Fall in love in a weekwe get by

“Out of female stupidity, why else?” I wanted to answer with sarcasm, but it turned out with bitterness. – No sane person would seriously hope that in a week you can fall in love yourself and evoke some feelings in another. Moreover, if this other person does not know how to fall in love in principle. But I couldn't help but try. – I wrapped my arms around myself. How cold it is. And disgusting. Why didn’t it even occur to me that sooner or later Norwood would find out the truth, and the later, the more difficult it would be to explain his silence? Well, really… just yesterday I was thinking about dreams that I would like to have time to fulfill… and that he probably has them too. “Sorry,” she said quietly. – I was scared. It was “Russian roulette”, is there such a thing in your world? Either – or, it could work, or it could ruin everything. Charlotte explained it this way: if I tell you the truth, it will either turn into a win-win chance or death for both, it is impossible to predict. I couldn’t… I didn’t have the strength to make such a decision. Moreover… even if you were not such a cracker, I think no man would fall in love on pain of death. It's humiliating. ? I still wanted… for us to succeed. I'm really sorry…

Just don't cry. Not after his contemptuous “crying in the corners”…

– I generally doubt that the fear of death can awaken at least some feelings other than, in fact, the fear of death. At least for women, at least for men. And judging by your mood, he didn’t awaken anything else in you. – Norwood fell silent, as if he was waiting for some kind of reaction from me. Objections, perhaps? It was a question? I thought about it. There must be something other than… even if I was forced to pay attention to Dougal… try to fall in love with him… in the same way, on pain of death, as I considered humiliating for him? But… No. At some point it stopped mattering. I myself don’t know when exactly, and even more so why, but… Without waiting for my answer, Norwood spoke, and the thought that was just born slipped away.

“I’m also sorry that you didn’t tell me right away.” Moreover, the bad ending is the same with or without roulette. But the extra irritant in the form of Miss Blair and her oddities could have painlessly eliminated itself.

– And another one, in the form of an Academy? By the way, I never found out if I could just give up everything… stupid, right?

– No, it’s logical. You decided to fight for life.

– I'm offended. – The word came out on its own, I was even surprised. Here it is! The very thing that I could not understand, that same escaped thought. If it weren’t for this breakdown and the next attack of mutual frankness that naturally follows from it… I didn’t even know what could happen – not understanding what exactly you feel until this feeling comes out with a random word. – You said – only fear of death. It's hard to believe, but the resentment is stronger. Why? As soon as you meet a man you really like, some kind of global ass inevitably happens. Now it’s completely fatal.

“I hope, Miss Sullivan,” Norwood said after a pause, “that this is not about me.” Otherwise, perhaps, I will really decide that there is something seriously wrong with you.

– Why? – Is he kidding me, or what?!

“Because a reasonable woman with self-respect cannot like a man who treats her the way I treat Miss Blair.”

I shook my head.

– But I’m not her! And my opinion about her largely coincides with yours. I didn't take your attitude personally. Probably… until yesterday, yes.

– Yesterday you were no longer Miss Blair. And no matter what thoughts I had about you, I didn’t plan to make you cry. I still don’t understand what happened. Although, as I already said, yesterday you spent the whole day teetering somewhere on the edge.

– It's probably because of the dream. At first. – I remembered my own portrait in blue tones, and again I felt uneasy – to the point of chills. – And then… haven’t you noticed that yesterday I was haunted by minor but annoying troubles all day? In the end, they’re not even small.

– A flying umbrella, a treacherous puddle, a murderous Volger, an impressive fall in a buffet. Anything else I haven't seen?

– And all my coffee ended up on you. At least I didn't scald it.

– Consequences of a fall. This could easily be considered a nuisance.

– But big. ? then Applestone started hitting on me, and you decided that I was flirting with him. And this was the last straw.

– That is, you, with a heartbreaking look and in a deranged state, rushed to portal from where it was basically impossible, risking being smeared in a thin layer over the protective dome of the Academy – because… you decided that I decided. Amazing. Let's return to the issue of erroneous conclusions that can have lethal consequences.

His voice mixed with sincere surprise and malice, but that wasn’t what shocked me. It shocked me so much that I even turned back to Norwood and looked him in the face. Not kidding. Extremely serious… it seems.