A Rose to Keep (The Society 1)

I didn’t know if the others saw it, but I did, and I didn’t like it.

Sian was not anyone else’s. She belonged to us.

Heather stayed close but also made sure when to leave.

As for Sian, as the weeks passed, drawing us closer to Halloween, she’d gotten more comfortable with us. She hadn’t strayed from her bedroom. Our meals were all taken together either in the dorm or the cafeteria. She continued to date us, and I had to say, the taste of her pussy was the best I’d ever had the privilege of having.

After knocking on her bedroom door, I stared into her room as she looked up. She sat on the floor, textbooks open, looking like the perfect student.

“Hey,” she said.

“Hey.”

“I feel I’ve got so much homework. No matter how much I do, a gazillion take its place.”

“Where is Heather?” I asked.

“She is falling behind. She got another B, but this time in math, which again makes no sense. Oh.” She held up her hand and leaned over her pile of books to grab something out of her bag. “I stopped her from reporting this to the principal. I wanted you to take a look at it.”

I took the folded piece of paper and opened it up.

Inside were typed letters from a computer. Get the hell out of the Academy or you will die.

“Wow,” I said.

“Do you think it’s bullies going a step too far? I know Heather wasn’t a favorite because she’s a scholarship student, but that doesn’t mean she has to leave, right?”

I glanced down, something in the pit of my stomach making me feel sick. “It’s probably nothing, but I know the head of security. I’ll go and check it out.”

“Great. I really want her to stay here. I don’t want her to leave, not after what I did today.”

I took a seat on the edge of her bed. “Do you want to talk about what you did?” I asked.

She wrinkled her nose. “Not really. It didn’t feel nice to do.” She ran her hands all over her face. “I feel like a bad person. Do you think I’m a bad person?”

I chuckled. “Considering how we were a few weeks ago, I’m not the kind of guy you want to be asking.”

She laughed. “Good point, I guess.”

“Do you want to tell me what you did?” I asked.

“I kind of told Heather that I love her but as a friend. That I don’t see her like that.” She groaned. “Am I awful?”

“No. You didn’t string her along. You told us you didn’t know she saw you like that,” I said.

“I didn’t. I still don’t. I always thought she was a touchy-feely person, you know? She liked to have a lot of physical contact.” She shrugged. “I had no idea she had a crush. She’s my best friend since … Drew.”

I reached out, putting a hand on her shoulder. “I’m here if you ever need to talk.”

Sian took my hand and pressed a kiss to it. “Thank you. I will always miss Drew. She was my best friend. No matter what was going on in my life, she always knew how to fix it to make it better.”

“She sounds like she was an amazing person.”

“She was. I wished you’d all had gotten the chance to meet her. Especially William.”

“Why him?” I asked.

Sian laughed. “He’s playful. Kind of like a puppy. Drew was like that as well. She knew when to have a laugh and joke, and when to be serious.” She sighed. “Can we talk about something else?”

“Sure.”

I had nothing to say. There were no words that I could think of. Nothing to make this easier for her.

“Why don’t you tell me about the … you know, Halloween thing.”

I shook my head. “No.”

“Will it be bad?” she asked.

“I don’t know. I know the particulars, but nothing in-depth. I don’t want to give you false information, Sian.”

She nodded. “Sure. Fine. I just wanted to be prepared. I don’t know what I’m walking into.”

I felt her pulling away from me and not just physically either.

“I don’t know what is going to happen. We’ll have to go to the location together, Sian. I won’t leave you, no matter what happens.”

She blew out a breath. “Will people be there to watch?”

I shrugged. We would be watched, but if she was already freaking out now, the last thing I wanted to do was make her worry.

“I won’t let anything happen to you,” I said.

“You know that doesn’t help, don’t you? It only makes me more worried.”

“You’re not supposed to be worried.”

“That’s easy for you to say. You’re not the one about to lose their virginity in front of a load of people they don’t know. Believe me, it’s not high up on my list of things to do.” She sighed.

“Do you think you’ll be able to trust me?” I asked. “To make it good?”