ELITE

Part 10

“ You should go back to your dorm before anyone else sees you here “ without waiting for a response, Mirza hurries away. A second later, she finds her Access Card lying on the floor, clearly dropped in haste.

Kirania returns to her dorm room, shaky with adrenaline. Suddenly, a loud ping sounds from Nesya’s phone. Nesya reads her texts and looks up at Kirania.

“ Mirza just texted. He wants to make sure you go to class tomorrow “ Nesya asking

“ Do I have a choice? “ reply Kirania

“ Not after last night. Not if you want to survive at Elite. Now, I really need to sleep. Good night, Kirania. We’ll handle this tomorrow “

Easy for her to say. She’s not the one trapped in this mess.

She changes into her pajamas and gets into bed. She tosses and turns for a while.

I can’t sleep

Text Mirza

‘ Hey, you up? ‘

‘ Yes ‘

‘ Can we talk? ‘

She waits for the ping, but it never comes. She put her phone away and eventually fall into a fitful sleep. The next morning, she has groggy and tired but determined to put last night behind her.

I’m going to wear the most boring outfit I have today, in order to head off any rumors.

“ If your goal is to get people to stop looking at you, I'm not sure a suit is a right answer “ ask Nesya

“ At least they can’t accuse me of being a slut in this “

“ Oh, they can and they will “

Kirania enters the hallway, only to be met with giggles and whispers.

What’s the point of making an effort, if they’re just going to laugh at men anyway?

She side-step the giggling crowds, and head straight to the classrooms. But as she leaves, she hears...

“ Just because you wore that outfit, doesn’t mean you’re not a slut. A cow can’t change its spots, cowgirl “ says mean girls, Kirania doesn’t her name.

It’s official. I hate college.

She heads to her politics class, dreading it every step of the way. Until she sees-- Mirza. He’s waiting at the door.

“ She made it to class. What a surprise. I would have thought you’d be with your new lover boy, Vidi “

I can’t be freaking believe this. He nods toward the giggling girls inside the classroom.

“ By the way, there’s a lot more where that came from. Unless you admit you’ve lost the wager, and you need me “

“ Mirza, I .. “

“ Yes? “

“ I didn’t sleep with Vidi “

“ Okay “

“That’s it? “

“ Unless you have more to say “

“ I thought you wouldn’t believe me “

“ There’s nothing to believe or not believe. You wake up in his bed this morning “

“ yes, but it’s not what it looked like! “

“ I know what it looked like, Kirania. The whole school knows what it looked like “

He turns and walks into the classroom. Left with no choice, Kirania follows. “ Alright, class, today’s going to be a little different. We’ll be playing through several board games to learn effective strategy implementation “

Maybe this won’t be so bad, after all.

“ Kirania, you’ll be paired with me “

***

After rumors of Kirania sleeping with the captain of Elite’s football team go viral, Mirza tells her that he wants to team up with her for the class project.

He’s barely said anything to me since the whole Vidi incident. Now he wants to work together, even though he’s technically the substitute professor?

“ Come one up, Kirania. We haven’t got all day “ Kirani stand and nervously make her way to his desk.

“ If you walked any slower, you’d be walking backward “

“ Just trying to live up to my namesake “

“ I think you’re getting cows confused with turtles, farm girl. Unless you’d like a change of nickname. Now, let’s get to it “

“ Get to what? “ ask Kirania confuse

“ Choosing the board game. I say Settlers of Catan. Do you know it? “

“ Actually, it’s my favorite board game. My grandmother was a big fan of “

“ Then your grandmother had good taste. All right, then. Settlers of Catan, it “ as soon as he says that, her frown.

Hold on. That’s not going to work. “ Don’t we need more than two people to play Catan? “

“ Ah, good catch. Well then, why don’t you find other people to join? “

Other people? Does he not know the whole school hates my guts right now?

“ Do you guys possibly have room for one, or two, more? “ one of the boys shares a look with another boy in his group.

“ Yeah, we’re totally into threesomes, aren’t we? “ says a male student