For once, everything was chill in Jacob-land. The sun was shining, the birds were singing, and classes were done for the day. He strolled through campus, seeking out parts he hadn't been to before. Amazing how much time an afternoon and evening held when you didn't have training for a tournament weighing on your mind.

He'd given a lot of unnecessary thought to the match and what Victor had said to him afterwards. At first he'd been pissed, but the more he thought about it, the more he realized that Victor was right about learning hand-to-hand combat.

The good news was that he didn't have to worry about it now. Yesterday he'd still been upset at the loss, but today he felt a little better about it. He'd gotten pretty far. Everyone else seemed pretty impressed with him, why shouldn't he feel the same way himself?

His phone buzzed.

He frowned and checked it. It was Grace. She'd texted him directly, which was odd:

Where are you right now?

Jacob searched the trees around him, wondering if Grace was playing a prank on him for some reason, but there was no one else here.

Out in the woodsy area by the type buildings why?

She texted back:

Meet me in the Decomp lobby in 10min! Or else it will be bad for you!

Jacob frowned, read the message twice, and shook his head.

What?

What the hell could Grace mean? And just when his afternoon was going so well. He swore, if this was some goofy prank or something...

He sighed, walked around a bit more even though he couldn't focus on his surroundings anymore, then made his way to the Decomp building. He was a little early, so he threw himself down in one of the violet sofa seats in the lobby to wait. He wished they had a memograph on the walls in here so he could distract himself.

An older student walked by, absorbed in a textbook, a glowing orb bobbing along above them. It was fairly common to see students walking around with those orbs, supposedly to ward off the vampire. Some of them had even tried to mimic sunlight with the spell, though how effective they had been no one would ever know because there wasn't any vampire on campus.

Jacob still wondered if he shouldn't have gone to the faculty with the info, despite the risks.

Grace entered the building, saw him, and strode straight over to him.

"What's up?" Jacob asked.

Instead of sitting down, she stood over him with her arms folded.

"Why haven't you asked Camilla to the gala yet?"

Jacob blinked, then let out a little laugh. Oh, it was just this? Christ, and he'd been nervous it would be something serious.

"What's funny? Answer the question," Grace said.

Grace was being forceful, which was out-of-character for her, and to be honest was kind of funny in and of itself.

Jacob shrugged. "I don't know. Why do you care?"

"What do you mean, you don't know?" Grace narrowed her eyes.

"I guess like, up until Saturday evening I wasn't even thinking about the gala. And I didn't want to bother Camilla either, since she's focused on the tournament too."

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He'd expected Grace to roll her eyes, or berate him for being a stupid boy, but his answer somehow seemed to satisfy her.

Grace plopped herself down on the sofa seat across from Jacob. She had a smug, nearly evil look on her face.

"Hmph. Blake is going to ask me to the gala in about thirty minutes. If you don't go and ask Camilla to the gala right now I will turn him down."

Jacob sat up as if he'd been shocked. "What? Did he tell you he was?"

"No."

"Then how do you know?"

"I just know. It's pretty obvious," Grace said.

Jacob didn't think she was lying. Blake had talked about going to the gala with Grace for a week now. He'd been nervous he wouldn't look good enough, that Grace would want to go with a rich boy with status, like Archie.

"So, you better get moving," Grace prompted.

Jacob groaned. Just when he was having a good time, too. He imagined himself going up and asking Camilla to the gala. What if there were other people watching? What if he goofed? Christ, so embarrassing!

"Don't you want to?" Grace asked, eyeing him like he was an odd-looking fish.

Jacob threw his hands up. Admitting it was so embarrassing. "Well, yeah!"

"Then just like, go do it," Grace said. "Or else!"

"You're bluffing," Jacob said, grasping for straws.

Grace lifted up her hand and examined her pink painted nails. "Try me."

Jacob ground his teeth. Blake would be utterly distraught, and it would be his fault.

