For a while, I actually felt normal.
By the time we left, full on pasta, I was beginning to feel more comfortable with the Reds. Beth was lovely and friendly; Zara clearly had a chip on her shoulder, but her sarcasm and ire were not directed at me. I didn’t know what her beef with the world was, but I could understand it. I had my own beef with the world. Being less than impressed with what life had thrown at us so far was one thing we had in common.
When we got back to our res hall, three boxes were waiting for me at our door. Two had the Bradford Hills logo on the side, and one was just a plain box with a note taped to the top:
Eve,
These are the supplies BHI provides to all its full scholarship students. The last box is a care package from me. I noticed you arrived without certain essentials that BHI does not provide, so I took the liberty of arranging them for you. I hope you don’t mind. Have a good first day of classes tomorrow, and again, please don’t hesitate to come see me if you need to.
Best,
Tyler Gabriel
It was handwritten on a piece of notebook paper. Had he delivered these himself? How thoughtful.
“You got Gabe as your admin?” Zara was reading over my shoulder. “Nice.”
“Very nice!” Beth leaned over my other shoulder to get a look herself. “He’s scrumptious. Never dates students though.”
I was beginning to think Beth was a little boy obsessed. “Um . . . wouldn’t that be illegal or whatever?”
“Between students and anyone on the teaching staff, yeah. But Gabe doesn’t teach. It’s frowned on, but there aren’t any rules against it exactly. The student body varies in age so much, plus many of the older students work for the Institute in some capacity too, so the lines are kind of blurred. It’s a moot point anyway. Many have tried and failed.”
She sighed as she picked up one of the boxes and carried it into my room, and I had a sneaking suspicion she was speaking from experience. Zara grabbed one too, and I picked up the last one, kicking the door shut behind us.
“Thanks guys.” I couldn’t decide if it felt nice to have them helping or intrusive to have them touching my stuff.
Thankfully, they left me alone to unpack and set up my room. After unpacking the extra box Tyler had sent, I scrunched up the list of things I needed to buy and threw it away. He had thought of everything, down to new sheets.
When I came out later in the evening, the Reds suggested we order a pizza, sparking a brief argument about whether to get pineapple as a topping—Zara was pro, but Beth was firmly against. They turned to me.
“You’re the decider, Eve.” Beth smiled, and Zara raised her eyebrows expectantly.
I didn’t want to get on either of their bad sides this early on, but I had to make a stand. I gave Zara an apologetic look. “I love pineapple, but it does not belong on pizza.”
Zara huffed, and Beth did a fist pump before picking up the phone to order. “Anna loved it too, and I could never get those two to let me order a good, pineapple-free pizza. Looks like the tables have turned.”
“Whatever.” Zara tried to keep the annoyed look on her face but couldn’t contain her laughter in the end.
I laughed along with them, wishing I had these kinds of silly memories with lifelong friends.
As the Reds continued to reminisce, I did my best to push out the longing for what I’d never had. What mattered was what was ahead of me. Soon, Zara and Beth and I would make our own memories together.
I had a feeling they would be good friends to have.
Five
After doing a little research on fire abilities during one of my sleepless nights, I didn’t see the guy who’d thrown a ball of fire at me as a welcome to Bradford Hills for a while. Then on my third day of classes, I had the same lecture as Zara in Variant Abilities 101, and there he was.
He was chatting with a guy with dirty blond hair who was impeccably dressed in chinos and a gray shirt. When Kid saw us come in, he slapped his friend on the shoulder and came right over.
Zara immediately rolled her eyes and crossed her hands over her chest.
“Hey, Zee.” He grinned, looking between us and smiling widely. I was mesmerized by his light amber eyes, a sharp contrast to his coal-black hair, cut short at the sides. “Are you going to introduce me to your new friend?”
“Don’t call me that, Kid,” she spat. “And no, I’m not. She just got here. I’d like her not to get expelled.”
“What?” He chuckled, looking at her as if she were a little batty. “Who got expelled?”
“Anna, you dick. Her parents picked her up three days ago.”
“Shit. Are you serious?” His playful demeanor dropped and he focused all his attention on Zara, giving me a chance to study him further. He was built like an athlete. Even standing one step below us in the aisle of the lecture theater, he was a little taller than me, and his V-neck T-shirt, pulled tight over his chest, accentuated his broad shoulders. A tattoo peeked out from under his left sleeve, but I was a little distracted by the curves of his defined biceps and didn’t get a good look at it.
The lecturer walked in, and we all had to get to our seats.
Even though I hadn’t said a word to Kid, I couldn’t help but be intrigued, but my new friend’s warning to stay away from him was hard to ignore. If anything, my instant attraction was warning enough to keep my distance. I didn’t need any distractions here. I couldn’t afford to get sidetracked by a beautiful, very muscly, annoyingly confident boy.
Over the next week and a half, Kid tried to get close to me at every opportunity. Once, he came into class late and spent an inappropriate amount of time looking around the half-full lecture theater before zeroing in on me and sitting in the seat right next to mine. Even though half the row was empty.
