you promised. And I have every intention of holding you to it.’
‘I know, I know,’ she whispered frantically, shooing me away.
I put my clutch on the table and settled into place beside Dex, reminding myself this was where I was supposed to be. I fit into this world, I had a future in this world, I could make something of myself here. I could matter.
Everyone was hyped up, excited that it was the final week of school. I went with the flow, letting Dex pull me onto his lap when Miriam squeezed in to sit beside me. As she did, she knocked my clutch off the table, sending its contents spilling onto her lap, which prompted Brett and Dex to give her a round of applause. Obviously Miriam had already had a few sneaky drinks courtesy of the hip flasks I could see circulating. In fact, when I looked around, I noticed that most of the guys and a few of the girls were also glassy-eyed.
I glanced at Dex. He was staring right at me with a penetrating expression I hadn’t seen on him before. I adjusted my position on his lap, embarrassed I’d caught him looking at me like that. But he didn’t seem to mind. In fact, he kept watching me with the same intensity.
Dex wasn’t the least bit glassy-eyed. He never drank. Not since the time he and some of the guys snuck a bottle of vodka out of his parents’ liquor cabinet in junior year. I’d never heard the full story; it was the one thing Dex didn’t like talking about. All I knew was that some out-of-town kid ended up in hospital that night. As far as I was aware, Dex hadn’t touched alcohol since.
I leaned over to take a sip of the drink he’d bought for me and almost choked. Just because Dex didn’t drink, didn’t mean he wasn’t willing to ply me with rocket fuel.
‘God, what is that?’
‘Rum and Coke,’ he said with a shrug, pulling me back against his chest.
‘That is definitely not nice,’ I said, even as I took another sip.
‘Sabine, what’s this?’ Miriam asked.
‘What?’ I spun around to her and froze. She was holding Ethan’s list. ‘Oh, um …’ I licked my lips.
Shit.
But then I remembered where I was – who I was. I sat up a little straighter. ‘They’re just some stupid questions from a quiz my brother was doing today,’ I said, keeping my tone blasé. ‘I wrote them down and said I’d try to find the answers on the net tonight.’ My long history of deception ensured the lie came easily.
‘Ooh, cool,’ Miriam said, now studying the list. ‘Ha! I know this one!’ She jumped up. ‘I read an article about it the other day. The compound in chocolate that lowers the risk of cardiovascular disease is called …’ She looked to the ceiling, bouncing up and down. ‘What is it? What is it?’ Then a light bulb obviously went off. ‘Flavonoids! That’s it. Also found in such great things as berries and red wine.’ She curtsied.
‘Flavonoids?’ I repeated, unable to hide my excitement. Miriam nodded.
‘Does anyone have a pen?’ I asked urgently. As I looked around, I caught Dex staring at me strangely.
‘Here you go,’ Miriam said.
I turned back to her and wrote down my answer.
‘Hey, Dex, is that Latin?’ Miriam asked, grabbing the paper from under me and passing it to him.
I blanched. ‘No, it’s okay. Everyone doesn’t need to help me. It’s just a stupid quiz.’
I don’t know why, but all of a sudden I was terrified about the group trying to decipher whatever Ethan had written in another language. What if it was something that would give me away? Or, I don’t know … something else … private.
Pulse racing, I reached for the list, but Dex got there first. ‘I know some Latin.’
‘It’s probably not even Latin,’ I suggested, holding out my hand for the sheet of paper and trying to ignore my rising blush.
He took no notice and studied the list intently. When he paused and looked up at me, I was sure he knew what it said and that it was something terrible.
Shit.
Eventually he cleared his throat. I stopped breathing.
‘Well, you’re in luck,’ he said. ‘It’s Latin, for sure. Thesaurum is “treasure”, omnis means “every” or “all”, and vitae is “life”. Pretty basic really.’ He held out the list and I had to force myself not to snatch it. ‘So what’s the quiz for?’
I took another sip of my drink and