Page 284 of A University of Betrayal

The Winter Ball was coming up and since the beginning of the week, in which nothing exciting had happened so far, you could hear girls talking about this event on every corner.

It was traditional for Vanderwood to host this ball every few years, usually in December, the last weekend before Christmas. Girls wore pompous prom dresses, guys wore fancy suits, and there were even horse-drawn carriages from the founding times brought to campus.

Basically, these were all things I wanted to avoid, but Larissa had already decided to pick out the most beautiful dresses that could be found in Blairville for all of us.

He would be there.I would meet him again.

I sighed and cut the fruit smaller and smaller until I wondered what I was actually doing.

Vivienna gave me a snide look. Basically, I was just waiting for her to finally disappear and for me to have enough space in the kitchen. At the same time, her busyness was a welcome distraction.

“Oh my God!Don’t come near me!”

Buddy pranced down the stairs, past Amber and straight toward me and Vivienna. He’d run off a few weeks ago, but luckily, I’d found him again, although in the proximity of Mr. Suspicious, which had thrown me completely off track.

I had successfully repressed the fact that he had asked me about Buddy, and that wouldn’t change now.

Buddy had grown a little, but he was still a puppy. I had spent more time with him over the last few weeks, and now he was even sleeping in bed with me, resting his head strangely on my stomach as if he knew about the baby.

Whenever he did this, I softly pushed him away from me, which fortunately didn’t bother him, but rather encouraged him to cuddle up to Emely in bed.

Emely slept here more often now. Whatever it was that made her do it.

And just at that moment, she came down the stairs.

“The dog should be more afraid ofyou,” she joked annoyed and when Buddy realized that she had entered the kitchen, he ran to her wagging his tail as if they hadn’t seen each other for years.

Grace sat in the dining room corner at the large glass table, her laptop in front of her, and watched Emely suspiciously. It was the same look she always gave Larissa.

We had talked less, and the longer I spent with Larissa and Bayla, the more she seemed to avoid me.

Emely went to the fridge, not without staring at me like I was sick and about to die. Another thing she had been doing for two weeks now.

She knew that I hadn’t aborted the embryo yet. And with each passing day, my worry grew, as did what was inside me. It was still small, but you could already see the growth in the mirror. I had googled what you look like in the seventh week of pregnancy and my belly was definitely bigger than the ones in the pictures. And that scared me.

How much longer would I be able to hide it? And why was it still alive?

“Disgusting,” Amber hissed, standing by the stair railing with her arms crossed.

I’d never met an Earth Quatura like her before. Normally, they were all friendly, open-minded, and very calm. Amber was different. Conceited like Vivienna, selfish like no one else, and cunning like a snake. Even back then, she had always hurt other people. Especially Madeline or Grace, who had hoped to make friends with this bitch and had shared the Barbies with her – which, it should be noted, had been so popular among Quatura children back then.

I had seen Amber – when Vivi and I had been homeschooled by Gloria – visiting Vivienna and ripping the heads off the dolls Grace had lent her. I’d never told Grace to avoid drama... until Amber had.

“Go away if it bothers you,” Emely hissed in return, just coming from the fridge to the kitchen counter with three packages of fresh meat – supposedly from a hunt with her family.

Vivienna was overcome with a gag reflex and I couldn’t look any longer either, otherwise I would have forced down my Saturday breakfast for nothing.

Vivienna quickly reached for her lunch box and filled it with the pasta salad, which didn’t smell too bad. Then she put the box in her bag and headed for the door, together with Amber.

“Take care, you freaks. And don’t fuck up.”

The door crashed shut, which was not uncommon with Ruisangor and Senseque housemates. And the Quatura who lived in this house probably wanted to live up to the standard.

Satisfied that there was now more space next to me, I slid into the middle, and Buddy immediately came to me and snuggled up to my leg. I petted him, washed my hands, and fetched a bowl from the cupboard. Then I returned to the kitchen counter, where Emely was busy with her meat on the other side.

From Eden

Hozier