Page 71 of Swallow Your Sorries

“That’s a pretty name,” Mum’s voice chirps enthusiastically through the speaker.

She is pretty alright. Pretty sneaky. “We saw her on the front steps, but you wouldn’t remember.”

“No, I was caught up in the sheer magnitude of the campus.”

“Well, she’s coming over to hang out, so I have to go,” I say as I watch Rin inch down the path. “I love you.”

Mum’s I love you too, barely makes it across the speaker before I hang up, save the clip of the couple for later and slip the phone into my pyjama pocket.

I’m not going to be a sitting duck anymore. This could be my big break the moment I get some dirt on Rin to stop her from messing with me. No one’s allowed out of their dorm rooms after ten p.m., so where’s little Miss Perfect off to?

I gaze back at the bedroom door and curse. I can’t sneak out the front door, and neither can Rin. So how did she do it?

I scan the row of windows beside mine where I know Rin’s bedroom must be. Five panes down, and I spot one that’s slightly ajar.

She’d climbed out!

The breeze blows again, rustling the leafy ivy that climbs the black brick and I gaze at it apprehensively, before reaching out and giving it a firm tug. Sure it had held Rin, but she’s barely bigger than Aria. I pull again, but the vine only digs into my flesh painfully, with no signs of breaking.

Below, I can’t see Rin, but she couldn’t have gotten far. If I don’t follow her now, who knows which branch she’ll take once the pathway splits.

Grasping the ivy, I heave one leg over the railing, then the other, and begin my descent. I keep my gaze at eye level and ignore the pulling sensation behind my navel that’s trying to rip me backwards toward my death. Well, at least into a litany of stab wounds via the awaiting rosebush below.

When my bare feet hit the cobblestones, my lungs finally begin to function again as I dart into the shadows.

Through the first-floor window, Ms. Trix is perched on a chaise, her back to the pane. She’s scrolling through Mr. Lex’s Instagram, seemingly analysing a photo he posted with another teacher I’d seen around campus. She’s kissing his cheek. Beside Ms Trix’s hip is a bottle of cooking sherry, which she grabs and takes a massive swig from. That should hold her off from her last bed check for at least an hour.

I follow the direction Rin headed off in, and within minutes I see the hem of her silky nightgown disappearing around the theatre and past the dining hall.

My stomach liquifies and sinks through my ass as I realise where she’s headed.

Towards the greenhouse.

Towards the lake.

It’s only been two days since the incident, but I don’t care if it’s been two years.

Sounds like something Gant would say.

I shake off the invasive thought.

Gant or no Gant, I don’t want to get within ten kilometres of the lake, or any body of water, for that matter. Not even a fountain.

But Rin…

Our opportunity to get some leverage…

What good would leverage do me if I’m dead in the water?

We should feel right at home by the lake…

There are dozens of sitting ducks there. We’ll blend right in.

…

Fuck.

I’m about to chase after her when a security cart zooms into view, making a lazy circle around the quad. I dart, and flatten myself around the side of the nearest building, hoping the guard’s too lazy to make a complete round.

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