The sun casted golden rays of light through the high windows in the hallways. A few students were loitering around, while some were rushing to their classes.
Skylar walked quietly through the halls, her notebook clutched to her chest, lost in thought. She couldn't stop thinking about what happened at the cafeteria, about the girl and about what Rose told her, and also about that guy she had bumped into this morning.
She shook her head, 'No he's just random. He's not important'. Her mind said. "I Shouldn't be thinking about that." She said to herself. "There are other important things to think about now".
And then —bam!.
She collided into something. No someone, harder than expected. She nearly bounced back from the impact.
"Seriously?" a familiar voice said, she didn't realize she stepped squarely on his foot.
She gasped, stumbling back. "Oh my God, I'm so sorry!"
She looked up and there he was again. The boy from this morning. Lean build, sharp gaze, hair tousled like he'd just come from a rooftop photoshoot. And right now, he was looking at her with a questionable expression.
"You again," he said, tilting his head, amusement flickering in his eyes. "At this point, I Think I should charge you for physical damage."
"You were in the way!" She spoke without thinking, her cheeks flaring with heat. "you came out of nowhere!"
"You stepped on my foot."
"Well, I didn't do it on purpose."
"This is why I said you can't see properly" He said shaking his head.
"But I already apologized!"
"Your apology wasn't sincere".He said. She wanted to say something but couldn't.
Then he folded his arms, mocking seriousness. "I believe in signs, you know. Coincidences that aren't really coincidences. Like running into the same person twice in one day and in the same place."
She gawked at him. "It's a hallway!"
He grinned. "Exactly. There are so many hallways in this school. And yet…"
She tightened her grip on her notebook glaring at him. "Don't flatter yourself." She said. Though her cheeks betrayed her.
He took a small step back and gestured to his foot. "I might never walk the same way again."
She rolled her eyes and pushed him to the side. "You're so dramatic." She said as she walked away
"And you're dangerous," he called after her, laughing softly.
She didn't look back but her ears were burning again.
Later that day.
It was already 6p.m and some students and lecturers were wrapping up there lectures. While some were already coming out of the lecture halls and buildings, heading to their dorms , and others were hanging around the vicinity chatting with their friends.
Under the shade of a large tree, a young man was layed leisurely on a bench, with one arm draped over his eyes and the other below his head as he slept soundly.
A figure approached him in silence. Trying to be as quiet as possible. As soon as it was near him, he Grabbed the edge of the bench and was about to flip it when..
"Try it and I'll make sure you end up in the nurse's office." The boy on the bench spoke without lifting his arm from his eyes.
The figure froze, caught mid-action.
"Damn, you're no fun anymore." Cyrus said clicking his tongue. "My sneak attacks aren't working anymore."
The boy on the bench didn't say anything. He continued sleeping.
Cyrus moved his legs and sat on the bench. Poking him, he asked "What happened in the cafeteria today?". There was no answer.
"Come on tell me." There was still no answer. "I saw Bella looking like a bowl of spaghetti and I know you know something." Cyrus said trying to shake Jace who was trying to ignore him.
"You were at the cafeteria when it happened so tell me.... I want to know.." Cyrus kept pestering him.
"Sigh. Don't you have something better to do?" Jace asked him. Dropping his hand from his eyes, he looked at Cyrus with annoyance.
"Nope."
"Can't you find something else to do? Like getting lost in the woods or something?" Jace said.
Cyrus looked thoughtful as if he was actually thinking about what Jace said. Then he grinned. "That sounds like a good idea. I'll do that later."
"What do you want Cy?" Jace asked in a lazy and annoyed voice. "Cause I know you're not really here to ask me about Bella."
"How can you say that?" Cyrus asked dramatically. "Of course I'm here to ask about our goddess. What else would I come here for?".
Jace just looked at him blankly and a few seconds passed and Cyrus sighed.
"Fine." He said. "I wanted to ask if you've seen the new intakes. They arrived last week." Jace didn't say anything. "I heard they're here on scholarship and I find it weird." Cyrus said.
"And so?" Jace asked.
Cyrus rolled his eyes and said, "Since when did this place start giving out things like that? It has never happened before, so it's odd."
"Is there anything that isn't odd in this place?" Jace asked lazily, sitting up.
"Hmmmn, but still it's unusual a..."
"And I don't care." Jace cuts him off mid sentence. " I couldn't care less about the decisions of this school. It doesn't bother me nor should it bother you too."
Cyrus' mouth twitched, he sighed. "You know," His tone shifting slightly, "it's strange but there's been a rumor going around."
"What kind of rumor?" Jace asked.
Cyrus glanced around, lowering his voice. "Someone's been sneaking into the old building at night. You know, the one that was sealed off last semester after the... incident."
"Someone? Who's that?" Jace asked curious.
"No one knows. Security won't talk, and the heads are pretending that it's nothing. But last night, someone saw lights in there. Moving lights. And not just once." Cyrus said.
"You think it's some students messing around?" Jace asked running a hand through his black hair.
"I'm not sure." Cyrus said. "But the person said they heard voices coming from inside, like someone chanting."
"Strange." Jace said standing up. "Don't get involved.... yet. Let's see what happens first. If Elias hasn't said anything about it, it means he's trying to handle it so let's wait." And with that he left.
Looking at Jace as he disappears around a corner. Cyrus sighed, Then he looked up at the sky and a slow smile spread across his face.
That night, inside her room, Skylar was thinking about what happened at the cafeteria.
Her room was quiet, save for the ticking clock on the wall and the occasional swaying of the curtains. She sat on the edge of her bed, her knees pulled to her chest, staring blankly at the wall.
Her mind kept replaying it over and over again. The surprised look in her eyes, the way she had gone completely still. She hadn't meant to slip. Everything had happened so fast.
She bit her lip and gripped the fabric of her blanket tightly. That girl was dangerous and powerful.
Rose told her that the rules of the school which kept everyone else in line doesn't really apply to 'The Golden three'. They do whatever they want whenever they want and the school authority can't do anything about it.
'Did she tell her friends about the incident at the cafeteria? will they come after her? But she didn't mean it and she said she will let it slide right?' Skylar couldn't help but groan. She felt like she was doomed.
Her eyes flicked to the window. The shadows outside seemed deeper tonight. It was odd.
Sighing she decided to sleep but her eyes caught sight of her notebook. Then a smug teasing face flashed across her mind and a strange warmth crept up her cheeks and she buried her face in her pillow, as a fresh set of thoughts flooded her mind.
She groaned unable to stop her mind from thinking about that boy in the hallway.
'Why did he have to look so smug all the time? Why did his voice sound like trouble dipped in honey? And why does he....smell so good?
She sat up on her bed and stared at the ceiling, her face red like a tomato.
'Who was that guy anyway?'. She thought.
She didn't even know his name. Didn't want to know it either.
And yet… she was pretty sure if she bumped into him again, she'd remember the shape of his smile before anything else.
"Aah, what is wrong with you Skylar? Why are you even thinking about that boy?" She said to herself as she fell on her bed groaning. She looked at the ceiling.
Her mind kept thinking about his smug smile, his black hair, his handsome face and his scent. 'was it legal for someone to look that handsome?' She groaned.
"What is wrong with me?" She chastised herself as she slumps on the bed.
She shut her eyes and forced herself to sleep, trying to stop herself from thinking about him.
But as the night went deeper she found herself in a place she didn't quite understand.