“Fine,” he snapped, getting up and leaving.
The last thing I needed was another enemy, but I wasn’t going to tolerate people making an ass out of me for their own personal entertainment. He was dating Mackenzie after all. I’m sure it would just be a matter of time before she convinced him to jump on the ‘I hate Ella’ band wagon. Although I didn’t expect I’d be the one to help him jump aboard so quickly. But what’s done is done. It was probably better off this way anyways since I got a strange vibe every time he was around.
No longer hungry, I pushed my tray aside, and leaned back against the wall closing my eyes. “Your food is going to get cold,” Mr. Callahan said, taking a seat across from me.
“I lost my appetite,” I said, sitting up.
“May I?” he gestured to the tray. I shook my head and pushed it toward him.
“So, Mr. Callahan, what brings you down here to slum with the students?”
“Aidan, Mr. Callahan is my father,” he said. “And it wasn’t that long ago that I was student here myself.”
“Reminiscing about the good old days?” I teased.
“I’m only twenty-five you know.”
“How come you’re eating here? Don’t the teachers have their own lounge?”
“We do, but I find it to be a little stuffy,” he winked, making my stomach do flip flops.
I self-consciously wrapped my arms around my waist. “Do you always hang out with the students?”
“Only with the ones I find interesting,” he said with a sly smile. If I didn’t know any better I would say he was flirting with me, but I knew I was wrong because he was a teacher. This was probably just his way of being nice to help make us feel more comfortable around him. Oddly, it was having the opposite effect on me.
I looked away, feeling my cheeks start to flush with heat. I bashfully tucked a piece of hair behind my ear and then held my hands tightly in my lap. Of all the students here I wondered why he had chosen me. “So what’s so interesting about me?” I asked, flirting right back. I instantly clamped my mouth shut, not believing that I just said that out loud. I had no idea where this sudden courage had come from.
He didn’t even blink an eye. “You’re new here, so was I, once. I know what it’s like. I thought maybe I could help you out.”
I rested my arms on the table and leaned in closely. “And how exactly are you going to do that?” I challenged, giving him a flirtatious smile.
He smiled right back and said, “I could show you the ropes. Let you know what your teachers expect of you and what not to do to piss them off. Help keep you out of trouble.”
“Sorry, but apparently trouble is my middle name.”
Whoa, did I just say that?
Where was this stuff coming from?
He laughed at my cheesy joke bringing my attention back to him. For a minute I thought he was going to reach across the table and hold my hand. I wish he would. The thought was gone as quick as it came when Mackenzie showed up. “Mr. Callahan, have you changed your mind about our earlier discussion?” Mackenzie asked, interrupting us and breaking the spell. I think this was the first time ever I was happy to see her.
Aidan leaned back casually in his chair. “Sorry Miss Hilliard, but the situation still stands as is.” He turned to me and smiled. “Besides, I think it’s great that you and Ella are rooming together. I think the both of you could teach each other a few things. You never know, you might even have a few things in common.”
Mackenzie choked on a laugh.
“Well if you’ll excuse me ladies, I have to get back to my office,” he paused. “And Ella, that offer’s still good if you’re interested.”
“I’ll let you know,” I said. He waved goodbye and took off. The more distance I got from him the clearer my head was on what had just happened. Did I really just flirt with a teacher? And did he…flirt back? I felt the presence of evil and looked up to see Mackenzie was still standing there. She was watching Mr. Callahan. She turned to me, her scowl turning into a devilish grin. I could only imagine what was going on in her head.
“You and Mr. Callahan seem chummy,” she said with a smirk.
“Um, Aidan was just welcoming me to the school,” I said skeptically, careful of how much info I divulged.
“Aidan? So you two are on a first name basis?”
“It’s not like that.” I knew what she was getting at.
“Sure it isn’t,” she cooed.
