“How was it?”
“Ugh. It was weird. Oh my God. I don’t even know where to begin. All the students and professors were so cold toward me at first. It was like they thought I was a freak of nature or something. I was clearly not the Hayley they knew, and I soon found out that we had entirely different personalities, and that was just so trippy for everyone. I made some friends eventually, but it wasn’t easy.”
I smiled around a mouthful of bacon. “Tell me about Jace and Ivor.”
Her brown eyes went wide. “You know?”
“I know these two fools gave the other Hayley a hard time.” I tipped my chin at the mage and the vampire, who, oddly enough, were sitting together at the NDC table. They seemed to be pretty close, too.
Hayley chuckled in slight embarrassment. “The oddest thing happened. I fell in love with them in the other dimension, and Hayley fell in love with… well… them in this dimension. I’m not even sure how we’ll make it work. She and I exchanged places a couple of times this summer, and we also do it every other weekend. It’s tough. At least the boys are perfectly capable of taking care of each other when we’re not around.” She winked mischievously.
I almost choked on my food. I coughed and drank a bit of water. “No way!”
“Yes way.” She laughed.
“No.”
“Mhm. They’re together. They’ve been into each other since day one.”
“Wow.”
I stole a glance at the boys. Sure enough, they seemed to be very intimate. Every now and then, Ivor would lean in, and Jace would blush cutely. Their hands would brush on the table, and neither of them would pull away.
I shook my head. “I’ve missed so much.”
Hayley chuckled. When she saw me poking at my food, my brows furrowed in deep thought, her smile fell. “I’m sorry. I’m happy but… I don’t have to show it. I’m such a jerk. Are you really okay? I know you don’t want to talk about it now, but if you ever change your mind, I’m here. You can tell me anything.”
That snapped me out of my trance. “Hayley, no! You should be happy and show it. I just got a little distracted.”
“But you’re okay, right?”
She really needed me to reassure her that I was fine.
“Yes,” I said, even though I didn’t believe it myself.
Hayley talked all through breakfast. Feeling myself slip more and more into melancholy, I didn’t participate much. It was a good thing I’d kept Corri around, because she kept everyone at the table entertained with pixie jokes and harmless magic. In exchange, she got to taste everyone’s food. One thing was for sure: the Merciful Death Cabal liked pixies, and their newest mission seemed to be to fatten mine up.
Students finished their breakfast and went to classes, leaving their plates on the tables for the kitchen staff to clear. I couldn’t bring myself to stand up. I asked Corri to get me another pancake and lingered at the MDC table as even Hayley excused herself and told me she can’t be late for Geography. I’d cut my pancake into pieces and was chasing it around the plate when Davien and Seth plopped next to me, one to my right, the other to my left. I squeezed my shoulders, trying to make myself small. From the negative vibes they were giving off, I felt like they were both angry at me.
“I know what happened between you and Seth,” the incubus cut straight to the chase.
I looked at him with wide eyes. “What are you talking about?”
“You kissed him!”
“Oh.” I thought for a second. How was I supposed to play this out? In year one, they’d both placed a bet about who’d be the first to sleep with me. They’d played me. And now I was supposed to believe that they were for real? Everything in their demeanor said that yes, they had been concerned about me, and they did like me. After all, they’d been the only ones who’d visited me at the Karmic Asylum, besides Adrian. That said something about how they felt about me, right? I needed to believe that because there weren’t many things I believed in these days… “We did more than kiss.” I decided to be honest and see what happened.
“What the fuck?” Davien was outraged.
“Sorry mate,” Seth said sarcastically. “I guess she likes me more than she likes you.”
I rolled my eyes and stood up. Corri was all ears. By this time, she was starting to catch up to my relationship with the incubus and the sphinx. And for sure, she hadn’t forgotten about Adrian, my PE professor. Well, she’d been through something similar before. After all, Mila had ended up dating four guys. If nothing else, I was being modest with three.
“Stop that,” I said in a firm, no-bullshit voice. “I don’t like either of you better. You’re both alright, and I like you both equally.”
“Alright?” Davien laughed. “We’re alright?”
“Does that mean you’re not upset about that stupid bet anymore?” Seth sounded hopeful.
I sighed as I tried to make my way out of there. Neither of them was willing to let me pass, so I resorted to jumping over the bench.
“Water under the bridge,” I said, although I could feel my stomach churn at the thought I’d proved to be a bad judge of character in the past, so what made me know better now? “You visited me in that awful place. It means a lot to me. You care, so… I care about you, too.”
“You care about both of us.”
I was finally free, on the other side of the bench. Corri came to sit on my shoulder.
“Yes,” I nodded.
Seth ran a hand through his black hair. He was frustrated, and it showed.
Davien crossed his arms over his chest. “You have to choose.”
I laughed. “Say what?”
“You have to choose,” he repeated. “You can’t be with both of us.”
I looked over at Seth. The sphinx let out a sigh.
“Yeah, I agree. You have to choose. I can’t… share you with him.”
“And if you were to share me with someone else?” Not that I was going to tell them about Adrian, but it didn’t hurt to test the waters.
Seth turned to me, determination turning his blue eyes a shade darker. “I don’t want to share you with anyone. Ever.”
“Duly noted,” I said. After a moment of silence, I turned on my heels and threw over my shoulder: “I’m not in the mood to choose, so… figure it out amongst yourselves.”
I walked out of the dining room and started toward the MDC tower. I needed to get into my uniform and check my class schedule.
“Jerks,” Corri muttered. “I can’t believe you’re into them.”
“Mila was into four jerks too, as far as I know. Still is.”
Corri groaned. “Never liked Sariel, GC, Pazuzu, and Francis either. Well, maybe not Francis. He’s okay.”
“Don’t worry about it. It’s not like I’m going to marry them.”
“Fingers crossed. Because you deserve better, Mistress. You do.”