Zach put his hastily folded laundry away, and sat to try to tune into where Maddy might be. Something inner conviction told him that he needed to not be alone in this strangeness, and she was his best bet. He needed a female perspective.
It certainly couldn't be his roommate: Jacob was at his desk tapping despondently at his laptop.
Zach had to ask.
"What wrong, Jacob?"
"This assignment is fucking killing me."
Zach didn't need any mind games to know it was more than that. Jacob wasn't the kind of guy to care overly much about his assignments.
"Is that all?" Zach asked.
"Aw, dude, I dunno. I guess I got pretty drunk last night. I didn't think it was so bad, but I think I kind of blacked out maybe. I've never done that. And now Ava isn't talking to me. She just says she needs time to think."
"Oh, shit man. Sorry to hear it." Pangs of guilt sharpened their knives in the remorse centers of his brain.
"Yeah, she tells me I didn't do anything bad, but won't say anything more."
"Well," Zach said: "You know chicks a hell of a lot better than I do. What do
you
think is going on?"
Jacob shrugged. "I guess I made an ass of myself somehow. Maybe I hit on someone else? Maybe I was just an asshole?"
"I seriously doubt that, Jacob. You know you have the best thing going with Ava, you wouldn't do that. Maybe it's just a hangover."
Jacob nodded slowly. "Well, that's certainly true for me. I vaguely remember bringing her back here last night. Do you remember that at all?"
Carefully, Zach said: "Maybe? I fell asleep pretty early last night. I remember you coming in, but I didn't wake up enough to see if you had company. But listen, Jacob--you're the expert here. Don't let me down! What should you do to make things right with her?"
"That's the thing. If she was having her own thing, I'd want to get right in there, talk it out. But if she's actually mad at me, I'd want to give her space, let things cool off a little bit, then lay all the apologies on her, like tomorrow."
"Well, since you don't remember doing anything wrong, maybe lay all the apologies on her today and get right in there?"
"Maybe," Jacob said. Zach realized it had been a mistake to offer advice. Jacob was unlikely to think any advice coming from Zach was likely to be good!
"Well, hope you two work it out," Zach said. "I'm out for the afternoon."
* * *
What had the dream said? "She's one of mine." Zach wondered if he should be seeking out Ava instead of Maddy.
But he didn't know Ava, and he definitely didn't want to get complicated with Jacob. Something still led him to Maddy. Maddy who was in the library, where he should be. The weekend was well in the process of getting away from him. He was going to need to buckle down, but first lunch. There was only half an hour before the meal hall closed, but he could tell Maddy hadn't eaten, and neither had he. The late-meal dregs were not usually a good choice, but...
Zach saw Maddy's hunger and he just flared it a little.
Just as Maddy walked into the meal hall, Zach sat down with his tuna salad sandwich, bag of chips, and plastic glass of mixed sodas. Tweaking her attention a little, he waved to her.
"Listen, Maddy," he said as she joined him. "We need to talk."
"You look like you got some clarity."
"Remember I told you about the hypnosis thing?" She nodded.
Piece by piece, Zach laid out everything that happened. Everything he could remember Enkins saying. He didn't dwell on the details of the sunbathing girls or Diana in the laundry room, just enough to let her know that something was seriously up. He did
not
tell her anything about Ava. There was something else going on there, and it felt like a live wire. He refrained from tuning into her reactions.
The meal hall was a calculated risk. She could flip the table, throw things at him, but he didn't think she would.
Instead, her reaction was pure curiosity. She wanted to know more. She asked probing questions, going after details.
And finally, the serious question:
"Have you been doing this to me?"
Zach opened himself in every way he knew how. "I didn't do anything to you, Maddy. Nothing. But I 'read' you. That's how I knew you were interested in me."
"You absolute idiot," she said, but he knew her anger was not real. "How could you