Chapter 83: A date
WILLA
I burst into the courtyard, heart racing, hoping to catch sight of them. But it was as empty as ever, the open space stretching out silently under the dimming sky.
I glared at the exact spot where the two of them had been standing. "He went away with her," I muttered under my breath.
The idiot lecher was probably in there right now. My gaze lifted, scanning every window along the building, wondering which one hid them. I didn’t know who Candace’s friends were in House Valerius, but they must have given the pair privacy for whatever forbidden thing they had in mind.
"I’ll just have to check each room, then," I said to myself.
Yeah, it made no sense. It made me look like a jealous, controlling freak — someone who couldn’t stand the thought of her man being near another attractive female.
But it was Candace. If it had been anyone else, I wouldn’t have minded this much.
With that single thought burning in my mind, I turned around. My face collided with a hard wall of muscle and warmth. I gasped, stumbling back two steps before my eyes traveled upward from the black hoodie.
"Lance," I whispered.
I quickly looked behind him, searching for Candace. She wasn’t there. An instant wave of relief washed over me, followed immediately by hot, simmering anger.
I glowered at him. "What are you doing here?"
"Whoa, angry," he grinned, holding his hands up in mock surrender. "I haven’t done anything illegal by wanting to visit my girl. Have I?"
So I was his girl now. My eyes narrowed. I wasn’t buying a single word. If he was really here to visit me, he would have come straight to the room instead of chatting with Candace.
"What for?" I pressed. "Ten meters distance away, remember?"
Lance’s eyes widened like he had only just remembered the rule. Then he glanced around the courtyard nervously, as if Headmaster Alaric might suddenly appear from behind one of the flower hedges.
The surprise on his face vanished almost instantly as he looked back at me, a cheeky smile tugging at his lips. "The distance between us is good enough."
I stared at him. He could practically reach out his hand and pull me closer. That wasn’t a distance at all.
Lance continued, suddenly looking nervous.
"Truth is..." He trailed off, gaze dropping to his feet before lifting again. He ran a hand through his hair and spoke in the shyest voice I had ever heard from him.
"I’m here to ask if you’d like to be my date at the spring dance."
"Spring dance?"
I hadn’t heard of that.
Lance nodded eagerly. "It’s happening the night before spring break ends, at Ryan’s. We apologized for what happened last time and he sent an invite and—"
"Wait," I cut off his rambling.
Lance stopped, looking down at his feet again. "Sorry."
He really was cute. For a brief second I wanted to pull him into a hug and kiss his cheek but I didn’t. I had no idea where that face, those hands, or even his feet had been.
I scoffed softly, letting my eyes travel over his body. His posture screamed that he was hiding something.
"Why are you staring at me like that?" He asked, snapping my focus back to his face.
Lance shot me a funny, almost nervous expression and took a small step back, as if afraid I might hit him.
"You want me to go on a date with you?" I asked.
"Our first official date," he clarified, hope lighting up his eyes.
I nodded slowly.
"Is that a yes?"
"No," I answered flatly.
Lance’s jaw slackened. "W...what?" He stammered.
"I said no," I repeated.
"Why not?!" He exclaimed, voice rising in disbelief.
"Because I don’t want to," I replied.
"That isn’t a good enough reason!" He shot back.
"Well, I’m sorry Mr Beckett, it’s good enough for me," I said, my voice dripping with sarcasm. "I don’t have to follow your rules of what’s good and what’s bad."
Lance didn’t look satisfied with my answer. I didn’t care. He stared at me for a few long seconds, then asked,
"What did I do?" His voice was softer now, like he knew he had offended me somehow. "You were already pissed at me the moment you saw me."
I ignored him, turning to walk away.
He groaned. "Come on, Elyse."
He reached out to touch me, but I glared sharply at him, stopping his hand halfway.
"Don’t touch me with those filthy hands," I snapped.
"Filthy hands?" Lance repeated slowly, eyes widening in genuine shock. He stared at his own hand for a long moment, then held it up for me to see. "They aren’t filthy."
God. I rolled my eyes at him. Could he be any more dense?
I continued toward the door, but he quickly blocked my path.
"Tell me why you’re mad at me," he urged, almost pleading.
"I don’t want to," I said.
"Please, Elyse," he reached for my shoulder again but let his hand drop just inches away.
"I don’t know what I did. Even if you don’t want to go out with me, fine. I just want to know why you’re so angry so I can apologize."
"Candace," I said, finally looking up at him.
Heat crept into my cheeks as he stared back at me in complete confusion.
"What about her?" he asked with a frown.
Still pretending he didn’t know.
"Ask her on a date," I shoved him away, hurrying to the door. "If you don’t know what you did, then don’t speak to me anymore!" I yanked the door open and walked out before he could call me back.
When I returned to the room, Verah was standing by the window, arms crossed. "He’s dumb," she said without turning around. "He can’t even remember what he’s done."
She had heard everything. Wonderful. I wondered if the rest of the house had heard too.
I walked over to her. Lance was still standing in the courtyard below, a puzzled look on his face as he stared at the ground.
My heart twisted with a pang of guilt. Maybe I shouldn’t have left him like that without giving him more context.
"Now that you’re here," Verah turned around, gripping my shoulders firmly. She gently pushed me away from the window. "Let’s continue with this prison decoration. Shall we?"
I nodded, letting out a long sigh. There was nothing else I wanted to do right now anyway.
