Chapter 5 His Chair
POV: Carly
She felt his eyes on her before she even settled into the chair.
Carly kept her gaze fixed on the wall directly across from her. Arms crossed. Foot bouncing. Jaw tight. She was absolutely not going to look at him. She had enough going on without adding Niko Monroeson to the list of things currently making her want to lose her mind.
She looked at him anyway.
He was already watching her. Sketchbook closed in his lap, one hand resting on top of it, the other index finger brushing slowly back and forth across his bottom lip like he was thinking about something. His eyes were calm. Not mocking. Not hostile. Just steady and focused entirely on her face like she was the most interesting thing in the room.
Which was infuriating because she was the only other person in the room.
She looked away. Tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. Studied the pattern on the floor tile like it held the secrets of the universe.
His gaze did not move. She could feel it like a hand on her shoulder.
Carly snapped her head toward him. "What?"
Niko blinked innocently. "I didn't say anything."
"You're staring at me again. Like the creep that you are."
"So now you've resorted to name calling instead of physical assault?" He tilted his head slowly. "You witches." He let the sentence hang there. "How am I supposed to keep up with your methods of abuse?"
"Oh my god." She turned her whole body away from him so she was facing the opposite wall.
She could feel him lean forward slightly in his chair. She turned back so fast he pulled back.
"This game is getting really old really fast." She said flatly.
"Game?" His eyebrows pulled together like she had said something genuinely confusing.
"Don't play dumb. I am so not in the mood for your boredom today."
He shifted in his seat and the corner of his mouth lifted. "Consider me in awe honestly. It's not every day I see Carly McPherson on this side of campus. Didn't take you for the rebellious type."
"I'm not in trouble." She straightened up. "I just need to speak with Headmistress Saltzman about something."
"Must be quite the dilemma considering you nearly bit the receptionist's head off a minute ago."
"Nothing you haven't done before I'm sure." She fired back.
"Touché." He said it quietly with a small nod, eyes dropping briefly to her foot still tapping against the floor and her fingers drumming against her own arm. His expression shifted into something that looked almost like genuine concern before he covered it back up. "Nervous about something, love?"
"I said don't call me that." She pointed at him. "Or do you need another aneurysm to jog your memory?"
Niko laughed.
Not a dark laugh. Not a mocking one. Just a real, easy laugh that dissolved some of the sharp edges in the air between them.
Carly blinked.
Were they actually having a conversation right now. A civil one. No real insults, no actual threats, nobody's skull being compressed. She and Niko Monroeson sitting in chairs next to each other having a regular back and forth like it was completely normal.
Nobody would ever believe her.
She caught herself wanting to laugh too and immediately cancelled that thought.
Niko wasn't her friend. He would never be her friend.
She looked down at her hands in her lap and for a moment the silence between them was just silence. Not loaded or hostile. Just quiet.
Niko turned the sketchbook over slowly in his hands. Opened it to a page near the middle and stared at it without drawing anything. She couldn't see what was on the page from where she was sitting.
"For what it's worth." His voice came out lower than usual. Almost careful. "Whatever the issue is in there." He nodded toward the headmistress' door. "I hope it works out."
Carly turned and looked at him.
He wasn't smirking. He wasn't setting her up for a punchline. He was just looking at her with those steady blue eyes and saying something that sounded like it might actually be sincere.
She opened her mouth.
The office door swung open.
"Sorry for the wait, you know how business calls can be." Headmistress Saltzman stepped into the doorway, reading glasses pushed up on her head. Her eyes landed on Carly and widened slightly. "Miss McPherson. I'll admit I was rather shocked when they told me you were out here. It must be serious." She turned and her expression flattened immediately. "Mister Monroeson. I could only wish to be surprised by your presence at this point. You might as well have your name engraved in that chair."
Niko pressed a hand to his chest. "Come now Headmistress. You know I could never get enough of you."
"My office. Both of you."
Carly stood up quickly, arms crossed. "Thank you for seeing me Headmistress because yes, it is very serious."
Both Niko and the headmistress looked at her.
"I was assigned a new roommate without any notification." Carly started. "And that roommate is a vampire."
Niko's eyebrows went up.
Headmistress Saltzman's expression didn't change. "I'm failing to see the problem Miss McPherson."
"Roommates are supposed to be within the same faction. That is how it has always worked. I cannot live with a vampire."
"That's a load." Niko muttered.
"Mister Monroeson." The headmistress shot him a look then turned back to Carly with a tired sigh. "That is typically true yes, when we have the available space for it. Miss Spears applied late in the term and you had an open bed. It is that simple. Nothing personal."
"But-"
Headmistress Saltzman raised one hand. "Carly. I understand the tension between factions here. I genuinely do. And I apologize that the office failed to send you advance notice, I will absolutely address that. But Black River Academy is a united environment. It is a safe space and a privilege for every student who walks through these doors regardless of what they are." She folded her hands. "Miss Spears will remain in your room for the remainder of the semester. That is my final word on it."
Carly shook her head slowly. She had run all the way down here barefoot and this was the outcome.
Niko raised his hand.
The headmistress waved it at him tiredly.
"Just a quick question." He said pleasantly. "Doesn't our honor code list discrimination as an automatic suspension?" He paused. "Or does that only apply when it's not the witches doing it?"
"I am not discriminating." Carly turned on him.
"Sure. That's why you sprinted down here to have this girl removed simply for existing." He looked at her evenly. "Ask yourself honestly. Would you be here right now if she were a witch?"
Her mouth opened. Closed.
The worst part was she didn't have a clean answer and they both knew it.
"Enough." The headmistress cut between them. "Mister Monroeson. My office. Now." She turned to Carly with a firm but not unkind expression. "Have a good evening Miss McPherson."
Niko stood from his chair and the full height of him filled the room. Jaw set. Hands loose at his sides. He looked at Carly for one long moment and she couldn't read it. Not angry exactly. Something closer to disappointed.
Like he had expected better from her and wasn't surprised to not get it.
His shoulder clipped hers deliberately as he walked past into the office.
The door shut behind him.
Carly stood in the empty waiting room and stared at the closed door for a second longer than she meant to. Then she turned and walked back down the hall toward her room.
Toward her vampire roommate.
Her absolutely terrible evening.
And the small, irritating voice in the back of her head that kept replaying the four words Niko said before the door opened.
I hope it works out.
She told herself it meant nothing.
She almost believed it.
Author's Note:
Did Niko Monroeson just say something almost human? And did Carly almost laugh with him? Black River Academy's most unlikely situation is just getting started. Drop a like and tell me in the comments, are you already feeling something between these two or is it too early? Add us to your library because things are about to get a whole lot more complicated!