Chapter 123

KATHERINE.

‘Fuck.’ That was the word that constantly popped up in my head ever since I woke up. I pressed my lips together as I moved closer to the door that separated my dressing room from the bedroom and listened for movement outside. There was none. There was no movement in her dressing room either and I was sure she wasn't in the bathroom since I just came out of there. That meant she didn't come back to the room after she left, which had been about thirty minutes after our argument… scratch that, after me lashing out at her. I felt horrible – the same adjective I'd used to describe her yesterday – and she probably hated me.

I opened the dressing room’s door and even though I was sure that there was no one else there, I still peeked into the room. Everything was the same way it had been last night – even the bottle that had slipped out of my hand and its contents were still on the floor – and I stared at Lenore’s side for a couple of seconds before finally stepping out of the room. I needed to apologize to her, like, yesterday, but I didn’t know where she was right now.

She could be in the dining hall or heading to class or somewhere else entirely, and I doubted she would reply to my message or answer my call if I were to do either now. Lord knows I wouldn’t if our roles were switched.

“Fuck,” I muttered before rubbing my forehead and heading over to my bed, plopping down on it. I had slept on the rug in my dressing room last night, refusing to come out because I didn't want to see or have to talk to Lenore if she came back to the room. Even after my anger had faded sometime during the night, I still believed she wasn’t completely blameless and a voice in the back of my mind still whispered that, but the fact that I’d acted irrationally last night was not debatable.

My stomach growled and I groaned because I didn’t want to leave the room. I had no choice but to do that though because I only had drinks in my refrigerator and the vending machine had none of the snacks I liked – even if it did, I didn’t have change for it. I groaned again before getting to my feet, putting on shoes, and heading out of the room. I’d never heard the dorm this quiet before and that reminded me that I was currently suspended because the silence was mostly due to students being in classes. I walked out of the building, hoping there was still food in the cafeteria since it was almost time for breakfast to end, and when I was halfway to my destination, I saw Priyanka. She was smiling and talking to someone over the phone, and the moment she glanced in my direction, I waved at her. The smile didn’t leave her face but her gaze turned cold and she looked away, walking away without responding. ‘Fuck.’ Lenore had told her what happened. ‘Has she told Josie too?’ I wondered because Josie hadn’t responded to the message I sent to her after I woke up. ‘Was she going to give me the same look Priyanka just did? ...Has she told Theo?’

I groaned again, but this time it wasn’t because of hunger, and I made up my mind to find Lenore and apologize before quickening my pace to the dining hall. It seemed like my luck had worsened though because by the time I got to the dining hall, it was being cleared. ‘For fuck’s sake.’ I stood in that spot for several moments before finally accepting that I wasn’t going to get anything from there, and I headed out of the building. There was somewhere I could get food not far from the dining hall, but I’d left my wallet in the room so I had to go back to get it. I heaved a sigh and began my walk back to Stavenger Hall.

I’d only taken a couple of steps when I spotted Theo walking across the grass, his back to me. “Hey,” I called but he didn't stop and for a moment, I wondered if he was ignoring me because he found out what happened between me and Lenore. “Theo!”

At that, he stopped and turned with his brows furrowed and when his gaze landed on me, his expression softened while I quickly walked over to him. “Katherine. Do you need something?” he asked when I came to a stop and I raised my brows, wondering if that was an angry ‘Why did you stop me after talking to my cousin like that?’ question or a genuine ‘Do you need something?’ question. “You called me,” he added.

“Oh, yeah, uh… Sorry, no. I don't need anything.” I shook my head sideways to get rid of the numerous ‘Is he annoyed? Is he not annoyed?’ questions swirling through my mind. “I thought you were going to ignore me.”

He raised a brow. “Did you want me to do that?”

“No, no.”

“I mean, it's not too late to do so,” he teased while turning to leave and I stopped him, grinning.

“Why are you walking on the grass? There are paths for a reason.”

Theo gave me an incredulous look and laughter threatened to bubble out of me. “Did you really stop me because I was walking on the grass?” he asked and I shrugged before folding my arms across my chest, narrowing my eyes at him.

“Perhaps,” I replied and he shook his head sideways.

“I'm not even on the grass. That's just you,” he said and I gave him a blank stare before moving my gaze to his feet which were clearly on the grass, but then he lifted one foot and I saw that the grass was still standing where his foot had been. I drew my brows together.

