INSTALOVE

Chapter 36: Crisis Averted

Chapter 36: Crisis Averted

E L L I E

This can't be happening right now.

I'm so upset. I can't believe I lost my backpack. How could I have been so careless? Ugh ugh ugh! I was so flustered in the Assembly Hall that I didn't stop to think. I grabbed my laptop but forgot to take my bag.

I know exactly where I left it. It was there on the edge of the platform. I know I saw it there before I left the room with Reese. But when I returned just now to look for it, the backpack was nowhere to be found.

And neither was my visor.

My feet feel heavy as I trudge down the winding path toward Fenmore Hall. I scuff the bottom of my shoe against the ground and send the gravel scattering.

There's no way around it. I'll have to tell Reese and Eleanor that the visor is missing. The sooner I tell them, the more likely I am to find it in one piece. But I can't possibly go to their room right now. I just can't face it. Not after the way Eleanor glared at me back there... like she might vaporize me where I stood through pure, undiluted loathing.

And Reese wasn't much friendlier after we left the Assembly Hall. We both knew we'd been dismissed to give Maddox and Eleanor space to talk. Neither of us bothered with the pretense of work-related matters once we left the room.

"I warned you," was all she said, muttering in my direction from the corner of her mouth, as we made our way outside and took off in opposite directions.

Whatever college-related drama went on between Reese and Eleanor before, they seem to have patched up their differences. Reese is squarely on Team Eleanor.

Otherwise known as:
Team Erase-Ellie-Sandberg-From-Existence

I hang my head. Why did I have to lose my visor? Everything was going so well. I finally felt like I was getting my footing in this program. I mean, Reese and Eleanor were never going to be my BFFs, but at least we'd come to a grudging truce for work-related matters... But now this? Remember how they treated me when I dunked my visor in the pool? I can only imagine the abuse they'll rain down on me when they hear I lost it.

The main door to Fenmore Hall pops open before I can reach for the handle. Miranda emerges, her thicket of curly hair pulled back into a pony tail. I hardly recognize her without her usual beanie pulled down over her forehead. But it's too hot out for beanies, I suppose.

"Hey," she calls to me, holding the door open. "Are you OK?"

I don't answer for a moment. Should I confide in her? She's been nice to me lately (and by "nice" I mean acknowledging my presence instead of looking straight through me when we pass). Maybe she could run interference?

I bite my lip as my eyes sweep over hers. I'm desperate for an ally, but... no. Who am I kidding? Miranda and I are acquaintances, not friends. I have no friends in this place. Not really. Maybe I would have made some if I hadn't spent the past three weeks glued to Maddox's side, but it's too late to change that now.

Miranda might be friendly enough for small talk, but her allegiances are clear. If anything, she and Eleanor have been tighter than ever lately. I see them sitting together in the dining hall for practically every meal, even when Samantha isn't around.

I fan my face with my hand as I grab the door handle from her. "I'm fine," I lie. "Just overheated."

I don't stop for further chit chat. No doubt Miranda will find out the real reason I'm upset at dinner tonight, when Eleanor fills her in.