by Tijan
Of course I knew, but that was the point of it. I wanted to get as far away as possible. It would always remind me of the girl from last night. I wasn’t freaked out with agony and so forth, but the truth was that I was freaked out by the gut-wrenching feeling that something worldly awful had happened and that it was connected to me. “I just… it’s too much, you know? I can’t handle—she died in front of me. I can’t…it’s just too much for me.”
I saw the sympathy in Adam. He placed his hand on mine. “I know exactly what you mean. If you ever need anything, call me. Okay? I want to help you through this tough time.”
Emily fled the scene. I almost caught a back draft from her sprint. “I’d really like that, Adam.”
He squeezed my hand. “Any time. Remember that, Davina.”
I’d remind him another time not to call me that name.
Then the happily-ever-after feeling was gone as I felt a vampire walk past us. A cold wind slapped my insides and I looked up. Normally, vamps ignore me. They can’t feel me like I can feel them so they just believe that they’re not noticed.
Not this time.
I gasped when I saw a pair of coal-black eyes staring right back at me. The vamp was tall with jet black hair. He wore a white buttoned-down shirt over jeans. He kept going, but I still felt his eyes after he turned the corner.
“Davina,” Adam said sharply, confused.
“What…what were you saying?” His hand was gone. I wanted his hand back.
“I…” He frowned again and asked, “Are you okay? You pushed me away and I mean, that’s okay if that’s what you need right now. I just thought…” He trailed off and looked away.
I didn’t have to be empathic to see his insecurity. “It’s not that. That guy scared me just now. I’m sorry. I want your help, I really do.”
His eyes twinkled.
I sighed again. How could any girl not fall in love with how adorable he was?
“Can you two stop with the sappy moment?” Emily returned with a storm at her backside. She slumped in her seat. “I’m trying to study.”
“Oh, yeah,” Adam laughed, a little embarrassed. “I-uh—I’ll talk to you later, Davina?”
I nodded. Hell yeah, we’d talk.
“Good. See you later then.”
I glanced at Emily as he left and saw her sharp green eyes on me. She narrowed them in disgust.
“You make me sick.”
“What? Why?” I was innocent.
“You totally lied to him just now. I had to run to the bathroom to keep from barfing. Really?! You can’t handle it? She died in front of you? Mr. Moser told me that you need to get back to the hotline. You broke protocol and that’s why you quit, not because you’re ‘emotionally shaken.’ Seriously, Davina.”
Maybe my roommate knew me a little better than I realized.
“Can you blame me?! Adam is to die for.” I could not believe I just said those words.
“I can’t believe you said that.” Emily reiterated my thoughts.
I flushed, embarrassed, and leaned back in my chair. “What am I supposed to do? I didn’t quit because of protocol, okay? And I need any advantage with Adam. You know Shelly Whistworth has her claws in him.”
Emily was annoyed. “You have to go and talk to Mr. Moser. You did break the rules and he’s worried about a lawsuit. And Adam Darley is not worth your time to lie and lower yourself. If he’s a stand-up guy, he’ll recognize that you’re much more fun to be with than Shelly Witless. If he’s not and he goes to her, he’s not the guy that you’ll want anyway.”
“I’m not lowering myself,” I remarked, and crossed my arms. “I’m just being manipulative.”
Emily looked at me knowingly. “Well, stop. It’s annoying.”
“It’s fun.”
Emily opened her mouth and started to say something, but I felt the blast of cold race through me. My heart slowed as the vamp walked towards me from the opposite direction. His eyes were on me again. He seemed to look right through me, but he didn’t slow his pace. He walked right past.
I hated vampires. I knew what they could do from personal experience. However, there were a lot of good vampires that liked to hang out on campus. Some of them even took classes and wanted to learn. This guy looked like a regular college student and he walked like one. Right to the computer lab, and back out again for a Mountain Dew. Typical college behavior, but I was betting he wasn’t one of the ‘good’ vampires.
“Do you know who that is?”
“You interrupted me. I was talking.”
I watched as he returned from the vending machines and sat back down at a computer. “That guy. Do you know him?”
“We’re at a school with six thousand students. Really?! We’re freshmen, Davina. How can you expect that I’d know him?”
I turned and regarded her. “Do you know him or not?”
She shifted uncomfortably in her seat.
“Who is he, Emily?” I leaned closer and hoped he couldn’t hear us. There were two glass walls between us and the computer lab always buzzed with conversations and printing papers. If he tuned in, he could hear us, but for once I hoped that I wasn’t a speck on this guy’s radar. Correction—make that this vampire’s radar.
“He’s in my social work class.”
“Intro?”
“Yeah. He’s a junior and he’s fulfilling a requirement.” She sounded like she’d practiced that. Something felt off with her. She liked to share her opinions on people, but she didn’t with this guy.
“You like him.” I couldn’t fault her. Vamps had seductive appeal down to perfection. Emily was a girl. Even she would fall under their power whether they intended it or not. The only way you could fight against their pull is if you knew what they were.
“I do not!” Emily cried out. She started to gather her books back up, but I laid a hand on them.
“It’s okay. He’s dreamy. I understand.” I glanced back over, but sighed in disgust.
He just sat there at the computer. His hands didn’t move on the keyboard. “Who is he?” I asked again, still watching the back of his head.
He sat rigidly.
“Luke Roane,” Emily sighed. She’d be mortified at how dreamy it sounded.
“Roane?” I arched my eyebrows.
What kind of name was that? I’d heard of a Roane back home, but the name was only spoken about as a legend. Most of the vamps didn’t believe he existed. I didn’t like this new twist. My college life wasn’t supposed to deal with supernatural things like this. I wanted an Adam in my life, not a vampire named Roane.
“He’s really intelligent.” Emily had opened her floodgates. Now her opinions flew freely. “He cares about the world and he’s got some super insights into humanity.”
I bet he did.
“Even Professor Sulls asks his opinions on matters. Luke’s like no other guy that I know. I mean, I respect him. I have really high standards and I only respect two other guys,” she said, casually.
“I know.” I said dryly, “Jesus and Martin Luther King Jr.”
“Can you believe it?” Emily sighed again. She was on the fast track for her first college lovecrush. It was my little name for those crushes when a girl thinks she’s in love. They were annoying… to everybody.