Page 27 of Knot Your Business

“Great,” he says. “Rehearsal ends at noon, so I should be there by one. I’ll let you know when I’m on my way, all right?”

I nod and give him a hesitant smile. I don’t quite manage to hide the tears this time, and his eyebrows furrow. I glance away, blinking until they’re gone again.

“I’ll see you tomorrow, Violet.”

Like an idiot, I nod again and wave. “Yeah, okay. I’ll see you then.”

The video message goes dark, a small box notifying me that everyone has left the chat. I close my laptop and lean my head against the sofa, blowing out a long, heavy sigh, letting the minutes tick by until I don’t feel quite so helpless anymore. Then I pop two of the chocolate covered banana slices into my mouth and chase them with the now cold black tea. I knock once on Faedra’s door, but when she doesn’t respond, I set about getting ready for the night, turning off the lights in the shared space and turning on the air purifier we keep tucked under the window to keep our scents from drowning out the living room.

The annulment request form sits on my nightstand. I force a swallow, wetting my dry mouth.

And then I slide it into the single drawer, tucking it out of sight. For now.

I’m just about to cuddle into my bed when there’s two hard knocks on the main door of our dorm. Shit, I hope it’s not something happening with the sorority party I know is happening but don’t know is happening on floor two. It’s my night of being the on-call RA.

I swing the door open, prepping for the worst.

“Ms. Fallon?” A man maybe a couple years older than me stands in the hallway, looking awkward as all hell. His tie is perfectly placed, held by a small tie tack in the shape of the Council’s insignia. My stomach twists even as my shoulders relax.

“That’s me,” I say.

He hands me a small envelope. “No response from you is required if you wish to ignore the motion. If you wish to accept the motion, have this returned by end of day tomorrow.”

He turns on his heel and heads down the hallway the moment I nod my understanding. I rip open the envelope and pull out the form, confusion making my movements clumsy. I mutter a curse and throw the entire thing in the trash.

Of course my mom has already filed a motion to have me reassigned. Fuck, she moved fast. It’s only been announced since noon. I shut off the lights and climb into bed, cocooning myself in my favorite blanket.

It takes a long time for me to remember how to sleep.

Thirteen

JASPER

Friday rehearsals are typically my favorite. The entire symphony playing through the program, listening to all our work coming together into something inspiring and touching and sometimes extraordinary is the push I often need by this point in the week. Typically. Today, I can’t focus on fuck all except the image of Violet on the mandatory video call last night.

I swear, I saw tears in her eyes. And not just once, but multiple times. I’d been prepped for anger or hatred. Cold disdain, even, like she felt I was beneath her. I hadn’t been prepared to see the flash of vulnerability when Rylan asked her about school.

Of course she made it into UCLA. It was her dream school. She’d worked her ass off junior and senior years to get a high enough SAT score to offset the four Cs she’d gotten as a sophomore. Not to mention the volunteer work she’d done to prove she was invested. She’d been here, in LA, the last four years. Not long after I left Seattle, really.

All those moments where I thought I saw her, could have sworn I recognized her in a crowd. What if I had truly seen her? What if she had gone to the symphony? Had she known I was here? Had she avoided me all this time?

Mason nudges me, interrupting my counting, but I look at him knowing I have a bit before the solo in the third piece.

“You good?” Mason mouths.

I nod, grabbing my bow and prepping for the solo, keeping my full attention on Giles where he stands at the front of the orchestra. This time, I can’t quite slip into the music, my mind still spiraling around everything that’s happened since Rylan opened the Council’s packet Wednesday night.

Do I hate her for that, the loss of my sanctuary? Or is it really the Council I’m angry with?

My gut twists. Or maybe it’s Dominic.

He left the house when he left the video call, slipping out without taking any of the cars, and hasn’t been home since. I slept in his bed last night, hoping to catch him when he finally came back. I woke up to the same empty bed I fell asleep in, the other side of his bed untouched. Rylan waited as long as he could before forcing me into the car so we wouldn’t be late to rehearsal. As it was, we arrived with barely enough time to get set.

Liz has been restless next to Mason all morning, her eyes darting to me at every break in the music. My throat dries out as I try to think about what I’ll tell her. The final note of the program rings out, and I try to sink into it, try to appreciate it like I’ve tried all week. But I can’t quite manage. Giles holds us in stillness longer than typical, his gaze sweeping over us all. When he finishes, he smiles and drops his arms, clapping his hands a couple times.

“Wonderful work,” he says, flipping through the music on his stand. “Call tonight is seven.”

He steps off the podium and heads toward his office, glancing at his watch and then his phone.

---