BLOODSTONE ACADEMY

22: The Space Between Us.

  Vasilis's arm brushed mine again when he raised his hand to scratch the back of his neck.

It was just the two of us now.

The librarian, Ms. Kimberly, left ages ago, after making Brittany and I promise that we would be leaving soon.

Apparently, they didn't usually keep the library locked because of the boarding students, and there was a part-time librarian who worked weekend shifts in case the boarding students needed to use the library over the weekend.

"Um..." I began, ignoring the jolt of electricity that had run through my body at the subtle contact. I didn't know what to say. I had loads to say actually, but somehow, the words stumbled into one another in my head, until they were a load of incoherent nonsense as his dark gaze poured into mine.

Alone together, his expression had shed all of that cold, indifferent, slightly anxious façade he always walked around with, and he once again looked like the boy I'd stumbled into in the woods on my first day here.

"So," a small smile played on his lips as he began, saving me from having to sort through the mess my thoughts were. "How's Bloodstone Academy treating you so far?"

I couldn't resist the smile that appeared on my face at the reminiscence of the same question he'd asked when I'd run into him in the woods.

"It's kicking my ass," I groaned, thinking of all the homework and projects that had been dumped on us just this week alone.

Although, Brittany and I had made efficient use of the library and we'd sacrificed our breaks to get a head-start on our assignments, we still had loads of work to do.

Vasilis laughed softly, and the sound of it warmed my skin. It felt like he had moved closer, though he remained sitting very still. Maybe I was just assuming things. But I swear I could feel the coldness of his skin against mine, even through my sweater.

He seemed to not have gotten the memo that it was casual Friday, because he was dressed in his white uniform shirt, loosely knotted tie and crimson pants.

"The teachers here are brutal, but they know what they're doing. The rates of students from here who get into Ivy Leagues all around the world increases by ten percent every year." He shrugged as he explained. "So, I would say that it's worth it, I guess. Except you're not looking to get into an Ivy League."

I nodded in understanding, biting down on my lip to stop myself from telling him that I'd gotten into Yale by accident. Well, not exactly by accident, but I hadn't applied with hope that I would get in. It had been an impulsive action with a surprising outcome.

"What's going on in your head?" The soft, low rumble of Vasilis's voice brought my attention back to him, and I blinked as my gaze sank back into his.

His eyes had that weird way of focusing so intently, that it always left me breathless every time he looked at me. It was both unnerving and ravishing all at once, being the focus of his attention.

How lovely it felt to be looked at by him...

"Nothing..." I trailed, actually forgetting what it was I'd been thinking about. He had that ability to jumble up my thoughts and render my ability to be coherent useless.

"You zone out a lot," He was saying, his voice so soft, I could have fallen asleep just listening to him speak, if I wasn't so nervous around him.

"I keep wondering what the inside of your head must be like," he continued, and I suddenly felt hands on mine.

My hands had been laying nervously idle on the table in front of us, and I glanced over to see Vasilis's cold fingers tracing along the length of my thumb, caressing along the inside of my palm softly, tenderly.

His touch was light as a feather, barely there. I doubted he was even conscious of it.

But my stomach was suddenly knotting up in violent twists. All at once, screaming things that I didn't know resided there before were having a rude awakening in the pit of my stomach, and they raged and warred within me, struggling to get out, roaring loudly at the base of my stomach.

I hadn't known a simple touch could do that...

I snatched my hand away from his, my breaths heavy as my eyes darted around the empty library in frantic panic.

I needed to get away. I needed to get out of there before I obliged the wishes of the screaming things in my stomach, telling me to lean forward, grab his face and kiss him.

No. Absolutely not.

The ping of a notification lit up my phone screen at that moment, and I reached for it with shaky hands.

It was Mr. Leadsey. He was here. Thank God!

"I uh...I should go," I stammered, hurriedly stuffing my books into my bag, zipped it shut and shot up from the chair, almost knocking into the table in the process.

Vasilis stood up too. He had his bottom lip between his teeth, his expression set in contemplation.

"See you tomorrow?" He asked, as if what just happened would make me cancel our study session.

"Yeah," I breathed. "See you tomorrow." And then I bolted from the library.

"No!" I'd wanted to scream in his face. "I do not want to see you tomorrow!"

But I did. Actually, I now wanted to see him tomorrow even more desperately than I'd wanted to before. I wanted to see him so bad, I feared I should lock myself away from him because I couldn't stand how violently impulsive I felt whenever he was near.

I ran all the way across the empty, stone-walled hallways until I burst out into the open parking lot. I didn't even pause to breathe, I just dashed for the car.

The farther the space between us, the better.