I focused hard on the lecture and my notes and made a conscious effort not to look in his direction, but about halfway through, a flash of light caught my attention. I looked over to see several tiny scraps of paper on fire and floating above his desk. I watched, transfixed, as the little flickers danced around, my note taking frozen in midsentence.
Just as they were getting too big to go unnoticed by other people, he made a subtle motion with his hand, and they spluttered out, little bits of ash floating down to the table and the floor.
I smiled despite myself and looked up at him. He was watching the front of the room intently, as though none of it had happened. Then one side of his mouth lifted into a smirk.
Self-satisfied show-off. He knew he had my attention, and that was apparently enough.
Another time he saw me come into the cafeteria. He took a step toward me, but a girl with shiny auburn hair sidled up to him and pressed herself against his side, whispering something in his ear.
I shook my head and headed toward the food, ignoring him once again.
Every other time he’d tried to approach me, he’d been thwarted either by Zara’s sarcastic quips and raised brows or my own evasion tactics.
I didn’t think I was likely to run into him on the other side of campus though, so when it finally came time to get the Variant DNA test Tyler had insisted on, it was a relief to stop worrying about dodging Kid for a while.
After putting the test off for two weeks, sure it would come back negative, I’d received a stern text message from Tyler (Why are your blood test results not on my desk yet?), caved, and made an appointment. On my way, I’d also caved by stepping foot inside a Starbucks for the first time in months. This one was on campus, conveniently located near the medical buildings, where my appointment would take place.
My first two weeks at Bradford Hills had allowed me to start falling into a routine, which consisted mostly of classes, study, and hanging out with the Reds. I hadn’t had a chance to explore much past the confines of the campus—the campus itself was so huge that I still hadn’t seen it all, sticking to the buildings that contained my classes, my food, and my bed. Unfortunately, that meant I hadn’t had a chance to find a coff
ee shop with a decent latte. Starbucks would never compare to the amazing Melbourne coffee that had been my introduction to the black gold, but at least it provided something other than that American filtered crap.
I was relieved to find the Starbucks mostly empty. Only five or six people were milling about, waiting on orders and seated at tables. Just to be safe, I checked the time before ordering. Still twenty minutes until my appointment with the campus nurse.
Stepping up to the counter, I ordered my latte in the smallest size possible, moved along, and took my phone from my back pocket. I was dressed casually, as usual. Sticking to campus didn’t really require anything dressier than jeans, flats, and a warm sweater. Even though the sun was out, there was still a chill on the breeze.
I scrolled through my schedule and to-do list as I waited. The massive campus was still a pain to navigate, but at least catching up in the coursework was proving relatively easy. Tyler had not exaggerated when he said that Bradford had a different approach to education. It really wasn’t a problem that I was joining classes so late in the year. They worked at a different pace and with a different structure.
Even so, the amount of reading that piled up after my first meetings with all my professors had been overwhelming, but once again, my weird spurts of energy had saved me. An episode a few days after arriving—three nights without sleep—gave me plenty of extra time to read up on the study materials and even do some extra research, in between several vigorous workouts. It had been a productive few days.
I was on top of everything. The only reason I was checking my schedule was to fill time while I waited for my latte. After all, it wasn’t as if I had any friends to message.
As I put my phone away, I sensed someone behind me, standing a little too close. I turned my head to find Kid craning over my shoulder. So much for not running into him on the other side of campus.
“Damn.” He leaned away to a more comfortable distance and grinned at me. “I was hoping to see who you were texting. So I could tell him to back off.”
“That’s a bit presumptuous.” I faced the counter again, giving him my back. “You don’t even know my name.”
“You’re right.” He chuckled, stepping up next to me and reaching his hand out as if to shake mine. “I’m Ethan Paul, and you are . . .” He raised his brows expectantly, his amber eyes shining with mirth.
“On my way to an appointment and don’t have time for this,” I deadpanned, forcing myself to look away from those eyes.
He laughed. “Oh, come on. You won’t even tell me your name? What have I done to deserve such suspicion?”
I sighed and rolled my eyes, willing the barista to hurry with my latte. When the young guy behind the counter finally pushed the beverage toward me, I realized the flaw in my getaway plan.
“Tall latte for Eve,” the barista announced before turning away to make the next coffee.
“Shit,” I muttered under my breath, taking a sideways glance at Kid.
He was looking right at me, grinning. Deep dimples gave him a very innocent look, which the sparkle in his eyes elevated to an infectious kind of glee. It was a stark contrast to his large, intimidating frame. He towered over me, once again dressed in jeans and a tight white T-shirt. How was he not cold? Despite a string of cool spring days, I hadn’t seen him in a jacket or sweater once.
With another eye-roll (my new roommate was rubbing off on me—Zara was a pro eye-roller), I jammed a lid on my latte and rushed toward the exit as the barista called out behind me, “Venti dark roast for Ethan.”
Of course his order only took seconds to fill. All they had to do was pour the stale filtered excuse for coffee into a giant cup and hand it over.
“Hey, Eve!” he called after me, emphasizing my name, as I stepped outside. “Wait!”
I didn’t slow down, but he caught up to me anyway.
“Hey, come on. All I’m trying to do is introduce myself. You’re new around here. You could use some friends.”
