The Otherworlders Academy - An Original Teen Fantasy

Ep. 3.15 (R) - Tension & Triangles

Jake sucks in a deep breath, mutters a few encouraging words to himself-carpe diem and all that-and then continues to make his way over to the table.

As he approaches them, his mouth goes dry, and his heart begins to pound so fiercely it feels like it's gonna pound right out of his chest.

Gods! Why is he feeling this way? Why does he always feel so unsettled around her?

As Jake gets closer to the table, he suddenly recalls his conversation with Ava, earlier that day. He can hear her cautioning him to tread carefully and not get too attached to Inez. Just give her the book and leave. Otherwise, hanging around her for much longer than that, especially with Cameron there, is just asking for trouble.

Before he knows it, Jake's in the middle of the courtyard, standing behind Inez. She's leaning back in her chair, her arms resting on her stomach and her legs kicked out beneath the table.

Barely acknowledging Cameron, Jake reaches out and gently taps Inez on the shoulder. And when she turns around and sees that it's him, her face lights up like Christmas, with a smile so radiant that for a second, Jake can't breathe.

Caught off guard, he swallows the lump in his throat, gulps in air, and then manages to smile back at her without looking too ridiculous.

"Hey," he says softly.

"Hey," Inez replies, pushing her chair back and standing so they can speak, face-to-face.

As they stare into each other's eyes, they seem to have momentarily forgotten about Cameron, who's still there, watching all of this go down. He's irritated by the interruption. But since he'd promised Inez he wouldn't interfere again, all he can do is roll his eyes, lean back in his chair, and glower.

"I, uh..." Jake says to Inez, stammering a bit, unnerved by Cameron witnessing his complete lack of game. "Um... I just wanted to return your Harry Potter book to you," he says awkwardly as he hands the book over to her.

Beaming, Inez takes it from him and clutches it to her chest. "In our last class," she says, "you mentioned that you'd finished the entire book, so..." she drawls out her question as she takes another step closer to him, "...what did you think?"

"Uh..." Jake stalls as his mind goes blank. He wasn't prepared to discuss the book with her, even though he did enjoy it.

He sucks in a long, slow breath, suddenly feeling a bit off-kilter, light-headed, and weak in the knees.

But when Inez looks up at him earnestly, her eyes sparkling with genuine curiosity, a sense of warmth spreads through him so completely that it propels his tight, polite smile into a decidedly goofy grin.

Inez grins back at him, her smile just as goofy as his.

Okay, now he's feeling dizzy and he doesn't know why. Is it nerves? Is he ill? His brain scrambles for a cause.

And then it occurs to him. When Inez took a step forward, she ended up standing less than a foot away from him. And, as a Shifter, this kind of proximity is very, very dangerous. With his heightened sense of smell, he can pick up the crisp fresh scent of her soap, the subtle floral fragrance of her shampoo, a tiny hint of baby powder, and well... her!

And her scent is intoxicating!

But as alluring as she smells, her scent is also wreaking havoc on all of his senses, not just his primary one. It's wreaking havoc in other places too, but he can't think about that now.

And after a long moment passes with them standing there, perfectly still, silently staring at each other with dopey expressions on their faces, Cameron decides he's had enough.