by Con Template
He laughed as well. The detached air that once radiated from him dispelled immediately. In its place was a friendly aura that made me feel welcome in his presence. “What a small world. I can’t believe I’m running into you again.”
I was about to respond when the last pair was assigned and Professor Pak’s authoritative voice swam over our whispers. She began to go over the objectives of the project and what it would entail. While listening and taking notes, Shin and I were still on our high. It wasn’t every day that you’d run into a stranger that you met weeks ago, and it wasn’t every day that you’d get partnered up with them. I think we were both shocked and excited by such coincidence.
Shin clicked his tongue, causing me to look at him while Professor Pak droned on about what she expected from our presentations.
Leaning in, his deep and smooth voice overpowered Professor Pak’s. “I wasn’t planning on giving my A-game for this project, but since I actually know my partner, I think I’ll have to take it seriously now.”
I recalled my dilemma with my “glass-ceiling grades” and I could feel my dread return tenfold. Oh God, it sucks even more now that I know my partner and that I actually like him as a person, I thought miserably. Feeling absolutely awful by his kind offer, I made the effort to smile at him. I shrugged halfheartedly. “You don’t have to.”
“No, I have to,” he insisted good-naturedly, making me feel guiltier with his thoughtfulness. He laughed quietly to himself. “If only for the sake of passing this class and moving on with my life.” He took a moment to write down the requirements for the project before he turned back to me. His kind eyes glowed with warm curiosity. “Are you a senior?”
I nodded proudly, unable to help but smile widely. There was such a friendly aura to him that I couldn’t help but feel comfortable around him. It was so different from the cold ambiance he initially radiated. I was thankful to be privy to this warm aura. “I’m graduating this year.”
“Me too,” he said quietly. He turned briefly to make sure that Professor Pak wasn’t aware that we were chatting. Once he confirmed that she was blissfully unaware, he angled back to me and gave a snort of disbelief. “Some degree we’re getting with the global financial crisis coming down on us, huh?”
I laughed wryly, recalling all the grief I had been getting. “I’m getting a lot of crap for it.”
“So am I,” he empathized, making me feel better about my major. I wasn’t close to anyone in the business school, so it was a nice feeling for me to be able to talk to someone who could relate to my own state of affairs.
“Oh, I should tell you,” he casually shared once something came to his mind, “do you remember the bastard who was a jackass to you at the grocery store?”
How could I not remember? As if I would be able to forget the bastard who was so rude to me.
Instead of giving him my unfiltered and unkind thoughts, I simply bobbed my head graciously. Innocence was cloaked over my angelic face. “Yeah, what about him?”
“Apparently he got what was coming to him. Someone vandalized his Lamborghini in the parking lot. After I came out from the store, I saw him standing beside it with the cops. They were asking him who had motives and he said that he didn’t know, that he had gotten into a lot of arguments that day with all these random people. He said any one of them could’ve fucked up his car.” He smirked, finding humor in the bastard’s misfortune. “What goes around comes around, right?”
“How terrible,” I commented, feigning pity. Secretly, I was overjoyed to be reminded of what I did. My inner sadism cheered in pride while my outward, artificial innocence sighed in disappointment.
He regarded me with interest. “You think so?”
I shrugged again. “He may have deserved what was coming to him, but that doesn’t mean it was right for someone to do that.”
A lighthearted and indicting smile formed on Shin’s lips. “I guess I should count you out as the culprit then.”
“Who knows, it might have been me.” I canted my head sneakily, using all the charm I had at my disposal to play along with him. “He was pretty rude to me.”
Shin shook his head at what he took as a playful statement. “You don’t look like the type. You probably don’t even have a mean bone in your body.” His eyes lit up upon remembering the other person with me that day. “Oh, and how is the little boy who was with you? Is he your son? Is he okay? He looked really upset and afraid.”
