Ivy Cordelia Boarding School

Chapter Seven

s.

"Selah!"

I jump when I hear my name yelled by a multitude of people, and relax when I see it's just the group from my lunch table. I hold up a finger to let them know that I'll be a minute while I get lunch, but they get up and head over to stand in line with me.

I was over thirty minutes late since I had to head back to my room for lunch and shower all of the dance sweat away.

"We looked for you everywhere. Where did you go?" Elliana asks, pulling me into a hug. I pat her back reassuredly, since she seemed pretty worried.

"I was only in the dance gym" I inform the group, letting Ken pull me into a hug next.

Damien and Gray throw their arms over my shoulder, walking to the front of the line and sliding me in behind a guy who's paying.

"Rude" I tell them and they shrug, both wearing lazy grins on pretty faces.

"They shouldn't have been so late to lunch" Damien remarks and I laugh, bumping my hip against his leg. He was too tall for me to actually hip check him.

After I grab my lunch, which Gray pays for, we head back to our table where a guy is sitting. The first thing I notice is his hair shaved low on the sides and the top in curls which adorably fall into his face. And he was beautiful.

Perfectly carved chestnut that, as a statue, would be the build of Herculus. He has low, bedroom eyes and sexy, full, kissable lips. A strong nose and jaw, thick brows and long lashes completed his face. 

"Armani!" Damien says excitedly as the boy named stands, pulling him into one of those special, guy hugs. And wow, he's tall. Probably around six foot five, which is good since I'm five foot eleven. Not that I was interested in dating him or anything.

"Coming to do what I think you are?" Gray asks, hugging him as well. Elliana and Kennedi seem like they're in awe of his presence, which makes me giggle. I go to step around him with my tray and he grabs my arm.

My entire body instantly feels hot and tingly. "Yes?" I ask, letting him pull me back in front of him.

"I'll be taking this" Gray says, taking my tray and placing it on the table. They all sit, Kennedi flashing me a thumbs up.

"I'm Armani. Armani Hendrix" he says, holding a large hand out to me. I briefly imagine it wrapped around my neck. But no, because I remember earlier that day, hearing the name come from Nastassia's lips. Apparently, he was hers. Or she wanted him to be.

"Armani, I'm Selah. But you know that, I guess, since you're here talking to me right now". I shake his hand, ignoring all of the cliché feelings I've ever read about in those stupid romance books flare up inside of me. And why can't I stop looking at his lips?

"I do know that. And I've known about you for a while, actually. Ever since I saw a video of you doing a backflip off of a crumbling wall some years ago. That video was MY cat video".

I grin, flashing back to that moment before Freshman year when I had just got to London. Before my family left, we spent the entire day together.

My dad and I always played a game where he dared me to do flips off of any structure around us at any point. He thought that that would be the day I turned down one of his dares. But it wasn't, because I never back down from a challenge.

"I forgot about that video. You just brought back a memory that I had forgotten about entirely. And reminded me that I need to call my dad. So, thank you. Do you need something?".