Sebastian came to my dormitory three days after the gala. He looked worse than I had ever seen him. His eyes were red, his clothes rumpled, his usual composure completely gone.
"Can I come in?" he asked.
I stepped aside. He walked into my room and stood in the center, looking around as if he had never seen it before. The black notebook was on my desk, closed. The comments were quiet for once, hovering faintly above his head like a held breath.
"I'm sorry," he said. "I should have warned you. I should have done something."
"You did nothing," I said. "That's the problem."
He flinched. "I know. I know. I just... I didn't know what to do. My father, he controls everything. The trust, my education, my research funding. If I defy him, I lose it all. And I was scared, Mara. I was scared of l
