The Wanderers Beginning: The Wanderers, Reborn, & Unforgiven

by Jessica Miller

  I was about to tell him he shouldn’t sit here when he said, “Meet me in the library after dinner,” he winked. Then he got up and took a seat behind me in the back. I faced forward trying to hide my smile when Mackenzie walked in. She looked at me, then Roman, sticking her nose up at us. I stifled an eye roll and waited for class to begin.

  In spells and casting Roman and I were partners so I had to sit by him, which I didn’t mind – I think for the first time ever. Once class started, I noticed Roman had inched his way closer. He would casually lean in closer so our arms or legs would touch, giving me a tiny shock every time our skin brushed. The subtlety of it all made me excited, anticipating our meeting later tonight.

  In library later that night, Roman and I found a small, dark corner in the back where we proceeded to make out for a very long time. Then we parted ways and went back to our rooms. This became a routine. Roman and I would find a place to get together, share secret glances in class, lunch or dinner, and sneak a soft touch here and there when no one was looking. I had a sneaking suspicion that Cameron thought something was going on so I made sure to be extra careful around her.

  I met Roman in the basement. It was one of the few places we could meet without worrying about someone catching us. “How was training today?” he asked.

  “Fine,” I said, going back to kissing him.

  “What are you and Gabe working on?”

  “Just some new techniques Billy showed me,” I said as I left a trail of kisses down his neck.

  “Wait, he’s been training with you as well?”

  Sensing a change in his tone I asked, “Are you jealous?”

  “Jealous of what?”

  “Nothing,” I rolled my eyes and went back to kissing him.

  “What kind of techniques?” he mumbled against my lips.

  I sat back and sighed. “What’s going on?”

  “I don’t know. You tell me?” he said.

  “I thought we were kissing,” I smiled, pulling his lips back to mine.

  He turned his head. “Yes, but that’s just it. Is this all it is or is there more to it?”

  “Less talking more kissing,” I said, grabbing the back of his neck and pulling him down on top of me.

  “Ella, I’m being serious.” He sat back up.

  “Roman, just spit it out, because this dance is making me nauseous.” I was getting annoyed by the constant interruption.

  “Just forget it.” He leaned in to kiss me.

  This time I was the one to stop. “Do you not enjoy this anymore? Did you want to stop?” I asked a little scared.

  “No, I do. I just would like to know where this is going to lead.”

  “Hey, I never stopped you from copping a feel,” I teased.

  “That’s not what I mean,” he said, sitting back.

  “Roman, we already talked about this. We’re just two people who like kissing each other with the occasional grope,” I winked, making him smile and blush. “Nothing more and nothing less. Why complicate things?”

  “Yeah, I guess you’re right,” he said, turning away and looking a little disappointed.

  “Did you…want, something more?” I asked softly, afraid of his answer.

  “No,” he shook his head. “Of course not. C’mon, we can barely tolerate each other,” he winked, nudging me playfully. His smile faded and he sighed. “I should go.”

  “Is something wrong?” I asked worried.

  “No, I just have a lot of homework.”

  “Okay,” I said, removing my legs from his lap. “I’ll see you tomorrow?”

  “Yeah,” he said, flashing me a smile. He gave me a quick kiss before he left. I stayed in the basement for a little after he left, contemplating what he was really trying to get at. He never cared how training went before. Did he miss it and that’s why he asked? Was he trying to make conversation? Did he no longer like our little arrangement? Was he getting bored? Did he want more? I shook my head and made my way out. I did not like the idea of being in the basement alone.

  Just before I was about to ascend the stairs, I heard a noise behind me. I stopped and turned around; walking a few feet back in the direction I just came. I peered all around, looking for the mystery noise while reminding myself not to be scared. “You have some very powerful kick ass powers. You can take on anything that comes at you,” I told myself.

  When I didn’t hear the noise anymore, I decided to stop my investigation and haul ass out of there, my courage now gone. When I rounded the stairs I nearly jumped out of my skin. “I knew it!”

