Chapter 9: Chapter 9

Braeden

I’ve never been jealous of my brother before, but he had the guts to do what I couldn’t, which was to sit next to Blaise in the elements class. But when he begins to flirt with her by calling her beautiful, I let the anger over my lack of nerves take hold of me and smack him upside the head. Glaring at him, he glares back and then we begin to communicate silently with each other in a way that only twins can do.

Carden tells me to man up causing my eyes to flare gold as my magic wants to make its presence known. I tell him to leave it be and not flirt with the girl which causes his magic to bubble up too. In between our silent conversation I can feel anger radiating from Morgan and I know as soon as the class ends, I’d be getting an ear full from her. Honestly though, I can’t even summon the effort to care what she would have to say to me. It’s not like we are together. We’re just friends who have the occasional romp in the bedroom.

Once we are dismissed from the class, I grab my book bag and dart down the stairs. I don’t want to deal with my brother or Morgan’s bullshit just now. Deciding I don’t want to ’people’ for a while, I make my way across the campus and back to the dorm. Jumping into the elevator just before the doors close, I press the button for the third floor. Walking swiftly down the hallway, I glance up at the door to the plaque posted on it, W310, mine and Carden’s room.

Tossing my book bag into a corner of the room, I meander over to my bed and flop down on it. Throwing a hand behind my head I close my eyes only to groan because an image of Blaise immediately flashes across my mind. My eyes pop back open and I run my free hand across my chest over my heart. What is that girl doing to me?

Bang! The door to our room is flung open and I see Carden glaring at me from out in the hall. “What in the actual fuck Brae!” He stomps through the doorway and tosses his bag next to mine on the floor. I arch and eyebrow questioningly because Carden never yells. “Why in the hell did you leave me to deal with Morgan’s wrath? She’s such a bitch dude! How do you tolerate her ‘all about me’ attitude?” He runs a hand through his hair in frustration waiting for me to answer him.

Shrugging my shoulders I say, “not sure what you’re talking about bro.”

Carden scoffs. “Yeah, okay. I’m not sure what’s going on with you two, but you better dump her. Especially since I see the way you look at Blaise. You don’t want Morgan catching you looking at the girl like that, or all hell will break lose!”

Swinging my legs over the side of my bed I roll my eyes before leaning forward slightly as I place my elbows on my thighs and prop my chin against my open hands. “First, we’re not a couple, we’re not even ‘together’ we just fuck around from time to time with each other so there’s no dumping to be done. Secondly, in what way do I “supposedly” look at Blaise, hmm?”

With a chuckle Carden shakes his head in exasperation. “Well, you might want to let Morgan know you guys’ aren’t a ‘thing’ because I think she’s under the impression that you are. As for Blaise, you look at her like a lost puppy whose finally found his master. You stare at her like she’s the last slice of pie on earth and you want to devour her, you...”

I cut him off from offering any more analogies and huff a laugh. “Whatever dude. You don’t know what you’re talking about!”

∞

Blaise

I scan the cafeteria for Clover but don’t see her anywhere. A growl escapes me because I’m desperate to talk with her. I’d love to hear her opinion on my day’s encounters with the male population. Standing in line I grab a turkey sandwich and an apple. Snagging a bottle of water from a cooler I pay and then look across the room once more in case she snuck in while I had been preoccupied getting my food. Still not here. I also notice that the twins aren’t sitting at their table either.

Since I don’t know anyone else lingering in the room, I quickly decide to take my lunch outside and eat under the red maple again. There’s something about sitting under the tree surrounded by nature that calms the turmoil trying to rear its ugly head. Taking a seat at the same picnic table that Clover and I had shared this morning, I crack open my water bottle and take a couple of gulps from it. Once I place the lid back on the bottle, I inhale deeply a few breaths of fresh air expelling each just as deeply. Looking around I’m surprised that more students don’t want to be outside. I realize though that I shouldn’t look a gift horse in the mouth as the quiet serenity falls around me.

My peace is interrupted a few minutes later by a husky sort of voice, “may I sit here?” Across the table towers a man at least 6 foot in height if not a bit taller. Squinting against the sunlight I notice his eyes first because the green in them could rival my own emerald coloring. After I’m able to break my gaze from his I give him a once over. He has dirty blonde hair that falls just above his ears. His jaw is sharp and angular and as he smiles, I see dimples appear on his cheeks. His shoulders, though not as broad as Nox’s, are muscular which causes his black t-shirt to strain against his chest.

The guy coughs distracting me from my perusal of him and I scrunch my nose up, making a face because of it. I realize he’s waiting for me to answer his question and it takes me a second to recall what that question was. I think he asked if he could sit down... gosh I hope that’s what he asked. “Open and available for the taking,” I say with a wide smile. He nods his head and then places a laptop on the wooden planks of the table in front of him. Trying to be witty (or at least I hope it’s witty) I comment; “that doesn’t look like a very healthy lunch...”

Cocking his head to one side he looks at me quizzically for a second before it dawns on him as to what I’m referring to. “Oh, right.” He smiles at me and my heart jumps in my throat. Stars in the sky, there are way too many hot guys on this campus! I pretend to pick at my lips for a moment because I need to make sure I’m not drooling. Cause that wouldn’t be embarrassing at all...

“So um,” I hesitate, “what’s your name?” I’ve suddenly become shy and have to force my eyes to look him in the face as he answers my question.

“My apologies. My name is Gavin Dearil.” As he says this, he sticks his hand out across the table for me to shake. “First year professor,” he adds and my heart plummets. I could tell he was a few years older than me, but I thought he was probably a senior. But a professor! Damn it all! “And who might you be?” he asks with a devilish grin.

I want to take my hands and fan my face as I feel my cheeks grow hot. I’ve an instant crush on the guy and I’ve just met him. “Oh, um, my name is Blaise Salvino, student extraordinaire, well freshman at least.” Gavin chuckles heartily and I can’t help but smile back.

“Oops, the Dean requests my presence,” Gavin tells me as he glances at his phone. “It was a pleasure to meet you though Miss Salvino.” Standing he picks up his laptop before offering me one more grin. “See you around.”

“Bye Mr. Dearil,” I’m not sure if he heard me say it but he turned back and waved to me. And my heart, I think it stopped, just for a millisecond but still... the phrase ‘I hate to see you leave but love to watch you go’ dances across my thoughts and a stupid grin takes hold of my lips as I watch him stroll across the lawn towards the administration building.