“Look, Mackenzie, it’s not what you think –”
She put up her hand to stop me. “Whatever, I don’t care. I just came here to give you my list of rules.” She threw the paper at me and flipped her long, blond hair as she spun around.
I sighed and picked up the paper. I was almost afraid to look at the list. It wasn’t as bad as I expected. Most of it was what she had already covered earlier. Don’t touch her stuff blah, blah, blah. Basically stay out of her way. She even listed the days and times when she would require ‘alone time’, whatever that meant. I folded up the paper and stuck it in my back pocket. Then I headed outside to take a walk.
I found an outside track surrounded by bleachers and a field on the inside. I wandered over to the empty track and out into the field. I lied down in the snow covered grass and stared up at the sky. I closed my eyes and let the cool air burn my lungs as I inhaled deeply. The first thing to cross my vision was Aidan. His bright, hazel eyes flashed through my mind along with his light brown, wavy hair, and dimples when he smiled. He had a way of making me feel funny when I was around him, but in a good way. And when he left, it was like a string was pulled, letting the air out of a balloon, and when all the air was gone I had a sudden sense of clarity. I didn’t understand it. How can someone I just met make me all of sudden feel a certain way around them and then when they’re gone it was as if those feelings never existed, leaving a cloudy feel in my head.
I lied there, going over possible solutions as to what was happening, but the more I tried the more confused I got. There was a sudden drop in the temperature, like a cloud had shifted over the sun. Someone kicked me, making me grunt in agitation. I opened my eyes shielding them with my hand to see the giant cloud was Roman. “What are you stalking me now?” I sat up.
“No,” he glared. “I was out here for a run and I saw you lying in the grass. I came over to make sure you weren’t dead,” he said.
“Thanks for your concern, but as you can see I’m fine,” I said, giving him a sarcastic smile.
“Next time I’ll be sure to let you freeze,” he said, jogging off. I was just making friends left and right. I sighed and headed back inside.
I met up with Dixon for lunch as promised and spent the rest of the day with him, Cameron, and Sienna. The remainder of the night I spent in my room. Thankfully Mackenzie didn’t bother me and I didn’t bother her.
On Monday morning new students had to meet in the auditorium for orientation an hour before classes. There were only about twenty new students and most of them were half asleep. Dixon saved me a seat next to him. We sat and listened to one of the teachers go on about the rules of the school, the dress code, and so forth. Pretty standard stuff, most of what they went over was covered in the brochure and as far as the tour went, well, that consisted of them handing us a map and letting us find everything out on our own. I never did take Aidan up on his offer to show me the ropes. After the looks Mackenzie was giving us, I didn’t want to take the chance of her starting rumors.
They let us out early for our “tour” of the school. Since I’ve already pretty much knew my way around and Dixon could have cared less, we decided to stop and grab some coffee before our first class. We exchanged schedules and discovered we had one class together – chemistry. That was it. I sighed and finished my coffee. I said goodbye to Dixon as we parted ways for our first class of the day.
My first class was vampire history. Since there weren’t a lot of new students they put us in the regular classes with everyone else, having to start where they left off, and leaving me w
ith a lot of catching up to do.
I found a seat near the back, settled in, and took out a paper and pen. I hated the fact we had to wear these stupid uniforms. Dixon also vocalized his distaste as well and tried everything in his power to add some flair that wouldn’t get him sent back to his room to change. I adjusted the sleeves of my shirt and wrote the date in the corner of my notepad.
I tapped my pen repetitiously, counting down the minutes until class started. The rest of my classmates slowly started to file in and of course, amongst those students was Roman and Mackenzie. She glared at me as the two of them took a seat in the back corner not far from me. Not a moment later the teacher arrived, closing the door behind him and shutting out any students who didn’t make it in time. “For those of you that are new, my name is Mr. Grant and I will let you know I only have two rules. Don’t interrupt me in the middle of a lecture and make sure you are through that door,” he pointed. “Before I am or you will not be allowed in my class. Got it, good,” the teacher said, automatically getting into the lesson.
