Alcántara had told me to meet Josh in the languages building, which, ironically, was the one building I hadn’t spent much time in. Seeing as I was already fluent. In several languages. Including German.
Scowling, I heaved open the door. I wanted to slam it, but the stupid, heavy wood didn’t cooperate.
I heard them from all the way down the hall. Predictable. I stormed toward the sound of goofball boys, goofing in the lounge area.
I glowered at the lot of them, and it just made me surlier. I estimated they ranged in age from seventeen to nineteen, each good-looking in a clean-faced, strong-boned sort of way. It was as if I’d stumbled into the varsity soccer team on their break.
I’d come rehearsing the piece of my mind I was going to foist on Josh, but it was Yasuo I saw first. And I was angrier with him, anyway—I had a feeling he’d been there to witness yesterday’s dining hall debacle yet hadn’t come to my aid. It’d nagged me all night.
He glanced at me, and I could tell by the hesitant look in his eye that my suspicions were correct.
I crossed my arms at my chest. “You saw it all, didn’t you?”
His deer-in-headlights expression told me his mind was racing for a reply.
“Dude,” I said, not giving him a chance, “what is your problem?”
Yasuo flinched. “Yo, D. And hello to you, too.”
“Don’t Yo D. me. You left me hanging yesterday.”
A couple of the Trainees laughed and backed off in an exaggeratedly I’m-outta-here sort of way.
“What was I supposed to do?” Yasuo ignored his departing friends and focused only on me. It mollified me—a little.
I exhaled heavily, realizing it wasn’t so much that I was angry; it was that I’d felt betrayed. “I don’t know. You could’ve done more than just stand there, maybe.”
He stood and came closer, pleading his case. “You have no idea. It was killing me, watching those girls go after you and Em.”
Emma. I’d thought for sure he had a crush on her, but he hadn’t spoken up for her, either. I was ready to throw that bomb in his face, but a quick glance told me too many Trainees had hung around to watch our spat. And although I’d have thought nothing of embarrassing Yasuo, I wasn’t about to throw Emma under the bus.
My stomach dropped just thinking of her. “She could’ve used your help, too. For all we know, she’s out there right now, becoming the main ingredient in some vampire cocktail.”
“Emma’s fine,” Yas said. “I just saw her. They had her clean toilets and do push-ups and stuff. But that’s all. Seriously.”
He knew how Emma was. My shoulders sagged—from relief but from some other thing, too. Something that should’ve known my friend was okay before Yas did. It took the wind out of my sails, and my tone was petering out when I said, “I just…I’d have liked being able to—I don’t know—see you in the crowd at least.”
But then I wondered, what would I have done if our roles had been reversed? Would I have risked everything to stand by his side? The way that question gave me pause bummed me out even more.
“Little D.” His eyes skittered around the room, and when he spoke again, it was in a whisper. “There are rules. I can’t challenge the Guidons.”
He seemed nervous, and it threw me. I’d seen him concerned-nervous—as when I went into the ring to fight—but I’d never seen him like this, scared-nervous. A few more Trainees up and left us, and it struck me as significant.
“They’re priming us to be vampires, D.” He stressed the words as though trying to impart some message.
I heard it loud and clear. “Yeah,” I admitted, “I get it. And you’ll be one of the ones in charge someday—unlike us lowly girls. Best to keep your place above the rest of us.”
“Not like that.” His shoulders slumped, as if he really wanted me to understand. “You think you get it, but you don’t. If I stand up to an Initiate? Hell, if I stand out at all, I’m as dead meat as you are. No. Deader.”
“That’s not a word,” I grumbled. Boys could be such…boys.
Sighing, I broke down and shook my head. He was right. Kids like me and Yas didn’t make the rules—we lived and died by them.
I gave him a rueful smile. “I get that I have no idea what it’s like for you. I just…I wish you could tell me…” I gave him an opening even though I knew I could cajole all I wanted, yet never would he divulge the Trainees’ secrets.
Yas was quick to return my smile. “So we’re okay?”
“Yeah, we’re okay.” Yet I couldn’t help but wonder what the implications were for our future friendship. There seemed to be a line drawn in the sand, carving a deep divide between guys and girls. Trainees and Acari.