Page 3 of Mixing Drinks For Tipsy Weasels

"You know each other?" Robin asks.

"We went to school together," I respond.

"Oh, phew. I thought you'd hooked up at the beginning of term or something that would make this awkward. I'll leave you to it," they say, heading over to talk to one of the others.

"So..." I trail off, not entirely sure what to say. It's been years since I last saw Rupert.

"I'm guessing staying out of my way is out of the question?" he asks.

"I'm sure we can work on different parts of prep," I respond.

"And you're not going to quit?"

I snort. "Why should I quit? I was here first."

"Because you made me quit going to theatre club."

"We were thirteen," I protest. "And you made that decision all on your own because you didn't like that they wanted us to play Mr & Mrs Otter in the school play."

"I'm a weasel, not an otter." He crosses his arms.

"They weren't going to make you shift for a school play," I point out. "That would have been all kinds of illegal."

"I'm still not an otter."

"Mmm, I remember. And the fact you quit had everything to do with the otter thing and not because you had to kiss me on the cheek in one of the scenes. I remember you storming out and saying that you'd never kiss me, ever."

"Did you want to kiss me?"

"Well, technically, you were the one kissing me on the cheek," I remind him. "But I can't say I cared for it very much."

"Good. So we're clear."

I frown. "That you're not going to kiss me on the cheek? I really don't think that's going to come up during end of year ball prep."

"No, that we're staying away from each other."

"Oh, yes. Definitely. In fact, I'm going to go talk to Sami about the decorations," I announce louder than I need to. I turn on my heels and walk away without saying another word, trying not to be too annoyed by Rupert's sudden appearance here.

I know I shouldn't let it bother me that he's here, and I really should let the playground animosity go, but I can't help it, he gets under my skin. And we've been running into each other on and off for the past fifteen years. I didn't even realise he was at Obscure Academy, and now I'm not going to be able tounknow.

Chapter 3

Rupert

It's onlyafter I step out of the student union building that I finally manage to breathe. I can't believe that of all the people I could possibly have run into while doing ball prep, it's the one person I don't want anything to do with.

"Why didn't you tell me Erica Stubbs was going to be there?" I ask Sami as we make our way across campus and back to our flat.

He shrugs. "I didn't realise the two of you knew each other."

"We're both..." I wave my hand to myself.

"It might surprise you to know that I don't think everyone who can shift into a weasel knows each other. I'm pretty sure that's considered gauche."

"Who uses the word gauche?"

"I do. Now what's the deal with Erica? She seems sweet to me."

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