I shook my head at the query. “No, no. I volunteer at the local shelter there and he’s one of the residents. He was only tagging along for some shopping.” I beamed, touched for Sony that Shin was showing concern for him, even weeks later. “And he’s okay. He was upset for a bit, but he got over it as the day went on.”
“That’s good,” Shin approved happily. Another bigger smile took over his lips. “And you just confirmed my suspicions about you not having a mean bone in your body. It’s nice that you invest time into helping others. It’s very admirable of you.”
I blushed. “It’s funny you should say that because it was so nice of you to stand up for me and Sony, especially when you didn’t even know us. I was beginning to feel incompetent, standing there listening to him talk down to me. I was ashamed that I didn’t have enough gall to at least defend the child I was with.” I gave him a genuine smile of gratitude. “I’m glad someone else stepped up. So thank you again.”
“No man should talk to a woman or child like that. It was my pleasure to help put him in his place.”
It would be a complete lie if I said that Shin didn’t look much more attractive to me when he said that. In an age when people were becoming more socially inept because of the rampant run of technology, it was endearing to be next to someone who exhibited such admirable and chivalrous traits. If more people like him existed, then I was sure our world would be a much better place.
I didn’t know what to say to him, but my reply was inconsequential because at that precise second, Professor Pak conveniently ended the lecture, dismissing us from class and wishing us all a good weekend.
I gazed around, stunned that I had been such a bad student today. I was so distracted with my own conversations that class was actually over before I knew it. Wow, this was definitely a first.
“The project is not due for another couple of weeks,” I started as we began to pack up with the rest of class. I was still reeling from the warm, butterfly-inducing feeling that he gave me with his last chivalrous statement. I made an effort to appear normal as I continued to speak, holding my books to my chest. “Do you want to meet up when the time gets closer?”
Shin nodded, grabbing his cell phone off the desk and tucking it into his pocket. Unlike me, he had nothing else on him that he needed to carry out.
Sticking my last pencil into my purse, I got up and fell into step with him as we descended down the stairs with our fellow classmates.
“Yeah, we’ll do that.” There was a lingering smile on his face as we stepped out of class and submerged ourselves into the traffic of students in the hall.
“Grace, right?” Shin asked, stopping at the corner with me. His dark brown eyes were as warm as ever.
I bobbed my head with a big smile. I was aware that I was behaving like a smitten girl, but I had no ability to stop it.
Shin wasn’t my usual type, but appearances could be deceiving, and right then, I really felt attracted to him. Perhaps it was the hero-loving-syndrome—my inner self feeling more attraction because the guy had “saved” me. Whatever the reason, the puppy crush was undeniable, and for the most part, I didn’t mind it. It was nice to feel like a typical girl and have small, harmless crushes, regardless of all the crap that was going on in my life. The last guy I had a puppy crush on was DonKi. Since that was a big fail—thanks to Eclipse and his intervention—it was nice to replace that failed prospect with another shining star.
Shin and I may never date; he could very well have a girlfriend, or he could very well be gay, but my attraction was just that—an attr
action. In short, he seemed like a really awesome guy, and I imagined he would keep getting cooler every time I interacted with him.
“Well, it was very nice to officially meet you, Grace,” he told me before pulling his white hoodie back up. He gave me an incline of the head as his gesture of goodbye. “I’ll see you around.”
“It was nice to meet you too, Shin.” I waved at him, happy that I made a potential new friend in class. “Have a good weekend.”
Needing to go in the opposite direction, I turned away from Shin and headed towards the exit. I stepped outside, still smiling to myself about how amazing my meeting with Shin was and what a great guy he turned out to be. It astounded me that out of all the places for me to see him again, it’d be in class.
What a crazy twist of fate.
“The skies shall bleed red . . ."
24: Destiny
“Teacup . . .”
As soon as I heard his voice, any puppy-crush fascination with Shin was pushed aside when Eclipse managed to do what he did best: take over my reality and immerse me into his.
