Vampire Shifter Academy, page 14
“Now, I’d rush over if I knew where Dorian’s dorm room was.”
When they stopped laughing, Bella stood up and went to her desk, rummaging a little through the first drawer. Then, she took out a piece of paper with some writing on it.
“Here,” she gestured at Eva to take it.
“What is this?” Eva wondered, not really looking at the paper.
“It’s Dorian’s dorm room and Frey’s, also, Sebastian’s.”
“What?” Eva couldn’t believe it. “You have this? How long have you had this?”
“Oh, just a few days,” Bella shrugged her shoulders like it was no big deal. “When you told me what happened between you guys, and then you mentioned Sebastian, I figured, it’d be good to know where they are, so if you don’t return home one evening, I know where to go and look for you.”
Eva couldn’t believe what she was hearing. Her heart was about to burst open, despite all the nasty stuff that just happened. Bella always managed to make everything better and she loved her for it.
“I don’t know what to say…”
“Just go and see what he has to say,” Bella always kept it low drama. “If it’s not true, go be happy. If it’s true, then kick his ass.”
“Will do,” Eva nodded, giving Bella a big hug.
Chapter 19
Eva was already on the move, as she was looking at the little crumpled piece of paper she was squeezing in her hand, as if her life depended on it. Occasionally, she’d think that she’d meet one of those people who were there when Katrina told her about this stupid bet, and that they would stop her and make fun of her, but she realized that no one paid any attention to her. It was late afternoon and the campus was crowded. The weather was pleasant, so everyone wanted to be outside for as long as they could, as the wind got colder in the evenings and it would chill you to the bone.
Eva rushed over to dorm five, grateful to see that Frey and Dorian were actually staying in the same dorm, only in different rooms, on different floors. She toyed with the idea of going to see Frey first, just to ask him if he knew anything about this, but she wasn’t sure that was a good idea. She needed to talk to Dorian and, yet, she was afraid. She was petrified, actually, of the fact that what Katrina told her might be true and, now, everyone would know what she did. She didn’t care what they would think of her but she was also realistic, and she knew that Katrina could make her life a living Hell for the rest of her time here.
She walked into the dorm and looked around. It was arranged just like her dorm, so it was easy to find the room she was looking for.
Suddenly, she felt someone’s hand on her waist and she was about to punch that someone, when a familiar voice addressed her.
“Hey, gorgeous!”
It was Frey. It seemed that fate really wanted him on her side in all this.
“What are you doing here?” he asked.
“I’m looking for Dorian,” she told him.
“And here I was, hoping you came to see me,” he grinned, but immediately realized that she wasn’t in the mood for jokes. “Is everything alright?”
His hand was still pressing on her waist softly. She didn’t want him to take it away. She wanted to fall into his arms and cry out all of her frustrations, but this was neither the time, nor the place for that.
“No, it’s not,” she managed to say.
“What happened?” he asked, pulling her a little to the side, so that now, they were standing in the corner of the big hallway.
“I need to talk to Dorian about something very important.”
“He’s not here,” he told her. “I just saw him leave, he’s got practice.”
“On Thursdays?”
“They arrange it whenever they can, I don’t know,” he shrugged his shoulders. “I can take you there and you can talk to him if you’d like.”
He looked worried. She could see that much, but she didn’t want to tell him anything before she talked to Dorian. If it was true, maybe Frey was in on it and they had some kind of an agreement, and… Her head was about to burst. She felt a pressure like never before, and all she wanted was to be home, in her bed at grandma’s house, waiting for a soothing cup of cocoa to make her feel better and forget all about her problems. But, there was no bed, no soothing cocoa, and no grandma. She had to sort this shit out on her own, and that was exactly what she was planning on doing.
“No, I can go there by myself, thanks,” she told him gravely.
“I’m going,” he said, choosing not to pay attention to what she’d just said. “You look like something horrible happened and I’m definitely not going to stand back and let you sort this out on your own. You can count on me, Eva, seriously.”
A part of her wasn’t sure if she could trust him or if she should trust him, but her gut feeling was there. It kept assuring her that this was the right way to go.
Let him in.
“Okay, you can be there,” she finally told him, “but I need to do this on my own. So, just let me do the talking, unless I specifically ask for your help. Deal?”
“Deal,” he smiled, feeling relieved.
He took her by the hand and, together, they rushed over to the gymnasium. Neither of them said a word as they were walking, but their steps took on a unified rhythm which soothed her. Her hand in his, kept telling her that everything might be okay in the end. Maybe this really was a lie. Dorian would tell her the truth. They would all laugh about it, then plan their next meeting.
She sighed, lost in hope.
“Is it that bad?” he asked, squeezing her clammy hand.
