Marjorie Diaz's Unfortunate Introduction to Magical High Society

She had no underlying issues to address

On Wednesday, he came to class alone.

Marjorie noticed, but she kept her mouth shut and stared straight ahead when he took his seat next to her. She'd been sitting there for nearly an hour now, trying to make sure she made it to class before him.

"You never called," he said softly when she refused to acknowledge him.

She shrugged, eyes glued to Dr. Mendez as she sauntered into the room.

"It's good to see you, Marjorie," she said, raising her eyebrows in question.

Marjorie smiled tightly at her. "Yeah," she said, offering no other explanation. She could tell Dr. Mendez was worried about her, but she really didn't want to relive what happened Monday morning. She'd felt sick for the rest of the night after that and so angry at herself. She hadn't even been able to face Lucian when she came home or even tell her what happened.

"Are you alright?" Patrick asked once Dr. Mendez had turned away from them to get herself set up for class.

"Fine," Marjorie said, turning to look at him. She gave him the same tight smile she'd given Dr. Mendez.

He blinked back at her, his jaw twitching slightly. "Why didn't you call?"

"I didn't have time," Marjorie said. "And I know the THING DR MENDEZ ASSIGNED isn't due until next week. So I figured I could put you off to finish an essay for my international marketing class. Sorry."

Patrick pursed his lips. "It's quite alright," he said, his jaw twitching again as he ground his teeth.

"Good," she responded, facing forward again just in time for Dr. Mendez to start teaching.

She watched Dr. Mendez as if her rambling was the most interesting thing she'd ever heard in her life. She absolutely does not want to know what is going on with Patrick. She'd moved on since the Adorara incident.

She felt his eyes on her repeatedly throughout the lesson and she wished he would stop staring. Every time his eyes settled on the side of her face is another chink in her carefully crafted armor. She was absolutely dying to know if Adorara is happy now and if Patrick was, in fact, on the market, but she liked to think she was better than that. From what she knew about them, he and Adorara had been together for nearly five years. She shouldn't be barking up this particular tree.

She glanced at him out of the corner of her eye, catching his gaze for a split second before she turned back to look at Dr. Mendez. His eyes were nearly smoldering and she could tell she'd offended him. Of course, she'd known when she'd done it, but it was something that couldn't be helped. She was a disaster.

When class ended, she couldn't get out of there fast enough. She might be curious about what went down between him and Adorara, but she also definitely doesn't want to know.

Unfortunately, Patrick can move much faster than she can on his stupid long boy legs.

"Marjorie!" He called after her.

She'd just made it to the bottom of the spiral staircase that led to the second floor. The ancient wood dipped under her feet when she put weight on the bottom step, the bannister swaying when she gripped it for dear life. She turned over her shoulder, giving him the sweetest most serene smile she can muster.

"Yes?" She asked, her voice dripping with venom. She hoped it would scare him off, but he was unwavering. She gripped the bannister harder, the wood creaking in protest.

"We have to work on ASSIGNMENT, remember? It's due next wee--"

"I'm afraid I don't have time right now," Marjorie said through her teeth. She didn't know why she was being so difficult. She had hours between her classes, but she wasn't ready to spend time alone with him. So far they'd done all of their work in class with the other groups, but this part of the project was much more involved and she didn't want to do this with him so soon after the incident with Adorara. At this point she didn't care if her grades suffered because of it.