Chapter 5 5
Annabeth's POV:
I quickly looked away, feeling my cheeks flush, and pretended to be super interested in the map on my phone as if I didn't know exactly where I was going.
Shit. That was weird. Had he seen me looking at him? Of course he had, we had made eye contact. God, how awkward. He probably thought I was a stalker or something. Weird girl who saves him at night and then stalks him on campus the next day.
I quickened my pace toward the science building without looking back, even though every part of my brain wanted to turn around and check if he was still watching me.
I didn't.
General Biology class was in a large auditorium with tiered seating and a professor who looked like he was a thousand years old and spoke in a monotone that made it difficult to pay attention. Normally I would have been fascinated; we were discussing cell structure, something I knew by heart, but I couldn't concentrate.
I kept thinking about the guy.
About how perfectly fine he looked.
Last night's injuries had been serious. I had seen them clearly in the streetlights: split lip, eye starting to swell, blood on his chin. And today, less than twelve hours later, nothing. Not a mark.
There was an explanation. There had to be.
Maybe the injuries weren't as bad as they seemed. Blood always makes everything look worse, I knew that. And the street lighting had been awful, yellowish and dim. It could have been shadows that I interpreted as bruises.
Yes. That made sense.
Except it didn't. I had seen his face up close when I helped him up. It had been there.
"Miss..." The professor looked at me expectantly. The entire auditorium was looking at me.
"Excuse me?"
"I asked if you could explain the difference between prokaryotic and eukaryotic cells."
"Oh. Yes, of course." I settled into my seat, feeling the stares. "Prokaryotes don't have a defined nucleus or membranous organelles, like bacteria. Eukaryotes have a nucleus and organelles, like animal and plant cells."
"Correct. Please pay attention."
"Yes, sorry."
The girl next to me gave me a sympathetic look. I just wanted the ground to swallow me up.
The rest of the class passed in a blur of information that I barely processed. I took notes automatically, my hand writing while my brain remained stuck in that loop of unanswered questions.
Chemistry was worse. The professor spoke too fast and assumed we all already knew things that I definitely did not know. I left the classroom with a headache and the feeling that I might have overestimated my ability to handle this university.
It was almost noon when the last class of the morning ended. My stomach was growling, I had eaten breakfast ages ago, so I headed to the cafeteria I had spotted on my initial tour.
It was a low, wide building with large windows and worn wooden tables. It smelled of burnt coffee and fried food. There was a line at the counter, but it wasn't too long, so I got in line, absentmindedly checking my phone.
Mara had sent me about fifteen messages asking how my first day was going. I replied with a vague "fine" because I didn't have the energy to go into detail.
I ordered a ham and cheese sandwich that looked sad but edible, paid with the coins I found at the bottom of my backpack, and turned around to look for a table.
And I bumped right into someone.
My tray tilted dangerously. The sandwich slipped. A hand caught it before it hit the floor.
"Careful," said a familiar voice.
I looked up.
It was him.
The boy. The one from last night. The one on the bench. The one with the impossible eyes.
And he was standing inches away from me, holding my sandwich, looking at me with an expression I couldn't quite read.
"I... I'm sorry," I managed to say, feeling that stupid heat in my cheeks again. "I wasn't looking."
"It's okay." He handed me back my sandwich with a small smile. "I think we're even now. You saved my life last night, I saved your lunch today."
I laughed, more out of nervousness than because it was funny.
"I don't think they're equivalent."
"Depends on how hungry you are."
We stood there in the middle of the cafeteria, blocking the path of other students who had to walk around us. Someone muttered something about "moving, please."
"Want to sit down?" he asked, pointing to an empty table near the windows.
I should have said no. I should have made up an excuse, like I had to study or call someone or literally anything. But instead I said: "Yeah, sure."
We sat across from each other. He had a cup of black coffee, nothing else. I unwrapped my sandwich and stared at him for a second before speaking.
"Your injuries," I said, deciding to be direct because beating around the bush was going to drive me crazy. "How is it possible that you look so good?"
He blinked, surprised by the direct question.
"Excuse me?"
"Last night. They beat you up pretty bad. Blood, bruises, everything. And now..." I gestured vaguely toward his perfectly normal face. "Nothing. Not a mark."
"Ah." He touched his cheek as if he had just remembered. "I guess it looked worse than it really was. You know, the night, the shadows. Plus I took painkillers when I got home. And ice. Lots of ice."
"Ice doesn't heal a split lip in twelve hours."
"No, but it reduces the swelling." His voice was calm, reasonable. "And the lip wasn't that bad. Just a small cut."
I looked at him skeptically. He held my gaze without blinking, but there was something in his expression, an almost imperceptible tension, that told me he was lying.
Or maybe I was being paranoid.
Maybe the stress of the first day was affecting my brain and turning normal situations into non-existent mysteries.
"If you say so," I finally replied, and took a bite of my sandwich. It was dry.
"Hey, you didn't tell me your name last night," he said, changing the subject with a smoothness that was almost imperceptible. "I'm Kaelen."
"Annabeth." I swallowed the bite. "But you can call me Annie. Or Beth. Whatever."
"I like Annabeth better."
Why did that make me smile like an idiot? I don't know. It was a simple, insignificant comment. But something about the way he said it, with that calm voice and those blue-green eyes fixed on me, made my stomach do that tingly thing again.
"Is this your first day too?" I asked.
"Yes. I just moved to town. Well, a few months ago, but I'm just starting here."
"Where are you from?"
"The city. Up north." He took a sip of his coffee. "It was... it was time for a change."
There was something about the way he said that, as if there was more behind the words, but I didn't press him. I had things I didn't like to explain too, like why I lived with my aunt instead of my parents, or why I never talked about my mom.
"This place is quiet," I said. "Boring, but quiet."
"That's good." He smiled a little. "Sometimes quiet is exactly what you need."
We ate in silence for a moment, but it wasn't uncomfortable. It was... pleasant. Strange but pleasant.
"Hey," Kaelen said suddenly. "How about I buy you lunch? Seriously, to thank you for last night. There's a nice café just off campus. I heard some guys talking about it this morning."
"You don't have to do that."
"I know. But I want to."
I looked at him, trying to figure out his intentions, looking for signs of... what? That he was a serial killer? That he had weird ulterior motives? But all I saw was a cute guy inviting me to lunch, probably because he felt obligated after I saved him from some drunks.
Nothing weird about that.
Well, except for the miracle healing thing. And the eyes that definitely didn't glow. And the weird dream I had. And...
"Okay," I said, before my brain could convince me otherwise. "Sounds good."
"Great." His smile widened and for a second he looked really young, less serious. "Is tomorrow okay? At one o'clock?"
"Yes, of course."
"Perfect. Give me your number, I'll send you the address."
He gave me his phone, I entered my number and gave it back to him. Everything was very normal and civilized. Like two normal people who had no strange secrets, no glowing eyes, and nothing paranormal at all.
"I have to go," he said, looking at the time on his phone. "I have class in ten minutes on the other side of campus."
"Sure, go."
He got up, took his empty cup, and gave me one last look before leaving.
"I'm glad I found you, Annabeth."
And he was gone, walking between the tables with that strange grace I had noticed last night, leaving me sitting there with my half-eaten sandwich and a million questions swirling around in my head.
My phone vibrated. A message from an unknown number.
"It's Kaelen. See you tomorrow. And thanks again for saving me."
I saved his number with a smile I couldn't hold back.