“So I’m free to do what I like, then?” she asked, her eyes flicking up to Kalen’s.
Immediately, his gaze narrowed. “No, princess. Not when you’re in my room. And that has nothing to do with double standards. When you’re with me, the rules I gave you last night still apply. When you’re in my room, I own you.” He eased back, clearing his throat. “Other than that, yes. But be as considerate of them as they are being of you.”
“I thought they were just indifferent,” she challenged.
He smirked. “Gabriel, maybe. Elijah is indifferent to no one. And Theo is definitely keeping Wallis at arm’s length because of you. It would serve him better to be all over her for the cameras. At the moment, he’s coming across as a shitty boyfriend and that doesn’t help his reputation at all.”
“Well.” She shrugged, feigning indifference. “If I ever get a fake boyfriend, I’ll be just as considerate.”
Kalen’s hands twitched on her arms, but his expression didn’t shift. “Make sure he’s not easily broken. Any other stipulations?”
“Don’t the other guys need to agree to that one?”
“They’ll do what I tell them to do.”
“Even Oscar?”
“No. Good luck with Oscar.”
She smiled despite herself, shaking her head a little. He sounded like he was joking, but he was probably serious.
“Okay.” She gave him a succinct nod. “You have a deal.”
18
Green Is Golden
The storm had eased up a little, but not much. Isobel spent the rest of her fifth period in Kalen’s office, despite attempting to go back to class after their discussion. He had stopped her the second she picked up her bag, directing her to a seat opposite his desk downstairs instead, and then disappearing. He came back with a tray of coffee for them both, plus a few bowls of snacks, and she gave up her protests almost immediately.
She needed to prepare her audition for Lye’s class, anyway.
She curled up in the chair, sipping her coffee and flipping through her playlist as she nibbled on a shortbread cookie. Her finger paused over the song she and Elijah had danced to, her brow crinkling.
Shoving the rest of the cookie into her mouth, she pulled up his number and sent him a private message.
Isobel: Do you still want to dance with me?
He didn’t respond immediately, and she brought up one of her social media accounts, flicking through to see if any of the other second-years had posted pictures of their preparations for final assessments. When Elijah’s name popped up along the top of her screen, she almost choked on the buttery cookie that threatened to lodge in the back of her throat. She quickly swallowed and clicked on the message.
Elijah: I organised with Lye to submit a video application.
Isobel: For us both?
Elijah: If you want.
Isobel: Why a video application?
Elijah: In case I surge again. Sorry about that, by the way.
Isobel: Um.
Isobel: That’s okay?
Isobel: Can you explain why that happened and why Gabriel made me leave? I’m confused about when I’m supposed to stay and show that I’m safe, or leave to keep myself safe.
Elijah: You’re always safe. Gabriel was the one who wasn’t safe.
Isobel: Why?
Elijah: He was taking you away from me.
Elijah: And it happened because … I wasn’t expecting us to be so good together. I knew you were feeling self-conscious and that’s why you didn’t want to dance with me, but then you let go and the way you were responding to me was just …
Elijah: It was lovely. You were lovely.
She had felt lovely dancing with Elijah. It was the best she had felt since waking up in the hospital, and she was almost deliriously happy that he was offering to dance with her again.
Isobel: Thank you.
Elijah: So you’ve taken on one of us. How about two of us?
Isobel: You mean Gabriel? But we didn’t practise any three-way choreography?
Elijah: I have something prepared. I’m sure you can memorise it quickly enough. Gabriel wants to apply for Lye’s third-year class as well.
Isobel: It sounds fun, actually.
Elijah: That’s my girl.
She stared at the screen, re-reading his last message as he kept typing. He obviously wasn’t trying to claim her as a mate or anything and she certainly wasn’t hoping he would, but for some reason his choice of words had butterflies flaring up in the pit of her stomach anyway.
Elijah: Meet us in your usual training room for a few practice runs at the choreography before we go outside. Cian is going to film the performance. Wear something simple and easy to move in. We’re going to make this count. I don’t like coming in second place.
She began to type out the fact that it was raining but then backspaced over the words. Obviously, he knew it was raining. Instead, she told Kalen that she needed to get ready to shoot her submission video and padded into Kilian’s room to sort through the dresses he had brought over from Dorm O.
She picked out a couple and laid them out over the bed, snapping a picture of them and sending it to the group chat, since Cian, Elijah, and Gabriel would all be involved in the video.
Isobel: Which one?
Gabriel: Send us photos of you in them, Puppy. Can’t tell like this.
She dragged the options into the bathroom and stripped off her clothes, pulling on a high-waisted pair of black dance underwear. She considered a bra, but then decided to skip it, since she didn’t want her sleeves to slip and show off any straps, and a few of the dresses were open backed.
She snapped pictures of the front and back of every dress she had brought in with her, and then sent them off all at once, leaning against the counter to wait and see which one they thought would fit their song choice best. She assumed they already had a song, since Elijah mentioned teaching her choreography.
Kilian’s response was instant, even though he had nothing to do with the dance.
Kilian: The third one.
She checked back through the photos and clicked on the third one. It was a black mesh design made of thin, delicate silk. The sleeves were long and fitted, the neckline high, tight along her chest and flared out from there in silken ripples to her knees.
It created an interesting texture interplay over her skin and would probably look really nice in the rain … the only problem was, the mesh was completely see-through. A bodysuit was supposed to be worn beneath it. She had arranged her arms casually over her chest when she took the photo, but she would need to swap out her underwear for a leotard if that dress was the choice.
She ducked back into the closet as her phone vibrated again.
Theodore: The third one. Hard to see the top of it, though.
Cian: #3. The others can burn for all I care.
Isobel: There’s nothing wrong with the others.
Cian: But none of them are #3.
Kilian: Will the sleeves be too tight? Is that silk?
Oscar: Jesus Christ.
Isobel: Yeah, it’s fine, just stretchy enough.
Isobel: Oscar?
Oscar: Did you just send us a topless photo?
Niko: She clearly has a dress on.
Oscar: She has a net on.
Isobel: Moving on.
Oscar: Oh no you don’t.
Kalen （admin）： The third option is the best.
Niko: I agree. It’s pretty.
Isobel: Thanks, Niko.