Trained to Be Wanted

Chapter 2

Sleep came fast and a bit messy, dragging Marlowe under before she could untangle any of it. She dreamed in pieces: glitter letters falling off a banner one by one, a voice she couldn't place saying her name like it was something to laugh at.

Somewhere close to dawn the dream let go of her, but something in the room hadn't. A weight in the air. A sound too near, too steady, too wrong for a room that used to be only hers.

Marlowe woke up because someone was breathing too close to her face. For a second she thought she was still dreaming. Then she remembered the gym, the laughter, the boy on the floor. She opened her eyes. Kellan was standing right next to her bed holding a toothbrush, staring down at her. "You're awake," he said. Marlowe screamed. She rolled backwards and fell off the bed with a thump. Her blanket tangled around her legs. Kellan didn't even flinch. "Good morning to you too." "What are you doing!" she shouted from the floor. "Why are you staring at me while I sleep! That's creepy!" "I wasn't staring," he said calmly. "I was trying to figure out if you were dead. You didn't move for like ten hours." "I was tired! I had a bad day!" "I know. You cried on the floor. I remember."

Marlowe sat up and pushed her hair out of her face. Her cheer uniform was wrinkled. Her eyes felt swollen. Sunlight was coming through the blinds and her small dorm room looked even smaller with a giant duffel bag and a hockey stick in it. Kellan was already dressed. Black hoodie, dark jeans, hair still messy but in a way that looked intentional. He looked like he belonged on a poster for the hockey team. "I'm going to brush my teeth," he said. "Don't steal my stuff while I'm gone." "I wouldn't steal your stuff!" "Everyone says that," he said, and walked to the shared bathroom down the hall.

Marlowe stared at the door after he left. Her heart was still beating fast. This had to be a joke. The housing office never made mistakes. She had specifically paid extra for a single room because she was bad at living with people. She grabbed her phone. Seventeen missed messages. Three tags. She didn't open any of them. She knew what they would be. Someone had definitely posted the audition video. She opened her drawer and pulled out the housing contract. Room 312, Single Occupancy. It said it right there. Kellan came back two minutes later, wiping his face with a towel. "Okay, roommate," he said. "We need to go fix this before first period." "We are not roommates," Marlowe said. She held up her paper. "See? Single occupancy. This is my room." He held up his own paper. "Room 312. Bed B. So unless you have an invisible bed I can't see, someone messed up."

"Then you should leave! I was here first!" "And I drove six hours," he said. "I'm not sleeping in my car because you like having extra storage." They stared at each other. Neither wanted to back down. "Fine," Marlowe said. "Let's go to the housing office right now and they will tell you to leave." "Lead the way, princess," Kellan said. "Don't call me princess!" "Okay, floor girl." Marlowe grabbed her backpack and stormed out, Kellan following behind her with his hands in his pockets like this was all very entertaining. The housing office was in the admin building. Mrs. Alvarez was behind the desk with a big mug that said WORLD'S OKAYEST ADMINISTRATOR. She looked up when they walked in. "How can I help you two?" she asked. "There is a boy in my room," Marlowe said quickly. "In Room 312. He says he was assigned there but I'm single occupancy. So you need to move him." Mrs. Alvarez typed something into her computer. Her eyebrows went up. "Ah," she said. "Yes. Kellan Ford. The transfer from Westfield. And Marlowe Vance. Yes, I see the issue."

"So you can move him?" Marlowe said hopefully. Mrs. Alvarez shook her head. "I'm afraid not. We are over capacity this semester because of the roof repairs in the south dorm. The system overrode your single request and reassigned your room as a double. You two are officially roommates until the end of the semester."

Silence.

"What?" Marlowe and Kellan said at the same time. "End of the semester?" Marlowe repeated. "That's four months away! I can't live with a boy! That's against the rules!" "It is unusual," Mrs. Alvarez admitted. "But the dean approved it as a temporary emergency measure. Ashcombe is co-ed and all upperclassmen dorms are co-ed floors. The handbook allows mixed assignments if necessary. You both signed the clause."

"I did not read the handbook!" Marlowe said.

"No one reads the handbook," Mrs. Alvarez said cheerfully. "Look, you have two good students, good grades. I'm sure you can make it work. Just put up a curtain or something. Be creative."

Kellan leaned against the counter. "So I'm stuck with her?" "And she's stuck with you," Mrs. Alvarez said. "Congratulations. You two are making history. First mixed room in Ashcombe in ten years." Marlowe felt dizzy. "This can't be happening." Mrs. Alvarez printed out a new key for Kellan and slid it across the desk. "If there is any serious problem, come back. Otherwise, good luck, you two! Try not to kill each other." They walked out of the office in silence. Outside, the campus was already busy. Students were heading to first period, holding coffee, laughing. A few people pointed when they saw Marlowe. "That's the cheer girl," someone whispered. Marlowe pulled her hood up. Kellan looked at her. "You okay?" "No," she said. "Everyone is going to think we are ... you know ... together. Because we live together." "So let them think it," Kellan said with a shrug. "Who cares?" "I care! I have a reputation!" Kellan raised an eyebrow. "What reputation? The girl who falls during auditions?"

