Page 245 of Forbidden Lessons

“Yes, well, this is very urgent. I’ve been trying to reach him since six am. If he’s there?—“

“He’s not here right now.”

“Please tell him to call The Eden House. He has our number. It’s about his mother.”

“What about his mother?” I stifle a yawn, take my collar’s chain and thread it through my fingers.

“She…passed a short while ago. Please have him call us as soon as he gets this.”

My hand feels numb when I set the receiver down.

What. The. Hell?

But I barely get a second to process before the phone rings again.

I lift it without thinking, answer with a shaky, “Yeah?”

“Hello…?”

It’s not the same woman. And for some reason, I recognize the voice, but I can’t place it.

“Hi?”

Man, my head is still reeling from the first phone call. I’m supposed to go in there and tell Bastian his mother’s dead?

“Who’s this please?” the woman asks.

I clench my hand, the chain biting into my fingers. “Uh…who are you looking for?”

“Is that you, Haven?” As she says my name, I recognize Nora from the college help desk’s voice.

I come so close to slamming down the phone, but I know immediately how bad that would be.

“Uh…yeah. Hi.”

“What are you doing at Professor Rooke’s house?” I hear papers shuffle on the line as Nora mutters, “Did I call the right number?—?”

“Study group.”

The papers stop. “Oh. On a Saturday? This early?”

“Yeah, well, rather now than Sunday afternoon, right?”

Nora laughs, and the knot my stomach tied itself into unravels. “Oh, yes, well, I agree. It’s actually good I caught you. I was going to ring you next.”

My stomach clenches. “Yeah?”

“Sweetie, I know you said your father’s away, but I can’t quite remember when you said he’d be back. Was it this weekend?”

“Uh…no. I’m not sure, actually. Why?”

“Oh. Well, if you could ask him to call me next week as soon as he can, I’d appreciate it.”

“Is it more paperwork stuff?”

“The dean wants to have a meeting with him.”

“What?” I grip the phone so tight the plastic creaks in my hand.

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