“Are you using magi–”

“Why not grab a megaphone?”

I snapped my mouth shut and glanced at the people around us, some of whom were within earshot. “What if people notice?”

“It'll be pretty hard to. Besides why would anyone be watching my feet?” he asked and I shrugged before glancing down again.

“You're wearing nice shoes,” I said. For a moment after that, I just stared at him, wondering how the semester would be if he stopped talking to me. I mean, I'd been mean to his cousin and the CMES club, during whose meetings we'd be required to talk, was going to be disbanded pretty soon. The only thing connecting us right now were the dark magic spell books and he didn't need mine since he had his. I knew that was a rather odd thought – him not talking to me anymore solely because of Lenore who I would be apologizing to today no matter what – but I couldn't help it. “Do you have cash? I’ll pay you back.” I asked and he pulled his wallet out of his back pocket.

It would only take me three minutes or less to go grab my wallet from Stavenger Hall, but I asked so that I'd have a reason to talk to him again if my odd thought came to pass.

“I have to go. I have a class,” he said after handing me money and I raised a brow at him.

“Way to rub my suspension in my face,” I jokingly said and the corner of his mouth turned up.

“Next time you want to beat someone up–”

“Don’t?”

“Take them somewhere private,” he said and I blinked at him in surprise before he gave me one of those rare grins that made my face flush. He then flicked my forehead before walking away.

****

Someone was in my dorm room. I could hear them moving around inside along with music playing as I approached the door and I quickly unlocked it, expecting it to be Lenore who I hadn't seen all day, but it wasn't.

“Josie,” I called and she turned around before plastering a smile on her face. I hadn't seen her all day, and her reaction to my presence told me she wasn't happy with me either.

“Oh, hey…” she muttered before my gaze drifted to the box behind her which was almost filled with clothes, and it didn't seem like she was unpacking.

“...Lenore asked you to get her stuff,” I muttered and Satomi poked her head around the open wardrobe door. She looked delighted.

“Yeah, bozo. She’s finally moving out.”

My brows shot up. “Oh.” Fuck! I returned my attention to Josie and her smile tightened. “Do you know where she is?”

“None of your business,” Satomi replied and I gritted my teeth but didn't glance at her.

“I need to talk to her.”

“She doesn’t want to talk to you, outsider.”

“Please, Josie,” I added and Josie pressed her lips together before heaving a sigh.

“Satomi’s right, Katherine. Sorry.”

That stung honestly, but I didn't want to back down just like that. “I want to apologize.”

“Apologize?” Satomi cut in again and I scowled at her before noticing that she looked confused. Didn't she know what happened too? “What’d you do to her?”

So she didn't know.

“She didn’t do anything, Satomi. Just get what Lenore wants,” Josie stated and Satomi narrowed her eyes at me before disappearing behind the wardrobe door.

“Josie, I said some things I shouldn't have. I was just angry and I was lashing out–”

“Why? I mean, I know why, but ‘why’?” she asked with a rather confused expression on her face, and as I opened my mouth to respond, she shook her head sideways. “It doesn't really matter. They'll be here to get the rest of her stuff tomorrow.” With that, she turned away and resumed putting clothes in the box and my shoulders sagged. I went over to my vanity and took a seat, watching them pack and hoping Josie would want to hear me out when they were done, but when they were done a couple of minutes later, she left without a word.

“See you later, agitator,” Satomi said before shutting the door and while silence settled, it dawned on me that last night wasn't something I could recover from.

I glanced around the room. I'd gotten used to sleeping in it alone since Lenore started sleeping at one of the dorms for the students from other schools during the inter-school competition, but that was with the knowledge that she'd be coming back to the room. Now that she wouldn't be coming back, the room felt odd and so did I.

‘Fuck.’

****

Just like Josie had said, a couple of people had come to pack Lenore's things in the afternoon, and like Satomi said, Lenore didn't want to talk to me. My calls were rejected and my messages were left unread, and now I didn't know what to do. Walking up to her in public and talking to her used to be easy, even if Satomi was with her, but I doubted it would remain the same way now. I hadn't even seen her yet.

Lenore's side of the room was now bare and several bags and boxes lay in a corner there. My stomach rolled as I stared at them and I pressed my lips together. I hated this.