If Shin was a star in my eyes, then Eclipse was the sun. Or better yet, he was the eclipse that came over the sun. His presence was powerful, demanding, and utterly mesmerizing. It wasn’t a fair toss between Shin and Eclipse because, while Shin felt like an amazing prospective reality, Eclipse felt like a complete and utter fantasy. I may have wanted a normal reality for my life, but much like any other human, I would always have the stronger lust to immerse myself into my fantasies.
And what a fantasy Eclipse was.
Seated comfortably on the rectangular brick monument that was engraved with the school’s name, Eclipse casually exhaled the fume from his cigarette and smiled as the wind swept through his hair and took his cloud of smoke away.
Dressed in dark pinstriped slacks and a matching black pinstriped shirt, Eclipse looked like he was modeling in front of an invisible camera. He had no care in the world that the monument was not a sitting area for students. The girls around us nearly tripped over their feet while they admired him with stars in their eyes. While my blood was beginning to boil at the way they were looking at him, Eclipse, oblivious to the stares, happily left his seat to approach me.
As he walked over, I saw the girls take the perverted opportunity to gawk at his butt while he was innocently unaware of their depravity. I was outraged. His butt! How could they stare at his butt like he was a piece of meat? Did these girls have no shame?
I knew that I had no right to be jealous because, just seconds prior, I was flirting and crushing on another guy. I had to admit that I felt a little bit like a player. I felt like I had “cheated” on Eclipse because I was attracted to Shin. It took monumental effort to assure myself that I wasn’t a shady girl. I was single, I wasn’t in love with anyone, and I wasn’t committed to anyone. Eclipse made it crystal clear that he would never love me, and in all reality, I would never love a Demon either. Despite all this reasoning, I still felt territorial. Whether the fantasies were fleeting or not, Eclipse was mine and I didn’t want to share him.
“How was class, Gracie?” he asked charmingly, sliding a strong arm around my waist. He pulled me close to him as his intimate way of greeting me. He smiled, staring down at me with a playful glint in his eyes that seemed to promise me fantasies I could only ever dream of. “Did you miss me?”
“No,” I answered stiffly. I was mad at the perverted girls who were checking him out in front of me. As a result, I took it out on him for being as alluring and eye-catching as he was. Couldn’t he walk around with a bag over his head or something?
He smirked knowingly. “Liar.” Disregarding my grumpy expression, he brought his sensual lips to my ear and whispered, “I’ve missed you.”
I hid the blush that flushed my cheeks. Even though we established that neither of us took the other seriously in regards to getting into a romantic relationship, I was still a shallow twenty-year-old girl and Eclipse was still the irresistible Demon of Lust. When someone as good-looking as Eclipse whispers sweet nothings in your ear, you blush.
Shallow reactions aside, I also knew that it was imperative to keep Eclipse from being aware of how much he affected me. In an effort to conceal my blush, I extracted myself from his grasp, turned my gaze away from him, and started making my way across campus to get to work.
Taking no offense to the distance I placed between us, Eclipse followed closely behind me. He helped me with my cargo by pulling my finance books out of my grasp and carrying the encyclopedia-sized books like they didn’t weigh more than a piece of paper.
“Did your professor let all of you out late today?” Eclipse asked as we strolled towards the graduate library. The cold air curled around us as we treaded against the wind. “What was taking so long?”
“She assigned us partners for an upcoming project. She was going over it and I was exchanging contact information with my partner and getting to know him.”
I conveniently left out the part about having a puppy-crush on Shin because, as I recalled from what occurred with DonKi, I was almost positive that Eclipse would find some way to sabotage my relationship with Shin. I wasn’t exactly choosing date outfits for the guy (I hardly knew him!), but I enjoyed Shin’s company. I didn’t want Eclipse to screw it up because knowing him, he would screw shit up for me.
However much I was resolved on not telling Eclipse any more about Shin than I needed to, I still wanted to make a request about the grading system once I was reminded of Shin and what a really nice person he was.