  “Christ Cameron, I think I just peed a little.”

  She stood there with her arms crossed and eyes narrowed. “You lied to me,” she said.

  “What are you talking about?” I said, trying to walk around her.

  She took a step to the left blocking my path. “You and Roman. You two are hooking up aren’t you?”

  “You have an over active imagination. There’s nothing going on between Roman and me.”

  “Then how come I just saw him leave here not too long ago?” she questioned, thinking she had me.

  “I don’t know. Why don’t you go ask him?” I said with a little bit of attitude, hoping she would drop it.

  She leaned closer, getting in my face. “I know there’s something going on between you two and I will figure it out.”

  “Sure Cameron, whatever,” I said, wondering why she cared so much. “Are we done with the interrogation now?”

  “For now,” she said, letting me pass.

  The next day in class I noticed Roman was a little distant. I slipped him a note asking if he was okay. He answered –fine.

  I wrote back asking if he wanted to meet tonight. All he wrote was – I can’t.

  I didn’t push, sensing something was off and didn’t want to risk making him mad. He didn’t show at lunch or dinner and I was beginning to wonder if he was pissed at me from last night.

  After a week of him turning me down and ignoring me I decided to confront him. “Did I miss something, because last time I checked we had a pretty sweet deal going? Did you change your mind?” I whispered, while Ms. Kraft let us have some free time.

  “Sorry, I’ve just been busy,” he said, not even looking at me.

  “So I’ve noticed,” I replied.

  He sighed and finally turned to look at me. “Hey, I’m sorry, but I really have been busy. If you want I can stop by tonight. Your room if you want? Mackenzie moved out, right?” Not sure where he was going with this, I nodded. “I’ll stop by later.” Ms. Kraft dismissed the class and he packed up his things without another word and left.

  I was a mess all day waiting for Roman to meet me at my room. It’s been a week since we last kissed and my lips were burning for his touch. I also had to come up with an excuse to get Billy out of the room long enough to make an excuse for Roman and I to go somewhere else. He didn’t know Billy was staying here and I knew if he found out he would think the worst.

  After training, I was so beat it took everything I had to stay awake. I took a shower and changed while Billy was still with Gabe working on some new ideas for my training. In the meantime I decided to work on my homework. Billy had come back to get a quick shower and then told me he was going back to work with Gabe on a few things which I thought would work out perfect. He would be gone before Roman got here and I would have some time.

  I jumped at the knock on the door. I told Billy I would get it so he could shower. I opened the door surprised. “Roman, hi.”

  “Hey,” he said. “Did you forget we were meeting tonight?”

  “No,” I said, stepping out of the room and closing the door. “I just didn’t expect you for a little bit yet. Do you want to go for a walk?”

  “I thought we could talk here,” he said.

  Talk, that didn’t sound good. I looked over my shoulder. Billy was still in the shower but I still didn’t think it would be wise to be in my room so I came up with an excuse. “Riley stopped by and she�
�s in there so…”

  “Alright,” he nodded, understanding. I stepped away from the door letting him take the lead. “I’ll make this quick,” he said. I didn’t like the sound of that. “I don’t think we should meet anymore.”

  “Oh,” I said disappointed. “Was it something I did?”

  “No. Like I said before I’m falling behind on my work and I need to keep up my average if I want to stay here,” he said, not able to meet me in the eye.

  I didn’t believe him. “That’s the lamest excuse I ever heard,” I said hurt.

  “What would you rather hear? It’s not you it’s me, because I thought about that but then I thought I owed you better.”

  “You’re damn right you do. So how about the truth now?” I said, wanting a real explanation why he was acting so weird.

  He ran his hands through his hair frustrated. He was about to open his mouth when Billy opened the door, wearing only a towel. Roman was out of sight in a second. “Hey, you okay?” Billy asked. “I thought I heard voices?” He looked at me funny, standing out there alone.

  “Yeah, just some kids down the hall,” I said.

