A few minutes later, there’s a knock on my door. I’ve never skipped breakfast before, so my first thought is that they’ve sent someone to check on me, to make sure I’m not lying in bed unable to walk or something. I pull my collar up so it’s covering my neck—something I wouldn’t be allowed to do in class, but passes okay in my own room, I’m pretty sure—and I answer the door, only to find Rose on the other side.

“I figured you needed backup when you weren’t in the breakfast line,” she explains. In her hands, she’s got a small pot of something, and a brush. “I own stage makeup. This should do it.”

What she owns is a miracle cream, actually. She sits me in my desk chair, and in less than a minute, she takes me from looking like I had a run-in with a toothless vampire to seeming like I have a very mild breakout on my neck at worst. And that’s only if you’re searching for it, I think.

“Sorry you had to miss breakfast,” I say while she works.

“I think,” she says mildly, “we can safely agree the blame rests with me in this instance.”

When she’s happy with her handiwork, she gives a nod, then darts forward to quickly kiss the other side of my neck. “Rose,” I laugh, curling my head toward my shoulder. “I don’t need two of them.”

“Sorry. It’s impossible to spend that much time touching your neck without kissing it,” she says, not looking sorry in the least. “I’m not that strong.”

“You can kiss me.” I smile. “Just leave my neck out of it.”

I don’t have to ask her twice.

“You look like shit,” Molly greets me cheerfully as she meets me outside the classroom half an hour later. Rose is gone—she decided to go back to her room and come to class later, so we don’t look suspicious. “Did you even brush your hair this morning?”

I did. But not after Rose came by—we kind of lost track of time. My cheeks burn as I furiously flatten my hair with the palms of my hands. Meanwhile, Molly pulls out a banana. “This was the best I could do,” she says. “I tried to bring you toast but they made me eat it before I left the dining hall.”

I take it gratefully. “Thank you. Actually, I have another favor to ask.”

“Another one? After I just smuggled you a banana?” We shuffle down the hall a little so we can keep talking. Once you’re inside the classroom, you’re expected to stand silently behind your desk, but hallways are a lawless no-man’s-land.