Seclusion (9 page)

I began blushing.

“I think I owe you guys. I
was going down a floor to make a smoothie. They’re out of bananas here. You
want one? Are you going to 4? Can you detour?” he asked.

“Yes,” we said in unison.

We sat on the kitchen
counter, watching Damen make smoothies for us. I was feeling completely calm,
surprisingly.

“I’m pretty impressed. You
can make a mean smoothie,” I said.

“Thanks,” he said, with a
sly one sided grin. “So, did you make up with your knight?” he asked as he
began cleaning up his mess.

“Mmm, that remains to be
seen, but I think so.” I smiled at him, stupidly. He looked as if he wanted to
say something, but didn’t.

“Okay ladies, my apologies
again. Have a good night. This is my cue to leave.” He raised his empty cup to
us.

“See you tomorrow, Raegan.
I promise I’ll take good care of you. You can tell Sir Chase that.” He gestured
with a nod of his chin, and then said,

“See you later, Elsie. It’s
always pleasant to be in your company.” He chuckled and left.

All of a sudden it dawned
on me that Elsie was the reason Damen was so nice and I was so calm.

“Wow Elsie, that’s amazing!
I’ll never get used to your talent!” Elsie and I started laughing and giggling.

“He is hot, and he knows
it,” she said.

Suddenly, a crowd of people
walked in from the stairwell, yelling and slapping each other on the butt,
saying, “Good game, good game!”

“We’d better get to Zeke’s
place for those burgers,” E. said.

“Oh yeah!”

We walked toward the
elevator and then headed off to the burger joint.

After leaving Zeke’s that
night, Chase walked me back to my room. It was quiet since everyone was in
their suites.

“So, are we okay?” I asked.

“Raegan, yes. We are good.
I’m sorry if I’m a little jealous. I think it’s just because we aren’t official
and… you could… date him if you wanted,” he said.

“I am not sure what I want
yet. I still want to get to know you before we say that we’re boyfriend and
girlfriend. But at the same time, you do mean a lot to me. I guess I’m still
figuring out these feelings.”

Chase laughed. “That’s
okay. I promise, I trust you. If you say you’re into me, then I believe it,” he
said.

“I am!” I said.

“Good, then you’ll let me
take you to that summer fling dance thing then, right?” he asked.

“Yes, of course,” I said.
“When is it?”

“I think it’s the last
weekend of summer, so a few weeks or so,” he said.

“Wow, so I have to get a
dress,” I said.

“You do! Night, Raegan,” he
said as he pulled me in, leaning closer and giving me the sweetest kiss. After
a few seconds, I ended it and smiled. He gave me a hug and twirled me around.

“I do see us being an
‘us,’” he said.

“Thank you for
understanding, and being the friend I need at the moment.”

“So, tomorrow do we get to
go out on an official date?” he asked.

“Umm… I have to meet my
partner tomorrow, and we might have to meet more often than an hour a day. This
is really critical for our abilities. Well, actually, it’s going to have to
wait for another day ‘cause we are doing dinner too, just grabbing food.”

Damen had said it’s going
to take a while.
I don’t know what he meant by that, but nothing to worry
about.

“I’ll hang out with you
after class tomorrow, okay?” I suggested.

Chase said, “No worries, I
trust you. I just don’t trust him. You should’ve seen the look on his face when
Stark said you were his partner; it was weird. He could be a freak. Maybe I
should tag along during your meeting.”

“I don’t think that’s a
good idea. It’s distracting enough when we are trying to focus with each other
in the room. You don’t have to worry about anything,” I said.

“Okay, call me when you get
done with him though!”

“Alright, good-night.” I
gave him a quick kiss and walked into my suite.

*
* *

“I guess we are officially
seeing each other in hopes of there maybe being a future. At least, that’s what
I understood from the conversation,” I explained to E. as I rubbed lotion onto
my legs while getting ready for bed.

“Oh good! I’m glad you feel
better about the whole situation, ‘cause after our smoothie break I have to say
that I would be disappointed if you didn’t give both boys a fair shot. I like
them both, and I’m glad I can live this stage of love again through you!”

“E.… Okay, I do have a
small crush on Damen, but it’s completely one sided! I think to him I might…
might
…
be a booty call option.”

