Page 76 of Shattered Stars

“Because your mind’s been on other things,” Winnie says, patting my shoulder.

I have to hand it to Summer and her bouncing bunnies, their gossip-spreading skills are pretty darn effective. In fact, I wonder if they use magic, because by the time I step into the gymnasium, everyone seems to be talking about my sexual exploits and Tristan is standing to one side looking glassy-eyed.

Okay, maybe this is damn annoying, but maybe it’s going to be the answer to all my problems with Tristan Kennedy.

26

Rhi

The next morning,we’re woken not by the obnoxious abuse of the bouncing bunnies but by excited chattering out in the corridors. I roll over, plucking my phone out from under my pillow and glance at the time.

“Shit, it’s 7.30 already, Winnie!”

“What?” she says, yawning from the bed beneath me. “Did we actually sleep through the bouncing bunnies this morning?”

“Maybe,” I say, sliding off my bunk. But when we head into the corridor, we understand exactly why there were no cheerleaders this morning. Pinned to our door are two official-looking envelopes, gilded text printed on the thick luxurious-looking paper.

“It’s our invitations to the ball!” Winnie yelps, plucking them off the door and handing me mine.

“And this is exciting because …” I ask, tearing open the envelope and sliding out the piece of card within. “We already know the date.”

“This will have all the details,” Winnie says, taking much more care to open her own envelope. “Oh, it’s going to be in the Great Hall. Drinks and dancing, followed by a banquet, speeches, presentations, and then more dancing.”

Winnie presses the invitation to her chest and closes her eyes. “This is going to be amazing.”

“If you say so,” I mutter.

“Do you remember how amazing all the decorations and magical displays were for Founders’ Night, Rhi? That was nothing compared to what this is going to be like. It will be off the scale. We will most probably never get to go to a party like this one again in our whole entire lives.”

I don’t exactly remember Founders’ Night being all that wonderful and as for the decorations and magical displays, apart from my own, I caught a glimpse of the ones in the Venus Common room and that was it. No one else in the communal bathroom seems as skeptical or underwhelmed as I do, though. Our dorm building buzzes with conversations about the ball. It’s actually pretty infectious and means everyone has stopped talking about me and is now talking about the ball.

In fact, they talk about it all through breakfast and practical magic, and still have things to discuss as we stand in the gymnasium at the start of our lesson. Coach doesn’t have time for gossiping, though. He tells everyone quite firmly to shut up and then takes us outside for combat training.

I peer at Winnie in excitement. With Spencer no longer here, there’s no one to give me one-on-one sessions and I’m actually permitted to join the group.

We gather around Coach who explains the moves he wants us to practice in this session and then tells us to hurry up and pair up.

“Be careful pairing up with Pig Girl, boys. Rumor has it she’s riddled with all sorts of sexually transmitted diseases.”

“Clutton-Brock,” Coach says fiercely, “zip it unless you want to miss this session and spend the lesson doing burpees instead.”

Summer shakes her head and grabs Aysha’s arm.

I look up at Winnie. “Can I be your partner?” I ask.

“God, yes,” Winnie says, grabbing my arm. “I usually end up left with one of the huge dudes no one else wants to partner with.”

“So I’m not the only one who’s used to being thrown around mats.”

“No, that’s just you,” Winnie says with a grin. “Because, I’m not half bad at this, Blackwaters.”

She swings round to face me and squats down, clearly ready to charge.

“Winnie?” I say, a little nervously, before she comes bowling at me.

We tussle, both trying to take the other’s legs out from underneath them, and soon I’m collapsing to the ground in a fit of giggles, Winnie leaping on top of me.

“You’re not taking this seriously,” she says.