“It’s pretty bad, yeah.”
“Wanna tell me?”
“You’ll hear when I tell it to Dorian.”
“Okay.”
He understood that there would be no changing her mind, so he didn’t even try.
They reached the gymnasium quickly and Dorian was there. He was already playing but when he saw them both, he waved cheerfully. Eva immediately thought how he must either be innocent or the best liar in the world. She was hoping it was the first thing, though. They waved back at him, and Frey gestured that they needed to talk. Dorian nodded.
Frey took her up to the highest seats on the bleachers and a minute later, Dorian joined them.
“I only have a minute, guys, but we can meet later, I’m free after…”
He wasn’t allowed to finish what he was trying to say. Instead, Eva was doing the talking.
“I had a very unpleasant talk with Katrina today,” she started, deciding that she was going to be level-headed about this and, most importantly, dignified.
She could see that the mention of her name made both guys angry, especially Frey.
“She told me something,” she continued slowly, making every word count, “something that hurt me very much.”
“Just give me the heads up and I’ll make it so that she never even looks at you again, let alone hurts you…” Frey growled.
“I know,” she stopped him, pressing her hand against his gently, “and I am really grateful but this concerns Dorian, more than it concerns you.”
“Me?” Dorian was surprised. “I don’t know what she told you but I had nothing to do with her. We fooled around ages ago but that’s history. I keep telling her that, she just won’t leave me alone.”
“That’s not what she said, actually.”
“What did she say?” It was Dorian’s turn to growl now.
“She said that the only reason you slept with me…” she paused, gathering up the courage to say it out loud, “was because you made a bet with your teammates.”
She couldn’t look at either of them in the eyes, as she spoke these words. It hurt too much. The very possibility that this might be true, tore her heart into tiny little pieces.
“Dorian…” Frey looked at him.
“I swear, to both of you,” Dorian shook his head, “she is lying.”
Eva didn’t speak. There wasn’t really anything left to say. Now, it was their turn and she was willing to listen, though, she didn’t know if she was willing to trust.
“Can’t you guys see that the only reason she is saying all this crap is because I keep rejecting her?” Dorian continued.
“Then, how does she know I slept with you?”
“Did she tell you that?”
Eva tried to remember. It was all a blur now. Could it be that Katrina was only fishing and that, in reality, she knew nothing? Far fetched but possible.
“She sounded like she knew what she was talking about,” Eva replied, a little evasively.
“She sounds like that when she’s talking about many things and trust me, she knows shit sometimes.”
Dorian was furious. He kept burying his face in his hands, then raking his fingers through his luscious curls. Eva immediately remembered that night, how his fingers did that to her hair. But, now, she needed to focus and not get distracted by his good looks.
“I don’t wanna have to ask you this myself, Dorian,” Frey suddenly interfered.
Eva was grateful that he wanted to leave it to her to sort it out, but now, she was equally grateful to him for butting in, even though she’d asked him not to. She felt like he had her back and it made this horrible situation a little less horrible.
“Listen, I know that everyone thinks I’m a jerk just because I play sports. I guess, sometimes, I can be, I won’t deny that.”
Eva almost smiled at this.
“But, I’m not a psychopath. This,” he gestured at air, in an effort to focus his attention on something else, “this whole thing is just whack. If you think I’d enjoy causing pain to someone, especially someone I have feelings for, then you guys really don’t know me.”
He sounded sincere, like he really meant every word he was saying. His body was shivering, even though it wasn’t cold. Eva wanted to hug him but this wasn’t the place for that. Someone might see and she was already in enough trouble with Katrina as it was. She had to take care of it but strategically. Meaning, she would have to come up with a plan to bring this bully down.
For the time being she had to make sure that the men she chose to care about felt the same way about her.
“When she told me, I didn’t want to believe it,” Eva admitted.
“See?” Dorian jumped. “You had a gut feeling that she was lying. Otherwise, you would have believed her from the moment she told you that.”
Eva thought about it for a second. Would she really believe her? Or was she simply blinded by her love for him? And, was she blinded again right now, and couldn’t see past his sweet lies?
“I think I would have heard something about it, if she was telling the truth,” Frey whispered to her, so that Dorian didn’t hear.
“What did you tell her?” Dorian wondered, though he didn’t seem upset.
“I’m on her side,” Frey replied. “You know that. And people who take joy in the suffering of others are assholes in my book.”
“You gotta believe me, man, I didn’t do any such thing. There is no bet. That bitch is lying.”
Frey eyed him for a second. Eva could almost see the little hairs on his back stand on end. She felt like smiling. He was the one to protect her. She knew that. She could trust him. Dorian - she wasn’t so sure of.
