Crimson Death (Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter #25)(61)

“Yeah, fine as a man who’s been gently corrected on the internet,” Lara said, crossing one leg over the other.

Juliette peeked through her fingers. “I got a rejection letter yesterday.”

I blanched. “From the Conservatory?”

She nodded.

“Oh no. Shit.”

“I thought you said the audition went well?” Niamh asked.

“I thought it did! It was the best I’d ever played. The best I’d ever played, and it still wasn’t good enough.” With that, she broke down in tears again, and I shuffled my chair around so I could awkwardly pat her back.

“Those schools are so selective,” I said. “Honestly, Valentina probably could’ve gotten rejected from half of them.”

“She would not. She could get in anywhere because she’s amazing, and I suck, and I’m going to be stuck here.”

“Did you apply to any other schools?” Niamh asked quietly.

Juliette shrugged at the table. “I applied to Juilliard, but I didn’t even get an audition. And also NC State.”

“I didn’t know they had a good music program,” I said.

“They don’t. It was supposed to be my backup school. Like, worst-case scenario. But I didn’t … think that would actually happen.”

I was crushed on her behalf. It didn’t make any sense to me. Juliette loved the clarinet, and she was so talented and passionate and dedicated. How could it be over? Just like that?

Lara suddenly looked taken aback, but not in regards to Juliette. She was looking at something behind me. I turned around just in time to see Renee swoop in like a witch without a broom, brandishing a phone instead of a wand inches from my head. “Lara, seriously, enough.”

Juliette, Niamh, and I exchanged wary glances, while Lara stuck out her bottom lip to plead ignorance. “Enough what?”

“Texting me, and calling me, and asking me to hang out. You need to get a hobby or something.”

Underneath Lara’s defiant nonchalance, there was a hint of confusion. “I don’t know what you—”

“There is nothing going on between us,” Renee said, far more loudly than she needed to. She glanced behind her, and I looked back to see her boyfriend watching from a few tables over. All at once, it made sense. This was a show, put on for his benefit. “How much clearer can I make myself?”

Lara’s mouth dropped open, and I wondered if Renee had made even the slightest attempt to be clear about that before this moment. “Wait, so are you saying you don’t wanna get married?” Lara asked, sarcasm mode officially activated. “This is so out of nowhere.”

“I’m sorry, Lara, but I’m straight, okay? I don’t think of you like that. At all. You’ve got the wrong idea.”

Renee was practically shouting now. The buzz from the tables around us had died down, and a few students had looked back to more effectively eavesdrop on the argument. If “argument” was really the right word for this situation—in fairness, Lara seemed to almost be goading Renee more than fighting back.

“Well, clearly,” Lara said. “I guess something must have confused me there. Can you think what? It’s on the tip of my tongue, but I just can’t—”

“You need to stop it!” Renee yelled.

“No, you need to stop it,” I said quietly. The thing is, though, I didn’t mean to say it. It was out of my mouth as quickly as I thought it. I froze as Renee turned around to face me, her face red and furious. This was not good. I was not a confrontation kind of person. More of an “eating popcorn in the very back row, out of the firing line” kinda guy.

As she opened her mouth, though, Niamh jumped in. “Renee, if you want to talk to Lara, fine, but screaming at her in public is not a good look.”

“Yeah, so you might wanna get the hell away from our table before the rest of us scream back at you,” Juliette added, her face still blotchy and red, but her voice steady. “And trust me, we can scream louder.”

Renee looked between us and scrunched up her mouth. She seemed to be weighing the pros and cons. Juliette raised an eyebrow at her and she scowled, before turning back to Lara. “Stop texting me,” she said in a low voice.

“You got it, sweetie,” Lara said, turning back to her lasagna like the conversation was a little too boring to hold her attention.

Even when Renee disappeared, Lara did an impressive job of holding her composure, despite the obvious whispering and looks from the tables surrounding us. Even the basketball guys were looking over, and they were practically on the other side of the cafeteria. Matt was staring right at Lara, like he was trying to catch her eye. He looked concerned.

“Sooo …” Juliette said.

Lara rolled her eyes and thrust her phone at Juliette. “There. You tell me if what I said warranted that.”

Juliette and Niamh tipped their heads together to look at the screen. I didn’t bother joining them. I just looked at Lara and waited.

“That was basically gaslighting,” Lara said.

“What’s that?”

“When someone tries to twist what really happened to make you think you’re losing it.” She shoved lasagna into her mouth. “Trying to make me look obsessed with her like she wasn’t actively leading me on that whole time.”