From the transcript of the interrogation of Florian Quinn by the Academy Prime: “Yes, I went out on that town weekend, but I didn’t meet up with anyone but Lane, sir.”

  Florian bought the gift and paid an extra coin to utilize the shop’s Ye Evergreen delivery service so that he didn’t have to handle the actual giving of the gift to her, it would show up in her dorm on the day as part of a partnership the school had with the shop.

  “Anik, thank you,” Florian said, meaning every word. “I’m not sure I could have done this without you.”

  Anik rolled her eyes and adjusted her black with white toque while they got settled outside. She played with a lock of platinum blonde hair while they walked and talked. “Duh, there is no way you could have done that without me.”

  “There’s that modesty again,” Florian teased, checking his timepiece. “I’ve got to go find Lane, he should have been here a few hours ago.”

  “Yeah, I should probably go meet Ines and Ursula.”

  “At the coffee shop?”

  “Yeah, they’ve got to be done by now.”

  “I’ll walk with you,” Florian said. “Maybe Lane took Talia down there. They’re more likely to, I dunno, go skinny dipping than have a cutesy little time at a coffee shop but anything’s possible.”

  “Wait, seriously?”

  “Yeah, it’s like two Lane’s. Or two Talia’s. It’s eerie how similar they are and they ramp each other up sometimes, it’s funny to watch.”

  They snaked through downtown until they got to the coffee shop. With all the talk of it being romantic, he expected it to be wall to wall covered in frilly pink lace, heart cutouts on the walls and smiling women giggling at every table talking about … whatever girls talked about. Boys, probably. He saw no meaningful difference from this shop and the shops he’d frequent back in Loville around Ye Evergreen, the servers even wore the red hats customary for the holiday.

  When Anik saw the curly haired Ines and the curvy Ursula still with their dates she clenched her jaw. “Being a third wheel is terrible.”

  “I think in this case you’d be a fifth wheel.”

  “Oh, very funny,” Anik pouted, turning to Florian. “Come, buy me a coffee. It’s the least you can do.”

  Florian hemmed. “Ah, I’m not so sure that’s a good idea. Madeline, remember?”

  “I’m not asking for you to take me to the bathroom and bang me, Florian Quinn, oh my god. Friends can kill time at a coffee shop, especially after the cute, appropriately dressed, funny, modest friend spent all that time helping the other friend buy a Ye Evergreen gift for another girl!”

  “Okay, okay, I surrender, sorry, jeeze,” Florian held his hands up. “What do you want?”

  “Latte, extra foam,” Anik chittered happily. “I’ll grab us a table by the window.”

  As Florian waited in line to order, he tried to see if he knew any of the students there. He saw students from every affinity and every year at the tables, most of whom were coupled up and had six small cups in front of them, three in front of one and three in front of the other. Florian figured that was the romance flight, given the hearts on the sides of the white cups.

  Without realizing, Florian checked for Madeline among the couples then breathed a silent sigh of relief when he didn’t see her among the crowd. He made it to the register and a thin man with an odd combover and thick mustache greeted him.

  “Two of the Ye Evergreen Love and Coffee Flights, sir? Your date is very beautiful, sir, a starburst on a rainy day, sir,” the man said mechanically, like he’d said the same thing a dozen times in the last hour.

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  “She’s not-,” Florian stopped himself. “It doesn’t matter. I’ll have a latte and two shots of espresso.”

  “Very good, sir.”

  “Oh, uh, can I get extra foam on the latte please?”

  “Of course, sir.”

  Florian paid and moved down the counter, looking toward the window where Anik saw his glance and brightened into an enormous smile like they hadn't just spent most of the day together and waved. He waved back, feeling the fool.

  She was beautiful, Florian couldn’t deny the simple facts his eyes told him as much as he might have liked. Her beauty radiated in a different way from standard, the type that collected all other eyes in the room. Heck, Florian figured Anik would be the most beautiful woman in most rooms she entered, not just this one - not that he’d call anyone else ugly exactly, it was just that Anik dimmed everyone around her.

