Chapter 3
Cafeteria Confessions
~MABELINE~
The cafeteria at Valenridge University looks like it belongs in a movie about rich people pretending to be normal.
Vaulted ceilings. Exposed brick walls. Edison bulbs dangling from industrial fixtures like they're trying too hard to be casual. The tables are actual wood, not that particle board nonsense from my high school days, and the chairs have cushions.
Cushions. In a cafeteria. What kind of bougie wonderland have I stumbled into?
The food options are equally ridiculous.
A full salad bar with ingredients I can't pronounce. A pasta station with fresh noodles. A grill serving burgers that smell like actual meat instead of cardboard, trying its best. There's even a sushi counter, which feels excessive, but I'm not complaining.
Sage leads us to a table near the windows, her tray piled high with what appears to be three different entrees and a suspicious amount of bread rolls.
"What?" She catches me staring. "I'm a growing girl."
"You're twenty-four."
"Exactly. Still growing. Emotionally, at least." She tears into a roll with the enthusiasm of someone who hasn't eaten in weeks. "Jace, stop judging me with your eyes."
"I'm not judging." He settles across from us, his own tray containing a sensible sandwich and what looks like a kale smoothie. "I'm observing. There's a difference."
"You're judging."
"Maybe a little."
"Traitor."
I slide into the seat next to Sage, my own tray holding a modest pasta dish and a side salad. My stomach is still recovering from the embarrassment of its earlier performance, and I'm not about to tempt fate with anything too adventurous.
The cafeteria buzzes around us with the controlled chaos of students grabbing meals between classes.
Alphas cluster at certain tables, their scents mingling into an overwhelming fog of testosterone and territory. Omegas stick to their own corners, laughing and chatting with an ease I've never quite mastered. A few Betas drift between groups, the social glue holding everything together.
I notice more than a few curious glances aimed our way.
Great. The new girl is already attracting attention. Exactly what I wanted.
"So." Sage swallows her bite of bread and pins me with those sharp green eyes. "Spill. How's life been, Mae? What brings you to our illustrious institution?"
She gestures grandly at the cafeteria like she's presenting a prize on a game show.
"Are you here to finally pursue the figure skating dream? Because I remember how obsessed you were. All those early morning practices. The way you'd make me watch competition videos until my eyes bled."
I snort.
"Your eyes did not bleed."
"They bled metaphorically. I still have PTSD from that one Russian skater's spiral sequence. The one you made me watch forty-seven times."
Damn. She still remembers that? I mean…it was worthy of such.
"It was a perfect spiral!"
"It was traumatizing!"
Jace watches our exchange with barely concealed amusement, sipping his green smoothie like he's at a tennis match.
"Anyway." Sage waves a hand. "Figure skating? Is that why you're here? Finally chasing the dream?"
I push a piece of pasta around my plate, buying time.
How do I explain this without sounding pathetic?
Answer: I probably can't.
So I might as well just rip off the bandage.
"Actually..." I take a breath. "I'm here because my family is trying to marry me off."
The table goes silent.
Sage's fork freezes halfway to her mouth. Jace's smoothie hovers in midair.
They both stare at me with identical expressions of horror.
"I'm sorry." Sage sets down her fork with deliberate care. "Can you repeat that? Because I could have sworn you just said your family is trying to marry you off."
"That's exactly what I said."
"Like... arranged marriage? In this century? In this economy?"
I shrug, aiming for casual even though my chest feels tight.
"That's what happens when you're a late bloomer, I guess.
I didn't fully present as an Omega until I was twenty-one.
Three years behind everyone else. My parents have been losing their minds about it ever since.
" I stab a piece of penne with more force than necessary.
"Their ultimatum was bond by twenty-five, or they pick a pack for me.
And since my birthday falls on Valentine's Day, which is in six weeks. .."
I trail off, letting them connect the dots.
Sage's face has gone through approximately seventeen emotions in the last thirty seconds.
Horror. Disbelief. Rage. More rage. A concerning amount of rage.
"That's barbaric," she hisses. "They can't just auction you off like livestock!"
"They're my parents. Apparently, they can do whatever they want."
"But it's your life! Your body! Your choice!"
"You'd think." I take a bite of pasta, chewing mechanically. "But Omega rights are still a work in progress in my family's worldview. To them, an unbonded Omega at twenty-five is a failure. A problem that needs solving. And since I haven't managed to find a pack on my own..."
