Page 28 of You Float My Boat

Is this the hot girl Bitters was talking about seeing you with last night?

Brooks:

My sister?

Brooks:

You’ve got some explaining to do.

I ignored the messages coming thick and fast, slipping my phone back into my pocket as the church bells chimed the quarter hour, ringing like an albatross around my neck.

Each step I took towards the entrance of Radcliffe became heavier and heavier.

By the time I reached the fountain – throwing out a silent prayer that in an hour Violet would be waiting – I was convinced I was squelching through mud. Everyone else was rushing past me, yet I was having difficulty putting one foot in front of the other.

I stopped and sat down on the edge of the fountain without thinking, only to immediately shoot back up when I realized it was wet. Even the temporary distraction of drying off the damp patch from my jeansdidn’t help the dread which had been festering since I’d woken up.

The cloudless blue skies were doing nothing for me.

I was also trying not to be overly dramatic, but as I stared up at the pale cream brick of the building I may as well have been clipping in the starting blocks of the longest, hardest gauntlet.

I didn’t even want to get it over with.

I was quite content standing here, waiting for my jeans to dry. Or better yet, going home and back to bed so I could squeeze in a nap before training later.

The devil on my shoulder was telling me to do exactly that.

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