caught by my gran, even though Maggie’s the main audience I’m doing this for.
Thankfully, Grayson doesn’t laugh at me.
Maggie’s copper hair is loose and there’s a pillow crease on her cheek. She looks from me to Grayson and back again like she didn’t miss a thing and has more than one opinion about it.
But all she says is, “Feck me, it’s early,” in a voice still heavy from sleep. “I need coffee before I die from lack of caffeine.”
My mood immediately levels out. Maggie magic. “Imminent death, huh?”
“Exactly. Take me to the dining hall before I expire—” she says, but stops, her face going a little pale as she glances past me. She immediately tries to smooth her hair.
I turn as Adrien and his sister, Sofia Sharma, enter the foyer. Maggie’s great love. And she’s every inch as impressive as I imagined—movements like flowing water and thick shiny hair that reaches all the way to her butt.
Adrien lifts an amused eyebrow. “Sofia, this is Eloise, a first-year Alchemist. You know Grayson and—”
“Maggie,” Sofia says with her French accent through naturally rosy lips. “How could I forget?”
For the first time ever, Maggie doesn’t say a single word. Not even hey, how have you been. She just stands there staring at Sofia like she forgot how to speak.
Grayson looks back and forth between the girls with a curious expression.
“I’ve got to run, but you should invite them to our party tonight,” Sofia says to her brother.
“Already on it,” Adrien replies, and Sofia leaves with a quick goodbye.
The moment she’s out of earshot, Adrien grins. “Smooth, Maggie.”
I laugh, and Grayson frowns.
“Laugh all ye want, traitors, since my misery is clearly hilarious to you,” Maggie says, rolling her eyes. “Also, yer throwing a party and didn’t think to say so?”
We all look at Adrien, who’s in an exceptionally good mood. “My parents are on a surprise trip to France and since curfew is extended until one a.m. on weekends, Sofia and I decided to take advantage of it and use the house. It was just decided last night.”
Grayson stares at Adrien like he’s considering bodychecking him.
But I’m looking at Maggie, getting far too excited, because the truth is I’ve never been to a party.
Even if we could have traveled after dark in our neighborhood, we weren’t invited to much—people we know live simply.
But directly after the excitement comes the disappointment, because how can I go when we have to call the Key?
“Not that I would have come anyway, but Eloise and I have plans tonight,” Grayson says. “I invited her to my house.”
Is he giving us an out or is he serious?
Adrien frowns, and now Grayson smiles.
“What? No. Our first University party, El,” Maggie says with an excitement that tugs at my heart. “Can’t you do both?”
For a split second I want to scream yes. Because this is the taste of the freedom I’ve always hoped for. To be safe enough to go out at night. To get dressed up for no reason. To be invited.
But how on earth can I justify this? “Of course I want to go, but—” I start and get stuck there.
“Oh, come on, El. This is your life. Right now. Don’t waste it,” Maggie says, and it resonates with me in a way I can’t explain. Labor kids enjoy the small things because we don’t know when we’ll get them again—warm afternoons in the sun, peach tea and fresh fruit, a laugh with our families.
“I really want to,” I say. “But—”
“We’ll be at the party,” Grayson continues, and my eyes whip to him in surprise.
“Grayson…,” I say. We can’t lose another night. But then again, maybe he’s just lying so I don’t have to?
Naomi and Ivy appear down the hall. I look at them and then back at him, and I think he gets that I don’t want these two groups to collide, because he says, “See you after breakfast, Claws?”
I nod, but instead of stepping away he steps toward me.
Panic. Utter panic.
He reaches out, squeezing my hand.
I forget to breathe, my body goes stiff, and I suddenly wonder if this is how people feel before they faint, because his face is moving toward mine.
He presses his lips to my cheek and I swear I feel the sensation in my toes. My cheeks bloom red as he walks away.
Adrien looks annoyed, and Maggie is staring at me like I just sprouted a tail.
“Coffee?” I squeak, offering her my latte.
Maggie’s eyes widen. “And where exactly did ye get this?”
“Some place in town?” I say. “Grayson got it for me.”
She raises an eyebrow.
“What?” I say as she takes a sip of the latte and curses about how good it is.
“Are ye body snatched or should I be looking for some possession spell? You almost just said no to our first party. Not to mention the prince just referred to ye as Claws. Are you two officially dating now?”
I glance at Adrien and back at Maggie, my cheeks burning up to my ears. “Um.”
Adrien tenses. “Just throwing in my two cents here, but I’ve known the Stones a long time and—”
“We do not want yer opinion. Not before we get Eloise’s,” Maggie says, and I suppress a smile. My best friend is absolutely terrifying and wonderful.
“Maybe?” I say, wishing Grayson were here to smooth this out. “I mean, it’s not official official, but—” What am I saying?
“But it’s headed that way?” Maggie continues, and I nod gratefully.
Adrien snorts like he has an opinion and it’s not good.
“Fine,” she says, and it’s such a short sentence for her that I wait, figuring she’ll go on.
“Fine?” I repeat. “As in?”
“As in I’m here for this and here for ye if this is what you want.
But I’m not here for you ditching yer friends for the very first University party of yer life,” she says, gesturing at herself and Adrien.
“And if I get even one whiff that the prince is being the bell end of a donkey, I will use my invisibility spell to send him into his next life.”
I laugh. Adrien raises an eyebrow.
“Your ‘fine’ contained all that?” he asks.
And without breaking eye contact with me, Maggie says to him, “My depths know no bounds.”