Focus (The Crescent Chronicles, #2) (27 page)

“
Hey Allie, wait a sec,”
Hailey said as we got ready to head to the library. She gestured
for the others to go ahead.

“
Yeah?”

“
If you want me to go home
with you over break, you just have to ask.”

“
I couldn’t ask. It’s
Christmas. You’re supposed to be with your family.”

She took a sip of her coffee. “You
spent Thanksgiving with mine. I can spend Christmas with
yours.”

“
Won’t your family mind, or
think it’s weird you’re going instead of Levi?”

“
No, they’ll get
it.”

“
Well, thanks. I’ll think
about it.”

“
Good.”

***

Two hours later, we packed up our books
and headed back to the dorm. I decided on a V-neck black dress,
figuring I’d rather be overdressed than under.

“
You look great.” Levi
grinned when he saw me. He was wearing a sports coat, making me
instantly glad I’d gone for the dress.

He opened the car door for me. “So this
is okay for tonight then?”

“
Your dress? It’s
perfect.”

I tried to push away the nerves as we
drove over. If Levi noticed, he didn’t say anything. All too soon,
he pulled up in front of his large, white house. With tall columns
and wrap around porches, it was the kind of house you expected to
see in a magazine. He took my hand, and I found myself walking into
a two-story foyer. Without a word, he moved behind me and took off
my cardigan. I shivered a little, my bare skin not used to the
temperature of the house.

“
Hi, honey.” Helen greeted
Levi with a hug, before pulling me into one too.

“
Hi, Helen.” I smiled and
saw Robert coming from over her shoulder.

Robert stopped right next to us.
“Allison, looking lovely as always.”

“
Thank you.” I fought
myself to make eye contact. He still made me so nervous.

“
Come in, come in. We
haven’t talked much lately.” Helen led me into a formal living
room. Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed Levi and his dad
disappearing into another room.

Helen must have noticed me looking.
“Robert and Levi need to chat about your trip.”

“
Oh, okay,” I said
absently. Really I was trying to take in all of the details of the
place.

“
Can I get you something to
drink?” Helen stopped in front of a small bar.

“
Only if you’re fixing
something for yourself.”

“
How about a glass of wine?
We’ll need to open some for dinner anyway.”

“
Perfect.”

She opened a bottle and poured two
glasses. I settled into a cream loveseat while I waited. Helen came
to sit down in a chair across from me.

“
So, tell me, how was the
trip?”

“
It was
interesting.”

“
I know those proceedings
can be really boring, but it’s important that Levi had you
there.”

“
I don’t really get why. I
don’t see how having me there makes him look more
powerful.”

Helen smiled and took a sip of her red
wine. “Don’t ever forget your importance. Levi needs
you.”

“
I wonder if he knows
that.”

“
He does. Trust
me.”

“
What do I know?” Levi put
his hands on my shoulders. The contact warmed me.

“
How important Allie is to
you.”

He bent down and whispered in my ear.
“Oh, I know.”

“
Are you two ready?” Helen
asked.

“
Yeah, Dad’s already in the
dining room.” Levi came around to take my hand and walked me to the
other room. I glanced back and saw his mom beaming as she looked at
us.

I was half expecting a servant to bring
in the food, but Helen placed four bowls of salad on the table. “I
hope you like steak, sweetie. These two always want
meat.”

“
Yes, I eat everything,” I
answered quickly.

Robert turned his attention to me.
“Allie, I’m glad you were able to join us tonight. I have been
meaning to talk to you about something.”

I tensed. I doubted anything he had to
say was good.

“
How set are you on
continuing your studies at Tulane after this year?”

“
Do you mean whether I want
to transfer?” Where was this coming from?

“
Not exactly. It’s just
that there are a lot of great online programs available
now.”

“
Online programs? What is
this about?” I looked at Levi but his face was blank.

“
Levi and I were just
discussing your plans after he graduates and you get married this
summer.”

Married…I knew Robert thought that, but
it was strange to actually hear him say it.

“
Levi’s going to be taking
over international relations for me starting in August.”

“
International
relations?”

“
Yes. You two will have the
opportunity to see a lot of the world.”

“
And how does my education
fit in? You don’t expect me to drop out of school, do
you?”

“
I already mentioned online
opportunities.” Robert looked at me with just a hint of a
smile.

“
I want to be a
biochemistry major. I can’t take all of those classes
online.”

“
I’m sure you’ll find
something more suitable to that environment then.” His smile became
more of a sneer, and for the first time, I was able to see beneath
his charm to something else entirely.

“
Helen, let’s eat please.”
Robert’s demand let me know our talk was over.

Levi gave me a quick glance, as if to
warn me to stay quiet.

I barely touched my dinner, only
pushing the meat around on the plate to avoid offending Helen. As I
sat there staring at my plate, I made a decision. If Levi didn’t
support me on this, then we were over.

“
Would you like some
dessert? Coffee?” Helen asked, pulling me out of my
thoughts.

“
No, thank you. I really
need to get back and study.”

“
Right now?” Levi finished
off the last of his meal, placing his silverware down on the
plate.

“
Yes. If you want to stay,
I’ll just call a cab.” I hoped he heard the coldness in my
voice.

“
No, I can take you.” He
jumped up.

