“Davina,” Adam said sharply, confused.
“What…what were you saying?” His hand was gone. I wanted his hand back.
“I…” He frowned again and asked, “Are you okay? You pushed me away and I mean, that’s okay if that’s what you need right now. I just thought…” He trailed off and looked away.
I didn’t have to be empathic to see his insecurity. “It’s not that. That guy scared me just now. I’m sorry. I want your help, I really do.”
His eyes twinkled.
I sighed again. How could any girl not fall in love with how adorable he was?
“Can you two stop with the sappy moment?” Emily returned with a storm at her backside. She slumped in her seat. “I’m trying to study.”
“Oh, yeah,” Adam laughed, a little embarrassed. “I-uh—I’ll talk to you later, Davina?”
I nodded. Hell yeah, we’d talk.
“Good. See you later then.”
I glanced at Emily as he left and saw her sharp green eyes on me. She narrowed them in disgust.
“You make me sick.”
“What? Why?” I was innocent.
“You totally lied to him just now. I had to run to the bathroom to keep from barfing. Really?! You can’t handle it? She died in front of you? Mr. Moser told me that you need to get back to the hotline. You broke protocol and that’s why you quit, not because you’re ‘emotionally shaken.’ Seriously, Davina.”
Maybe my roommate knew me a little better than I realized.
“Can you blame me?! Adam is to die for.” I could not believe I just said those words.
“I can’t believe you said that.” Emily reiterated my thoughts.
I flushed, embarrassed, and leaned back in my chair. “What am I supposed to do? I didn’t quit because of protocol, okay? And I need any advantage with Adam. You know Shelly Whistworth has her claws in him.”
Emily was annoyed. “You have to go and talk to Mr. Moser. You did break the rules and he’s worried about a lawsuit. And Adam Darley is not worth your time to lie and lower yourself. If he’s a stand-up guy, he’ll recognize that you’re much more fun to be with than Shelly Witless. If he’s not and he goes to her, he’s not the guy that you’ll want anyway.”
“I’m not lowering myself,” I remarked, and crossed my arms. “I’m just being manipulative.”
Emily looked at me knowingly. “Well, stop. It’s annoying.”
“It’s fun.”
Emily opened her mouth and started to say something, but I felt the blast of cold race through me. My heart slowed as the vamp walked towards me from the opposite direction. His eyes were on me again. He seemed to look right through me, but he didn’t slow his pace. He walked right past.
I hated vampires. I knew what they could do from personal experience. However, there were a lot of good vampires that liked to hang out on campus. Some of them even took classes and wanted to learn. This guy looked like a regular college student and he walked like one. Right to the computer lab, and back out again for a Mountain Dew. Typical college behavior, but I was betting he wasn’t one of the ‘good’ vampires.
“Do you know who that is?”
“You interrupted me. I was talking.”
I watched as he returned from the vending machines and sat back down at a computer. “That guy. Do you know him?”
“We’re at a school with six thousand students. Really?! We’re freshmen, Davina. How can you expect that I’d know him?”
I turned and regarded her. “Do you know him or not?”
She shifted uncomfortably in her seat.