Jace sets down his smoothie, his golden eyes soft with sympathy I didn't ask for but appreciate anyway.
"That's messed up, MaeMae. Seriously messed up."
"Tell me about it."
"So you came here to... what? Buy time?"
"Pretty much." I shrug again, a defensive habit I've never been able to shake. "The six-week placement was a convenient excuse. 'Oh, I'm attending this prestigious program, Mother. Can't possibly get bonded while I'm focusing on my education.' They bought it. Barely."
Sage and Jace exchange a loaded look across the table.
The kind of look that says they're having an entire conversation without words.
I remember that look. I used to be on the receiving end of it, back when we were inseparable.
"Okay." Sage leans forward, her elbows on the table. "Change of subject before I track down your parents and give them a piece of my mind. Did they already situate you with a room?"
I let out a laugh that's more bitter than amused.
"Oh, they situated me, alright. I'm so thrilled to be temporarily housed with the three musketeers."
Sage's eyebrows scrunch together.
"The three musketeers?"
"Also known as my bullies from sixth grade."
Her fork clatters to her tray.
"No.Fucking.Way."
Those fuckers are worth the dramatics.
"Yes fucking way."
"You're actually dorming with those three? The ones who made your life a living hell? Who had the entire school chanting that horrible nickname?"
Ugh, all the nicknames.
"The very same." I take a sip of water to wash down the lump in my throat. "Surprise!"
"How?" Sage looks genuinely baffled. "How does that even happen? What kind of cosmic joke is this?"
"The universe's favorite kind, apparently. The kind where it kicks you while you're down and then laughs about it."
Jace is leaning back in his chair now, studying me with renewed interest.
"Wait. When you say your bullies from sixth grade..." He tilts his head. "You're talking about Calder, Knox, and Laurent, right?"
I blink at him.
"You know them?"
"Everyone knows them." He makes a vague gesture at the cafeteria around us. "They're literally the talk of the school. Have been since they showed up last week."
Sage nods vigorously.
"Especially Laurent. The amount of Omegas fawning over that boy is borderline obscene. He's got this whole 'mysterious French-Canadian with sad eyes' thing going on, and everyone eats it up."
I frown, processing this information.
"What's so great about Laurent?"
It comes out more petulant than I intended, and Sage's lips twitch.
"Jealous?"
"What? No! I'm just..." I huff, crossing my arms. "Actually, now that I think about it, I remember Rafe and Cal being part of the whole 'make MaeBell's life miserable' parade. But étienne?"
I search my memories, trying to place him among the faces that haunted my childhood.
"I can't remember him being part of it. Like, at all."
Sage and Jace exchange another one of those loaded looks.
"What?" I demand. "Why are you doing the eye thing? What am I missing?"
"Mae..." Sage's voice is careful, the way people get when they're about to deliver news they think might break you. "Wasn't it his older brother?"
I stare at her.
"His what now?"
"Older brother." Jace picks up the explanation. "étienne has an older brother. He was in our grade back then because he got held back. Twice."
My brain stutters, trying to recalibrate.
Older brother. Held back twice. In our grade...
"Wait." I hold up a hand. "Are you telling me that the Laurent who bullied me wasn't étienne?"
"Pretty sure it was Bastien." Sage nods. "Bastien Laurent. The older one. He had those same eyes, remember? That icy blue? But he was... meaner. Louder. étienne was always the quiet one who hung back."
The pieces start clicking into place like a puzzle I didn't know I was solving wrong.
étienne wasn't part of the bullying.
He was just there. Watching. Not participating.
Because it was his brother all along.
"Holy shit," I breathe.
"Yeah." Jace takes another sip of his smoothie. "Bastien's actually still here, by the way. He's on the senior division hockey team. Been attending the university for a few years."
My head is spinning.
"Senior division?"
"There are two teams at Valenridge," Sage explains. "Junior and Senior. The junior team is for newer students and younger players. That's where Rafe, Cal, and étienne are. The senior team is for veterans and upperclassmen. Bastien's been on that squad since he started here."
"So étienne and his brother are both goalies?"
"On their respective teams, yeah." Jace nods. "Funny coincidence. Or maybe it's a family thing."
I sit back in my chair, trying to absorb this revelation.
I've been holding a grudge against étienne for thirteen years.
For crimes his brother committed.
The guilt hits me like a truck.