I was completely lost. Maybe if I wasn’t so distracted by my teacher’s bulging biceps I could pay better attention. He was fairly large. My guess would be that he was a full vampire. He had light blond hair, dark gray eyes, and his clothes looked like they were about to burst at the seams. I tried to follow along the best I could but every now and then the hairs on the back of my neck would start to stand. I looked over my shoulder. Roman was staring at me. When I caught him, he shifted in his seat and leaned closer to Mackenzie. She just clutched him tighter, glaring at me. I ignored both of them.
After class, Mr. Grant called me up to his desk to give me all the work I needed to catch up on. He told me I had until the end of the week. He said that should be enough time for me to finish everything. Yeah, one week to catch up on months’ work of assignments and lessons, sure, no problem. I threw my loaded up messenger bag over my shoulder and headed to my next class – spells and casting.
When I arrived, I found out – to my unfortunate luck – Roman was in this class as well. I was barely in a seat when the teacher begun. “Okay class, today we are going to pick partners, but before you get too excited they’ll be picked at random.” There were a few sounds of disappointment from the students. “I want everyone on the right to put their names on a piece of paper and throw it into the empty can on my desk.”
Everyone had done as the teacher asked. After she collected the last name, she stood up, and walked over to a freckled face kid holding out the can for him to pick a name. He reached in, opened the piece of paper, and read off the name. She did this with every table. When she reached my table, I reached in and retrieved one of the tiny folded slips of paper. When I opened it up I wanted to kick myself. Why am I being tortured?
The teacher stood there, tucking a piece of her black as night hair behind her ear, waiting patiently for me to respond. I gritted my teeth and read the name out loud. “Roman Ashby.”
There were a few chuckles from the other students, making me want to sink in my seat. The look on Roman’s face said he wasn’t any happier about this partnership than I was.
“Alright students, get together with your new partners.”
Roman stood up, dragging his backpack behind him, and then slammed it on the desk between us, creating a barrier. “I’m going to give you some time to get to know your partners while I make up the seating chart and yes this is where you will be sitting the rest of the year,” the teacher announced.
Just perfect.
The rest of the class chatted amongst themselves while Roman and I sat in silence. This partnership was going to be a difficult one if neither of us was going to talk. I didn’t want to spend the rest of the year with a partner who despised me so I decided to swallow my pride – again – and make nice with Roman. “Obviously we got off on the wrong foot, so maybe we should try this again,” I said, hoping to smooth things over.
Roman just looked at me, like I was setting him up for a trap. “I think maybe you hit your head harder than you thought.” I looked at him completely lost. He sat in his seat, giving me a sideways glance. I waited for another quip, but the only thing he delivered was a half-smile. “Alright, I’m willing to give you a second chance. I feel you at least deserve it.” I opened my mouth to comment but thought it wise not to.
“How about we start over…Hi, I’m Roman,” he said, extending a hand.
“Ella, new girl,” I said, shaking his hand.
“Well, new girl Ella, I believe this is a good start to a new found friendship,” he smiled, making me blush. I self-consciously tucked a piece of hair behind my ear exposing my blue streak. Roman caught a glimpse of it and shifted uncomfortably in his seat, making me feel like shit. It’s not like the streak was a snake ready to strike out and bite him.
I was about to say something when Ms. Kraft brought our attention back to the front of the class. “Okay, now, you and your partner are going to have an assignment to complete. I want you to create your own spell and demonstrate it for the class.” Some of the students got excited about this, me, not so much. “There will be some exclusion and you cannot get help from the witches and yes I will know,” she smiled. “I’ve made up a list of subjects you can use to create a spell from.”
