Eternity (18 page)

It happened
again in Physical Defence. Victor usually paired me up with another
girl around my own size, which generally worked well for me. I was
getting stronger and faster, but I wasn’t exactly ahead of the
class, and I still got my butt kicked almost as often as not. That
day, however, he paired me up with a guy named Lucas, who was
probably the best fighter in the class. He was also gay, so I
didn’t have to worry about what he thought of me. By the end of the
class I was bruised and sore, and Lucas kept apologizing to me for
hurting me. I had to wonder what the heck Victor had been thinking.
I hoped my getting body-slammed multiple times was enough to
convince him I was normal. It certainly convinced me.

It kept going
on like that. It was like they were testing me to see if I would do
something extraordinary, and I kept disappointing them. After a few
days they seemed to realize that, but I could still tell they were
paying a lot of attention to me anyway. I mentioned it to Heather
one day at lunch time.

“Yeah, I’ve
noticed that too,” she said. “They give you a lot of special
treatment. It’s like they think that if they’re good to you you’ll
reward them or something when you get your powers back.”

I rolled my
eyes. “Do they honestly think that?”

“I don’t know.
They talk about you a lot though. I hear them all the time in the
staff rooms exchanging stories about what you’ve been doing, even
though it all seems pretty normal. To be honest, I don’t get it any
more than you do. It’s like you said before, it doesn’t change who
you are now.”

“Honestly, I
don’t care that much about what they think of me, but if I keep
getting paired with Lucas in Defence I’m going to have to start
complaining.”

Heather
laughed. “I’m glad it’s you and not me,” she said. “You’re a better
fighter than I am.”

Besides having
to worry about what my teachers were talking about behind my back,
I also worried about Adrian. He was still in isolation, so I only
saw him in Calculus, and it seemed to be taking a toll on him. He
was either moody or silent most days, but he still talked to me. He
said he liked having a room to himself, but he didn’t like not
being allowed to wander around like he used to, and he missed being
able to see me. I tried to go to his room a few times, but there
was always someone there guarding the door. The school was pretty
serious about its punishments.

Chapter
23

It was the
middle of April before I finally managed to get in to see Adrian.
It was on a Saturday, and most of the teachers were enjoying their
time off. I went over to the north wing at around nine o’clock,
which was an hour before curfew. There were a couple of vampires in
the common room playing a card game, but other than them I didn’t
see anyone there. I was quite surprised when I reached Adrian’s
room and there was no one waiting outside the door for him to try
to escape. I thought perhaps he wasn’t there, but I knocked on the
door anyway. Adrian opened the door a minute later, and his face
brightened right away. He looked out in the hallway from side to
side to see if there was anyone else there. When he saw no one he
stepped aside to let me in.

“Do you mind if
I lock the door?” he asked. “I don’t want anyone barging in and
finding you here.”

“Nah, go
ahead,” I said. I flopped down on an unused bed and looked around
the room. It had dark green wallpaper and dark wood furniture, and
there was only one light on in the room that cast a soft yellow
glow, leaving the whole room looking dark and cosy. There hardly
seemed to be any personal items, so the room looked quite neat.
“Nice room,” I commented.

“I guess, but
there isn’t much to do in here,” Adrian said, sitting down on the
bed beside the one I was on, so we were facing each other. “It’s
really good to see you, even if you won’t be able to stay long.” He
looked his alarm clock.

I shrugged. “I
haven’t been too good at following the rules since I got here.
There’s no point in starting now.”

Adrian laughed.
“I guess that’s one way of looking at things,” he said. “As long as
you don’t get in trouble because of me.”

“I’m not
worried. I doubt they’d kick me out of school even if I did get
caught. You’d probably get in more trouble than I would.”

“That would
depend on what time it was when they caught us. How long do you
plan on staying?”

“It’s your
room, so that’s your choice,” I said.

“Well, then I
guess you’re staying forever,” Adrian joked.

“I can live
with that.” I stretched out on the bed so I could rest my head on
the pillow, but I continued to face Adrian, and he continued to
watch me.

