Chapter 7: Chapter 7

Carden

“Care to explain what that was all about?” I glance at my mirror image or rather twin brother. We’d be mirror imaged if I cut and styled my hair like he does; short, sort of spikey on top and buzzed close against his head from the top of his ears down around to the nape of his neck. But I like my hair to be a bit longer and have never liked how a buzz cut feels.

Braeden shrugs his shoulders at me before running a hand against the buzzed section of his head. “Not sure what you mean dude.” His golden eyes seem hooded as though he’s trying to keep something from me.

Rolling my eyes I say, “seriously? You were being such a dick to that girl. And I’d just like to know why. We barely know her. She hasn’t done anything to you to deserve that kind of treatment. Dad would be pissed if he found out you were treating his dead best friend’s daughter like that.” He glares at me, and I can see the thoughts rolling around in that block head of his. “And don’t try to lie to me either. You know you can’t.” Neither of us is able to successfully lie to the other but I feel the need to remind him of this fact as his facial features become that of stone.

He sighs and runs a hand over his face. “I honestly have no idea why I was being such a dick to her dude. Remember when we said goodbye to her at the restaurant last month?” Braeden’s eyes are focused on me, studying me. I nod my head that I remembered, and he continues. “Well, when we shook hands goodbye, the strangest sensation came over me. It was a tingling but electric spark jolting through me at the same time. And now, now I can’t get the damned girl out of my head. She’s the first thought that pops into my head upon waking and her eyes are the last image flashing through my mind as I fall asleep. It’s been a month and a half now and it’s driving me crazy!” He huffs a frustrated sigh, “I don’t need that kind of distraction in my life right now, man.”

My jaw goes slack at his proclamation. It just occurred to me that we never talked about our Blaise encounter, and it surprises me because we talk about everything, especially about such oddities as his experience with the girl. “Fuck,” I don’t mean to say the word out loud but... “what’s really crazy is I had the exact same experience when I shook her hand bro.”

Braeden turns wide surprised eyes to me. “How is that possible? Correct me if I’m wrong but what we experienced, isn’t that how Sups describe fated bonds?” A chill runs through my body at him saying this because as soon as I had made contact with Blaise’s skin that word Fatedhad popped into my head in big bold lettering.

It was my turn to shrug my shoulders because I don’t have an answer.

∞

Blaise

“Good morning sunshine,” Clover sings as she comes strolling out of our bathroom. She had just dropped her hands from wrapping her dark curly ringlets into a messy bun and is smiling from ear to ear.

“Ugh,” I try not to whine. “Don’t tell me you’re one of those obnoxiously cheery morning beings...” my voice tapers off as her smile falters and begins to slip from her lips. “Oh no,” I say suddenly saddened by the loss of her smile. “I was just teasing you. I love morning people. Those types of people inspire me to get my butt out of bed in the morning. My grandma is one.”

Her smile returns even brighter than seconds before and I sigh in relief. Slipping on a pair of sneakers she looks at me expectantly. Arching an eyebrow, I question her silently. “Get your ass dressed so we can grab some breakfast before class.” The thought of food has me jumping out of bed. Looking over my shoulder I see that Clover has chosen a yellow sun dress for our first day of classes.

Snagging my phone up from my nightstand, I glance at the screen to see what the temperature will be for the day before I try to figure out what I’m going to wear. A high of 85. I groan internally because like I said before, I don’t like to be sticky hot, but I try to twist it into a positive thought by silently telling myself at least it’s not a sweltering 100 degrees.

With that mantra running through my head, I step into the shared closet and grab a black pleated skirt and a pink camisole. Since my breasts are not large and I’ve been told quite perky, I opt not to wear a bra because the less clothing I have to wear the less likely I will find myself sweating.

I brush my teeth and then run a brush through my hair. After slipping on my clothes, I take my own wild red curls and pull them up into a high ponytail. Walking back into our bedroom/lounge area, I tell Clover I’m ready to go just as I grab my phone and key card. Oh! I forgot to mention the best part of my skirt, it comes equipped with pockets. I stuff my phone into the right one and my key card into the left pocket.

Standing from where she had been sitting on her bed, Clover opened the door, and we stepped out into the hallway. The flip-flops I have chosen to wear for the day are solid black with a chunky heel and the straps have fake diamond studs bejeweled on them. As soon as we step out into the morning sun the gems shimmer and sparkle and the Rihanna song Bright Like a Diamond begins to play in my head.

At a leisurely pace we make our way across the campus to the cafeteria. I gaze at the landscape as we walk and notice for the first time off to the left of the building a massive red maple tree. Precariously positioned in the grass around the tree are picnic tables and I decide that I want to enjoy my breakfast outside. Taking my plate of scrambled eggs, bacon and a pancake, I place it on a tray and as before, stride over to the cashier and pay. “Hey Clover, how about we go outside and have our breakfast? I want to enjoy the morning air before it gets wicked hot.”

“Yeah, that sounds like a great idea.” Clover chimes in. “I could always work on my tan.” She laughs at her joke knowing full well her mocha-colored skin is absolutely perfect, and I roll my eyes but give her a wide grin.

“Ha, ha. You’re such a dork!” We giggle as we push through the doors and make our way down the steps. “What ya think about that table there.” I incline my head towards a table that sits directly under swaying branches of the red maple, and she nods agreeably.

A few bites into our meal I glance up at Clover. “Hey Clove, can I ask you a question?” Munching on some grapes she simply nods her head. “Okay, well, don’t laugh. I’m sure it’s a dumb question; a question and I should probably already know the answer but aren’t vampires’ night creatures? I thought they couldn’t be out in the sunlight, or they would perish?”

Clover snorts but at least it wasn’t full on laughter. Swallowing the grapes she had been chewing she simply says, “for someone who doesn’t know a lot about our world, that is definitely not a dumb question especially growing up in the human world and being exposed to their myths and legends. But to answer your question, no, sunlight can’t kill them. It dulls their senses and makes them weaker but still, the weakest vampire is probably ten times stronger than the strongest human.”

“Alright so one myth debunked. What about werewolves? Are they possessed by the moon? And what about other shifters? Does the moon have an effect on them too?” What I really wanted to ask her was what kind of shifter she was, but I felt like that question was a little too intimate to ask.

“Hmm, well I mean, it isn’t quite a yes or no answer. First, werewolves are a myth. But there are wolf shifters...” she must notice the confusion in my eyes because she changes her approach to answering. “Nature has an effect on all animals and the moon does affect many creatures but none of us are forced to shift because of a full moon like legends lead humans to believe.” Clover popped another grape into her mouth but before she could finish swallowing it, a chime pinged on her watch. “Crap! Don’t know about you but my first class starts in five minutes.” We both hop up from the table quickly dispersing of our trash before looking at each other.

“I’ve got the Study of Humans first hour. What about you?” I ask as we begin to swiftly walk across the green grass.

“Dang it. I’ve got Magical History. Want to meet up for lunch? Unless of course your following class is Myths, Legends and Discerning the Base Truth?”

Shaking my head, no, I say, “lunch it is,” just as we walk into the academia building. “I’m on the second floor. See you later!” We part ways and I dash up the stairwell as she continues to walk down the hallway.

When my feet hit the second-floor landing, I’m panting while internally berating myself for becoming so lazy over the last couple of months. I’m so out of shape!Out of breath, I walk slowly towards room A204 trying to get my breathing under control as I go down the hallway.

I have maybe a minute to spare as I enter the classroom.