“I know Damen, and I think
there’s more to it than that,” she smirked, turning off lights as she entered
her room.

*
* *

The next day went by
quickly. In our Abilities class, we had a surprise guest: Dr. Zeke himself. He
was pretty handsome for an old guy. He had that exotic look to him. He
announced the upcoming dance. It was going to be a “Love Through the Ages”
theme. We were encouraged to dress the part of different love stories
throughout time. I thought it was kind of cheesy, but cute for my first dance.
I wondered if I should warn Chase about my dancing, just surprise him, or refuse
to show my moves.
Hmmm…

Dr. Zeke also announced
that there would be a new type of final for our abilities, one that would test
our creativity, and our genius.
Whatever that means.

Dr. Zeke looked at his
watch suddenly and said, “Good luck and welcome! I hope you find our school a
new home!” Then he rushed out the door.

Professor Stark continued
with his lecture and explained that more information would be given out about
the finals at a later time. He then suggested we meet with our partners again.
Chase and I stood up and hugged each other before we separated to meet with our
partners, and we decided we’d hang out in my suite after class until my
official meeting with Damen later that evening.

I immediately walked over
to Damen, unsure of what to expect. He stood up and said, “We get Stark’s
office again.”

“We do?” I asked.

“Yes, it’s a favor to me.”

“Huh?” I walked into
Stark’s office, and Stark said nothing, so I assumed Damen was right. “So, why
do we get a special room?”

He flipped his hood off and
turned his iPod down, but not off completely, which I thought was a little
rude. I decided that I’d try to be as nice as possible.

“My abilities are jumbled.
I can hear everything up to a mile away, and the school is just too crowded for
me. It sounds like everyone is screaming in my head. So, he lets us come in
here for some more privacy,” he said.

Really?
I thought my abilities
were a curse, but this guy lives with non-stop screaming all day, every day
.
My heart went out to him. I had always been compassionate regarding pain that
others felt, maybe because of my ability.

Damen studied me with a
serious expression. “So, I read the chapter and I thought that maybe we should
just try to practice putting up walls, and we’ll just start there and see if we
can read each other.”

“Okay, that sounds good to
me. Do you still want tacos?” I tried to ask without sounding totally lame.

He smiled. “Yep.”

“So, where are we
practicing?” I asked.

“Well, that’s the thing… we
have to go farther away from all the noise in order for me to focus.”

“You aren’t focused now?” I
asked.

“I am, but it takes
considerable concentration. I prefer we practice later. So, see you tonight.”

“Bye,” I said. I tried to
shield my brain, but he made me so nervous. I could barely breathe in his
presence.

“Rae, you don’t have to be
flustered around me. I know girls think I’m hot, and you’re not any different
from them. Anyway, if it makes you feel better, the feelings are mutual.” He
shrugged, smirking. “I won’t tell Chase about your feelings for me. It’s
normal, trust me. You can stop overanalyzing what you think I know. I know
everything, unfortunately.”

He glanced out the office
window, sweeping his luscious green eyes across the class, and narrowed on
Chase, deep in conversation. My heart started pounding for a second, like Chase
might have heard our conversation. Chase looked up toward Damen. I saw Damen
give a smug nod toward Chase as he left the room.

Oh my gosh! Every time I
talk to him, I’m mortified. It’s horrible, and tonight will probably be worse!
He thought I was hot
though, and that sent jitters through my body.
Was he serious or just
teasing? I need to use my ability on him, that’s my plan for tonight. Time to
even the playing field.

Chase and I had a fun
afternoon. We went swimming since the weather was horrible up top. I decided to
lay out in a tanning bed, while Chase went in the sauna. With this humidity, I
didn’t understand why he’d want to do that.

Later, in my room, we
discussed all the love story couples that we could dress up as: Romeo and
Juliet, Cleopatra and Marc Antony, Edward Cullen and Bella. Edward and Bella
were my vote. Chase just laughed at me and said, “Maybe.” It would be the
easiest costume. Maybe I just had a thing for vampires. Okay, yes I did, but
whatever.

I pushed Chase out of my
suite at four, although he didn’t understand why. I tried to explain that I
needed to get ready and go over the chapter in my textbook before meeting with
my partner.