"But if I do it, you'll say yes to Blake?" Jacob asked.

Grace nodded. "And you have to return and tell me you did it within the next half hour, so I'd get moving if I were you."

"Do you know where she is?" He asked.

"In the lounge on our dorm floor."

Jacob got up and left the building. He glanced back at Grace through the glass and ran a hand through his hair. Goddamnit. Goddamn girls and their stupid shenanigans! What was Grace's game here? Some elaborate prank? Was she trying to get under his skin? Maybe she was salty with him because he'd done better in the tournament than her. This was going to be so embarrassing! Camilla would probably turn him down and go with Archie.

Jacob crossed the campus to Schumann Hall. He stopped outside. Grace hadn't even left him enough time to plan this out! What was he going to do? He marched quickly across to a small urban garden along the inner crook of the dorm and plucked a crimson flower from the flowerbed. He didn't know what kind it was. He really needed to brush up on his plant ecology, but animals were just so much more interesting.

He hid the flower as well as he could, and entered Schumann Hall. Grace and Camilla's dorm was on the second floor, so he went up the stairs and walked down the long hallway to the lounge. This was so stupid. What was he even doing?

He took a deep breath. Okay, this wasn't so bad, was it? He'd fought the rogue mage, he'd run from that chimera, he'd survived the magical world by himself. This was nothing compared to that. Yeah, if he could do all of that, he could do this. It wasn't like he was in danger.

No! No, this was completely different! Asking a girl to a gala was completely different. He was in danger. Danger of embarrassment. Of eternal shame and humiliation!

Blake's voice echoed in his head: Don't think, just do.

That was his line! Why hadn't he thought of it earlier?

Jacob took another deep breath, tried to just stop thinking, and marched into the lounge.

Camilla sat by herself, her head on her hands, reading a book that lay open on the table in front of her. She looked down and out for some reason. Jacob quickly hid the crimson flower behind his back and stood there, following her eyes as they scanned the pages of the book.

Camilla noticed him and perked up. "Jacob?"

Don't think, just do.

"Um, hi, Camilla," Jacob said. He shifted on his feet, then forced himself to make eye contact with her. "I was wondering: would you go to the gala with me?" There. It was out. He'd said it. Woo... Thank Christ. He held out the flower.

Light entered Camilla's face. She smiled, as bright and warm as the sun.

"Yes." She took the flower from him and smelled it.

Jacob's eyes widened, but even he knew better than to show surprise. "Okay, great."

She looked so happy it was hard to think of anything else to say. They looked at each other for a little while then both got embarrassed and looked away.

"Um, I can get you at your dorm and walk you over," Jacob said, filling the silence.

Camilla stood up suddenly. She waved a dismissive hand. "Yes, yes. We can figure out the details later. I need to start preparing."

"But it's not until Thursday night?" Jacob said.

Camilla gathered up her books. "No, it's already so close. Walk me to my dorm."

He did. They walked in a comfortable silence.

She entered her dorm, then turned and looked at him. "And you're not allowed to be weird about this in class or around the others tomorrow or Wednesday, alright?"

"What about Thursday?"

"Don't get smart," Camilla tsked. "I will let you know what we are wearing as soon as I can. Cya."

"Cya..." Jacob said. She closed the door.

What 'we' are wearing? She must have misspoken.

But more importantly: She said yes. Jacob was too bewildered to react. She'd actually said yes.

He checked his phone. Christ, that had taken almost twenty-five minutes! He turned and ran out of Schumann Hall, across the commons, and to the Decomp Building.

Grace sat on her phone in the lobby.

"I did it," Jacob said, skidding to a halt in front of her.

"I know," Grace said.

"Oh."

Grace grinned and stood. "Thank you, Jacob. I have to go see Blake now."

Jacob watched her leave.

No, he thought, thank you, Grace.

He stepped out into the cool evening air and looked up at the mirage sky above him. A tumult of elated emotions whirled through him. He grinned.

She'd said yes.