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Wyldan is as incensed as Fox. Veins pulse in his forehead, temples, and jaw. It’s his family name on the university, I guess, but Fox was goaded into standing up for himself. Not that he will say anything to Wyldan, as he’s all but being frog marched out the door with Finley staggering alongside them.

“Wait,” I yell, grabbing the black notebook and racing to meet up with the trio whose long legs eat up the corridor with more efficiency than my little feet. “You forgot this, Fox.” I hand him his notebook, the cover worn to a stretched, grain-leather look, but it’s more threadbare. It’s the patina of being well loved and used extensively. Like the books my parents wrote in.

“If you don’t write what happened in there. What he said to you before he pushed you, then I will,” I add as Fox closes his fingers around his journal.

“Aspen, what does this have to do with you?” Wyldan asks, his ire stony.

“Nothing—” I protest.

“Let’s keep it that way then.” That lighter color in his left iris sucks all the breath from my body.

I retake my seat in Toxicology. Amber offers the briefest of nods, while Tali is still in a heart-eyed stupor.

“Did you see the way he swept in like a gallant hero? An avenging angel, a…”

She might as well clasp her hands under her chin for all the swooning she’s doing.

“He may have a class next door and heard the noise. He wasn’t avenging anything.” My rebuke shut her up. “Stop swooning; drool is about to drop from your chin, child.”

“Insanely hot.”

“Morally gray, red flag.”

“I don’t care; I’d still wave it.”

“Stop it.”

“I’d climb him like a tree and lick the sap from his⁠—”

“Welcome to Toxicology, everyone. Apologies for that interruption, but it serves as a reminder that each person here must respect those around you. That includes your peers and your teachers. Everyone! There is zero tolerance for bullies.”

Thank you, Ms. Donnelyn. You have not only delivered the class a preface that should be common sense, you have spared me from the verbal lashing that is Tali picturing a naked Professor Wyldan.

“Please go to the toxic and poisonous tab on your computer. We will begin by unpacking the difference between a plant that is toxic and one that is poisonous, before we go on to why the difference is so important.”

Lukaz, Tali and I are eating lunch together on a bench near a cluster of larch trees. The incident with Fox is still front of mind, and I feel uneasy about what he’s going through.

“Tell me more about Fox,” I say to Tali, but it’s Luk who answers.

“What do you want to know? He’s my dorm buddy.”

He shares space with him. That would present some challenges. “Why was Finley such an asshole to him?”

Luk blanches. “Wait, Finley was a dick? When?”

“In Toxicology. Started mouthing off about Fox’s family and stuff.”

“No way! What happened? I fucking hate Finley. This gives me an excuse to kick his ass,” Lukaz seethes. It seems he is protective of his friend. Are they friends, or do they simply share a dorm?

Tali fills Lukaz in on the events that unfolded before Tox, but I need more of the backstory. There’s something about him that makes me curious to learn more. I grew up with one part-time parent, and then none. How did losing his family impact his formative years? “What happened to his family?”

Luk blows out a long breath. Placing his soda on his knee, he continues, “I know him about as well as anyone here, I guess, although we only became roomies this year after Paul left.”

“Paul Sorrington, he was my Larcher last year,” Tali clarifies.

“Are you serious?” Lukaz questions. “Eww.”

Tali nods, confirming his question and sympathizing with his groan.