repeated. “I have an engagement this evening.”
Well, so do I, Cassidy thought resentfully as she left the office. There just weren’t enough hours in the day, that was all. Maybe she should write to Congress about adding three or four more hours to each day. It was the only way she was ever going to get her life under control.
No one was in the suite when she arrived. A note in Ann’s handwriting lay on Cassidy’s bed.
Where were you? We waited, but Sophie was in a hurry to get to the mall. She forgot shoes last week, of course. What else is new? If she takes as long as she usually does, we’ll have to catch up with you later. Ann.
Cassidy shrugged. Okay, she’d meet them at the party, just as she’d planned. It would have been more fun to leave the dorm together, but her grade in psych was already iffy. She couldn’t afford to blow off this test.
She changed into brown velvet jeans and a cream-colored sweater, piled her hair on top Of her head and fastened it with a tortoise-shell clip, pulling loose small pieces at the sides and back for a more casual look. Then she settled on her bed and munched on an apple while she studied her psych textbook, hoping the whole time that the door would burst open and her roommates would burst in.
They didn’t.
She left the room at ten minutes before seven, remembering Dr. Bruin’s warning about arriving at her office late.
The test took her ninety minutes. She had studied all the wrong things, and had to struggle for half the answers. The class had only been given fifty minutes for the very same test. Still, while Cassidy appreciated being given the extra time, the hands on her wristwatch seemed to be ticking so loudly, she half-expected the professor to raise her head from the book she was reading and say, “Will you please be quiet?” Eight…eight-fifteen…eight-twenty…she wasn’t going to arrive at Nightmare Hall much before nine.
Not that it mattered. Weekend parties were so informal, you could almost arrive any time. And it wasn’t as if Sawyer was going to be there, waiting impatiently.
It wouldn’t be as much fun without him. And if Travis was there, with Ann at his side, it would be even less fun. A lot less.
Cassidy nibbled on her pencil eraser. Maybe she wouldn’t go. She was tired, and this test hadn’t helped. Her head ached. If she hadn’t already fixed her hair and changed her clothes, she’d be tempted to just go back to the room and sack out. Everyone else would be at the party, so she’d have complete peace and quiet. A great opportunity to get caught up on her rest. That way, she wouldn’t be risking another asthma attack from fatigue and stress.
But she needed some fun. A little fun might be better medication for her right now than sleep. And all of her friends, except Sawyer, would be there.
She would go. If she ever finished this killer test.
She finished. At eight-twenty-five, according to her watch.
“Have a good weekend,” Dr. Bruin said as Cassidy handed her the completed sheets.
Easy for you to say, Cassidy thought. You didn’t just blow your psych grade. Aloud, she said, “Thanks. You, too.” Then she left the office.
She thought briefly about going back to the Quad, on the off-chance that her roommates hadn’t left for the party yet. Maybe they’d waited for her. Glancing down at her watch again…eight-thirty…she knew it wasn’t likely. Sophie liked to get to parties early.
Cassidy decided it would be faster to hop a shuttle bus for the short trip up the road. Taking her car would mean fighting for a parking space, and she was so late, the driveway at Nightmare Hall was probably already crammed full of cars.
When the bus pulled up in front of Nightingale Hall, there weren’t as many cars as she’d expected parked in the gravel driveway that curved up the hill from the highway and around in front of the huge, old, dark brick house. Other people, must have had the same idea she’d had…the shuttle bus.
Well, so do I, Cassidy thought resentfully as she left the office. There just weren’t enough hours in the day, that was all. Maybe she should write to Congress about adding three or four more hours to each day. It was the only way she was ever going to get her life under control.
No one was in the suite when she arrived. A note in Ann’s handwriting lay on Cassidy’s bed.
Where were you? We waited, but Sophie was in a hurry to get to the mall. She forgot shoes last week, of course. What else is new? If she takes as long as she usually does, we’ll have to catch up with you later. Ann.
Cassidy shrugged. Okay, she’d meet them at the party, just as she’d planned. It would have been more fun to leave the dorm together, but her grade in psych was already iffy. She couldn’t afford to blow off this test.
She changed into brown velvet jeans and a cream-colored sweater, piled her hair on top Of her head and fastened it with a tortoise-shell clip, pulling loose small pieces at the sides and back for a more casual look. Then she settled on her bed and munched on an apple while she studied her psych textbook, hoping the whole time that the door would burst open and her roommates would burst in.
They didn’t.
She left the room at ten minutes before seven, remembering Dr. Bruin’s warning about arriving at her office late.
The test took her ninety minutes. She had studied all the wrong things, and had to struggle for half the answers. The class had only been given fifty minutes for the very same test. Still, while Cassidy appreciated being given the extra time, the hands on her wristwatch seemed to be ticking so loudly, she half-expected the professor to raise her head from the book she was reading and say, “Will you please be quiet?” Eight…eight-fifteen…eight-twenty…she wasn’t going to arrive at Nightmare Hall much before nine.
Not that it mattered. Weekend parties were so informal, you could almost arrive any time. And it wasn’t as if Sawyer was going to be there, waiting impatiently.
It wouldn’t be as much fun without him. And if Travis was there, with Ann at his side, it would be even less fun. A lot less.
Cassidy nibbled on her pencil eraser. Maybe she wouldn’t go. She was tired, and this test hadn’t helped. Her head ached. If she hadn’t already fixed her hair and changed her clothes, she’d be tempted to just go back to the room and sack out. Everyone else would be at the party, so she’d have complete peace and quiet. A great opportunity to get caught up on her rest. That way, she wouldn’t be risking another asthma attack from fatigue and stress.
But she needed some fun. A little fun might be better medication for her right now than sleep. And all of her friends, except Sawyer, would be there.
She would go. If she ever finished this killer test.
She finished. At eight-twenty-five, according to her watch.
“Have a good weekend,” Dr. Bruin said as Cassidy handed her the completed sheets.
Easy for you to say, Cassidy thought. You didn’t just blow your psych grade. Aloud, she said, “Thanks. You, too.” Then she left the office.
She thought briefly about going back to the Quad, on the off-chance that her roommates hadn’t left for the party yet. Maybe they’d waited for her. Glancing down at her watch again…eight-thirty…she knew it wasn’t likely. Sophie liked to get to parties early.
Cassidy decided it would be faster to hop a shuttle bus for the short trip up the road. Taking her car would mean fighting for a parking space, and she was so late, the driveway at Nightmare Hall was probably already crammed full of cars.
When the bus pulled up in front of Nightingale Hall, there weren’t as many cars as she’d expected parked in the gravel driveway that curved up the hill from the highway and around in front of the huge, old, dark brick house. Other people, must have had the same idea she’d had…the shuttle bus.
Similar Books
