“Okay, got it.” Rahul’s mouth had gone completely dry. Why were his spit glands malfunctioning right now? Traitors.
Caterina stepped forward once more, until she was just a few inches away from him. Then, placing one hand on his upper arm, she leaned forward, so close that her luscious wavy hair tickled the side of Rahul’s right cheek. Her perfume wafted over him, gentle as a spring breeze—just a touch of rose and something else, something fresh and pure. He heard her make a kissing sound, and in spite of the fact that his entire body had seized up, Rahul forced himself to follow suit. He had to prove a good student, or she might just give up and take one of Alaric’s perfect human mannequin friends to the gala.
Caterina pulled back and studied Rahul’s expression. He hoped she didn’t see his deranged muskrat expression (that Leo had informed him he got when he was nervous), but rather, a human who appeared to be quickly learning all the lessons she was imparting. “How was that?”
“Good,” he said immediately, his voice about three and a half octaves too high. Clearing his throat, Rahul tried again. “That, um, I think I got it. Yeah.”
Caterina took a step back, and Rahul immediately regretted not saying that he needed to practice it two or three more times to get it down pat. That’s what Leo would’ve done. Unfortunately, Rahul Chopra had absolutely zero game. The day the universe was handing out a heaping ladleful of guile and charm, Rahul’s genes had gone in for a second helping of every flavor of social inadequacy instead.
“Excellent.” Caterina clasped her hands together, a faint smile at her lips. “I think we should stop there today. I don’t want to overwhelm you with information. Are you sure you don’t need to write it down?”
“I’m sure,” Rahul replied. “I have an—”
“Eidetic memory,” Caterina finished. “I remember.”
“Maybe you have one too,” Rahul quipped, and then was inordinately pleased with himself. Usually that joke would’ve come to him hours later, when he was in the shower or about to fall asleep.
Caterina’s faint smile turned into the real thing, and Rahul couldn’t help but stare, transfixed. “I sincerely doubt that.” She turned and pulled out her cell phone, typing a message to someone. “So, tomorrow, then? Same time?”
“Tomorrow,” Rahul agreed, his heart pounding. She wanted to see him again. He hadn’t messed it up. Yes! “At Nyx, for lunch.”
“Right,” Caterina said. “We’ll work on table manners some more. See you then.” And she swept out, still texting.
Rahul stood for a long minute, staring after her. Then he pulled out his phone, meaning to text Leo. And realized he could do no such thing. He was sworn to secrecy. Dammit. He slipped his phone back into his pocket and turned to the window. The entire campus was quiet, huddled under a fresh coat of snow, devoid of all signs of life. It seemed he was the only one in the world. And yet, right then, Rahul didn’t feel alone.
CHAPTER 7
RAHUL
“Come shoot some hoops with us.”
The next morning, Rahul looked up from his book (the latest etiquette book by Myka Meier—with a dust jacket from his chess manual to disguise it) to see Grey and Leo in his dorm room, Grey spinning a basketball on his index finger. Jeez, every time Rahul looked at him, he couldn’t help but notice that the dude had gotten even bigger during winter break. What had Jaya’s family fed him? Rahul closed his book. “I think I’ll sit this one out, but thanks.” He was meeting Caterina at Nyx for lunch in just a couple of hours; he couldn’t afford to get all red and sweaty before then. Besides, he’d rather spend his time reading the etiquette book anyway.
“Oh, come on.” Leo bounded over and sat at the foot of Rahul’s bed. “We need one more to make an even team against the juniors. They—how do you say? Oh, oui—they whooped our asses last time before break, but I have been practicing all break long.”
“I need to read.” Rahul gestured to his book. “Sorry.”
Grey walked in and leaned against Owen’s, Rahul’s roommate’s, dresser, making it creak in protest. Thankfully for Rahul, Owen was an overenthusiastic, overly social dude who liked to spend as little time as possible in his dorm. “What’s going on, man?” Grey frowned. “We’ve barely seen you since school started.”
Rahul laughed a little. He’d been practicing for this question. “School only started two weeks ago.”
Grey quirked one corner of his mouth, his blue eyes piercing in that eerie way, as if he could read your mind. “That’s not really an answer to my question.”
Rahul shrugged, starting to feel a prickle of uneasiness. He wasn’t the best liar, given more to logic and facts than smoke and mirrors. “Nothing’s going on. I’m just… you know… reading and stuff. Busy.”
Leo was frowning now too. “Busy reading? But you have always been a reader.” He looked up at Rahul’s collection of chess posters on his wall. It was something of a joke with him and Leo; he’d been adding them so steadily over the years, destroying every inch of blank wall in every one of his dorm rooms over the years, that they practically qualified as wallpaper. “Have you added any new posters yet?”
Rahul followed his gaze. “Um, I don’t think I have room for any more posters. Besides, like I said, guys: We’ve only been in school for two weeks.”
Leo looked at Grey like, You see?? He hasn’t added any posters yet; clearly he is in the process of dying from a very rare and protracted illness that has affected his brain. Thankfully, Grey wasn’t nearly as hysterical.
“Okay,” Grey said in his unflappable and cryptic way. Rahul could tell he wasn’t buying it.
Rahul began to sweat under the weight of Grey’s gaze.
Rolling his eyes, Leo said, “Thanks for that contribution, Grey. Very helpful.” Looking at Rahul, he added, “Maybe later this weekend we can all get together and do something?”
“Sure,” Rahul said. “What about Sunday evening?”
By then the gala would be over and he would be returning to real life. Rahul felt a shot of despondency at the thought of Caterina going back to not really seeing him in the hallways anymore, but it was what it was. There had been a part of him that had hoped, by being the best student ever, that Caterina might slowly begin to see that Rahul could fit in her world. But so far that hadn’t happened, and Rahul had to admit that it wasn’t likely to happen in the short time they had remaining before the gala. Oh well. At least he’d gotten to spend all this time with her.
“Sunday it is.” Grey pushed himself off the dresser and strode with his ridiculously long legs out the door.
After a brief moment, Leo nodded, stood up, and followed him.
CATERINA
Caterina prided herself on being someone who was rarely, if ever, impressed. And yet, in this moment, she had no choice but to admit she was, in fact, extremely impressed.
On Friday afternoon, the day before the Hindman Gala, she sat back in the booth at Nyx, the restaurant at which she and Rahul had just eaten lunch. Caterina studied him, shaking her head slowly.