Chapter 181: Ripples

Chapter 181: Chapter 181: Ripples

Chapter 181: Ripples

"This is the activity notice they handed out yesterday while you were gone. Take a look."

Cyrus Calder accepted the sheet Owen Keats passed over and quickly scanned the first few lines.

A fall trip?

Owen leaned closer.

"They announced it yesterday. It starts Saturday and runs for two days and one night."

Cyrus had heard about this kind of thing before.

St. Alder usually organized school trips after the second round of monthly exams, once classes had settled down enough that taking students away for a weekend would not cause too much trouble.

His eyes moved down the page.

There was a section at the bottom for a parent or guardian signature.

Cyrus ignored that problem for the moment.

"Where are we going?"

Owen shook his head.

"I’m not completely sure. I heard it might be somewhere in the neighboring city."

Then he added, "If you don’t want to go, you have to talk to the teacher and give a reason."

Cyrus looked at the notice again.

"I’ll probably go."

There was obvious interest in his eyes.

If this had been summer, when the weather was hot enough to make simply walking outside irritating, Cyrus might have skipped something like this without hesitation.

Early November was different.

The end of fall had already started leaning toward winter.

The air was cool, the sun was weaker, and staying inside every weekend felt like a waste.

If Cyrus actually knew where people normally went for fun, he probably would have filled every Saturday and Sunday with plans already.

Unfortunately, that part of ordinary human life was still something he was learning.

The trip happened to be this coming weekend.

His work schedule could be adjusted.

His medication situation was temporarily stable.

There was no obvious reason not to go.

As for the strange rumors that appeared during the single day he had been absent, Cyrus did not care enough to think about them.

He and Owen had barely finished talking when another student quietly approached their row.

Faye Larkin had just arrived.

Her eyes moved toward Cyrus the moment she entered, lingering on him slightly longer than usual.

She had messaged him yesterday after hearing he was sick.

Cyrus had replied that he was not feeling well and planned to rest for a couple of days.

Seeing him back in class now was enough to ease the worry she had been carrying.

Faye’s shoulders relaxed almost imperceptibly.

Cyrus noticed her looking.

Through the loose strands of hair falling near her face, he met her clear eyes and gave her a small nod.

Faye paused.

Then she returned the gesture just as quietly.

Cyrus understood the meaning well enough.

She had been worried about him.

He appreciated it.

What neither of them noticed was that several classmates had also seen the exchange.

A few people looked between Cyrus and Faye with growing curiosity.

As far as they could remember, Faye might actually be the first classmate Cyrus had ever greeted on his own like that.

That alone made the interaction stand out.

Faye had always been quiet.

Before Cyrus stopped hiding his own appearance, she had also been one of the easiest people in the class to overlook.

Now some students could not help wondering what exactly Cyrus found interesting about her.

Maybe sitting directly in front of him every day had simply given her an advantage.

The morning passed quickly.

By lunchtime, St. Alder was once again filled with voices from every direction.

Students crowded the cafeteria, hallways, and open spaces between buildings.

The nurse’s office, however, was unusually quiet.

Vera Sable had not come to school today.

That meant the person who had been planning to negotiate with her about getting more Frostborn suppressants had no opportunity to do so.

Cyrus would have to wait until tomorrow.

Up on the fourth floor, another classroom held a very different atmosphere.

Audra Sloane sat across from Cyrus with a book open in her hands.

Her expression looked calm.

Her attention was not.

Every so often, her eyes drifted away from the page and toward the boy seated opposite her.

Cyrus was studying seriously.

With his hair cut shorter and his face no longer hidden, his appearance was almost unfairly striking.

Audra had always been considered beautiful at St. Alder.

Sitting across from Cyrus now, however, she sometimes felt that his looks carried an even sharper effect than hers.

There was a cool, lazy distance around him that made him seem difficult to approach.

Yet when Cyrus came across a problem he did not understand, that distance disappeared from his voice.

"Audra, can you explain this part again?"

She looked at the question.

"Which step?"

"This one. I understand why the first expression changes, but not why the next term disappears."

Audra shifted the book closer and explained the reasoning.

Cyrus listened carefully.

When understanding finally appeared in his eyes, something warm settled inside her.

His voice alone when asking her for help had been enough to put her in a good mood.

After finishing the explanation, Audra hesitated.

