Authors: Melanie Matthews
“Oh…yeah…right,” she said, looking around at Meg and Corrine, who were just about dressed.
She rushed in the bathroom and got into the shower. The water was nice and hot, and she wanted to spend all day in there, but she couldn’t. After she bathed and successfully shaved without a bloody nick—it had been a year since she was allowed to use a razor—she rushed out in a towel, and grabbed her clothes from her bed.
Bree smirked. “Afraid for us to see you naked?” She was already dressed, now applying her makeup, staring at Eva from her vanity mirror.
“No, I just…feel like getting dressed in the bathroom.”
Bree shrugged. “That’s not going to stop one of the guys from popping in here.”
That wasn’t the reason why Eva wanted to dress in the bathroom, but now that Bree had mentioned the possibility, she got worried.
“They wouldn’t do that, would they?”
“They’re boys,” Meg said, grinning.
“And Leprechauns,” Corrine added, smiling shyly.
“Yeah, so you might as well drop your towel, and shake your ass about, because there’s no safe place around here to hide,” Bree said casually, and then started to apply her mascara.
Eva just shook her head and went inside the bathroom anyway, but dressed very quickly. She blow dried her hair, and then applied mascara, which took her awhile since she hadn’t done it in over a year. After she brushed her teeth, she smeared her lips with cherry lip gloss. She headed out and saw everyone was ready to leave.
“I’m starving,” Meg moaned, holding the strap of her academy satchel against her chest.
Eva noticed that they wore their green caps, even Bree, and she went to get hers from the closet.
“You look so cute,” Corrine said, clapping her hands at Eva’s quick efforts to get ready.
“You do,” Meg agreed, clapping too.
Eva secured the green cap over her thick black hair. “Thanks.”
When they left the room, Bree pointed at Eva’s left leg. “Missed a spot.”
“What?”
Eva looked down. All she saw was smooth skin below the hem of her skirt—pale skin, but smooth.
Bree grinned. “Gotcha!”
“Hilarious,” Meg said in a dull tone.
Bree just shrugged. “Well, I’m off to breakfast. Later, bitches.” She traveled down the hallway, as if she were parading along a catwalk.
Corrine waved her hand in the air. “Don’t worry about her. Her bark is worse than her bite.”
“Yeah, I think she’s a softie at heart, but she just hides it,” Meg agreed.
Eva wanted to believe that, considering Bree’s attention to Corrine’s mourning last night, but she just couldn’t help it—she hated Bree. She hated that she had dated Lucas and now wanted Devin. And she hated her golden hair, her Tahitian blue eyes, and her hourglass, model figure.
“At least she’s in none of our classes,” Corrine said, as if reading Eva’s thoughts. “She cheated so much off of me last year!”
When they arrived at the grand staircase, Meg said, “Well, there’s P.E., but there’s a hundred kids there and you stay busy, so you don’t have to worry”—she made a chomping motion with her hand—“about her motor mouth.”
That was the only consolation, but it wasn’t the greatest.
They arrived at the Commons Area, which was already filling up with students, traveling to the cafeteria.
“Hey, Eva!” Lucas shouted at her from afar, smiling and waving. He wore his black cap over his golden locks.
Finn and Liam were behind him, but hatless. Bree was there too, chatting and laughing with Devin. But he was silent, readjusting his cap over his black hair, fiddling with the strap of his satchel, yanking down on his tie, and just kept making little nervous movements. It made Eva’s blood boil to see them two together.
“See you inside,” Corrine said to Eva, pulling Meg away, who couldn’t stop giggling, watching Lucas approach.
Lucas wrapped his arms around her waist, and gave her a passionate kiss. He licked his lips. “Mmm…cherry.” His blue-gray eyes were veiled, desirous. “Well, good morning. You look cute today, but you were cute yesterday too,” he said, and then glanced longingly down at her bare legs.
She blushed, readjusting the green cap on her head that was slightly jolted by his forceful, but loving attack of affection.
“You don’t look so bad yourself,” she said, smiling.
