LIRA: Book I

CHAPTER TEN: Nicholas Imperial

It was on her third month in the Academy when Lira noticed her friends were exhibiting odd behaviors. She couldn't help it but worry over her friends. On one occasion, Lira woke up in the middle of the night to find Yumi sitting cross-legged on her bed, mumbling something underneath her breath. She called for Yumi's attention to ask if she was okay. But Yumi merely looked at her with a blank stare, as if she was in a trance. The following morning, Lira told Yumi about what happened that night. Yumi brushed the incident aside by saying "I was probably having one of my sleep-talking tendencies. Don't worry, I'm okay. It happens a lot back home."

Mari, on the other hand, seemed to be always sick especially in the mornings. There were times when she looked so pale, with black lines under her eyes as if she was not able to sleep all throughout the night. She started losing her appetite too, with occasionally complaining of nausea. Lira was so worried over Mari that she wasn't able to help herself and brazenly asked Mari, "Mariella Alonzo, are you pregnant?" Mari had looked at Lira as if she sprouted horns over her head, blinked several times before bursting in to fits laughter. "Oh, Lira, you are so funny! Of course I'm not. I'm like this during my period."

Even Ian hadn't escaped Lira's prying eyes. She observed he was even clumsier whenever Clara passed by them. It did not escape their notice as well that Ian was constantly sneaking glances at Clara whenever she was within proximity.

"You like her," Yumi teased.

Ian, blushed and mumbled, "No I don't."

"Ian, if you like a girl, there is nothing wrong with that. If you need an expert advice about girls, I'm here for you," Mari offered.

Matt, as per what Lira noticed, acted indifferent towards her. He rarely approached her during the DAVA activities and tried to avoid Lira as much as possible, except when Mari called his name and he needed to acknowledge Mari and her friends. It was during one of those dinner time in the mess hall (where the vampires made themselves present again) that Matt suddenly approached her and placed what looked like a small transparent plastic full of strawberries on her table. She lifted her gaze at Matt and gave him a puzzled look.

"It's an 'I'm-sorry-for-being-a-jerk, can-we-be-friends' bribe," he said, not even looking at her.

Lira couldn't help herself from chuckling in amazement. He was a jerk, really; but who was she not to give forgiveness to those who seek it? She picked a piece of strawberry, popped it in her mouth. Her smile was all the answer Matt needed then he sauntered on his way out.

Mari, however, was looking at her with beady jealous eyes.

"Hey Mari, it's nothing. His conscience probably bugged him to death so he decided to apologize," Lira said. Really, in Lira's opinion, Mari has no reason to be jealous. With her long silky light brown hair, red V-neck sweater (which showed a cleavage of epic proportion) paired with a micro mini black and red plaid skirt over black tights and black boots, Mari was a certified boy magnet. And a guy like Matt would prefer a girl like Mari over a girl like her who couldn't even manage to control her frizzy hair. But Mari wasn't convinced that much.

That evening, Lira went to the library as usual. She needed to read a book on Vampirism since she was not doing well on that subject. Yeah right, Lira, you just want to see Sevastian, she told herself.

She grabbed a book from the shelf and went to Sevastian's usual seat, only he wasn't there. She heaved a sigh of disappointment, pulled a chair and sat down. She began reading the book and jotting down notes when a pair of strong arms appeared from behind her and hands settled on the table on either side of her, locking her in place. "What's that you're reading?" a low, masculine voice whispered near her ear.