Poppy's words about my friends abandoning me came to mind and I gritted my teeth because she'd said it was going to sting like hell when it happened and she was right. I returned my attention to my desk – I'd busied myself by reading while they packed her things – and glanced at the time on my laptop. The Mechanics class would be ending in ten minutes and hoping Lenore hadn't decided to skip class, I got to my feet, grabbed my phone, and headed out of the room.

When I got to the back of the Science Faculty, I spotted Blake standing next to the building’s graffiti wall, looking confused as he glanced around. At first, I didn’t want to deal with him today, but then the fact that he was the reason all of ‘this’ was happening in the first place made me begin to march over to him.

“Blake,” I called when I was a couple of steps away from him, drawing his attention, and he eyed me warily.

“Yeah?”

“Yeah? Really? After–”

“Uh, I don’t–” He blinked rapidly and pressed a hand to the side of his head as he drew his brows together. “Who are you?” he asked and now it was my turn to blink at him because ‘huh?’ He truly looked like he didn't know me and if someone was standing with us, they'd believe him.

“What the fuck?!” I burst out and he took a couple of steps back.

“Do I know you?” he repeated and if I wasn't already suspended for fighting Poppy, I'd attack him.

“Do you know me?” I replied as anger welled up in my chest. He was the one that deserved the lashing out I did last night, not Lenore, and I wanted to give it to him now, but honestly… I was tired. I was tired of all this. “Just go ahead and reject me. You’ll be doing both of us a favor.”

He furrowed his brows again. “Reject you?” he asked and I was angered even further by the fact that he was choosing to stay committed to this act. “I don’t understand what you mean,” he added before glancing sideways and running his fingers through his golden hair as he muttered to himself, “What’s going on?”

“Here’s what’s going on. I reject you, Blake Fogarty. And honestly, screw the moon goddess for making you my mate.” The moment the words left my lips, I expected something to happen to both of us. Some people feel pain after a rejection or they just feel different, odd, but all I got from Blake was more confusion washing over his face while I felt nothing. I immediately attributed it to the fact that I wasn't eighteen yet and that he hadn't felt the mate bond yet, but still… nothing?

“I think you’re confused…” Blake said, snapping me out of my thoughts and I frowned at that word. “What’s your name?”

“Eat a dick, Fogarty,” I shot back and he blinked at me in disbelief. Then he flushed maroon, from his hairline to the collar of his shirt, and I tried to steel myself for whatever verbal hellfire he might rain.

But all that came was, “Sorry?” There was a little crack in his voice.

I tipped my chin up and met his gaze. “I said eat a dick.”

“I heard you the first time,” he muttered before frowning. “You shouldn't speak to strangers like that.”

I wanted – I really, really wanted – to punch him in the face and before the voice in my mind could finally convince me to do so, I walked away. I would ‘not’ be getting expelled because of him.

I walked into the building and made my way over to the room where the Mechanics class was held, getting there just as the lecturer walked out of it. I looked into the class and moments later, it became obvious that Lenore wasn't in class. ‘Shit.’

I still decided to wait around for a while because she might be somewhere in the building, but after an hour passed and I still didn't run into her despite going around the building several times, I went back to Stavenger Hall.

Some of the bags were missing from the room so I suspected the people that had packed her stuff had begun to move them and I set my mouth in a hard line. At this point, I didn't even care if she stayed in the room or not, I just wanted to talk to her and apologize… I wanted my friend back.

****

Another day passed without me seeing Lenore and today made it two days since she decided to move out of the room, and three days since I'd last talked to her. The people moving her stuff out of the room weren't done though so some of her boxes were still in the room and I knew it was going to be beyond weird when they were all gone.

I was in the process of composing a long apology message for her while pacing around in the room when I accidentally knocked one of the small boxes on her table to the ground and it opened, emptying most of its contents on the floor.

“Crap.”

Everything was a mess. My relationships were a mess. My mind was a mess.

I got to my knees and began to put her things back in the box, hoping nothing in the box got ruined when it fell, and as I began to gather the papers that had fallen out of a smaller golden box, I realized the papers were letters.

The letters I was currently staring at were, according to the date on top, written years ago, and it was from Blake to Lenore. It was a short letter that mostly talked about his day and how whatever he did reminded him of her, and I read another letter. Then another.

In those three letters, one thing was clear – he was head over heels for her. So his feelings for her weren't a recent development.

The way he looked out for me, the flowers he brought during the school's anniversary event, the cookie basket… everything rushed into my mind and my heart tightened in my chest. Why did he do all that? There was no reason for him to, so why did he?