A P

ly you need it explained directly. You are no one here. You have no name, no connections, nothing. And I will make sure that every door on that campus feels that way for you." I looked at her for a moment. "Are you done?" I said. Her jaw tightened. "Celeste." Alexei's voice came from behind her, low and even, and she turned immediately, her whole posture shifting the second she looked at him. "Let's go." "She..." "I know," he said, "let's go." I thought that was it. I was already turning back to the rail, done with all of it, ready to find Hanna's top and get out. Then he looked at me. "For what it's worth," he said, and his tone was different from Celeste's, not cruel, just flat and certain, "she's right that you don't understand how things work here. It would be worth your time to figure that out." I stared at him. "I'm sorry," I said, "are you standing here giving me advice right now?" "I'm stating a fact." "The fact being that I should understand my place." "The fact is that this environment has a structure, and ignoring it doesn't make it disappear." "That's a very elegant way of telling me to know my place," I said, "I almost missed it." "That's not what I said." "It's exactly what you said; you just used more words," I shifted my bag on my shoulder, "and honestly, I expected better from someone who's supposed to be so intelligent; that was a very basic thing to say." Something moved in his eyes, quick, the same flicker I'd seen before. "You're making things harder for yourself," he said. "I'm shopping," I said. "You're the ones who made it complicated." "Alexei," Celeste touched his arm, her voice back to that careful sweetness she used around him, "she's not worth this; let's just go." I want to look at the place down the road." He held my gaze for one more second. Then he turned and walked out, Celeste tucked against his side, her girls following immediately, Lena glancing back at me once with an expression I couldn't fully read. The store exhaled. The owner behind the counter went back to her scarves without a word. Hanna grabbed my arm with both hands the second they were through the door. "Okay, we are leav