I put my napkin on the table and pushed
in my chair. “Thanks for dinner.” I addressed only Helen. I
couldn’t stand to look at Robert. I didn’t bother to get my
cardigan.

“
Hey, slow down.” Levi
caught up with me just as I reached his car.

I turned to face him. “Please tell me
you don’t agree with him. You’re going to tell him there’s no way
I’m quitting school, right?”

He put his hands in his pockets, a
decidedly non-Levi mannerism. “Allie, it’s just a year. This is
really important. And my dad’s right, there are all sorts of online
programs now.”

I tried to swallow down the huge lump
that was stuck in my throat. “I can’t just get my biochem degree
online. Didn’t you hear anything I said?”

“
Come on, get in the car.
I’d rather they not watch us fighting.” He gestured to the
house.

I didn’t particularly want them
watching either, so I got in. He closed my door and got in himself,
starting the engine just as I’d buckled my seatbelt.

“
I’m waiting.”

“
For what?” He took his
eyes off the road to look at me.

“
Did you hear anything I
said? I can’t do labs online.”

“
You just decided on that
major a few months ago. You can just change your mind again.” I’m
not sure if it was the actual words, or the fact that he didn’t
look at me when he said it that made me angrier.

“
Stop the car!”

“
No way, we’re going back
to my place.”

I twisted my hands in my lap. “Not a
chance in hell.”

“
Calm down.”

“
Calm down? You know how
important school is to me!”

“
And you’ll get a degree
one way or another. Who cares how you get it?”

My anger nearly choked me. “Either stop
this car now, or I jump out while it’s moving.”

“
I’d like to see
that.”

I fumbled with the automatic lock on my
door, pushing it open.

Levi slammed on the brakes and pulled
over. “Jesus, Allie.”

“
I warned you.” I got out,
needing to get as far away from Levi as possible.

“
Calm down.” He came around
to my side of the car.

“
No, I’m not going to calm
down. You promised me I wouldn’t have to give up anything else to
be with you. Now you’re asking me to drop out of
school.”

“
No, I’m asking you to take
classes in a different way.”

“
You got to do four years
of college traditionally, why can’t I? Why do I have to go with
you?”

“
And you say I don’t
listen?” He wrung his hands. “I can’t do it without you. You are
the symbol of my power. Get it through your head.”

“
The symbol of your power?
What about my power?”

“
Your power? A few months
ago you didn’t even know about The Society.”

“
I’m not talking about The
Society. I’m talking about power over my own life. I finally move
out from under my parents and now you do this to me?”

Levi finally looked at me. “Are you
crying, Al?”

I nodded, and seconds later his arms
came around me. “This is really important to you, isn’t
it?”

I tried to compose myself.
“Yes.”

“
Then we’ll figure
something out.”

I looked up at him from underneath wet
eyelashes. “You’ll talk to your dad?”

“
I think we can work this
out ourselves.” He brushed a few tears off my face.

“
How?”

“
I’m thinking. Maybe we can
just pack your schedule with Tuesday/Thursday classes so you can
take long weekends.”

“
And we’re just going to
travel the world on the weekends?”

He put a hand under my chin to make me
look up at him. “I don’t mind spending my Thursday nights on a
private jet alone with you? Do you have any problem with
it?”

“
A private jet?”

“
How did you think we were
traveling? You thought I was going to fly you across the
globe?”

“
No, but…”

“
Will you get back in the
car now?”

I barely had the energy to stand.
“Yes.”

“
Will you come home with
me?”

“
Not tonight. I really just
need to catch my breath.” Everything was happening too fast. I just
wanted things to move at a normal pace.

“
Tomorrow night
then?”

“
I have a final in two
days.”

“
Normally I’d make a
comment about how obsessive you are about school, but I’m guessing
that would be a bad idea right now.”

“
You’re
learning.”

“
Come on. Let me get you to
your dorm.” With an arm around my shoulder, he led me back to the
car. He bent down and gently kissed me before closing the
door.

We rode back to campus in silence, but
he had his hand on my leg the whole time. I think that was his way
of letting me know we were okay.

He pulled to a stop in his usual spot.
“I don’t like fighting with you. Let’s try to go a few days without
it.”

“
I’d like that.”

“
Want to meet up and study
tomorrow?”

“
You want to study?” I
didn’t think Levi ever studied.

“
Sure. We should probably
go over art history.”

“
All right, what
time?”

“
Ten. We can go to
breakfast first if you want.”

“
Then make it
nine.”

“
Nine? Isn’t that a little
early?”

“
Do you want to meet up or
what?”

“
Yes. I’ll be there at
nine.”

“
Perfect.” I leaned over
and kissed him.

“
You sure you won’t come
home with me? It’s not too late.”

“
Good night, Levi.” I got
out of the car smiling. We’d had a huge fight—but we’d gotten
through it. Maybe things really could work between us.

Chapter
Twenty-One

“
What do you mean you can’t
meet me?” I whispered loudly as I walked out of the stacks at the
library. A few kids turned to glare at me as I walked
past.

“
I’m sorry. My dad needs me
for something.”

“
Can you at least drop off
my notebook?” I slumped down on a couch outside the glass doors. I
was technically allowed to be on my phone now, but I still felt
rude. A study group sat together a few feet away.