CHAPTER 90: THE THINGS WE HIDE II

Charis

Rhett leaned back in his chair with a knowing smile. "Gentlemen, gentlemen. You’re approaching this all wrong. It’s not about their experience—it’s about making them want to gain experience with you."

"How do you mean?" James asked eagerly.

"First rule," Rhett said, holding up one finger like a professor giving a lecture, "confidence without arrogance. You want to seem interested but not desperate. Make eye contact, but don’t stare like a creep."

"What about conversation?" Chris asked.

"Ask questions about them, not about yourself," Rhett continued smoothly. "Girls love talking about their interests, their dreams, their opinions. Listen to what they say."

"And then?" Tyler prompted.

Rhett’s grin became more mischievous. "Then you make them laugh. Humour is the fastest way to a girl’s heart... and to her bed, if that’s where you want things to go."

"But what if she’s not interested?" James asked nervously.

"Then you respect that and move on," Rhett said firmly. "Consent is everything, boys. A girl who feels pressured isn’t going to enjoy herself, and if she’s not enjoying herself, neither will you."

I watched, fascinated, as Rhett completely controlled the crowd. He was a fantastic leader. He had these boys hanging on his every word. But I also noticed that all this talking was preventing him from eating his lunch.

Without thinking, I tapped the table to get their attention. I didn’t intend to hit it as hard as I did, but somehow, I banged violently on it, and the sound made the entire table go quiet. Everyone turned to stare at me.

"Enough talk already," I stuttered, looking directly at Rhett. "It’ll be the end of break soon, and you still haven’t had anything to eat."

All the boys whooped and cheered at my boldness.

"Ooooh, is that your new girlfriend, Rhett?" Tyler asked with a teasing grin. "Beatrice is going to be so mad when she finds out."

"Wait, are you into boys now?" James added with curiosity. "

Rhett didn’t even flinch at their intrusive question. Instead, he was all smiles. "I’ve always told you guys that there’s no boundary to exploring your sexuality." He leaned in close to me, and I could feel myself growing agitated by all the attention focused on us. Our faces were mere inches apart.

"And right now, Eamon," he said, his voice carrying across the table, "has my heart. I think about him every day, every passing second."

He turned back to the boys at the table with a dramatic wave of his hand. "I think I’m in love, guys."

The guys erupted into whoops and cheers, banging their fists against the table.

"Kiss! Kiss! Kiss!" they started chanting in unison.

Before I could protest or pull away, Rhett grabbed me and kissed me firmly on the lips.

It wasn’t a long kiss; maybe three seconds, but the shock of it set fire through my body, and it didn’t help that I was almost in my cycle, so my body wanted things like this.

The entire refectory erupted into applause and cheers.

I pulled back from Rhett, looking flustered and embarrassed, while he basked in the celebration around him.

As I raised my eyes to scan the room, I saw Kael leaning against the entrance of the refectory. His eyebrows were arched, and he had a blank expression on his face. He stared at me for a moment before deliberately looking away.

At that same instant, Marcus, Peter, Slater and the other student union members entered the refectory, and the entire room fell silent immediately.

When the ref had gone completely still, Peter stepped forward to address us.

"Students, classes for today have been cancelled. You are to return to your dormitories immediately and wait for further instructions. Dinner will be brought to your rooms personally. Students are restricted from wandering far from their dormitories until further notice. Please proceed to your rooms now."

I turned to look at Kael, but he wasn’t looking in my direction anymore. Slater was engaged in conversation with Marcus, while Rhett had gone over to join Marcus and the other student union members in what appeared to be a serious discussion.

The ref buzzed with confused murmurs as students began filing out.

I got up from my chair and was about to leave when Marcus suddenly approached me. He reached for both my hands, inspecting them, like he was searching for something.

When he looked up, his face had twisted into disappointment.

"Where is the monitoring band I gave you? Why don’t you have it on?"

I noticed that everyone who had been leaving had stopped and was now staring at us.

"Didn’t I tell you to always wear it?" Marcus continued, his voice rising. "What’s wrong with you?"

I didn’t understand why Marcus was getting so emotional over a monitoring band, but I also hoped this confrontation would pass quietly. I just lowered my head in contrition.

"I forgot. I’m sorry. It won’t happen again."

Marcus let out a shaky breath, and without any warning, he dragged me into his arms, hugging me so tightly I could barely breathe.

Peter quickly shooed the rest of the students out of the refectory, leaving only me and the student union board members.

When we were alone, a female voice said with exasperation, "That’s enough, Marcus. You’re going to suffocate him."

Marcus finally released me, and that’s when I noticed he was crying. He caressed my face tenderly, kissing my forehead and muttering repeatedly, "I thought I’d lost you. I thought I’d lost you."

I was so confused that I couldn’t even resist.

I caught Slater’s eyes across the room, and he immediately mind-linked me: Calm down and go with the flow.

As Marcus tried to lean in to kiss my lips, Rhett quickly stepped between us, gently pushing me behind him for protection.

"That’s enough emotion, Marcus. Let the boy be."

"Stay out of this, Thatcher," Marcus said fiercely, trying to look over Rhett’s shoulder to reach me. "You should stay with me tonight, until this security situation passes."

"What security situation?" I asked quietly, confused about what was making Marcus act as if he were losing his mind.

"You don’t need to know," a girl with bright red hair responded coldly, glaring at me with hostility. The name tag on her uniform read "Brielle." "Now get out of here."

Without being told twice, I hurried out of the refectory. But as I left, I heard Brielle angrily confronting Marcus.

"He wasn’t supposed to know anything about the security situation! For once in your miserable life, could you act like a sensible person instead of letting your emotions decide everything?"