Charlotte. I’m not going to sell you out to a journalist.”
It hadn’t occurred to me that he would do that, but now that he’s mentioned it? I’m not positive that he wouldn’t, if the opportunity presented itself. “Why would you say that? Has someone approached you for information?” I push off the table and stand tall, meeting his eyes in challenge. “You cannot talk to anyone. You know how crucial this time is for Daddy’s campaign. I am not admitting to anything, but if a scandal like this got out, it would ruin him. Hell, it would ruin me. If you care about me at all, you won’t talk to anyone else about this.”
Kenneth frowns. “Of course I care about you.”
I roll my eyes. “Yeah. So much that you broke up with me right before Christmas.”
He shifts closer. “Your thing with that Ricardo guy, is it serious?” Kenneth doesn’t meet my look, instead carefully avoiding my face. He puts both hands in the pockets of his scrubs, and then takes them out again. He’s not usually this shifty. It’s strange seeing him ruffled.
Sensing weakness, I move to deliver a fatal blow. “I think it could be. Ricardo wants the same things I want. He understands me, unlike some people.”
Kenneth huffs. “He’s what, seventeen? There’s no way he gets you. Seventeen-year-old guys are complete morons.”
“So are twenty-three-year-old med students who lead on their girlfriends and then break up with them as soon as there’s a whiff of anything commitment related.”
“That’s not true. I wasn’t afraid to commit—” His tone is rough with frustration.
“Save it for someone who believes you. See you around, Kenneth.”
I push past him and through the door.
“Charlotte, please.”
Despite the hint of pleading in his voice, I don’t stop. I don’t want to stand here fighting with him anymore. I need to cool off, and he needs time to steep in his jealousy of Ricardo. I had hoped he’d feel the sting of envy and want me back, but I hadn’t expected it to work so well and so soon. I leave the health center, making sure he doesn’t see even a hint of my satisfied expression.
Adrienne closes her tablet case and stands up, stretching her arms wide. “I’m so tired of studying. I need a break. Want to go upstairs and see if there’s anyone to hang out with?”
I barely look up at her from where I’m sitting at my desk with my nose buried in my history e-textbook, taking notes on Nelson Mandela.
“I can’t. Too busy. You go ahead.”
Adrienne’s lips purse, but she doesn’t argue. She’s finally learning that when I say I’m too busy, I really am, and no amount of begging on her part can pull me out of my study hole. This semester is far too important in my grand plan to fritter away on hanging out in the upstairs lounge, anyway.
“See you later, then,” my stepsister says, slipping out of my room with her things.
I sink into my note taking, reveling in the hush of quiet that envelops me. Adrienne, I’ve noticed, prefers to study in the same room as someone else, even if they aren’t talking, but I much prefer to be alone. I don’t focus as well when there are other people around. The pen-clicking, page turning, and head scratching drive me up the wall.
I’m neck-deep in my notes when someone knocks on the door.
I don’t even turn toward it. “I told you I can’t hang out now, Adrienne. I’m studying.”
The door opens, and someone steps inside. Maybe my sister doesn’t know when to quit, after all.
Someone leans over my shoulder to look at my tablet. “Apartheid, huh? Riveting stuff, isn’t it?” Ricardo says with a low rumble at the shell of my ear.
I jump nearly out of my skin as I rear away from him. “What are you doing in here? Can’t you see I’m busy? I thought you were supposed to be in the security office tonight.”
“I have eyes, mon coeur. I can see that you’re studying, but I got a night off, and it’ll look suspicious if I don’t spend this rare free evening with my fake girlfriend.”
Disappointment pulls my shoulders down from around my ears. The evenings when Ricardo is stuck in the security office have been a welcome break from performing as his girlfriend for everyone at the academy. But from the determined look on his face, I’m not getting out of it tonight. Glancing at the time on my tablet, I note that I’ve put