Marlowe gasped. "That's so mean!" "It's true though," he said. "Look, if people talk, they'll get bored in a week. Trust me. I know how schools like this work." "You don't know anything about this school. You just got here." "I know enough," he said. "I know that hockey players get away with everything and that the cheer captain runs the school like a dictator. I saw enough yesterday." Marlowe stopped walking. "How do you know about Sable?" "Because I have eyes," Kellan said. "The girl who stopped the music just to insult you? Yeah, she was memorable." Marlowe didn't know what to say to that. No one had ever described what Sable did as an insult so plainly. Usually people just laughed. The bell rang.

"I have to go to biology," Marlowe said. "Please don't touch my telescope. Or my robot parts. Or anything." "Robot parts?" Kellan repeated. "Yes. I'm in the robotics club." "Of course you are," he said, and there was a little smile this time. "Don't worry. Your robots are safe with me." He walked away toward the sports wing, and Marlowe watched him go because she couldn't help it. He walked like he owned the place, even though he had been here for less than a day.

She had a bad feeling about this. First period went by in a blur. Marlowe sat in the back and kept her head down while the teacher talked about cell division. Her phone buzzed in her pocket every few minutes. She finally checked it during a break.

It was worse than she thought.

Someone had posted the audition video on the main school story with the caption "5th annual Marlowe fail." It had over two hundred views already. Comments were coming in. "Lol she never learns."

"Give it up girl." There was a new photo too. Someone had taken a picture of Kellan carrying his duffel bag into the north dorm yesterday. The caption said "Who is the hot transfer?"

Marlowe locked her phone and put her head on her desk. Second period was math. Third was history. By lunch, she was exhausted from pretending she didn't hear people whispering. She got her tray and went to her usual table in the corner. It was empty, like always. She started picking at her sandwich. That's when the cafeteria went quiet. Not the normal quiet. The kind of quiet that happens when something interesting walks in. Marlowe looked up.

Kellan had just walked into the cafeteria. He had changed into the Ashcombe hockey warm-up shirt, which was navy blue with a silver crest on the front. Every head turned. Girls literally stopped chewing.

"Who is that?" she heard someone hiss.

"That's the transfer! The new hockey prodigy! I heard he scored forty goals last season!"

Beckett Cole stood up from the hockey table. He was smiling that captain smile, but his eyes were sharp. He walked over to Kellan and held out a hand.

"You must be Ford," Beckett said loud enough for everyone to hear. "I'm Beckett Cole, team captain. Welcome to Ashcombe."

Kellan shook his hand. "Thanks."

"We've been waiting for you," Beckett said. "Coach says you're good. We'll see if you can keep up." It sounded friendly, but it wasn't. Kellan just smiled, calm and sarcastic. "I'll try not to make you look bad, captain." A few people laughed. Beckett's smile tightened just a little. Then Beckett's gaze shifted. He saw Marlowe in the corner. "Oh, hey, Vance," he called out. "Still here? I thought after yesterday you'd transfer." The whole cafeteria laughed on cue. Marlowe felt her face burn. She stared at her tray, wishing she could disappear. Kellan followed Beckett's gaze. He saw Marlowe. He saw the way she shrank.

Something in his expression changed. He looked back at Beckett. "You know her?" Beckett laughed. "Yeah, everyone knows Marlowe. She's our mascot. She tries out for cheer every year and eats it. It's tradition at this point." He said it like it was a joke. Like it was affectionate. Everyone laughed again. Kellan didn't laugh. He walked past Beckett, straight to Marlowe's table, and sat down across from her with his tray. The cafeteria made a noise like a collective gasp. Marlowe's eyes went wide. "What are you doing?" "Eating lunch," Kellan said, picking up his fork. "What does it look like?" "You can't sit here! That's ... you should sit with the team!" "I don't know the team," he said. "I know you. You live in my room."

"My room!" Beckett was still standing there, watching them, his friendly mask slipping for just a second. Sable appeared out of nowhere, looping her arm through Beckett's. She was beautiful and perfectly put together and she was staring at Kellan like he was a new toy. "Hi," she said to Kellan, ignoring Marlowe completely. "I'm Sable. Head cheer captain. You should come sit with us. We can tell you everything you need to know about this place." "No thanks," Kellan said without looking up. "I'm good here." Sable's smile froze. She looked at Marlowe like she wanted to set her on fire.

"Marlowe," she said sweetly, but her voice was poison. "You didn't tell us you had a new friend." "We're not friends," Marlowe said quickly. "He's just ... housing made a mistake."

"Oh?" Sable said. "You two are living together? How ... interesting." Whispers exploded around them like fireworks. Kellan finally looked up at Sable. His grey eyes were cold. "Is there something you need?" he asked. Sable took a step back, surprised by his tone. "No. Just being welcoming." "Great. You welcomed us. You can go now." The entire hockey table was staring. Beckett's jaw was tight. "Come on, babe," Beckett said to Sable. "Let them be weird together." They walked away, but not before Sable shot Marlowe a look that said this is not over.

Marlowe let out a breath she didn't know she was holding. "Why did you do that?" she whispered. "Now they're going to hate me even more." "They already hated you," Kellan said, eating his fries. "At least now they have a reason to be scared to say it to your face." "Are you trying to get me bullied more?" "I'm trying to eat lunch without listening to that guy's fake speech," Kellan said. "And you looked like you needed someone to sit with."

Marlowe looked down at her tray. Her sandwich was soggy. Her eyes stung again, but differently this time. "Thanks," she said quietly. "Don't thank me yet," Kellan said. "You still have to live with me for four months. You might hate me more than them by week two."

"I doubt that," Marlowe said. Kellan grinned for the first time. A real grin, not sarcastic. "We'll see, Vance."