Torment - Lauren Kate [112]
A soft laugh brought her back to her uneaten breakfast.
Francesca was gliding around the tables in a long black-and-white polka-dotted cape. Every time Luce glanced over at her, she had that saccharine smile stuck on her face and was deep in conversation with one student or another, but Luce still felt under heavy scrutiny. As if Francesca could bore into Luce’s mind and know exactly what had made Luce lose her appetite. Like the wild white peonies that had disappeared without a trace from their border overnight, so too could Francesca’s belief disappear that Luce was strong.
“Why so glum, chum?” Shelby swallowed a large wedge of bagel. “Believe me, you didn’t miss that much last night.”
Luce didn’t answer. The bonfire on the beach was the furthest thing from her mind. She’d just noticed Miles trudging to breakfast, much later than he usually did. His Dodgers cap was tugged low over his eyes, and his shoulders looked a little stooped. Involuntarily, her fingers went to her lips.
Shelby was waving flamboyantly, both arms over her head. “What is he, blind? Earth to Miles!”
When she finally caught his attention, Miles gave their table a clumsy wave, practically tripping over the to-go buffet. He waved again, then disappeared behind the mess hall.
“Is it me or has Miles been acting like a total spaz recently?” Shelby rolled her eyes and imitated Miles’s goofy stumble.
But Luce was dying to stumble after him and—
And what? Tell him not to feel embarrassed? That the kiss had been her fault, too? That having a crush on a train wreck like her was only going to end badly? That she liked him, but so many things about it—them—were impossible? That even though she and Daniel were fighting right now, nothing could ever really threaten their love?
“Anyway, like I was saying,” Shelby continued, refilling Luce’s coffee from the bronze carafe on the table. “Bonfire, hedonism, blah blah blah. These things can be so tedious.” One side of Shelby’s mouth flinched to an almost-smile. “Especially, you know, when you’re not around.”
Luce’s heart unclenched just a little. Every once in a while, Shelby let in the tiniest ray of light. But then her roommate quickly shrugged, as if to say Don’t let it go to your head.
“No one else appreciates my Lilith impersonation. That’s all.” Shelby straightened her spine, heaved her chest forward, and made the right side of her top lip quiver disapprovingly.
Shelby’s Lilith impersonation had never failed to crack Luce up. But today all she could manage was a thin closed-mouth smile.
“Hmmm,” Shelby said. “Not that you’d care what you missed at the party. I noticed Daniel flying away over the beach last night. You two must have had a lot to catch up on.”
Shelby had seen Daniel? Why hadn’t she mentioned it sooner? Could anyone else have seen him?
“We didn’t even talk.”
“That’s hard to believe. He’s usually so full of orders to give you—”
“Shelby, Miles kissed me,” Luce interrupted. Her eyes were closed. For some reason, that made it easier to confess. “Last night. And Daniel saw everything. He took off before I could—”
“Yeah, that would do it.” Shelby let out a low whistle. “This is kind of huge.”
Luce’s face burned with shame. Her mind couldn’t shake the image of Daniel taking flight. It felt so final.
“So is it, you know, over between you and Daniel?”
“No. Never.” Luce couldn’t even hear that phrase without shuddering. “I just don’t know.”
She hadn’t told Shelby the rest of what she’d glimpsed in the Announcer, that Daniel and Cam were working together. Were secret pals, as far as she could tell. Shelby wouldn’t know who Cam was, anyway, and the history was way too complicated to explain. Besides, Luce wouldn’t be able to stand it if Shelby, with her oh-so-deliberately-controversial views about angels and demons, tried to make a case that a partnership between Daniel and Cam wasn’t that big a deal.
“You know Daniel’s gonna be all screwed up over it right now. Isn’t that Daniel’s