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CHAPTER SIXTEEN
NEVER BETTER KNOWING
✧
MORGAN PRETENDED NOT TO NOTICE THE CONCERNED LOOKS HER FRIENDS SENT HER. Dominic and Adeline glanced at each other when they thought she was looking, and Adeline bit her lip idly while watching her eat as if she wasn't right there with eyes of her own. They treaded carefully, asking questions slowly and dancing around everything they really wanted to say.
It made her flare up in anger as much it made her drown in guilt. She wanted to tell them off for treating her like she was glass, but she wanted to cry because they were just so concerned for her. She was quiet, she stood tall, and she was an Ainsley. This was how Greer acted, quiet and calculating, letting it all fester inside, and never saying a word about how she was falling apart.
But Morgan was falling apart. Everything around her was in shambles and in the center of it all was her and Alistair standing together. His firm grip on her shoulders, her secrets, and everyone burning around them. He was smirking at her, laughing at there, and slowly the flames consumed her as well.
Her eyes didn't meet theirs anymore, instead searching for everything around them. She couldn't look at them, knowing what she knew now and having to keep inside what she knew. She wanted to tell them, but she was scared. Alistair could always be listening, always having a spy around to be certain she was in line, and he probably did. One little tell could be the end of him but her as well.
Greer rose gracefully from the table, full of poise and refinement, brushing any crumbs off her uniform and leaving the Great Hall. Morgan watched her, and then, clumsily, followed suit. She paid no attention to her unfinished portion, mumbling a quick goodbye to her friends and practically chasing after the girl.
She thought about calling her name, but that was too much attention, so she sped to Greer, grabbing her and pulling her to a quiet place. Greer made a noise of disagreement and struggled a bit, but was mollified when she saw the determined look on Morgan's face.
"I was going to straighten my hair – what is so important?" Greer crossed her arms, though there wasn't much fire in her. Morgan found that even in her deepest emotions, they were still terribly shallow.
Morgan cast a glance at her hair. "It's already perfectly straightened," she noted.
Greer scoffed, as if mocking her ignorance. "No, there are hairs out of line, and they need to be placed in line. I can't go out looking like an unkept girl."
"Nothing about you is unkept," Morgan blinked slowly.
Straightening herself out and standing taller, the Ainsley girl rolled her eyes. "Says you, but you haven't been trained to spot imperfections. I have and so anyone else with any class."
