The Detective's Damsel

xxviii.

- - - - - - DECEMBER 1, 2020 - - - - - -

CORINNA HEARD THEM before she saw them. The sound of a horn sent the cafeteria into a hush, atypical for a room full of young men. The next sounds she heard were voices—female voices.

And then there they were.

Linked in groups of two, the girls of the Texas Academy paraded into the cafeteria. The silence of the room dissipated as the newcomers were met with whoops and cheers from the male population. Ivan's female withdrawal problem would—it seemed—no longer be a problem for the next few days.

Corinna watched, eyes wide, as the women passed by her table. They were beautiful in a way she never would have expected. All types of flowing hair, long lashes, even longer legs, brilliant perfect smiles, and pearls twinkling around their necks. Corinna tugged on her hair nervously. She wasn't completely sure she'd brushed her hair that morning. Compared to them, Corinna felt like a waste of space. This was who she was pretending to be?

She didn't stand a chance.

Beside her, Ivan was clapping enthusiastically, sending a flirtatious wink in more than one girl's direction as they passed. Knight, on the other hand, sat opposite her and watched, dark eyes scanning the crowd stoically even as several girls gave him what could be considered a sufficiently appreciative stare.

Corinna turned back to her thoughtful observation of the guests, only to meet the honey-brown eyes of one of the girls walking by. Upon seeing Corinna, the girl's hand paused mid-wave and her smile slipped. Her eyes hardened as she narrowed them at Corinna before she turned away, lost beneath a mountain of loose blonde curls.

Corinna turned to Ivan, moments away from asking him if he'd observed what just happened, but before she could, the parade of sorts dispersed as the women found places to sit among the other boys, the laughter and mealtime conversation returning at a steady volume. Corinna held her tongue, leveling her gaze at her food, though she no longer had much of an appetite. It had been a few days since her conversation with Knight when he first told her about the competition. He'd told her the girls would be ecstatic to meet her, but if that blonde girl's suspicious gaze was any indication, the next few days could very well be the equivalent of torture.

Just as Corinna was considering how the situation could get worse, it did. And it came in the form of a girl with brown eyes and blonde hair.

"Knight, is that you?" She drawled in an accent Corinna didn't recognize, eyes wide and innocent as she slid into the empty seat next to him. "I haven't seen you in forever!"

"It's been a whole year," Knight muttered, fiddling with his napkin.

"I know," the girl gasped. "You look just as handsome as I—"

"And you are?" Ivan interrupted, his dry smile betraying his politeness.

The blonde girl looked surprised, flipping a piece of hair over an exposed bronze shoulder. "Bethany Lincoln. You don't remember me?" Corinna reminded herself to ask Ivan if it was Bethany's accent that made every word sound like it was twice as long or if she was doing it on purpose.

"Of course, I remember you now." Ivan's voice dripped with sarcasm. "You're the one that thought it was a brilliant idea to tie my shoes up in a tree last year even though you knew I was afraid of heights. How could I forget?"

Bethany's sugar-sweet smile tightened as she laughed. "And how could I forget your charm, Ivan? My friends will absolutely adore you. Artemis, Fayre!" She called to a few girls mingling behind us.