But he wore the same thing he did yesterday, and still smelled of tobacco, which made her a little nauseated.
Desiring space and fresh air, she turned to greet Liam, Finn, and maybe even Devin, right in front of Bree. But when she caught Devin’s sparkling green eyes, he tensed up, and then turned away from her, quickly walking to the cafeteria with his academy satchel clutched in his hand. Bree ran across the Commons Area after him, with the heels of her clogs beating against the hardwood floor as she went.
Finn gave Eva a sweet smile. “How was your first night?”
“Interesting.” She wasn’t going to divulge her run-in with two ghosts.
“New girl!” Liam shouted again. He hugged her and sniffed her, again. “Ah! We’re gonna be in the same classes.” He grinned. “Doesn’t that just make your day?”
She smiled. “I couldn’t imagine my second year without you, Liam.”
He gasped, slapping his hand over his heart. Then he looked over at Lucas, raising his fists. “All right, man! Let’s throw down! I’ll fight you for Eva. C’mon!”
Liam was dancing around like a boxer. Lucas just shook his head.
“I’m not going to fight you, because I don’t have to. Eva is
mine
.”
She didn’t like the way he said that. She wasn’t his property. “I’m nobody’s,” she announced, giving him a stern look.
Liam stood still and relaxed his fists. “Ooh, I know what that is. Time to skedaddle,” he told Finn.
Finn gave her a shy smile, and then followed Liam into the cafeteria. Everyone had left. Only she and Lucas were in the Commons Area.
Lucas frowned. “I’m sorry, Eva. I didn’t mean it like that.”
“Well, what did you mean?!” she snapped, not ready to forgive him.
He took off black his cap, ran his fingers through his blond locks, and then adjusted his cap back on. “I just…I meant to say that he didn’t stand a chance in hell—that
we
were together. I didn’t tell anyone about us…about the connection between us.”
“You mean how you can enter my mind?”
He nodded and gently brushed the back of his hand across her cheek. “I know we were meant to be together. What else does it mean when a Leprechaun can enter a Banshee’s mind and prevent her sorrow? We were meant to find each other, Eva. We’re made for each other.”
She melted at his sweet words and forgave him, throwing her arms around his neck. He nudged her nose affectionately with his, and then kissed her sweetly on her lips.
“I never want to be without you,” he said softly.
It was the closest statement to “I love you” she could’ve received. But she couldn’t return his fervor.
“I need you too,” she said.
It wasn’t meant as a statement of love, but only of the connection he spoke of—the way he could enter her mind, and ease her sorrow. Despite Lucas’ warm arms around her, she kept thinking about Devin, and how he looked at her, and then ran away. It drove her crazy—this mysterious passion, this love—as if
they
were supposed to be together.
Lucas gave her another kiss. “Let’s get some breakfast. I’m starving.”
She let him hold her hand as they entered the cafeteria. When they stood in line with their trays, she looked over and saw Devin bolt out, with his breakfast in a brown paper bag, and a cup of coffee in his hand. Bree stood just a few feet away, with her hands on her hips, frustrated.
“I wish we were in the same classes,” Lucas said, distracting Eva. He dumped a pile of scrambled eggs onto his tray. “Hey, maybe I can ask the headmaster to fail me,” he continued cheerfully, placing the serving spoon back.
Eva shook her head. She didn’t want that, but she wouldn’t mind if Devin failed. “Don’t do that.”
His face fell, saddened.
“Don’t repeat a grade on my account,” she added quickly. “Besides, it’s just for a little while. We can see each other after class and on the weekends.”
Kiss
after class and on the weekends was more like it. That necessarily wasn’t a bad thing, but she knew Devin would be on her mind the entire time.
He smiled. “Yeah, you’re right. We have a whole year.” He went further down the food line, took a set of tongs, picked up a pile of bacon, and settled it on top of his eggs. “You know, after I graduate,” he said, placing the tongs back, “I’m going to stay on here.”
Uh-oh.
“Going to be Colin’s apprentice?” she joked in a desperate attempt to calm her nerves.