Then she asked, "I heard you weren’t feeling well yesterday."

Cyrus’s attention remained on the problem.

"It was nothing serious. I rested for a day and mostly recovered."

Audra watched him.

Even while answering her, he seemed more interested in the math in front of him.

That realization created a small, complicated feeling inside her.

She could not decide whether she found his concentration admirable or slightly frustrating.

Still, she continued.

"Did Owen tell you about the school trip this weekend?"

Cyrus nodded.

"He gave me the notice this morning."

Then, as if remembering something important, Cyrus finally lifted his eyes and looked directly at her.

"Are you going?"

Audra’s heart stirred.

"Yes, I’m going."

Her answer came a little faster and firmer than necessary.

Cyrus did not seem to notice.

Audra did.

He had specifically asked whether she would be there.

That meant he cared.

Maybe only a little, but even that was enough.

A small discovery like this could disturb her emotions far more easily than it should.

Lately, anything involving Cyrus seemed capable of creating ripples in her heart.

Audra found that she did not dislike the feeling.

The afternoon classes passed without incident.

By the time the final bell rang, Cyrus had noticed something else.

The dean of students never appeared.

No summons.

No lecture.

No warning about his job.

Nothing.

Apparently Helena’s words that morning had carried even more weight than Cyrus expected.

Whatever she had done, the issue with St. Alder and The Full Moon Lounge seemed settled.

After school, Cyrus headed to work.

The lounge had already returned fully to its usual atmosphere.

Warm lighting.

Quiet music.

Familiar tables.

No Halloween decorations remained.

Malcolm Baird noticed Cyrus entering.

He looked mildly surprised.

"Helena said you were taking today off too."

Cyrus nodded.

"I’m fine now."

Malcolm studied him for a second.

"If you’re sure."

"I am."

Cyrus went to the changing room and prepared for his shift.

When he returned behind the bar, he noticed something unusual.

The lounge was quieter than normal.

None of the women whose names appeared in his diary were there.

No Helena.

No Daphne.

No Vera.

No Rhea.

Even the familiar people who often complicated his evenings were absent.

There were only ordinary customers and a few regulars.

One woman who seemed to visit almost every time Cyrus worked was already sitting with a drink in front of her.

Her eyes moved toward him from time to time.

Cyrus noticed and ignored it.

The shift remained easy.

Orders came slowly enough that he never had to rush.

Most of the time, Cyrus simply stood behind the counter, prepared drinks, cleaned glasses, and became the subject of thoughts he would never hear.

At times, he felt less like a bartender and more like something placed on display.

He had grown used to the attention.

His memories of the Frostborn village were incomplete now, but some fragments remained.

Women there had looked at him too.

Those looks had been much worse.

Even after Isolde restricted how often others could see him, Cyrus still remembered enough to understand the difference.

Compared with the attention he once received there, the customers at The Full Moon Lounge were almost polite.

At least these women generally understood that staring did not give them ownership.

Cyrus rested one hand against the counter while his thoughts wandered.

Then the entrance bell rang.

Before he even looked toward the door, Cyrus felt something familiar.

Heat.

Not enough to physically affect him, but enough that the sensation of someone watching him almost seemed to warm the skin it crossed.

Cyrus raised his eyes.

Rhea Maddox had entered.

She walked directly toward the bar with the confidence of someone who had never considered sitting anywhere else.

Cyrus watched her take the seat in front of him.

Rhea ordered a drink.

Then her eyes quickly swept across the lounge.

Helena was not here.

Usually, Helena sat nearby with the quiet persistence of a bodyguard who had never officially accepted the job.

Tonight, her absence made things easier.

Rhea’s attention returned to Cyrus.

Something amused moved through her eyes.

Cyrus prepared her drink and placed it in front of her.

Rhea rested one arm against the counter.

Instead of immediately touching the glass, she leaned slightly closer.

Her voice lowered enough to keep the conversation between them.

"Want to guess what I’ve been doing lately?"

Cyrus looked at her.

That explained something.

Rhea had been visiting the lounge less often recently.

When she did appear, she had also been noticeably calmer than before.

Cyrus had assumed police work had simply become busy.

Now, judging from the expression in her eyes, apparently there was more to it.

He gave her a mildly suspicious look.

"What have you been doing?"

Rhea smiled.

She had clearly been waiting for him to ask.