What's at Stake

Chapter Thirty-Five

"Should I come in or should we leave?" Felix asked me, ignoring Claude.

Claude folded his arms over his chest. "She's suspended."

"She's allowed to see me during her suspension."

"In the infirmary."

"Then we'll go back there," Felix said. "Ready, Cleo?"

"I probably shouldn't go anywhere. Why don't you come in?" I responded, thinking of Kaz's warning now to go wandering off by ourselves. I didn't necessarily agree with his plan for us to just sit tight, but I knew that not going off alone was the best defense we had at the moment. I just didn't want to feel like a sitting duck.

Both Felix and Claude looked annoyed by my decision. I grimaced. Right. This was also Claude's space.

"Can we go to your room?" Felix suggested.

"That's fine—"

"There's no windows in there," Claude interjected quickly.

Felix's eyebrows rose. "And?"

Claude opened his mouth but didn't say anything. He closed it after a second, thought for a moment more, and then turned to me. "What if I have to use the bathroom and he wants to leave?"

"He'll knock?" I said, furrowing my eyebrows. "Or don't use the bathroom? We won't be that long."

Claude's face hardened and I felt like I was missing something he was trying to hint at me. Did he just not want Felix in his space? That was fair enough. I didn't even know how Felix knew I was here.

"The main part of the library should be safe," I said. "We'll go there. Let me grab my phone."

I went back over to the sofa and grabbed my cell phone off the cushion and looked at my school work. It could wait a few more days. My suspension was up after Friday, but then it'd be the weekend anyway, and I wouldn't have to turn anything in until Tuesday since it was also a long weekend. I had plenty of time to finish.

As I followed Felix out the door I noticed Claude exiting with us. I looked back up at him. "What are you doing?"

"I have a book I need to check out for my essay," he muttered, locking the study room door behind him.

Felix put his hands in his pockets, eyeing Claude. "Is that so?"

Claude stared back at him, lips thinning. "Yes. Is there a problem?"

"Nope, not at all." Felix laid his arm over my shoulder, bringing me close to his side. "Cleo and I will just find a private spot away from you."

I let myself be steered by Felix as we all headed toward the heavy metal door that led to the main room. I could feel Claude's eyes burning into our backs the whole way. Once in the main room, Felix took my hand in his and lead me up the stairs to the next floor, and Claude mentioned that the book he needed was also up there. When Felix tried to go for a cozy, hidden spot behind the shelves, Claude just had to look at every spine of every book, muttering about how the title sounded so similar to all the other books in the library.

It did finally occur to me that Claude didn't want Felix and I to be alone.

I had to hide my smile after that.

Eventually, Felix had enough though and while Claude wasn't looking yanked me into one of the private study rooms and shut and locked the door.

"Since when did he start liking you?" Felix asked, leaning against the giant wooden table in the middle of the room.

I froze, still trying to peek out the window to see if Claude had noticed our disappearance yet. "What?"

"Don't tell me you haven't noticed yet," Felix said casually, shaking his head. "It's quite obvious to me."