He let out a small laugh. “Yeah, don’t think so.” He poured some orange juice in a black mug. “Some of the professors need assistants, or I could travel like the headmaster does—find and recruit students to the academy.”
“That sounds good.”
She liked the idea that he wanted to help, but not to just hang around to be with her. If Lucas would truly leave after this year, then she could get to know Devin better next year. That’s if he didn’t run away every time she entered a room.
“Really?” he asked, smiling. “You’d like me to stay?”
“Uh…ooh, eggs,” she said excitedly, dumping some on her tray, trying to stall from answering, because she didn’t know what to say. Next, she went down the line, and got a few strips of bacon, a buttermilk biscuit, and coffee. Compared to the food at the psychiatric hospital, it was like she had been invited to a king’s feast. Finally, she said, “Whatever you want to do. I don’t want to pressure you.”
He didn’t seem to question her hesitation, and gave her a passionate kiss that elicited a lot of “Oohs” from the breakfast crowd.
A guy nearby joked, “Too early in the morning for that!”
Eva got embarrassed, and hung her head, staring at her eggs.
Lucas gave a wide grin. “Never too early for a sweet kiss!”
“Awws” filled the room. That was mostly the girls.
Eva just wanted to flee like Devin did. Instead she held her head down, and only peeked up in time to not slam her body against a table. She looked up and saw Corrine and Meg sitting with Liam and Finn. Her four most favorite people in the world—the ones who made her laugh, didn’t try to kiss her (except maybe Liam) and didn’t flee every time she approached. Now she loved Lucas’ kisses, but she couldn’t get aloof, rocker boy Devin out of her head.
Meg patted an empty seat next to her. “Sit here.”
Eva did and Lucas sat next to her. She noticed that Finn was smiling shyly, staring at Meg but she was oblivious, eating pancakes dripping with butter and syrup.
Liam bit off a piece of buttery toast. “So what does it take to get a kiss from the new girl?” he asked in a muffled voice, food in his mouth.
“A connection,” Lucas answered, smiling.
“Cryptic-much?” Meg remarked, raising an eyebrow.
Eva just shrugged and dug into her breakfast. No one asked her or Lucas anymore questions, and soon everyone was filled up, ready for class.
Lucas held Eva in a tight embrace. “See you in four hours.” He kissed her lips, soft and sweet.
“Unless I need you before then.” She hoped that she didn’t have a vision on her first day of classes, but needed to know he’d be there for her.
He kissed her again. “Always.”
“All right, that’s enough you two,” Liam said, gently pulling Eva from Lucas. Eva and
I
have to get to class,” he continued, smirking.
Lucas pointed a threatening finger at him, but smiled. “If I hear your Texan breath has been panting in Eva’s ear, I’m going to knock that red right off your head.”
“Ugh! Too much testosterone!” Meg pulled Eva from the boys. “We have a class to get to. Hello?”
Eva was so grateful to Meg in that moment. She didn’t want to be fought over.
The girls left the cafeteria, and headed to the first classroom on the bottom floor. Like the rest of the mansion, her Geometry classroom was old-fashioned with a woodsy décor, but it was also decorated with colorful and modern academic posters of math concepts. Seats weren’t assigned, so Eva sat near Meg and Corrine in the only available desks up front. Soon, Liam and Finn joined them, with Liam sitting behind Eva, and Finn sitting behind Meg. Everyone wore their uniforms, immaculate in the morning, and some took off their caps, and some held them on. Eva felt hot under hers, so she took it off, and placed it in her satchel.
“Ooh,” Liam breathed on her ear from behind.
Eva smelled a mixture of tobacco and bacon. She turned around to him, smiling. “You’re just asking for trouble, aren’t you?”
He smirked, throwing his hands out. “I’m a Leprechaun. That’s what we’re all about.”
“But
you
can be different. Hasn’t Lucas changed?”
When he hesitated, she panicked, wondering if Lucas’ deception was about to be revealed, but then he said, “Hell, yes! You should’ve heard him last night!” He turned to Finn. “Tell Eva what he said last night.”