I mean, I can see why your professor wouldnt want you to write a Simon Snow storythe class isnt called Fan fiction-Writingbut I wouldnt call it plagiarism. Is it illegal?
No. As long as you dont try to sell it. GTL says she loves fanfictionI mean, she loves the idea of it. She doesnt actually read it.
Is your professor reporting you?
What do you mean?
Is she reporting you to the Judicial Board?
She didnt even mention that.
She would have mentioned it, he said. So okay. He waved his fork in a straight line between them, holding it like a pencil. This isnt a big deal. You just dont turn in any more fanfiction.
It still felt like a big deal. Caths stomach still hurt.
She just she made me feel so stupid and deviant.
Levi laughed again. Do you really expect an elderly English professor to be down with gay Simon Snow fanfiction?
She didnt even mention the gay thing, Cath said.
Deviant. He raised an eyebrow. Levis eyebrows were much darker than his hair. Too dark, really. And arched. Like hed drawn them on.
Cath felt herself smile, even though she was trying to hold her lips and face still. She shook her head, then looked down at her food and took a big bite.
Levi scraped more eggs and hash onto her plate.
Sneaking around the castle, staying out all night, coming home in the morning with leaves in his hair
Baz was up to something; Simon was sure of it. But he needed proofPenelope and Agatha werent taking his suspicions seriously.
Hes plotting, Simon would say.
Hes always plotting, Penelope would answer.
Hes looming, Simon would say.
Hes always looming, Agatha would answer. He is quite tall.
No taller than me.
Mmm a bit.
It wasnt just the plotting and the looming; Baz was up to something. Something beyond his chronic gittishness. His pearl grey eyes were bloodshot and shadowed; his black hair had lost its luster. Usually cold and intimidating, lately Baz seemed chilled and cornered.
Simon had followed him around the catacombs last night for three hours, and still didnt have a clue.
from chapter 3, Simon Snow and the Five Blades, copyright © 2008 by Gemma T. Leslie
TWELVE
It was too cold to wait outside before Fiction-Writing, so Cath found a bench inside Andrews Hall and sat with one leg tucked beneath her, leaning back against the cream-colored wall.
She took out her phone and opened a fic shed been reading. (She was too nervous to study.) Cath never read other peoples Simon/Baz anymoreshe didnt want to unconsciously mimic another author or steal someones ideasso when she did read fic, it was always about Penelope. Sometimes Penelope/Agatha. Sometimes Penelope/Micah (the American exchange student who only appeared in Book Three). Sometimes just Penelope, all on her own, having adventures.
It felt like an act of open rebellion to be reading fanfiction while she sat in the English building, waiting to see Professor Piper for the first time since their talk. Cath had actually considered skipping class today, but she figured that would just make it even more painful to face Professor Piper the next time. Its not like Cath could skip class for the rest of the semesterbetter to just get it over with.
Cathd already faced Wren, and that hadnt gone nearly so badly as shed expected. Theyd eaten lunch together twice this week, and neither of them had brought up the scene at Muggsys. Maybe Wren had been too drunk to remember the details.
Courtney didnt seem to get that they were avoiding the subject. (That girl had the subtlety of a Spencers Gifts shop.)
Hey, Cath, Courtney said at lunch, who was that cute blond boy you were with Friday night? Was that your hot librarian?
No, Cath said. Thats just Levi.
Her roommates boyfriend, Wren said, stirring her vegetable soup. Wren seemed tired; she wasnt wearing mascara, and her eyelashes looked pale and stubby.
Oh. Courtney stuck out her bottom lip. Too bad. He was super cute. Farm boy.
How could you tell hes
a farm boy? Cath asked.
Carhartt, they both said at once.
What?
His coat, Wren explained. All the farm boys wear Carhartt.
Trust your sister on this. Courtney giggled. She knows all the farm boys.
Hes not my hot librarian, Cath had said.
No one is my hot librarian, she thought now, losing her place in the fic she was reading. No one is my hot anything.
And besides, Cath still wasnt sure whether Nick was actually hot or whether he just projected hotness. Specifically in her direction.
Someone sat down next to her on the bench, and Cath glanced up from her phone. Nick tilted his chin up in greeting.
Think of the devil, she said, then wished she hadnt.
You thinking about me?
I was thinking of the devil, Cath said stupidly.
Idle brains, Nick said, grinning. He was wearing a thick, navy blue turtleneck sweater that made him look like he was serving on a Soviet battleship. Like, even more so than usual. So, what did Piper want to talk to you about last week?
Nothing much. Caths stomach was such a mess today, she hardly felt it wrench.