Eminence {Book 1 ✔️}

Chapter 3

Ellie didn't push the matter further, and I was grateful for it. She'd been my best friend since the sixth grade when we'd discovered we shared the same birthday. From twelve years old to nineteen, we celebrated each one together and along the way learned to leave each other the hell alone when we needed to.

She kicked her feet up on my lap, ignoring whatever project she had been working on in her room. From the look on her face, I knew something was coming.

"You could tell me about the hot British dude that came to class the other day?" she began. I rolled my eyes, pushing her feet off of me to launch myself off the couch and toward my bedroom. She followed me.

"Come on! You had to know I was going to ask."

I sighed a little, folding the discarded clothes on my bed. "I knew you were going to ask, I just hoped I'd be drunk when you did."

She made a face.

"Drunk? Why?"

"Because when I'm drunk, I always find your babbling hilarious."

"Babbling? I am not babbling. I just wanted to ask you a question about that gorgeous specimen you've been hiding in your mother's apartment. Honestly, if I was your mom, I'd be asking if he had an available dad- or even an older brother. Your mom's young, so she could get away with an older brother. My mom, however, could not-"

I cut her off. "See? Babbling."

Ellie's mouth closed abruptly as she realized that she'd just proven me right. I was grateful that we'd moved on from the subject of my father's death, but less so now that we'd moved on to my bodyguard.

Contrary to what Ellie believed, Cedric wasn't living with my mother. In fact, he was closer than I would've liked. Close enough I could walk down the complex's hallway and ask for a cup of sugar.

I hadn't wanted him to be my neighbor, but it was a compromise. It was in the same apartment building or he'd live on my couch.

"Cedric is," I searched for the right word, "hard to put into words."

She grinned, flinging herself ever so gracefully onto my bed and all of my folded clothes. I shot her a look.

"You're right. Words don't do him justice. But you could've shown me a picture. Preferably a just out of the shower one with his hair all wet and his chest all drippy-"

"Okay," I interrupted, wincing. "I get it."

He lived next door, and the walls were thin enough that we'd frequently hear our neighbors doing unmentionable things. However, at this moment, I was more concerned for what our neighbors were listening to. Particularly those with supernatural hearing abilities.

"How long is he here for?"

I thought of the dark faeries, of my father, of Elphame.

A sigh left my lips. "I don't know. However long it takes, I guess." Realizing what I'd said, I quickly backtracked, "Er, I mean, however long the program lasts. The exchange program. The one he's in."

Damn. What's the point in being able to lie if I sucked so badly at it?

Fortunately for me, Ellie didn't seem to notice as she picked up one of the shirts I'd just folded, held it against her chest, and looked in the mirror.