She handed out a piece of paper to each table. “And Roman, since Ella is new I will give you two some extra time to complete the project.” I smiled thankfully at her as she turned around to dismiss the class. Roman stuffed the project list in his backpack and took off without another word. I was puzzled to his sudden mood change. Was he so freaked out by my blue streak that he changed his mind and no longer wanted to play nice? Before I let my head explode with a million why questions, I packed up my stuff, and got ready to head to my next class. But before I could escape, Ms. Kraft stopped me, and handed me a mile high stack of books and some assignments she wanted me to do to get caught up. She told me not to worry and that she had faith in me that I would be able to breeze through the listed work. At least one of us was confident.
Next on my schedule was lunch and my stomach was never so happy. I was supposed to meet Dixon outside the dining hall. I text him to let him know I might be a few minutes late because of all the books I had to drop off at my room. I managed to make it out of the school and to the courtyard without dropping anything. I thought for sure with the way all the students were sprinting by me I would have done a face plant on the floor.
After only three pit stops, I made it to my dorm and up the steps to my floor. “Ella!” I spun my head at the sound of my name, taking my eyes off where I was going, and tripped up the last step. My books and papers went flying and I lay face first on cold tile floor. “Seriously Ella, could you be any more uncoordinated?” Dean said, helping peel my face off the floor.
“Well maybe if you didn’t scare me like that,” I said annoyed. He just shook his head and helped me pick up my books while I picked up my papers and what was left of my dignity. Dean went to hand me my books when I shot him a nasty look. “Don’t be a dick.” He rolled his eyes and carried them the rest of the way down the hall. I collected all of my papers and had a few out of reach when all of a sudden they blew right to me. I moved back a little, stunned. I slowly reached out to pick them up.
Nothing.
I shrugged it off and stuffed them in my bag. Dean had dropped one of my books on his way not noticing. I walked down the hall ready to pick it up when it slid across the floor and stopped right at my feet. “Dean!” I shrieked.
He turned around so fast he almost dropped all the books. “What’s wrong?”
“The books…they’re moving…on their own,” I said, thinking how crazy that sounded now that I said it out loud.
“What the hell are you talking about?” He looked at me like I was nuts.
“You dropped one of my books and then all of sudden it was at my feet.”
“Are you taking drugs?” he asked in a stern brotherly tone.
“What, no! Just
forget it.” I picked up the book and met him at the door, unlocking it so I could let us in. He dumped all of my books on my bed and waited to walk me to lunch.
After lunch I had chemistry with Dixon, then powers beginners, and self-defense. Dixon and I walked to class together catching each other up on how our morning went. Luckily in chemistry we got to sit where we wanted and pick the partners we wanted. Of course it was a given that Dixon and I were partners. At first I didn’t understand why we had to take chemistry; I mean I already took it in high school. They explained this was a different kind of chemistry. This was where we learned how to mix potions.
The class flew by without a hitch. We spent most of the time learning the rules of the class and what would be covered this semester. My next class, powers beginners, was all new students. Since it was something that needed more attention it was better to have a smaller class. Being that it was our first day, we just went around the room and introduced ourselves and our powers. I was the center of attention when I revealed I was a healer. Apparently this was not a common power. Another item on the list of why I was an outcast.
Once the gawking stopped, they continued around the room. There were only about ten students total in the class. After the introductions the teacher let us talk amongst ourselves for a little. A short, curvy girl with thick, black framed glasses sat next to me. “Hi, I’m Riley,” she said softly.
“Ella.”
“I like your blue streak,” she said, adjusting the yellow headband she wore in her mousy brown hair.
“Thanks.”
“Where are you from?”
“California.”
“Wow, I always wanted to go there. Is it just like you see in the movies?”
“Sure.”
“Do you always talk in one word phrases?”
“Sorry, lately I’ve been sticking my foot in my mouth so I figured the less I talk the better.”
“Gotcha. I’ve done that lots of times. It’s probably because I tend to ramble on and don’t know when to shut up.”
The Wanderers Beginning: The Wanderers, Reborn, & Unforgiven Page 54