I woke up the next morning with Victory laying next to me, an arm thrown around my middle and the other was my pillow. Frowning, I shifted to face him. A shiver ran through me as I looked at him. He had changed at some point during the night. The tattoos on his face had moved down to his neck and had elongated to the point where they met at the base of his throat. Reaching out, I touched them delicately and traced the pattern. He mumbled something under his breath but other than that he didn't stir. He could do so much with his power but instead he was using it for such mundane things like washing dishes and giving my class snacks. Why was he with me? Gently touching the one of the hearts I sighed inwardly. Deciding that it wouldn't be nice to wake him, I got up and started getting ready.
By the time he did wake up, I was walking to school.
"That wasn't very nice! I might've missed school," he clucked and I started. "Hey! Relax! I'm ready for the day." He pulled my bag from my grasp and smiled at me. Rolling my eyes, I walked faster.
"What? Not even a good morning?" He asked pouting and I kept going. Suddenly, he was right in front of me. "Listen. I know you're angry about...whatever you're angry about. I'm not going to start doing anything that shouldn't be done already. Will you at greet me?"
"I'm not angry," I answered and rubbed my nose. I really wasn't mad. "I just...I don't know. I'm not used to being around someone who could kill me with only a thought, I guess."
"Do you think I'm going to kill you?" He said aghast.
"No. Not really. It would probably take a lot to kill me. On your part anyway," I answered and he ran a hand through his hair.
"I wouldn't kill you! You don't understand that if you die, I'll go down a rank and..." He started.
"Rank? That's what you're worried about? Rank! No wonder I died in my last life. I couldn't stand living with you," I hissed and his jaw clenched. Shoving him aside, I wrestled my bag away from him and ran into the school. Signing in, I practically tore through the paper and then went straight to the library. Luckily, Dorothy was there and I locked the library door behind me. Getting behind her desk, I sat down on the floor and pulled my knees to my face.
"What's wrong, Mina? Are you...crying?" She asked startled and kneeled on the floor next to me. Pulling my hands away from my face, she examined me worriedly.
"Did you get hurt? Raped? Were you beaten up in an alley after being promised the world? Talk to me Mina! I can't help you if you won't talk to me!" She exclaimed and I looked at her through my tears.
"I can't. I can't talk about it...but I wasn't hurt. At least not on the outside," I sobbed and she bit her lip. Drawing me towards her, she hugged me silently. We stayed like that until the bell rang and then I got up. I was dry eyed by then but the look on my face must have been terrible because Dorothy gaped at me like a fish.
"To my students," I told her with a forced smile and picked up my bag. Rushing to my classroom, I steadied my mind and made sure that I was completely focused on my students. Felix may be able to kill me but I wasn't going to let that bother me while I was teaching.
"Good Morning!" I called to my class forcing the happiness but as the day went on I found that I didn't need to pretend. I was truly happy with my students so this was the way I was going to stay.
"Ms. Towers?" Nil asked coming up to my desk and I looked up at him from my papers. We had taken a break yesterday so that I could count how many people wanted to do what and I ended up doing poetry. Today however, it was back to Shakespeare and the class wanted to do Julius Caesar. Which I didn't mind. After all, hearing some old guy dying from being stabbed is probably more than what some of these kids will ever hear. In any case, the class was now reading the first act of the play and I had already written up some questions for them to answer. I had already given them a brief overview of Shakespeare and some of his plays, so they were all set.