“There is no point to this,” Eva finally cut the conversation short.
“You do believe me, don’t you?” Dorian grabbed her by the hand, the one Frey wasn’t holding.
Eva gave him a weak smile. Her heart believed him. It was gentle and naive, of course it would believe him. But, her head was strong. It knew better than to jump at any given apology and believe it straight off the bat.
“I need some time to process this,” she told him, nodding. “I’d like to tell you I believe you, but I’m too hurt about this to think straight.”
“I understand,” Dorian said, meekly.
“Thank you,” she gave him a peck on the cheek, not caring that someone might see them and tell Katrina.
She stood up to go and Frey did the same. She gently caressed his cheek.
“I need some time alone,” she told him.
“Are you sure?” he asked. “I can just sit by your side and be quiet. You won’t even know I’m there but you’ll feel it and that’s all I want.”
“You’re sweet,” she smiled broadly this time. He deserved it. “But I think some time alone will help me decide.”
“Alright then,” Frey said, equally sad, as Dorian.
She walked away from them with a heavy heart. Her heart was screaming at her, to go back, grab them both by the hand and run over to the abandoned house, to their safe place. It wasn’t about sex. She just wanted them close to her, to know that someone loved her, that someone wanted to keep her safe and warm.
But, Katrina managed to ruin that. Her lies cut deep, like a rusty knife. Eva couldn’t understand how someone could be so mean intentionally. What was the point of such malice with no apparent reason?
Chapter 20
Eva walked out of the school building. She felt like crying. She could feel her eyes filled with tears and she tried even harder not to blink too often, for fear of them all spilling out in front of everyone. But, the campus seemed empty. There were only a few people sitting by the little pond, underneath the big, chestnut tree. A few others were rushing either to the dorms or to the school. However, it was much less occupied than usual.
Eva was grateful for that. That meant that she had less chance of running into someone who might ask her what the matter was, as she was really unwilling to do the usual chit chat routine. Her steps took on a rushed pace, pressing hard against the gravel underneath her feet. She felt a little dizzy and a bit hot, when she pressed her hand against her forehead. But, she didn’t feel sick. At least, she thought she wasn’t sick. It was probably all because she got so upset over Katrina and what she had said. That, and the fact that she was so eager to see her father, but she was told he couldn’t come out of hiding until he’d fully recovered. He couldn’t risk it. They might get him for real this time, and there would be no going back. So, Eva knew she had to be patient and wait for the right moment to come.
She was about to turn left at the next building and just take the short cut to her dorm, when she stumbled against someone and was catapulted backward, making her fall hard to the ground.
She moaned, feeling the back sides of her thighs were a little painful, but she managed to get up immediately, which made her feel even dizzier. She closed her eyes, pressing her fingers against her temples, trying to take the pressure off. It didn’t really help. The pain was still there and she saw everything around her as if through a veil of fog. She dusted herself off, and was about to apologize, when she came across the gentle eyes of the gardener.
“Eva,” she smiled. “Funny running into you.”
“Amelie,” Eva smiled back. “I’m sorry. I wasn’t looking where I was going.”
“It’s alright, dear,” she pressed her hand softly against Eva’s shoulder. “You look a little flushed. Are you alright?”
“I’m actually not feeling very well,” she replied honestly. “That’s why I’m rushing back to my room, to lie down a little…”
But, she didn’t manage to finish her sentence. She felt like she had suddenly lost all control of her body. Her hands weren’t hers anymore. They belonged to an invisible puppeteer who decided to take them away from her, as if out of punishment. Her legs suddenly refused to hold up her weight and she came down with a loud crash. The gravel scraped her soft cheek but she didn’t feel it. Her eyes were getting heavier and heavier. The last thing she saw was Amelie’s worried face as she heard her calling out her name.
When she came around, she felt a heavy pressure inside her temples again. Opening her eyes was painful. She quickly closed them again. She smelled something weird, something unfamiliar. Her breathing quickened and she opened her eyes immediately, despite the sharp pain that followed.
“Just relax,” she heard the voice of Amelie talk to her from somewhere in the room but not very close.
It took a few seconds for Eva’s eyes to adjust themselves. The light inside the little hut was soft. Several candles, scattered throughout the room, flickered softly. Small carpets of all colors and shapes lay prostrate on the floor. On the walls, there were all sorts of paintings. Eva recognized a small drawing which seemed to be done by copying Picasso. Then, right next to it, a painting resembling the works of Monet. Eva loved the art of painting. It was one of the many interests her parents had instilled in her. She was always taught to respect all forms of art, because true art came from the heart and, as she was coming to realize, not many had it. Many pretended to have it but not many were truly blessed with it. That was why such artistic treasures were all the more precious.
