Page 73 of Darkness Defined

I maneuvered my notes around the spoons stuck in the table. It was kind of awesome that this had become our spot, a place that was purely ours.

“Let’s see,” he mused aloud as he scanned through them.

I watched as his emerald eyes roved over each page, patiently waiting for him to make a pronouncement of deficiency. Suddenly, I realized he was on a page with no notes at all, just a picture that took up most of the space.

His fingers brushing lightly over the penciled sketch. “This is really impressive. Did you do this from memory?” He lifted his head to look at me and I got a better view of what he was referencing. It was a replica of the illustration from the book we were doing our research project on.

“What do you think about the extension of the report?” I asked, trying to shift the conversation back. The last thing I needed was him recognizing the similarities between the illustration and the bookmark sketch.

He turned to the next page and held back a relieved sigh. “I suspect it’s because no one’s taking it seriously. I overheard the TA say that they might just turn it into a rollover assignment.”

“That wouldn’t be too bad. I had no idea how difficult it was going to be to find information about that family.”

“Same here, but I wouldn’t get too excited. That would mean they expect a full-on research thesis. As in, not a few pages.”

I didn’t bother stifling my groan.

“It’ll be fine, Matt. Trust me, the paper will be epic.”

“I hope you’re right. But that also means that I’m going to have to dominate this final.”

Alex sat back and laced his fingers behind his head, his usual picture of self-confidence. The position made him look absurdly tall and relaxed. I envied him that, not just the height, but that it seemed like he’d had an easier life. “That’s what you’ve got me for,” he said with a smile.

It was nice to see him acting normal. Which made what I had in mind to figure my shit out that much worse. I tried not to think about it too much as we resumed studying. Apparently, my notes weren’t as abysmal as I feared, and we made some good headway. Still, I wasn’t taking any chances. I actually liked it here and wasn’t ready to get booted. Plus, I still had to figure out my deal with Alex.

The week of finals, I stayed up every night studying until I went cross-eyed. I even skipped the fight club Tuesday and Thursday—I was too distracted to be any good. By the time I actually sat down to take the test, I was positive I was going to blow it. Alex naturally wasn’t concerned and kept trying to convince me not to be as well, but I couldn’t help it. True or not, it felt like a lot was riding on this one grade. Rather than join him back at the dorm, I lurked outside the classroom and waited for the grades to be posted. Alex had tried to explain that it could take days, if not weeks, to get the grades; mercifully, Vera had announced she’d be getting them to us by the end of the day of our last exam. No one wanted to talk about why she would do that, but her threat about failing loomed heavy on my mind.

I feared I’d put a groove in the ground as I paced the short stretch of hall. The door across from our Battle Tactics classroom opened and Vera walked out. I caught sight of someone in the room behind her, and for a moment, I thought it was Alex. Except it couldn’t be: he hated her, and I knew for a fact he’d gone back to the dorm. The door swung shut with a thud and she walked over.

“I’m impressed, Matt.”

I scowled at her. Just because I was here didn’t mean I’d forgiven her for locking me up. I’d like to see how funny she thought it was if I warded her in a room for two weeks.

She let out an aggrieved sigh. “Let it go already. You were a flight risk. I’d already lost so many others. I couldn’t take the chance that you’d bolt before I could get you here. Especially since you’re doing so well.” She held up a stack of papers and shuffled through them. “Here we are. It looks like you’ve brought up all of your grades across the board. Math and literature seem to be doing well. I’m a little surprised you didn’t do better in Battle Tactics. I would have thought that was right up your alley.”

She peered closer at the page with unmasked surprise. “Yet you are doing spectacularly well in Shadow Magic. I hope you consider enrolling in Advanced Spells.” She winked. “Don’t worry, I won’t tell anyone. But I imagine you don’t want to hear me prattle on about your classes.”

I shuffled from foot to foot, eying the stack of papers, curious if anyone would be sent home.

“Here, this one is yours and I imagine Alexi won’t mind you bringing him his.” She held out the papers.

I snatched them and surveyed the page for the only grade I was worried about. I couldn’t believe my eyes when I saw the ‘B’ next to Demonic History.

She glanced back at the room she’d left before saying, “History wasn’t my best subject either, though I hear you have a killer thesis for Demonic History II next semester.” She gave me a warm smile, I was tempted to return. “Congratulations, Matt. What are you going to do now?”

“Celebrate.” I couldn’t believe it; all of our hard work had paid off. I’d get to stay. Alex would be pleased.

Alex.

I switched the pages to see how he’d done. All As, no surprise there. Even then, I knew he’d want the paper.

“Any plans in particular?”

I narrowed my eyes at Vera. “Why?”

“There’s no need to be defensive. I was just asking.” She shook her head. “Go celebrate with your friend, Matt.”

I took that as my dismissal and ran. When I opened the door to our room, Alex was sitting upside down on the couch with his feet over the top. Man, he was weird, but he was mine.