  The latte and espresso shots were made piping hot in clean glasses - a little doodle of an evergreen tree fashioned into the foam of the latte - and Florian carried them back to the table with some difficulty, the second espresso shot nearly slipping from his hands before he slid it onto the table.

  From the table by the window, Florian could see the passersby outside, many holding packages from their Ye Evergreen shopping. He downed the first shot of espresso, smiling stupidly at Anik who pointed out the evergreen pattern in her mug and giggled. “I can’t believe they know how to do things like this now, it’s pretty cool!”

  They made small talk, Anik telling Florian about the coffee shop she frequented back home in Bladescar, making a repeated point to mention the boys she’d go with and how rich and handsome they were. Florian tried to be polite, asking questions about the friends she’d bring but that brought about a completely unforeseen change in Anik’s mood with her snipping one word answers any time he showed an interest in their hobbies.

  She gave him a positively icy stare when he complimented an old date’s taste in music, agreeing heartily that string and percussion instruments were used best in conjunction with a singer, he even went so far to say that he’d like to meet the guy one day which - somehow - turned the icy stare glacial. For the life of him, he couldn’t fathom what he’d done wrong in that instance.

  Unaware of how he could thaw her turned mood, the relief he felt when Lane staggered through the shop’s entrance ripped through his body.

  “Lane!” he called, waving his friend over. “Over here!”

  “Huh?” Lane grumbled, subconsciously grabbing his neck at the scars - a gesture he made only when something had him bothered - then noticing Florian and Anik he came over, pulling an empty chair from the table over without asking the couple sitting down. “Hey, man, hey Anik,” Lane said, too distracted to even look down at Anik’s cleavage.

  “You good, brother?” Florian asked.

  “Huh? Yeah, yeah, I just had myself a morning. Sorry I’m late, that was a dick move but I’m here now and we can spend the rest of the day finding something perfect for your lady.”

  “No need,” Anik interjected. “I helped.”

  Lane didn’t react. “Good, good, probably better that way anyway, I have no doubt you gave him better advice than I ever could have,” he mumbled.

  “Let me buy you an espresso,” Florian said.

  “Yeah, that’ll pick me up, good thinking.”

  Florian rose to get back in line but Lane grabbed his forearm gently. “I got it. You guys want anything?”

  They declined and Florian watched as Lane approached the counter.

  “Is he okay?” Anik asked.

  “I think so,” Florian shrugged. “Sometimes guys just get lost in thought. It’s usually about a girl, oh I hope that doesn’t mean he and Talia had a fight, I don’t think they’ve ever had one before and I’m imagining with their personalities it might get out of hand quick.”

  Anik made a show of rolling her eyes. “Usually about a girl, huh. Uh huh.”

  Lane returned with a large cup of what looked like plain black coffee and sat down more alertly than he left, a mischievous smile even touching his lips. “So, Florian and Anik in the coffee shop, huh? Better not let Madeline see you.”

  Anik visibly fought the urge to roll her eyes again. “Don’t go starting rumours Lane, I know where you sleep,” she threatened.

  A scandalized Lane responded, “I would never do such things,” he said in a tone of mock outrage. Then, shifting gears, he turned to Florian. “I told Talia we’d meet them for dinner. Figured you’d be cool with that.”

  Guess that meant no fight.

  Florian nodded. “Sure. Anik, want to come?” he turned to Lane. “It’s a friendly thing, right?”

  He shrugged. “Can’t see why not.”

  “And be a fifth wheel?” Anik asked. “I’d rather go out on a date with him,” she said, tilting her head toward Lane who laughed appreciatively at her joke.

  “Hey, I’d treat you nice,” Lane shot back. “I’d even let you pay for everything!” he turned to Florian. “You know, equality.”

  Shaking his head, Florian couldn’t stop the smirk from entering his face. “It’s okay, Anik. You don’t have to come but you were a total life-saver today.”

  “I know,” Anik chirped happily, looking softly into Florian’s eyes and then noticed Ines and Ursula were finishing up. “See you in the common room later? I’ll tell you all about the rest of my day and you can tell me how dinner went.”

  Once Anik left and met up with her friends, Lane turned to Florian and issued a whispered warning. “I know that look, buddy, you need to be careful with that one.”