Chapter 61: Thanks, Mom

Astrid

My head pounded before I even opened my eyes. My mouth felt like sandpaper. For several seconds I had no idea where I was, and then it all came flooding back at once.

The party. The music. The pool. Roshan. Aldrich. Running. Getting caught.

The twins.

My stomach sank. I sat up slowly, taking in the unfamiliar ceiling above me, and realized I was in the shared apartment, not my dorm. I vaguely remembered being walked home, though most of the details had gone fuzzy somewhere between the party and this exact moment.

I groaned into my pillow. I’d officially made terrible decisions.

Then I heard voices outside, low and familiar, and my stomach dropped further. I was going to have to face them.

Reed was already in the kitchen when I finally dragged myself out of the room, a bowl of hot soup waiting on the counter. He took one look at my face and clearly understood exactly how bad the headache was.

"Don’t think too much," he said. "Just take the hangover soup like a good child."

I stared at him. A good child?

"Thanks... Mom," I said.

Xander burst out laughing behind him. Reed’s expression changed instantly, something between betrayal and confusion.

"Did you just call me Mom?" he asked.

I smiled despite myself. Xander kept laughing, harder now, and Reed threatened him with the bowl itself.

"Keep laughing and I’ll pour this on you."

Xander stopped immediately, eyeing the soup with real suspicion. "You wouldn’t."

Reed raised it slightly, and Xander went quiet fast enough that I started giggling. The two of them stood there arguing over a bowl of soup like it was a genuine threat, and something about the whole ridiculous scene felt oddly comfortable.

Once I’d actually eaten some of the soup, the amusement faded and the real conversation started.

"You could have gotten seriously hurt," Reed said.

"I’m eighteen," I reminded him.

"Being eighteen doesn’t make sneaking out and getting drunk a good idea," he said.

"Aldrich could have suspended you," Xander added.

"I was with Ivy," I said, defensive.

"Ivy was just as reckless," Reed said.

I tried defending myself further, and neither of them let me get very far. It stayed playful the whole time, though, and I realized somewhere in the middle of it that they weren’t actually furious with me.

They were worried. That made the lecture considerably easier to sit through.

Then Reed said something, offhand, about taking better care of myself, and it hit somewhere I hadn’t expected. My mother used to say almost the exact same thing. Cover yourself properly in the winter. Eat before you leave the house. Don’t stay out too late. Take care of yourself when you’re sick.

I used to find those constant little reminders annoying. Now I’d give almost anything to hear her say one of them again.

The apartment felt quieter in my head for a moment, the noise of Reed and Xander fading into the background while I sat with the sudden ache of missing her. I didn’t want either of them noticing, so I focused hard on the soup in front of me.

I caught Xander glancing at me once, something in his expression suggesting he’d noticed the shift, but he didn’t say anything. I was grateful for that.

We eventually had to get ready for school. I was still embarrassed about the previous night, wondering exactly how many people had seen us get caught. I got my answer the second we stepped onto campus.

Students were already talking, and the versions of the story got wilder with every retelling. Someone claimed half the academy had been arrested. Another version had Aldrich chasing students down the road himself. I kept my head down and tried to move fast through the hallway.

Then I heard someone mention that Roshan was probably in serious trouble, and a small twist of guilt settled in my chest. He’d taken responsibility for the whole thing without hesitation.

I found Ivy and Camilla near the courtyard. Ivy asked how I was feeling.

"How do you think?" I said.

Camilla laughed. We talked through the chaos of the night, Ivy insisting I’d definitely been drunk, Camilla adding that I’d been dancing terribly. I asked exactly how badly, and they teased me mercilessly instead of answering.

Then Ivy reminded me the punishment announcement was coming. I groaned, and we spent a few minutes speculating what we’d get, detention, loss of privileges, maybe restrictions on leaving campus. Nothing catastrophic. Just enough to make everyone regret the whole thing thoroughly.

The announcement came not long after, students gathered as Aldrich addressed everyone involved. Sneaking off academy grounds and attending unauthorized gatherings would not be tolerated, he said, his voice carrying easily across the crowd. Roshan received the harshest consequences, given that he’d organized everything.

The rest of us got lighter punishments. Mine turned out to be mandatory supervised study hours for the next two weeks and a temporary restriction from leaving campus. Irritating, not devastating. I felt real relief that I hadn’t been suspended, even as the embarrassment of the whole thing still burned.

Aldrich dismissed us, and as I turned to leave, something far worse hit me.

The project.

I checked the deadline in my head, and my stomach dropped all over again. I’d been so consumed by the bond, the wilderness trip, and now the party that I’d barely thought about it in days. And I was supposed to meet Reed and Xander at the apartment that evening to work on it.

My mood collapsed instantly.

"What’s wrong?" Ivy asked.

I told her.

"You do realize they’re your project partners, right?" she said.

I groaned. I knew. Unfortunately.

I imagined the whole evening ahead of me, sitting across from Reed, sitting across from Xander, trying to focus on academic work while pretending none of the last week had happened, pretending the bond didn’t exist between the three of us the entire time.

After everything, I had no idea how I was supposed to act normal around them for an entire evening. And now I was expected to simply show up and work like nothing had changed at all.

Ivy gave me a sympathetic look.

"I want to disappear," I said.

She laughed. "You can’t. You have a project."

I closed my eyes. Of course. The one thing I couldn’t escape from was schoolwork.

And apparently, neither could I escape the twins.