Going Down in Flames (Going Down in Flames #1)(47)

Clint’s eyes narrowed. “Who?”

Ivy reached into her pocket and pulled out an ad for formal dresses. “I’d go with someone who wants to see me wear this.” She pointed to a simple strapless sheath in fire engine red.

Clint cursed under his breath. “You’re not going anywhere in that dress without me by your side, and you know it.”

Ivy smirked. “I counted on that.”

He smirked back at her. “Manipulative wench.”

Ivy laughed, and then passed the ad to Bryn. “You’d look pretty in the blue dress. It would bring out your eyes.”

The blue dress had a flared skirt and spaghetti straps. It would look good on her. Damn it.

“I’m not going, so I don’t need a dress.”

“You never know,” Ivy said. “Keegan keeps looking over here.”

Bryn snorted. “If that’s any indication, then Jaxon should ask me to the dance.”

Clint spewed soda across the table.

Bryn threw her head back and laughed.

…

Over the rest of the week, Bryn settled into an easy rhythm of going to classes, hanging out with Clint and Ivy, and emailing her parents and Beth. She told her parents she was adjusting and doing fine. What they didn’t know about the expulsion from history class wouldn’t hurt them. Finding things to share with Beth was harder. Their emails were becoming less frequent, which made her sad.

Most days, Zavien appeared at lunch or dinner to offer her cake. If he came to her room in the evening, he’d rub her neck. She fantasized about kissing him. Not that he ever showed any interest. Damn it.

All in all, life wasn’t bad.

Jaxon continued to leave dog-related items on her desk. Even though it bothered her, she tossed them back and made a smart remark or incinerated them. People seemed to laugh at her comments more than his attempts to call her a mongrel. She found a few more notes in strange places. The one she found shoved into her book bag yesterday was the most disturbing. Not because of the generic threat it contained—“You don’t belong here.”—but because someone who hated her had been that close.

On a positive and slightly frustrating note, Keegan continued to speak to her. Sometimes it seemed like he was flirting with her, but he never mentioned the dance.

On Saturday morning, she intended to sleep late. Unfortunately, the damn alarm clock woke her at the same hour it had all week.

After bashing the alarm clock with her shoe, she tried to go back to sleep. Her stomach growled. Facing other students in the dining hall didn’t sound fun. She’d been surrounded by people all week, and now she wanted time to herself. What to do about food?

Wait a minute. Garret had said something about vending machines. They should be easy to find. She checked in the mirror and decided her yoga pants and tank top were decent enough to wear in public.

The machines were tucked in an alcove by the stairs. While she waited in line, she surveyed the other bleary-eyed students. Robes and pajamas were the standard dress. No one spoke, which was fine with her.

She purchased two cups of coffee, a container of milk, two small boxes of cereal, a banana, and doughnuts. Back in her room, she ate doughnuts at her desk while emailing her parents.

When she was on her second bowl of cereal, Zavien came in her window, wearing jeans and a black T-shirt decorated with a skull and crossbones. Would a pirate hat fit over his spiked hair? How hot would he look with eyeliner?

“What’s that look for?” He sprawled on the couch and snagged her second cup of coffee.

“Just wondering where you left your parrot and eye patch.”

“I like this shirt.”

Pretending to analyze his clothes, she took a moment to appreciate the fit of his jeans and the way the black cotton shirt stretched across his chest and shoulders. “It’s a cool shirt. How’d you make it across campus without the dress code police arresting you?”

“It’s the weekend.”

“And…?”

“We can wear what we want as long as it’s in good taste.”

It felt like Christmas had come early. “We can wear jeans on the weekend?”

He nodded.

“Thank God. The thought of putting on a skirt and blouse was enough to keep me in my room all day.”

“You are free to roam about the campus in denim. The only rule is all shirts must tuck in or come past your waist. No bare midriffs allowed. The Directorate nearly had a coronary when girls let their thongs show above their pants.” He gave wicked grin. “I thought it was a good look.”

She rolled her eyes. “You would.”

He laughed, and then he pulled a piece of paper from his back pocket. “I asked Miss Enid to check family trees, and she said there aren’t any McKenna’s listed after your dad, except you, of course.”

“So much for meeting up with any Red relatives.”

A knock sounded on the door.

Garret stood in the hallway with a notebook and stopwatch in hand. “I thought we might record your flight times today.” He spied Zavien lounging on the couch. “I didn’t realize I was interrupting.” His tone radiated disapproval.

“You are.” Zavien gave a cheeky grin before taking a sip of coffee. “We were about to fly over to Dragon’s Bluff to do a little shopping.”