BLOODSTONE ACADEMY

13: Lunch with The Eight.

I scanned the group for a familiar curly, dark-haired boy fruitlessly as we walked over, before letting my disappointed gaze rest on Charlotte's.

She was the one who'd invited me to sit with them after all.

"Can my friend join us?" I asked once we reached them, my voice void of emotion. I just wanted to eat already and get this drama over with.

Charlotte's cold grey eyes flicked sharply to Brittany who was shaking slightly behind me.

Her scrutiny ran long and deep, and I could almost hear Brittany audibly squirming behind me underneath Charlotte's cold, marble gaze, until the corner of her lips quirked up slightly into a semblance of a smile.

It wasn't exactly a smile. But it was something.

She let her gaze flick back to me, and I could see the dissatisfaction in her eyes. I held back a snort and resisted the urge to roll my eyes.

"Sure." Charlotte finally said, her voice cold and curt. She clearly did not want Brittany there, but she seemed to have noticed that her presence was my ultimatum.

Brittany and I, or neither of us.

I put my tray down on the table and reached over to an empty table behind us to pull out a chair, then placed it beside mine for Brittany, who was still shivering as she took a seat.

I sat down.

And the buzz of the cafeteria noise picked up again instantly.

I hadn't noticed it, but the whole cafeteria had practically been holding its breath. Every eyes curious for gossip straining over, watching my every move. Hoping for something dramatic to happen.

"New girl," Roman drawled beside me, his deep voice raising the hairs on the back of my neck as I noticed, with sudden irritation, how close our chairs were.

His arm was brushing against mine, as was his thigh underneath the table, and a jolt of electricity bolted through my spine as I turned to look at him.

My eyes sunk into the abyss of his icy, midnight gaze.

"The name's Jade. Surely, you'll pick up on that sooner or later," I bit out sharply with a brow raised, and I watched distastefully as a smirk appeared on his lips.

"Why are you so tense, Jade?" He said my name with such fondness, as if we'd known each other for a lifetime, and my stomach knotted as my frown deepened.

"Relax, I'm not going to eat you. Although," he leaned closer so his lips feather-brushed my earlobe.

"That's very tempting," he laughed with his lips still brushing against my earlobe, and the sound of his laughter sent several waves of electricity through my body.

I resisted the urge to shiver as I firmly grabbed my chair by the sides, then shifted until there was several inches of space between us, and I could breathe properly again.

"What? You have some crazy cannibalistic kink?" I cocked a brow once the distance between us was safe. "I mean, not to kink shame, but I'm not into cannibalism."

My expression was smug, and I watched the amusement dance around in Roman's eyes until he burst into laughter.

I dug into my jollof rice in a bid to hide the tiny smile that was playing at the corners of my lips. I was pretty proud of myself for that remark, not gonna lie.

I don't want to talk about how I know about things like kinks.

When you're a teenager who's locked up in the house your entire life, with endless access to the internet, you get to know a lot of things.