The Luna Choosing Game

Chapter 0421

I was tired from a long day of acting and handling drama. So when I finally made my way back to my room, my feet were slow, my pace sluggish. I didn’t reach the hallway where the candidates‘ rooms were until well after the others had already gone.

Maybe this was why I found Mark standing alone outside of Susie’s door. The sight of his face gave me pause. He looked absolutely devastated. When my feet started working again, and I came closer, he noticed and immediately straightened.

He didn’t have to. We knew each other well enough that I considered us friends by now. Though I was certainly closer with Susic, Mark constantly put himself in danger for me and Elva. He’d well–carned my friendship.

So I stopped before I could pass him, and I asked him flat–out, “Are you okay?”

The hard edge he was trying so hard to keep in his face faded away, and sadness and worry contorted his features once more.

“Susie won’t see me,” he said. “I don’t know why. If I did something, she isn’t telling me.

I didn’t know what to tell him. I didn’t want to break Susie’s confidence, and I knew she hadn’t decided what to tell Mark. That she was sending him away without seeing him was a bad sign.

Mark could have broken down the door. That he wasn’t spoke to how much of a gentleman he was. He wanted to respect Susie, always.

I wished I had been more insistent that Mark was someone she could trust.

Then again, I knew how scary it was to be facing the world with a baby. You couldn’t think about just yourself anymore. And those tough decisions, the ones about keeping people close, were much harder to make.

I suspected Susie’s love of Mark was what really wanted her to keep him at a distance. A baby out of wedlock could ruin both their lives.

“I haven’t seen her since she fainted,” Mark said. His gaze dropped down to the ground. “I don’t know what to do, Piper.”

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“Just give her some time,” I said. “I’m sure she will be willing to talk to you soon. “Soon? But why not now? No one will tell me anything!” Mark pushed a hand through his hair. I’d never seen him like this before, so discombobulated. It was a little endearing. Was

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the side of him that he showed only to Susie? Only forSusie?

his inside jacket pocket and produced a letter. He held it out for

“If you get in there. If you talk to her. Please…

his hands, then moved for him to step aside. Once he did, I took his place at the door.

wait here, okay?” I asked.

I knocked

away!” Susie shouted. Her voice was hoarse, like she had been crying. She’d

I called

voice came through

the door and stepped through it. I closed it behind

when she had been lying in bed. There are red rings under her eyes and her face is splotchy.

voice, the evidence is clear in her features. As well as the downward curve of her shoulders. She was slouched in her seat,

sat beside her at the only other seat at

worried about

drained,” she said. “But it’s probably from the

from the box on the table. Beneath her feet, a sea of used, crumpled–up tissues littered

the table, then slid it across to

once, sourly, when she saw it. She continued sliding

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my door every hour on the hour,” she said. Her voice cracked, emphasizing

speak to him,” I said, trying once more to convince her. “Mark is a good man. He won’t disappoint you.”

how can I derail his life by telling him the truth? Shouldn’t I just leave him, leave everything, and go back home?

in private?”

always expected, but they are a blessing,”

ruin his life, Piper.”