Chapter 19

Flora’s P.O.V

One week had passed since Riley’s visit to my house, one whole week since I’d been alone with Clay.

I’d tried my very best to avoid him as much as I could. I never stayed back in class, especially the ones that I had with him and I was usually the first one out of the classroom. I even made sure that I was never alone. Despite my shy personality, I’d tried to make new friends and stay surrounded by people so Clay couldn’t reach me in any possible way.

During assignments, I had often found notes written in Clay’s pretty handwriting slipped into my notebooks but I just kept on dumping them into a box at the bottom of my closet because I just didn’t have it in me to just throw them away.

At night, I kept all my doors and windows tightly shut and the curtains drawn so Clay couldn’t come in, even though I knew that a few windows were nothing compared to his Alpha strength. When I’d heard tiny pebbles being thrown at my window the first and second night, I’d just pressed my pillows on top of my head and gone very still so that Clay thought I was sleeping. He was a stubborn wolf and I had expected him to keep on his tactics or just break in through the window any day, but somehow, Clay seemed to have gotten the message after the fifth day.

I should’ve been glad. I should’ve been happy that he got the message and that our relationship, that never should’ve happened, was finally over; that Clay had understood my message and heeded my brother’s warning and given up easily. But I wasn’t happy. I wasn’t glad. I felt hollow inside, like I let something precious slip away. Even though we were not mates and I didn’t feel that bond connecting us, I thought what we had was something real and not just physical attraction. But I guess my brother was right. Clay wasn’t good news and he was really just in for the fun...a taste of the forbidden fruit. And now that he’d had a taste…

I don’t like you kneeling at my feet.

Not you. Never you. I’ll make sure of that.

I don’t care who the Gods have chosen for me, but I’ll defy them all to be with you. Remember that, Flora.

Such flowery words he had used...was there any truth to them at all?

“Flora!”

I stopped in my tracks, suddenly realizing that I was in the middle of the school hallway and not in class anymore. I had pretty much been sleepwalking through life the past week, avoiding my parents, Riley and even Ruth. Not that anyone cared, since I am an introvert and liked to keep to myself, but maybe it was time to snap out of it.

I turned to the boy who had just called my name and placed a smile on my face. There was no need to affect other with my mood. “Hi, Trevor.” I greeted the golden haired captain of the Rugby team.

“Hey...um...can you do me a huge favour?” Trevor gave a nervous smile. “Mrs. Avalon’s physics assignment was due yesterday and I skipped class to go on a date with Ruth.”

“Ruth?” I blinked back my surprise. “You’re dating Ruth?”

“Yeah...kind of.” Trevor scratched the back of his head nervously. “I mean...it’s nothing serious...just...you know, hanging out?”

For the first time in a week, I felt myself smile genuinely at Trevor. Ruth was seeing someone and it made me feel like a huge weight lifted off my shoulder. “So, what favour did you want from me?”

“Mrs. Avalon really likes you.” Trevor said sheepishly as he took out a folder from his bag and handed it to me. “Can you please give this to her? She’s in room 207 right now and I don’t want her skinning my ass. I would be really grateful if you do this one thing for me...please?”

I rolled my eyes at his antiques. “What did you tell her yesterday when you were bunking class?”

“That I twisted an ankle while training and couldn’t walk?” He phased it more like a question but with a huge grin on his pretty face.

“Fine.” I shook my head at him, still smiling, as I took the folder from his hands. “I’ll give it to her.

“Thanks a bunch!” Trevor gave me a salute before he was off in the opposite direction. I spotted Ruth at the end of the hallway, smiling as Trevor reached her in record time a placed a big fat kiss on her smiling lips.

When her eyes met mine, she grinned and waved as Trevor slung an arm around her shoulders. ‘Call me!’ she mouthed before she was being dragged away in a different direction. Ruth went along giggling, wrapping her arms around Trevor’s waist and they looked genuinely happy. I was happy for them.

I don’t know why it was like a weight being lifted off my chest. Maybe because I had been avoiding Ruth for a while now, because of Clay. At first because I was scared that Ruth was better than me in every aspect. She was beautiful. She had amazing skin and gorgeous hair and curves in all the right places. I was scared that Clay would just look at her once and realize that being with me was a mistake. That he had chosen the wrong girl. And then, when I was warned to stay away from Clay by Riley, I was worried that she would end up asking me about Clay and it would cause a rift between us. But maybe I had been overreacting all along?

Ruth was my best friend. And only now did I realize just how much I missed her. And now that she had someone she liked and seemed genuinely happy to be with, maybe I could patch up our differences and start over? I think that would be a great idea. I could call her over for a girl’s night! I felt really excited about going home and calling Ruth.

I was smiling all the way to room number 207, where Trevor had informed me about Mrs. Avalon, that I didn’t notice that there were very few students at this end of the hallway and most of the classes were empty.

When I opened the door, I stopped dead in my tracks when I saw that the entire room was empty and all the windows were shut and the lights were turned off, except for the light directly overhead the teacher’s desk.

I took a step back and looked at the room number once again just to be sure that I hadn’t entered the wrong room. I hadn’t.

Shrugging, I went inside the room and directly behind the teacher’s desk to the extra equipments room in the physics class. Maybe Mrs. Avalon was in there?

But that room turned out to be empty as well.

Something was definitely fishy. I turned the folder in my hand and flipped it open. But there was no physics assignment inside the folder. It only consisted of one single page that read SORRY in bold capitals.

“What the-”

The door shut with a sharp sound, making me jump. And then all the lights inside the room turned on all at once.

I didn’t need to see the person to know who they were. I knew his scent thoroughly...it was ingrained into my memory...in my body.

And then I met piercing eyes of emerald.

“Clay...”