“Eclipse—”
“I’m sorry, Gracie,” Eclipse cut in at once, already knowing what I wanted, “but it doesn’t matter if you work with someone else or not, I’m not taking the hex off your grades. Whoever your partner is, they’ll have to suffer along with you.”
“Eclipse, this is so unfair!” I complained, my pink heels clacking over the pebbled ground once we reached the graduate side of campus. “Do you know how guilty this makes me feel? My partner has nothing to do with us.”
“Give me your soul and we’ll put your guilt at ease,” he replied simply, giving absolutely no regard to the innocent casualties of his single-minded ambition.
“You’re such an Ashtray,” I petulantly replied, crestfallen after we reached the library. I had never felt so helpless. It was so bad that I couldn’t believe I had resorted to name-calling.
Even though he appeared to feel slightly guilty, Eclipse was a resilient Demon. Guilt came and went for him, but his self-preservation reigned supreme.
“I’m going to get going now,” he announced, attempting to use his charms to butter me up before making his exit. He gently returned my books to me and took it upon himself to gingerly stroke his fingers over my hair, allowing his fingertips to appreciate the curves of my curls. “Don’t be too angry, Teacup. I’d like nothing more than to spoil the hell out of you, but my pursuit for your soul supersedes anything else I may want. So with that said, please expect more rejections until you give me what I need, but also know that if this was any other situation, I’d happily spoil you with whatever you want.”
I snorted, shaking my head at his empty words. Men, no matter what species, were always great liars.
Eclipse merely smirked at my actions and placed his hand back into his pocket.
Much like the other times, I waited for him to disappear because he always made his dramatic exits with lingering statements like that. Peculiarly enough, instead of disappearing into thin air, he continued to stand there, as if waiting for me to leave first.
Uh . . . what was going on?
“Aren’t you going to pull your disappearing trick?” I asked awkwardly, wondering why we were standing there like fools.
A quiet chuckle elicited from him. He spared a glance over my shoulder. He extended his hand up, waving in the air to greet someone. “I would, but we have an audience.”
My gaze involuntarily trailed his. My eyes blossomed like a rose when I saw Dawn, Ara, Kina, and
Missy standing at the landing of the staircase, their heads craning out sneakily behind the library window.
“Oh, you’ve got to be kidding me,” I murmured just as the girls widened their eyes when they registered that Eclipse had caught them staring. As a response to his salutation, they nervously waved back. Clearly embarrassed that they were caught spying, they speedily ran back into the library.
“I’ll pick you up after your shift ends,” he told me with amusement, the smile lining his voice. “Until then, have fun at work, Teacup.”
I watched as Eclipse, like a human being, walked around the corner before he was out of sight. And with the remembrance of my friends’ behaviors, who I had the sneaking suspicion were still spying on me, I hurried towards the building, bounded up the stairs, and stepped into the graduate library.
Four interrogators, who would put crime scene investigators to shame, instantly greeted me.
“Not together, eh?” Ara incited thoughtfully, sitting in the computer chair at the reception desk in her black dress.
Beside her, the other three girls were seated on their respective stools. Looking almost identical, they had their textbooks in front of them, their highlighters and writing materials in hand, and eyes focused solely on me.
The graduate library on a Friday evening starting from 5:00 P.M. was typically void of patrons because all the students were too stoked for the upcoming weekend to spend another restless night studying. It was usually the one time out of the week where Ara and I were given the opportunity to talk as loud as we wanted because we weren’t disturbing anyone. It was also normally the time when the other girls would stop by to visit if they needed to get some studying done and wanted to get some bonding time in as well. As it would appear, the hot bonding topic for the evening was about to start with me and Eclipse.
“Spill it, Grace,” Dawn prompted, staring at me with eagerness.
“We’re not together,” I told them, circling around the reception desk. I pushed the small door open and went to my seat in front of my work computer. “We’re just friends.”