I rummaged through my
closet, but couldn’t figure out what to wear. I wanted to look cute, but not
like I was trying to be cute. I decided on a grey glittery shirt, some black
leggings, a black belt, and my chunky black jewelry. I styled my hair like I
was taught. Then I phoned in our order to the cafeteria and grabbed my boots. I
quickly flipped through the book, making an outline on a sheet of paper that I
thought we should follow. I decided to be late so I wouldn’t look like I was
trying too hard. Not that it mattered; I’m sure he’d know as soon as he saw me.
These abilities were a curse sometimes.

As I walked up to Damen’s
door, he was already opening it. I made myself take deep breaths. He surprised
me, because he didn’t have his usual hoodie or iPod. He was wearing a dark
brownish-black leather jacket, black cotton shirt, dark jeans, and boots.
Interesting…his
clothes were just a cover, like my old attire
. He smelled like he had just
stepped out of the shower, and he looked cleanly shaven. His dark hair was
falling slightly over his sea green eyes and had that messy-on-purpose look.

He smiled. My stomach did a
flip.

“Okay, let’s get out of
here as quickly as possible!”

He guided me down the hall,
slightly pressing his hand to the small of my back for a brief second, sending
lightning through me. We hopped in the elevator, and at the cafeteria level I
started to get out, yet he didn’t move.

“I’m going to check out a
car, since you don’t have a Texas license yet. I’ll meet you near the guard
shack by the exit, okay?” He gave me a grin.

I nodded, and tried to
casually head toward the caf. He seemed to be in a good mood, now why couldn’t
I act normal? Why was I reacting like this was a date?
Ughhh.

I walked into the parking
garage and scanned it, looking for the guard shack. I saw Damen talking, and actually
laughing, with Jay. Those boys gave the Salvatore brothers a run for their
money! Damen and Jay both looked toward me at the same moment. Damen was
filling out some paperwork, and Jay jogged toward me.

“Raegan! He didn’t say he
was taking you out! I didn’t think he had the manners to pull off a date with
you. I’m a little bummed he got to you first. I was planning on seeing you
tomorrow,” he said with a wink.

I couldn’t help but wonder
if he was serious or not. He was always smiling and joking. Behind Jay I could
see Damen clicking the doors open on a huge black jeep with tires that reached
my thigh.

“We are just study
partners.”

“Sweet! I still have a ch-”

I made it to the passenger
side of the jeep.

Damen grimaced at Jay.
“Your chances are as good as mine, moron. She’s dating someone,” he said,
swooping me up.

His arms glided around my
back and under my legs, and I felt pin-prickling shoot all over. I was thankful
he was carrying me at that moment, because I might have melted onto the floor.
He placed me in the seat like I weighed nothing, which proved that my dream
might have been real. He shut the door and jogged to the other side.

Jay leaned through the
window. “I’ll see you tomorrow.” He grinned.

“Get back to work, Jay!”
Damen snarled, and started the engine. I couldn’t help but laugh to myself.

We pulled out of the school
grounds, and I was hoping my walls were up.

“So, we aren’t going that
far. Don’t get worried. I go here all the time to get away from the school.
It’s about five miles this way.”

He turned off the road and
there we went, off-roading toward the bottom of the closest hill.

What have I gotten myself
into
?

“So, how did you find…this
place?” I asked.

“I was just trying to get
away. My counselor, Taylor, suggested I check one of these out.” He tapped the
steering wheel with tan fingers. “I found it just messing around,” he said.

“Your counselor is Taylor? She’s mine, too. I’m surprised that she has time to meet with so many students.”

“Actually, she doesn’t. She
has to make time, and sometimes my meetings are postponed, but overall she’s
way more knowledgeable about abilities and the school than other counselors. I
heard that she only takes the kids with the strongest abilities.”

“Oh. So how long have you
been at the school, and why are you only taking learning to control your
abilities now?” I asked.

“Aren’t you nosy? I came at
the end of the year last year, and I’ve been here ever since. I didn’t go home
over break ‘cause it’s quieter here. This is the first class that’s been
offered since I started. What about you, where are you from?” he asked.

“My aunt and uncle live in Orange County,” I said.

“Is it really like the
reality show? What about Disneyland?”

I laughed. “I don’t know, I
never watched that show. Too much drama, it seemed like. I love Disneyland though!”