Remember the Past

Chapter 40

  I head down to the dining hall for dinner at six that way most people have cleared out by now.

To my surprise, everyone is still there. The room falls quiet as I enter and I feel all eyes on me. I don't meet anyone's gaze as I fill my plate.

"Hey," I ask Colin as I stand next to his table. "Mind if I sit by you?"

"No, there's always room for you." He replies, shifting to make room for me.

"Thanks."

As I eat quietly, Colin returns to his conversation with the twin, who sit across from us, occasionally laughing. Not a polite chuckle. I mean, they all shake the table with how hard they are laughing. The sight of their happiness warms me.

At the end of dinner when I rise to leave, Morgan approaches us.

"It has been decided there Nova will have a guardian instituted." She says.

"What?" I say astonished.

Morgan ignores me, it doesn't even seem that she is talking to me at all, even the matter clearly affects me.

"And Colin, you will be her guardian. I'm sorry but she is going to have to room with you again for the time being."

"Yes, ma'am." He replies.

"What did I do this time?" I shout at her. I just hope that Colin doesn't think that my anger has anything to do with him because it is purely about being treated like a child by her and Mitch.

Morgan had already started walking away by the time I spoke. It made her stop in her tracks and turned to face me. "It is not about what you did, Nova. It's more about safety." She walks away before I can asked who's safety.

Colin and Savannah help me move my clothes and bedding into Colin's room. The furniture stays. It's not until we've moved the rest of my essentials out that I realize how much I have grown fond of this little room even in just a few days and how much I will miss falling asleep gazing at the beautifully painted walls.

Once I've settled in and it's just Colin and I, he asks, "How are you doing?"

I turn to face him. He signals me to sit and I sit at the foot of his bed with my legs draped over the side and mirroring him at the head of the bed.

"After the attack today, I man."

I shake my head. "A little shaken."

He holds my hands in his. "Your safe now. They're gone."

"You don't know that."

"There not here now and that's enough."

I turn to look at the clock it reads just after nine.

I rise from his bed saying, "I think I'm going to head to bed early tonight."

"Okay."

I don't even bother to change my clothes. I just pull a large blanket on top of me and fall into a void of sleep.

I wake to the gentle sound of Colin's deep calm breathes. Getting changed into fresh clothes, I stop on my way out of the dorm. I know I shouldn't be out alone, but I just need a little alone time.

I hover over Colin's bed before I leave. I can't help it. He just looks so peaceful and how else can I look at him as long as I please without it getting awkward? Okay, I know how much of a stalker that sounds, but it's true. With his honey-colored hair and perfectly tan skin, perfectly formed nose and that jawline.