Page 94 of Ink & Stardust

I am revising day twelve.

Day twelve: I got angry and decided I was done wallowing over a man who doesn’t even have the decency to acknowledge me.

I shove my way inside my dorm room just a few short minutes later to find Char at her desk, no doubt studying for the upcoming finals, which should be my focus but most definitely isn’t.

“Do you still want to go to that party tonight?” I ask, shedding my bookbag before plopping it on the floor next to my chair.

“Yes?” She phrases it like a question.

“Great. Do you have a dress I can borrow?”

“Yes?” Again, she seems unsure of her answer as her eyes track me as I peel off one shoe and then the other.

“Great. I’m going to go take a shower and then we can start getting ready,” I tell her matter-of-factly.

“It’s only two thirty.”

“I know. No reason we can’t get an early start, right?”

“Are you okay?” she asks as I gather my bathroom things.

“I’m great.” I grab my robe, draping it over my forearm before turning back toward her. “Just great.” I can feel the wild expression that slides across my face but don’t care enough to try to hide it.

“Are you sure? Because you don’t really seem all that great,” she says apologetically.

“He just walked right past me and barely even looked at me. He barely even glanced at me, Char, and then he just continued on like I wasn’t even there!”

“Asshole.” She stands, moving toward me.

“I don’t care,” I tell her, a lie, and we both know it. “I’m done lying around this room sulking. I want to go out, get drunk, and who knows, maybe I’ll even find myself a cute guy to make me feel better for a few hours.”

“I...”

I can tell she wants to say something that she knows I probably don’t want to hear and thankfully, thinks better of it.

“I’ll text Maisie and let her know to come home straight after practice,” she tells me instead.

“Perfect.” With that, I spin around and exit the room.

Chapter Seventeen

KAI

“What the hell is wrong with you?” They’re the first words out of Maisie’s mouth when I open my door to find her standing in the hallway, hands on her hips in that way she does when she’s about to chew someone out.

Hate to break it to her, but I’m most certainly not in the fucking mood today.

“Quite a few things at the moment.”

“I thought you were going to make things right with Lyric.” She pushes past me into my room.

“By all means, come on in,” I grumble, kicking the door closed before turning to face her.

I’ve known Maisie since she was in grade school, and while I’ve watched her grow up for years, it’s staggering to see her now, more adult than child.

“You walked right by her and said nothing. No, worse, you walked right by her, made eye contact, and then kept going like you didn’t even know her. What the actual fuck, Kai?” She throws her hands up.

“I wasn’t expecting to see her. I panicked.”

---