Page 86 of The Cruelty of Thorns

Kristin and Lisa were eating lunch when I got to the cafeteria. I flopped down in a chair without getting anything to eat, crossing my arms and glaring at them.

“Okay, what’s going on?” Kristin demanded.

“Men,” I spat.

“Anyone in particular, or just the species in general?”

I rolled my eyes. “Ron. He had the nerve to try to tell me who I could see.”

“You mean he knows about your new guy?”

“Apparently. He said he saw us together and warned me to stay away from him.”

“That doesn’t sound like Ron. He’s usually pretty easy-going.”

“I guess this is part of his new persona.” I reached over to Kristin’s tray and snatched a fry, chomping down on it to channel my anger. She pushed the tray toward me and indicated for me to help myself.

“You have a new guy?” Lisa asked.

“Yeah, and he’s hot,” Kristin replied before I had a chance.

“Good for you,” Lisa said. “What are you going to do about Ron?”

I shrugged. “What do you mean? He made his choice at the hospital. It’s none of his business who I see now.”

“Toby said Ron finally talked to him last night. Told him he was sorry for being a jerk.”

I snorted. “Apparently not sorry enough. I’d put the whole thing behind me, but I still have to sit next to him in my favorite class.”

“Yeah, that sucks,” she agreed. “Want me to have Toby talk to him?”

“No, that’s okay. Hopefully he’s said his piece and will leave me alone now.” Though I didn’t think that was likely. It seemed Ron and Julianus were destined to be jealous of each other, all because of me. Who would ever believe that?

♦ ♦ ♦

I calmed down a little after my talk with Kristin and Lisa and managed to focus enough to get through my afternoon classes, but I was still angry whenever I thought about Ron. After my last class, I spent a couple of hours in the library killing time and researching some old reference papers for my psychology class project. By the time I was finished it was 4:30, enough time to get back to my room to change for my meet up with Julianus.

I didn’t see Ron until I was halfway across the quad. He stepped out in front of me and closed his hands around my arms, forcing me to stop.

“What are you doing?” I snapped, jerking away from him. “You’ve said your piece, now leave me alone.”

“Myra, listen to me. I’m telling you the truth. That guy is trouble.”

“You’re just jealous.”

“It’s not that, trust me.” He swiped a hand through his hair and shook his head. “Okay, look, I’ll admit I was jealous when I saw you kissing another guy, but that’s my own fault and I’ll own up to that. But then I saw who it was.”

“And who was that?”

“I’ll show you. Can I see your notebook?”

“What?”

“Your notebook. Can I see it? Please.”

I stared at him for a minute like he was crazy, then set my backpack on the ground and pulled out my notebook, handing it to him. “What’s this about?”

He flipped through the pages until he came to the one he wanted, holding it up for me to see. It was the drawing of Julianus.

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