Page 70 of River of Deceit

I grab the mister and spritz the plants in the enclosure again. The bioactive setup should help keep smells down and humidity up. I’ve got springtails and isopods in the substrate who will take care of leftover food and decomposing bio matter.

The whole enclosure takes up more than half the desk, but it’snot like I was using it anyway. If I need to study, I can do it on my bed or in the library. Or out in the kitchen, to annoy Sam even more.

I lean down so I can peer into the hiding spot. Echo is keeping low, but blood pythons are ground-dwelling snakes. I’ll wait a few days to give her time to settle before I feed her.

I send Papa a quick text to thank him and to let him know that Echo has arrived safely, then scroll back to my conversation withCry Me A.

No response. I’d say he was in class and busy, but when I scroll up it’s all one-sided conversation. He’s been ignoring me for the past few days. Even when I asked about the commotion I heard about—something about a fist fight between a Kappa Loser bro and a Hellion—he’d said nothing.

I take one more look at Echo in her enclosure. “He doesn’t get to ignore me, does he?”

Echo says nothing, but I’m sure in her tiny blood python brain, she agrees with me.

Time for me to play stalker.

I check River’s schedule, and what luck, he does have class right now. He’s going to be trapped for another forty minutes at least. I make note of the building and the room number, then grab all my essentials—knife, phone, charm, card key—and stuff them all into the large pockets of the light hoodie I’m currently wearing. At the last second, I grab my backpack too, just in case.

A quick ten-minute jog to the engineering building and wandering through the halls lost, I finally find the lecture hall.

I’m in luck: I spot River’s familiar silhouette near the aisle. Less lucky—he’s halfway down the lecture hall, so it won’t be as easy to slip in unnoticed.

Ah well. I don’t mind being noticed.

I heft my backpack and carefully push the door open, trying to make as little noise as possible.

Unfortunately, it’s not actually feasible to make zero noise, and entering in the middle of class will always draw attention. Theprofessor gives me a nasty look, but I slide into the closest seat and take my tablet out so I can pretend to be a studious person who definitely belongs here.

River never turned around to look. I text him again.

Pandora

Come sit with me.

I see his shoulders tense, and he glances back at me. His expression is dark, and the glare he shoots in my direction is every bit as nasty as the professor’s had been. There’s a pause, then I get an answering text.

Cry Me A

No.

I debate my answer, then type back.

Pandora

If you don’t come here, I’ll have to go down there.

The bubbles indicating he’s typing pop up immediately.

Cry Me A

Stop making trouble. I’ll meet you after class.

I smile at the text. That’s cute. It’s like he doesn’t know that trouble is my first, middle, and last name.

I pick up my things and casually walk down to River’s row, plonking myself right next to him.

The professor stops his lecture to glare at me. “Is there a reason you’re disrupting my class?”

“Sorry, Sir,” I answer glibly. “I was having a hard time seeing from back there.”