“I didn’t realize ...” Dave motions between St. Clair and me.
“No! No. There’s nothing. There. I mean it, we’l see something soon. I’m just busy tonight. With the physics thing.”
Dave looks annoyed, but he shrugs his shoulders. “No biggie. Hey, you going to the party tomorrow night?”
Nate is throwing a Hal oween bash for Résidence Lambert. I wasn’t planning to attend, but I lie to make him feel better. “Yeah, probably. I’l see you
there.”
He stands up. “Cool. I’m holding you to that.”
“Right. Sure. Thanks for the éclair!” I cal after him.
“You’re welcome, beautiful.”
Beautiful. He cal ed me beautiful! But wait. I don’t like Dave.
Do I like Dave?
“Wanker,” St. Clair says, the moment he’s out of earshot.
“Don’t be rude.”
He stares at me with an unfathomable expression. “You weren’t complaining when I made an excuse for you.”
I push the éclair away. “He put me on the spot, that’s all.”
“You ought to thank me.”
“Thank you,” I say sarcastical y. I’m aware of the others staring at us. Josh clears his throat and points at my finger-smudged dessert. “You gonna eat that?” he asks.
“Be my guest.”
St. Clair stands so suddenly that his chair clatters over.
“Where are you going?” Mer asks.
“Nowhere.” He stalks away, leaving us in surprised silence. After a moment, Rashmi leans forward. She raises her dark eyebrows. “You know, Josh
and I saw them fighting a couple nights ago.”
“Who? St. Clair and Dave?” Mer asks.
“No, St. Clair and El ie. That’s what this is about, you know.”
“It is?” I ask.
“Yeah, he’s been on edge all week,” Rashmi says.
I think about it. “That’s true. I’ve heard him pacing his room. He never used to do that.” It’s not like I make a point of listening, but now that I know that St.
Clair lives above me, I can’t help but notice his comings and goings.
Josh gives me a weird look.
“Where did you see them?” Mer asks Rashmi.
“In front of the Cluny métro.We were gonna say hi, but when we saw their expressions, we went the other way. Definitely not a conversation I wanted to interrupt.”