Next to me, Jasper whistled quietly through his teeth. “Not bad, strange boy I didn’t notice was here.”

I turned to look at him but forgot what I was going to say. Up close, he was even more intimidating, especially since he was so much taller than me. I was suddenly acutely aware of the fact that my shirt was too big, the sleeves pushed up so they wouldn’t fall over my wrists, and my tie wasn’t knotted properly.

Jasper, amused at my prolonged silence, reached out a hand.

“I’m Jasper Des Lauriers.”

“I know,” I said, shaking his hand—God, I hoped my palms weren’t sweaty—and belatedly added, “I’m Seth. We’re in the same class.”

“Right. Want to do the lights today?”

The word tumbled out of my mouth before my brain could think. “Sure.”

“Oh thank God,” he said, the last word twisting up into a small laugh. “I probably would have caused a short circuit any second.”

Some kind of short circuit had to have already happened in my brain because all I could get out was a softly echoed, “Probably.”

“All right. The control board is all yours.” Jasper slowly backed away. Just before he turned around, he offered me another brilliant grin. “Merci.”

Whatever reply I had got stuck in my throat, so I just nodded.

Watched as he made his way to the front of the room. Dragged my stare back to the stage. Adjusted the spotlight so it landed on Jasper’s boyfriend.

And just like that, homework was suddenly my smallest concern.

4

Evelyn

It was around nine in the evening when I heaved myself up the stairs to the girls’ wing on Thursday.

Life at a boarding school had proven to be much more tiring than I had expected; being surrounded by other students at all times wore on me, as I usually preferred to have some time to myself. But rooming with Noelle was harder than everything else—getting to know all the other students and teachers; trying to keep up with the lessons; and hiding from Amelia, who seemed to have a penchant for following me around—combined.

Since the incident with me trying to read her notes, Noelle hadn’t said a single word to me. She didn’t even look at me when we were alone, which was impressive considering we had every single class together and lived only a few inches apart.

The only relief in the tension between us came when she spent the night somewhere else. I still wasn’t sure where she slept, but Amelia had implied she was with her boyfriend.

Though, as Amelia had been quick to correct me, boyfriend wasn’t really the right term, as they probably only had a sexual relationship. I tried not to think too much about it.

After finally making my way up the last staircase, I hesitated at our door for a second. I thought I had heard a noise inside, but then I brushed it off as Noelle was rarely there at this time.