Page 55 of Shadowed Whispers

“That doesn’t feel like the professor I met. He’s stuffy and stuck-up.” I wrinkle my nose as though I can smell his mothball scent from here.

“He wasn’t always.” Andy shrugs nonchalantly. “Keep those beers coming, doll.”

I give her a mock salute. “You keep talking.”

“No, he was quite the catch,” Abbi continues, her voice lowering to a conspiratorial whisper. “He had this air of indifference about him that you just wanted to peel away to uncover the real Morgan.”

So even then he played pretend. “He’s a psych professor now,” I remark, tapping Andy’s beer before moving on to Abbi’s.

“That makes sense,” Abbi muses, a thoughtful frown creasing her brow. “There was that one rumor…” She taps the bar with her fingertips, each tap a drumbeat of secrets.

“You mean the one?—”

“Oh yeah.” Abbi shudders, but this time, it’s not with pleasure.

I place their drinks down before them. “What kind of rumor?”

“Well, some secrets, young one, are meant to stay secrets.” She nods, her expression grave.

I turn to Andy, hoping for more, and she says, “Nope. I agree with her on this one. One day, you’ll understand.”

“Everyone keeps telling me that lately,” I grumble, feeling frustrated. The bell rings over the door, and I automatically turn to look. A rugby player strides in wearing our school colors, a girl on one arm and a guy on the other, a tableau of youthful exuberance. “Huh.”

Abbi and Andy glance at the door where the trio finds a table in the corner, the one guy remaining standing, probably about to order drinks.

“Young love.” Andy sighs nostalgically. “Oh, how I miss those days of forming bonds.”

“What an odd way to word that,” I whisper to myself.

“Well, college is when we form bonds that’ll last a lifetime,” she adds, her tone reflective.

She isn’t the only one who’s said that lately.

Pushing off the counter, I walk to the guy who saunters up to the register. “What can I get you?”

“Three ciders,” he begins, pulling out bills as I ring him up.

Leaving him to wait, I fetch his drinks, my eyes constantly straying to the other two. My curiosity burns inside me. I’ve never seen a throuple out in the wild before.

Is that a normal thing?

In the years I’ve spent here, I didn’t pay attention to anything around me. Sure, I’ve served all these people before, but it’s like this is the first time I’m truly seeing them. I thought I was observant. I have to be to pick my victims. Otherwise, how would I know they are bad people? I wouldn’t. That’s the simple answer. Chewing on my lip, I set the drinks on the counter and ring him out, my ears straining to listen to their chatter.

It’s all dreadfully normal. They chat about schoolwork and classes—normal things. Annoyed at my curiosity, I turn back to the twins who whisper to each other in hushed tones.

“Is that normal?” I ask, blurting out the question.

“What’s that, doll?” Andy follows my gaze to the three students. “What about it?”

“The three of them,” I hiss, trying to keep my voice low.

“Sweetheart, they aren’t the only pack”—Abbi hits her sister in the shoulder— “of students dating who come in here,” Andy says slowly, rubbing her arm.

“Love is love.” Abbi gives me a strained smile.

“Or rather, lust is lust.” I toss a towel over my shoulder and glance at the clock on the wall. Nine, I have an hour to go, and then it’s back to campus where I can no longer hide from my problems.

Why is a small part of me yearning for one of them to come through the door? “So that’s normal?” I question, returning back to the conversation at hand.

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