  “You sure you’re okay?” he asked, looking worried.

  “Yeah, I just have to get something from one of my classmates. I’ll be in in a second.” He stepped back into the room and closed the door. I knew Roman didn’t leave and I knew he saw and heard everything. I could feel him behind me. “I can explain,” I said to him.

  “Don’t bother,” he said flatly.

  I turned to face him. “Roman look, it’s not what you think.”

  “Guardian, yeah.” He turned to leave, but I caught up to him.

  “Roman please, wait.” He stopped. “He is my guardian and I only lied about him staying in my room because I was afraid of how you would act and clearly I was right.”

  “Ella, really, I don’t care. You don’t owe me an explanation. Have fun,” he said, turning on his heel.

  I grabbed his arm. “Roman please.”

  “Look, guardian or not you felt the need to lie to me which makes me believe I can’t trust you,” he said upset. “But why does that not surprise me.”

  “What the hell is that supposed to mean?”

  “Just forget it.”

  “No, you’re not going to start this bullshit again and walk away. This is what I was talking about from the beginning. You’re so cryptic all the time, never giving me a real answer.”

  “I’m over it already,” he said, throwing his hands up in the air and taking a few steps backwards before he turned to leave.

  “Over what?” I cried frustrated, but he didn’t answer me. He kept walking and left me in the hall alone. Frustrated beyond belief, I walked back to my room, and closed and locked the door behind me. Great, I just messed up what little relationship I had with Roman. We were finally getting along for once. We found a common interest. Now it was all gone.

  Roman went back to avoiding me and ignoring me in class. I didn’t know how to approach him or even how to explain that he would understand. But then I thought, did I really owe him one? I mean we both made it clear that we were just messing around so why was he so upset when he saw Billy. And why was I so upset that he was? I couldn’t explain what was going on inside my head, but I knew I was having a hard time concentrating on anything else but Roman.

  I decided to throw myself into my training and school work to help keep me distracted. For the most part it worked, but by the end of the week I was beat. Gabe decided to lesson my training sessions. I was picking up quickly and doing such a good job he said I didn’t need to meet with him as much anymore. He told me I only had to meet three days a weeks after class – I was ecstatic. Another reason to celebrate, I get to sleep in again, and now have more time with my friends – that was if they didn’t forget about me already.

  When I first got here, I wasn’t worried about making friends much less caring if anyone liked me, but I couldn’t be any happier with the group of people I met. They made me see that I could trust people again and that it’s okay to be different. They showed me despite how little they knew about me, it didn’t matter. They were there for me, ready to stand in the line of fire to protect me because that’s what friend’s do. I was glad I found a way to open up and let them in because without them, I didn’t know where I’d be right now.

  At lunch Justin had told us him and his friends were having a party in the basement for St Patty’s Day. I told him I was game for the party which made Riley happy considering only minutes ago she was complaining she never got to see me. Riley wasn’t one to complain, but I noticed something was on her mind. She had confided in me before that it was easier for her to talk to me than the other girls. I made a mental note to pull her aside later and ask her if she wanted to talk.

  Now that the little spare time I had wasn’t occupied by sneaking around with Roman I actually could relax with my friends. Dixon caught me up on all the gossip I’ve been missing. Turns out things didn’t work out so well with Sienna and Kenny and now that Reagan and Addyson were done she was back to crushing over him. Dixon kept talking about all the dirty juice when I was distracted. A strange, cold wind blew up my spine and I looked up to see Mackenzie walking in. Her eyes searched the room until she found mine. She smiled, flicked her hair off her shoulder, and had a seat with her friends. Not having to face her every day and having Roman as a distraction, I had forgotten about Mackenzie possibly planning another evil attack on me, but from what Dixon had told me things were pretty quiet with her group. This surprisingly didn’t make me feel any better. I had a feeling the next attack was going to be a Trojan horse.

