The Golden Lily (Bloodlines #2)(9)

Angeline sighed happily. "Isn't that nice of him?"

Nice? No, but I understood why Eddie would do it. Getting decent clothes for Angeline was the last thing he probably wanted to do, but he would do it. Like me, he understood duty.

And now I could guess why Eddie had canceled the experiments - and been vague about his reasons for doing so.

I immediately took out my cell phone and called him. He answered right away, like always.

I was certain he was never more than three feet from his phone at all times. "Hello, Sydney.

Glad you're back." He paused. "You are back, right?"

"Yeah, I'm with Jill and Angeline. I understand you've been doing some shopping." He groaned. "Don't get me started. I just walked into my room."

"You want to swing by with your purchases? I need the car back anyway." There was a moment's hesitation. "Would you mind coming over here? As long as Jill's okay. She is okay, right? She doesn't need me? Because if she does - "

"She's fine." His dorm wasn't far, but I'd been hoping for a quick nap. Nonetheless, I found myself agreeing, just like I always did. "Okay. I'll meet you in the lobby in about fifteen minutes?"

"Sounds good. Thanks, Sydney."

As soon as I disconnected, Angeline asked excitedly, "Is Eddie coming over?"

"I'm going to him," I said.

Her face fell. "Oh. Well, I guess it doesn't matter since I have to stay here anyway. I can't wait until I'm free to train again. I'd like to get some more one-on-one time with him." I hadn't realized how focused Angeline was on her training. In fact, she seemed really excited about the prospect of it.

I left their room and was surprised to find Jill right behind me once the door shut. Her eyes were wide and anxious. "Sydney... I'm sorry."

I regarded her curiously, wondering now if she'd done something. "For what?" She gestured toward the door. "For Angeline. I should have done better at keeping her out of trouble."

I almost smiled. "That's not your job."

"Yeah, I know..." She glanced down, letting some of her long hair fall forward. "But still. I know I should be more like you. Instead, I've just been... you know. Having fun."

"You're entitled to it," I said, trying to ignore the subtle commentary on me.

"I should still be more responsible," she argued.

"You are responsible," I assured her. "Especially compared to Angeline." My family had a cat back in Utah that I was pretty sure was more responsible than Angeline.

Jill's face brightened, and I left her so that I could return the suitcase to my room. Angeline's arrival and my work in busting Keith had earned me my own private room in the dorm, something I treasured. Inside it, everything was quiet and orderly. My perfect world.

The one place that the chaos of my life couldn't touch. The neatly made bed was asking to be slept in. Begging, really. Soon, I promised it. I hope.

Amberwood Prep was divided into three campuses, East (where the girls were housed), West (where the boys were), and Central (containing all the academic buildings). A shuttle bus ran between them on a regular schedule, or brave souls could walk between them in the heat. I usually didn't mind the temperatures, but walking seemed like a lot of work today. So, I took the shuttle to West Campus and tried to stay awake.

The lobby of the boys' dorm was a lot like my own, people coming and going to either catch up on academic work or simply enjoy the Sunday off. I glanced around, but Eddie wasn't here yet.

"Hey, Melbourne."

I turned and found Trey Juarez approaching, a grin on his tanned face. He was a senior like me and had picked up the Melbourne nickname after one of our teachers proved incapable of remembering Melrose. Honestly, with all these names, it was a wonder I knew who I was anymore.

"Hey, Trey," I said. Trey was a bona fide high school football star - but also pretty brainy, no matter how much he tried to hide it. We got along well as a result, and my help in restoring his athletic status last month had gone a long way to raise my stock in his eyes. A backpack hung on one of his shoulders. "Are you finally going to finish that chem lab write-up?"

"Yup," he said. "Me and half the cheerleading squad. You want to join us?" I rolled my eyes. "Somehow I doubt there'll be much work going on. Besides, I'm meeting Eddie."

Trey gave an easy shrug and brushed some unruly black hair out of his eyes. "Your loss.

See you tomorrow." He took a couple of steps and then glanced back at me. "Hey, are you dating anyone?"

I immediately started to say no, and then a panicked thought occurred to me. I had a tendency to take things very literally. Friends of mine here, Kristin and Julia, had been trying to train me up in the subtleties of high school social life. One of their chief lessons was that what people said wasn't always what they meant - particularly in romantic matters.

"Are you... are you asking me out?" I asked, taken aback. This was the last thing I needed right now. How should I respond? Should I say yes? Should I say no? I'd had no idea helping him with chemistry homework would be so alluring. I should've made him do it on his own.

Trey looked as startled by the thought as I was. "What? No. Of course not."