Her Hidden Half (War Songs of the Courts #1)

Chapter Six

Alec's tour was essentially us walking around aimlessly while he told me the things he did in that particular class to get into trouble and how unjust the punishment was for crime. That, and him sharing every detail of any gossip that's ever occurred during his time here in between the classrooms.

How he was still attending this school was a complete mystery to me.

The glaringly empty halls started to become more evident as the tour went on and I was beginning to think no one actually attended this school.

"Isn't there supposed to be more people around here?" I asked tugging on Alec's back pocket.

He turned. "Well, on the weekends we don't have any classes and most students don't ever really come down these halls when they don't have to," he explained while walking backwards.

"So where is everyone then?" I asked as I glanced around the hall.

I didn't want to socialize at the moment, or ever really, but I was still curious.

"They're in pretty much any other area of the building. Cafeteria, Gym, entertainment center, the dorms. Everyone-," he abruptly stopped speaking as he came to a stop just short of bumping into someone turning the corner we were coming up at.

"There you are. I have been looking everywhere for you." A man with smooth mocha skin and the bone structure of a model narrowed his eyes at him before darting them between us a few times

I openly stared, taking in his appearance with a stab of envy. I didn't think it was fair that he was prettier than me.

Even with the sour look on his face this man still managed to look beautiful. His eyes shone in a seawater blue that popped against his skin which glowed in a way that was almost unnaturally perfect. It immediately reminded me of Beyonce. I had always thought she must have been photoshopped or wore a ton of makeup, but this guy's striking beauty was all natural so it made me rethink my stance on Beyonce's maybe not-so-artificial beauty.

"Oh, hey babe." Alec turned to hug him and 'babe' shut that shit down fast.

"Nu-uh, babe. Josh told me he saw you hooking up with some blonde last night," he said in a voice that signaled death if he uttered the wrong word.

Huh, so he's gay. I really thought he was hitting on me this morning.

"Wow. That's... creepy. Did he watch the whole thing? Because I could've sworn we went to her room before we did anything indecent," Alec muttered with what looked like genuine confusion.

Okay, not so gay then.

A slow growl emitted from the man and his eyes flashed in an unnatural way. He stared at Alec, face contorted in an expanding rage. The urge to casually tiptoe out of the situation was strong but I stood frozen, watching emotions play out over the man's face. The tense set of his shoulders made him look like a lion ready to pounce and when he stalked past us, fuming with so much anger that I could practically taste it, relief swelled in my chest.

Alec sighed when he got out of view and shook his head in disappointment, as if that had no lasting effect on him. I gave him a look that said I disapproved and he held his hands up to signal innocence.

"Hey, I warned him that I wasn't the relationship type. This one's not on me," he defended.

I smirked, noting that he said 'this one'.

"You know, you could always stick to one night stands," I suggested, giving him a look.

He gasped, giving me a look of faux offense. "Red, you wouldn't be suggesting that I'm easy, now would you?"

I snorted and gave him a look that said come on.

He abandoned the look with ease and shrugged. "Okay, yeah. I'm no Virgin Mary, but I mean, that was never any fun for anyone involved. It really should have gone out of style far sooner than it did."

He started walking down the hall without warning and I quickly followed, a fond smile slipping onto my face. It was becoming a real challenge to not like him.

"You hungry?" He asked over his shoulder.

"Always." My stomach growled in confirmation.

He laughed and looked over his shoulder. "I have a feeling you're going to like the cafeteria."

* * *

I loved the cafeteria.

They made everything and I really did mean everything. I walked into the magical place and immediately grabbed anything that didn't have meat in it. I had been trying to go vegan before this, but I had a feeling being a vegetarian in and of itself was going to be akin to committing a crime in their eyes as it was. I couldn't imagine being a vegan in a school full of shifters, so I decided to put that off for a while. I'd have to go by ear on it, but I really didn't think it'd be much of a problem. I mean, it couldn't be that big of a deal.

There was a good amount of people in the cafeteria and, at first, I thought no one had even noticed me but then I realized shifters could be shifty little bastards. They were careful to only peek at me discretely but it soon became obvious when the entire cafeteria started doing it. The air was thick with tension throughout the cafeteria and it immediately put me on edge.

Alec gave my ass a playful slap as he reached me and stopped briefly to take in my demeanor. He took a little longer getting his food and I could now see why. Man had a serious appetite.

"Ah, Peaches. Don't let them get your panties in a bunch," he said with a wink before continuing to walk past me to an empty table.

I hooked my finger on his back pocket while he lead the way and chuckled.

"Come on, Alec. Be real," I shot back with a smirk as I sat on the other side of the table. "You know I don't wear panties."

I mean, he did watch me get dressed this morning. I only wore panties on rare occasions, usually when I planned to get laid.

I heard him choke on his drink and looked up to see him in a fit of laughter, coughing every few seconds. I watched him in confusion because I knew within seconds of meeting Alec that he wasn't a prude by anyone's standards. I didn't see how anything I said could have made him lose his shit like that. It was right about then that I realized the room was far too quiet. I looked around to see everyone watching us, whispering to their tables.

"Oh, for fucks sake. They can hear us? You're supposed to warn a girl about this kind of shit," I said as I suppressed a smile, trying to look angry with him.

The truth is if I had known, I probably would have said the same thing. If I was being honest with myself, it probably would've been something even worse.

He grinned and wiped his eye. "Ah, man. I think I might love you."

He rested his head atop his hand and stared at me with an overly mushy expression.

"Oh, that's just gross. Don't make me gag, Alec. I'm eating here, have some respect." I scrunched my nose up like I smelled something's terrible and threw a French Fry at him.

Someone at a near table gasped, making our eyes meet before breaking into laughter simultaneously.