“How have you
been doing?” I asked softly.

“I’m fine,” he
said. “I still feel a little trapped in here, but it could be
worse. At least I have you here with me now.” He grinned and winked
at me, and I couldn’t help but smile back.

“Are they ever
going to let you out of here?” I asked.

“If my good
behaviour continues, they plan on moving me back to my old room in
about two weeks. I asked if I could stay in here, but they didn’t
think it would be a good idea. My therapist thinks being around
other people might actually be good for me.” He rolled his eyes.
From what he had told me in Calculus, I could tell he didn’t like
his therapist. He didn’t talk to her at all, which only succeeded
in driving her crazy, he had said.

“Does that mean
you can go where you want again soon?”

“Yes, which is
all I look forward to. I miss being able to go outside. I feel
safer there, out in the open.”

“Why? Do you
just like-”

Adrian
interrupted me by holding up his hand. I stopped talking, and I
realized that he was listening to something. We both heard the soft
footsteps in the hall.

“Damn,” Adrian
whispered. He went over to the door and looked through the keyhole.
He frowned and went back over to his bed. “Mr. Dawes is on hallway
duty tonight, and he’s the worst one,” he said quietly. He got up
again and went to his mp3 player, which was on his bedside table
and attached to speakers. He turned the music on and turned it
up.

“Don’t you
think he’ll find that suspicious?” I asked quietly.

“Not at all. I
have music on all the time,” he said. Instead of going back to his
bed, he came over to the one I was on and sat down beside me.
“We’ll still have to talk quietly, but at least he shouldn’t hear
us.”

“I guess it
will be a little difficult for me to leave now,” I observed.

“Then you’ll
have to stay,” Adrian said. He took my hand in his and began
tracing the lines of my palm.

“Do they
actually have any meaning?” I wondered.

“The lines in
your palm? No, only fake psychics use those.”

“Hey, I could
totally become a psychic. I doubt anyone would take me seriously
though.”

“What do you
really want to do when you finish school?” Adrian asked. “Do you
have any plans?”

“None
whatsoever,” I told him. “I’ve never had any money, and I have no
parents to support me, so I don’t think I’ll be able to go to
university. I really don’t even know where I’m going to go when I’m
done here. I have no home to go back to.”

“I have a home,
but I have no intention of going back there. My father was a pack
leader, but he was killed, and now my mother hates me because I
remind her of him. She couldn’t wait to send me off to school.”

“That almost
sounds worse than having no parents,” I said. “Do you know where
you’re going to go?”

“When I was
younger I wanted to be a cop, but I have a criminal record, so they
might not accept me. I kind of want to travel, but I don’t have
enough money. I’ll probably end up working in construction or
something.”

“I doubt that.
Good thing we’ve got lots of time to decide.”

“Why don’t you
do something with music?” Adrian asked me. “I’ve never heard anyone
play like you do.”

“You’re not the
first one to ask. I just like playing my own music, but to have a
serious career I’d have to play someone else’s, and I don’t want to
do that.”

“Can you
sing?”

“Yeah, I can
sing, but I never do it in public.”

“Well, if you
can sing and play amazing music, then you can have a career in
music without having to play other people’s music. If you could
write your own songs, do you think you could do it?”

“I don’t know,”
I said honestly. “It’s a possibility, but even if I wanted to do it
there’s no guarantee that I’d be able to. It’s a competitive
business.”

“That’s true,”
Adrian said. He continued to trace the lines of my palm. “How are
your arms?” he asked.

“They’ve been
healed for a long time,” I told him. “I still have scars, but they
aren’t that bad.”

“Can I
see?”

I nodded. I was
wearing a sweater with only a bra on underneath. I tried to roll my
sleeves up all the way, but they would only go about halfway up my
arms. I had to settle for taking off my sweater instead. The thin
white lines left from Adrian’s claws were still visible. He ran his
fingers along them, which gave me a chill, but his eyes wandered
elsewhere. I blushed and pulled my sweater over my chest. Adrian
chuckled.

