Sink Into Me

29: Cold

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"Are you okay, Evie?"

I shifted from one foot to the other. "I'm fine."

My poetry teacher's eyes squinted and sat back in her chair. I glanced at Rachel who was waiting by the door patiently and brought my attention back to her. 

"Are you sure?"

"I'm pretty sure, Miss. Clarke." I mumbled.

She pursed her lips. She was, apart from Michael, one of my favourite teachers here. She was probably in her late thirties maybe in between thirty-five and forty. She was so nice. 

"You seem a bit distracted lately. Your essay on Beethoven's Letters was tremendous but now you just seem like you're in a far away land."

"It's nothing important. It'll blow over soon." I muttered.

She waited a moment as if I'd carry on but then nodded. "Well, I'm here to talk if you need to."

I nodded my thanks and follows Rachel out of the room. "She's right, Evie. You have been distracted."

"It'll blow over soon." I repeated as we walked down the halls.

Rachel shrugged. "Alright. Just hope it isn't something too bad."

"Its not, it's just..." I sighed and started to chew on my bottom lip in thought. 

"Don't burst a blood vessel thinking about it, Eve." She patted my back as we stopped in front of the library. "I'm also here if you need to talk about anything."

"Thanks, Rachel, but it's nothing you'll understand."

"Hey, my parents have gone through divorce too."

"Nothing like that."

"Oh.... Then I got nothin'."

I smiled light heatedly at the girl.

"Anyway, I have to study for my geography exam. But I'll be at George's party later. See you there?"

I nodded and turned on my heels to stroll down the hall. I slowed as I neared Michael's room and flinched when I heard his sharp shout. 

Last night had taken a toll on his self control I could tell. From waking up beside him this morning to the moment he dropped me home he'd been slightly quiet and rigid; what tipped me off was the way he leaned slightly away from me or didn't really touch me. I'd told him straight away to go out and feed but he only said it was too late to call in sick on a Friday. So he'd been left to his moody self. 

Poor students.

I walked around and out of the building to get back home. It was three o'clock and the girls and I decided to dig around our wardrobes for something casual to wear tonight. Tonight for me and Kate would be a bit of a load off but then again we were being as careful as possible. We can't walk to George's otherwise we'd draw attention to ourselves and I wasn't allowed to be by myself at any point in time tonight.

But I wanted to.

I wanted to get close to the vampire again to speak with him. I wanted to hear why he was following us. I wanted to know why he's still drawing so much attention to the attacks and stupidly leaving people to tell others. He wasn't the only one to blame but still. He was the only one I could communicate with. 

I wasn't sure whether Kate knew I was going to do this but as I walked into the house, she gave me a disapproving look from the living room sofa so I assumed she had an idea.