I pulled up short and faced him. “I have plenty of friends, thank you very much,” I lied, crossing my arms over my chest. He had hit a sore spot.
He loudly gulped his sip of coffee before lowering the cup, the easy expression on his face gone. “Of course. I didn’t mean anything by it.”
Realizing I may have overreacted a little, I made a conscious effort to relax my stance and tried giving him a small smile. “I really do have to go.”
“Wait.” The sudden seriousness of his tone made me stop. “Look, I don’t know what Zara has told you about me, but all I’m saying is maybe you could get to know me a little before making up your own mind.”
Dammit. He had a point. His cocky and boisterous behavior had been in line with Zara and Beth’s description of his womanizing ways and careless attitude toward school, but Beth had defended him a few times. I hadn’t seen him be mean or intentionally rude to anyone since he’d thrown the fireball at me on my first day.
Now he was standing right in front of me, and I wasn’t entirely sure I still wanted to avoid him.
“So, can we start again?” He rubbed the back of his neck, and I tried not to stare at the way his arm muscles popped out in that position.
“Yes. OK.” I nodded, extending my hand. “My name is Eve.”
He wrapped his hand around mine firmly but gently. “Hi, Eve. I’m Ethan, but my friends call me Kid.” He flashed me his brilliant smile with a side of dimples, and I did my best to focus on the word friend. That’s all we would be—friends. I could handle that.
But even as I was trying to convince myself I wasn’t attracted to him, I was noticing how warm his hand felt wrapped around mine, which looked tiny by comparison. Neither one of us was pulling away, which left us standing there, holding each other’s hands and staring at each other. I wondered if his palm felt tingly too.
I pulled my hand out of his and stepped back, taking a sip of my mediocre latte. He glanced down at his palm, looking bewildered for a second, before shoving it into his pocket.
“So, Eve.” He smiled widely, obviously still happy to finally know my name. “Where are you off to?”
“I have an appointment with the campus nurse. Apparently it’s school policy to run a full blood workup on new students. Seems a little intrusive if you ask me, but my admissions guy, Tyler, is insisting.”
“Oh, Gabe is your admin guy? Sweet!”
“You know him?” I guess it wasn’t much of stretch. The Variant community here seemed tight-knit and well established.
“Yeah. We live together.”
“Oh!” I fixed him with a very surprised look. Maybe Zara had read him way wrong.
He tossed his head back and laughed loudly. “Not like that, Eve. We grew up together.”
“Oh. Sorry. So you’re related?”
“Nah, not really.”
My curiosity was piqued, but I was making an effort to curb that in social situations, so I didn’t ask for more information. Realizing we had been talking for some time, I checked my phone and saw I only had five minutes to find the correct building, then the correct room, for my appointment.
Cursing, I started walking in what I hoped was the right direction. “I’m going to be late for my appointment. Nice to meet you, Kid. Bye!”
He grabbed me by the back of my sweater, stopping me in my tracks, and chuckled. When I looked over my shoulder, he pointed at a low ivy-covered building next to the one that housed the Starbucks. “You want to go there.”
“Right,” I breathed, embarrassed. “Of course. Thanks. See ya!” I took off in my new direction.
“You’re welcome, Eve!” he yelled after me. “Nice to meet you, Eve! See you later, Eve!”
I couldn’t contain my smile as I lifted my hand over my head to wave, rushing to my appointment.
Twenty minutes later, I walked back out, my coffee long gone, my right elbow bandaged where the nurse had inserted the needle. After I’d signed some paperwork, the young nurse had taken several vials of my blood wit
h gentle fingers and practiced movements and told me the results would be ready in two weeks.
Emerging into the fresh air, I paused. I wasn’t due to meet the Reds for lunch for another hour, and I had nothing to do until then. Was trying to explore this end of campus worth the risk of getting completely lost? I had stupidly left my trusty giant map behind in my room. I may have had the table of elements memorized, but my sense of direction was seriously awful.
As I looked around this quieter part of campus—the buildings just as old and impressive as all the others, the oak trees swaying in the light spring breeze—I spotted someone familiar.
My new friend was hard to miss, his big frame towering over everyone else in the vicinity. Kid was standing near the entrance to the Starbucks, talking to the blond, well-dressed boy I had seen him with several times. They were standing close, their heads bent together, their faces serious.
I knew I shouldn’t be staring—I had vowed to treat people like people, not puzzles—but my indecision about what to do with my free hour was completely forgotten. All I could do was watch and wonder what Kid and his friend were discussing so intently.
As he replied to something Kid had said with a wave of his hand, the blond looked in my direction. Our eyes met, his gaze rooting me to the spot. Kid soon turned to look at me too, and I finally snapped myself out of it and glanced around the square, struggling to remember which direction I had come from to get there. I headed for the main path, hoping to find one of those signposts with the arrows.
Eyes downcast, embarrassed for getting caught staring, I nearly barreled into Kid when he stepped into my path.
“Oh shit.” I jumped, my heart flying into my throat, my hand clutching at my chest.
Variant Lost (The Evelyn Maynard Trilogy Book 1) Page 6