  Roman, for the first time in a while sat at our table. I was so surprised by this I didn’t know what to do or say. Just the sight of him sent my whole head in a whirlwind. Even though we saw each other every other day in class he acted as though we were strangers. He wouldn’t talk to me unless he had to and I never saw him at breakfast, lunch, or dinner, until today. To say I was hurt by his actions, well really I shouldn’t be, but I was. I tried not to let it get to me or at least I thought I didn’t.

  In training I was having a hard time concentrating and Gabe noticed. “Ella focus!” he yelled. I was so distracted I was getting my ass kicked.

  I tried to focus but I couldn’t. My mind was somewhere else. “Can we stop for today? I’m not in the mood for this,” I whined.

  “You think your attacker is just going to stop because you don’t feel like fighting anymore?” I rolled my eyes. “Now. Again,” he said, coming at me full force, knocking me over. “Get up!” I stood back up. He came at me again, backing me up against the wall. I had nowhere to go and he was giving me everything he got and was not holding back. I didn’t have the strength anymore and wanted to give up.

  “Gabe, I think she’s had enough,” Billy said, worried he might really hurt me.

  “No she hasn’t. Now fight back!”

  Tired of my back being pushed up against a wall, literally, I drew strength from my powers. Throwing my hands forward, I blasted him across the gym. Gabe stood up a little stunned. “That’s better,” he said.

  “Are we done now,” I said annoyed.

  “For today,” he said, rubbing his back.

  I could tell I hurt him and I think that was the only reason he stopped. I left the gym in a huff and Billy chasing after me. “Ella wait!” he yelled, following me into the girls’ locker room. “I know you think he’s being too hard on you, but he has his reasons.”

  “When I’m backed up against a wall and –”

  “And you think your attacker is just going to let you go?”

  “Okay I get it,” I groaned, sitting down on the bench to take off my shoes.

  “Do you get it though? Do you have any idea how dangerous Jack is?”

  “Yes I do,” I yelled, getting up. “You think I don’t? I’m tired of people telling me how dangerous he is. I know. I fought him. I watched him kill Tristan. I know how strong he is.”
I bit my lip to keep from crying.

  “And that was then and this is now. He too is preparing and getting stronger. Are you ready to face that?” I shook my head unsure. “Ella, this is why Gabe is being so tough on you. This is why he is pushing you to the brink. So you will be able to take on anything.”

  “I know okay! I’m just tired of everyone depending on me. I just want to have a normal life!”

  I nearly lost it when Billy reached for me and wrapped his arms around me. “I know Ella. I know,” he said softly, trying to comfort me. “Sometimes we forget how much pressure we put on you and that’s not fair. I’ll talk to Gabe and tell him to lighten up a bit.”

  “Thanks Billy,” I said as a bunch of giggling girls walked in and stopped dead in their tracks when they saw Billy. I quickly wiped the tears from my cheeks when Billy froze and looked at me. “Yeah, you’re in the girls’ locker room.”

  “Oh,” he said, quickly making his way out and running into one of the lockers. I laughed as he blushed and finally found his way out. After my minor meltdown, I wasn’t in the mood to deal with anyone so I hopped in the shower and then headed back to my room and passed out.

  By Thursday I was so ready to party. I needed a day where I could forget my troubles for a while and just hang with my friends. I convinced Billy to come to the party with me and by the time we got there the party was already in full swing. I knew it wasn’t exactly a wise idea. But I didn’t care. I wanted to forget my troubles and I knew the best way to do that was to drink.

  Dean was already half in the bag when we found him and he insisted I needed to do shots to catch up to him. “C’mon Ella we’re Irish. Do us proud,” he said, handing me a shot. I took it along with several more during the evening. I had a nice buzz going and was having a good time until Roman showed up. When he saw me, he walked straight for me. I froze, feeling apprehensive, but when he reached me, he walked right past me. It was almost like he walked right through me, leaving a cold chill in his wake. I took Dean’s shot right out of his hand and swallowed. It burned as it slid down my throat, but I didn’t care. I wanted to be anyone but me right now and I felt drinking was the best way to solve that problem.