“Need I remind
you that I’ve already seen a lot more of you than that?” he said. I
only blushed more at the reminder. When we’d been in the woods at
night all of my clothes had been burnt off. He’d even helped me get
dressed after. Of course, I’d seen him naked more times than he’d
seen me. I reminded him of that, and he laughed at me.

“I’m kind of
used to that,” he said. “When you’re a werewolf, people see you
naked all the time.”

“Well, I’m not
a werewolf,” I said, and I pulled my sweater back on.

There was a
loud knock at the door. I jumped up and ran to the bathroom and hid
behind the door, though I didn’t close it. Adrian got up and turned
the music off. He glanced over at where I was, and he went to
answer the door. He opened it slightly and stuck his head out.

“It’s past
curfew,” I heard Mr. Dawes say. “Time to turn off that music and
get to bed.”

“Yes, sir,”
Adrian said, and he shut the door. He locked it again and came over
to the bathroom. “We’re going to have to be really quiet,” he
whispered. “We might as well go to bed.”

“Yeah, it’s
kind of hard to talk like this,” I whispered back.

“I’m going to
change, so I need to get in the bathroom.”

“Okay, I’ll be
out here.”

Adrian grabbed
his pyjamas and went into the bathroom. I took my shoes off, but
that was pretty much all I could do. When Adrian was finished in
the bathroom I went in and washed my face. When I came out, Adrian
held out a big t-shirt.

“You might not
want to sleep in your clothes. You can wear this if you want,” he
whispered.

I took the
shirt and went back to the bathroom to change. When I put it on it
only went to mid-thigh, but it covered me well enough. I folded up
my clothes to wear them in the morning and went back to the
bedroom. Adrian was already lying down in his bed, but his eyes
were open. He watched me as I walked over. Instead of going to the
bed beside his, I went to his. He moved over to make room for me,
and I laid down beside him. He pulled me close and wrapped his arms
around me, which made me feel safe.

“Goodnight,” he
whispered in my ear.

I turned my
head so I could kiss him. “Goodnight,” I said back, and I snuggled
in closer. I could feel his warmth, and it made me feel content. It
didn’t take me long to fall asleep.

I woke up the
next morning feeling as if I was waking from a dream, but I
couldn’t remember dreaming. I expected to feel Adrian beside me,
but when I rolled over he wasn’t there. Confused, I looked around
the room until I found him. He was sitting on the bed beside the
one I was on. He was already showered and dressed, and he was
reading a book, though he looked over at me when he heard me move.
He smiled.

“You’re a
really sound sleeper,” he said quietly.

“Is there still
someone outside?” I asked, just as quietly.

“Yes. I think
Victor is out there now, but there’s a good chance he’ll be leaving
soon. You might want to get dressed if you want to leave.”

I did get
dressed, but leaving wasn’t quite that simple. Another teacher came
to take Victor’s place before he left, which left no time in
between for me to escape. Adrian left the room to get breakfast
while I hid in the bathroom, and the teacher followed him, so I was
able to get out then. I went to my room before going to get
breakfast myself.

When I got
there, I was ambushed by my roommates, who wanted to know where I
had been all night.

“I was really
worried!” Heather exclaimed once I got into the room. “If you’re
going to sneak out, you should at least give us a little
warning!”

“Sorry. It
wasn’t really planned,” I told her.

They kept
asking me where I was, but I dodged the question and went to get
cleaned up. When I was by myself, I couldn’t help smiling.

Michael found
me in the cafeteria and sat with me. He looked very happy, and I
asked him why.

“Light’s
Kingdom is playing on Friday at seven o’clock in the ballroom,” he
announced. “I always get excited when we’re doing a show. We’ve
been rehearsing at every chance we get.”

“That’s great,”
I said. “I’ll try to be there. Do you play your own songs, or do
you do covers?”

“We play our
own music. Patrick does most of the writing. We only play songs by
other people when we’re practicing, mostly just to test our skills.
Don’t worry; we’ve improved a lot since the last time you heard us
play.”

“You weren’t
that bad,” I said kindly. “I can’t wait to hear you play your own
music.”