Previously on "The Otherworlders": On her way to meet with Cameron and Patrick about Master Liu's assignment, Fiona stumbles upon Ava and Farid having an intimate chat in the Academy's courtyard. Feeling hurt, she turns away, finally accepting their budding relationship.
But before she can move on, Cameron interrupts her attempted escape with an awkward but flirtatious comment. Unfortunately, it's met with scorn, Fiona being in no mood to deal with Cameron's bad-boy ways.
Their conversation veers from humorous to heartfelt when Cameron -- commenting on Fiona's appearance at a ball -- leads to a misunderstanding. She thinks he's being superficial, but he's actually sincere, which leaves him hurt and Fiona feeling a mix of regret and unresolved tension.
**********
Fiona exits the cafeteria and sees Cameron sitting at a table in the courtyard, working on the assignment Master Liu gave them for the weekend.
Before he can spot her, Fiona quickly turns and begins to mutter to herself, "Okay, now," she says quietly. "Just go over there and apologize to him. Seriously! It can't be that hard!"
But alas, her feet don't move. "Ugh!" She throws her hands up in exasperation.
"All right." She sucks in another breath. "Let's try this again." She straightens her back and clears her throat. "Cameron," she mutters to herself. "About that really, really stupid thing I said to you earlier, well..." She winces and shakes her head. "No, no, no. That's no good!"
Propping her fists on her hips, she tries, "'Cameron, perhaps, I was a bit hasty in concluding that you were a... a... a what?'"
"Arghhhhh!" She balls her fists at her sides. "Why is this so hard?!" Her shoulders sag as she thumps her forehead with the heel of her palm .
Then, on impulse, she gives up, whips around, and marches over to Cameron's table, her mind devoid of any strategy.
And the minute Cameron looks up at her, she blurts out, "I'm an idiot!"
Cameron blinks.
He stares at her for a long time, then slowly, a smile creeps across his lips.
Oh no, she's not getting off that easily!
He suddenly remembers that he's still kinda pissed at her for implying that he was shallow the last time they met, so he forcibly suppresses his smile and squints at her instead.
They stare at each other for what seems like forever, before Cameron finally says, "What? You want me to disagree with you?"
Fiona gasps. Did he just...? No! No, he didn't! The cheeky bastard! "It's not like I'm an idiot ALL of the time you know!" she protests.
With a chuckle, Cameron leans back in his chair.
"Look, I wouldn't know," Cameron gives her a casual shrug. "Maybe you are, maybe you aren't. Clearly, we don't know each other well," he says, alluding to their prior meeting. "But while I appreciate the apology, if you haven't noticed..." He taps his notebook with his pen and plasters on a tauntingly fake smile. "I'm kinda busy right now, you know, doing research. You do realize we've got a paper due on Monday, don't you?"
"Of course I do!" Fiona grits out. "Patrick sent out a text." She shifts her backpack from one shoulder to the other. "He said he wanted to meet in the library after Master Achebe's Ancient Languages class."
"Yeah, I know. I got Patrick's text too," Cameron says cooly. "But I just wanted to get a head start on the paper. I mean," His smirk slowly widens. "Even geniuses need a little bit of prep work."
Fiona throws her head back and scoffs. "Ha!" She is soooo regretting apologizing to him right now! With a huff, she crosses her arms over her chest." Well, Cameron, if you're the standard for genius around here, I suspect we might be in more trouble than I thought."
"Oh! That's a good one!" Cameron snorts in response. Then, he cracks another smile. "Maybe we should just divvy up the paper and work on our own? Piece it together on Sunday."
"I think that's a great idea!" Fiona huffs out.
"Great!" Cameron stands, smacking his palms on the table.
"Fantastic!" Fiona leans in, her voice edged with sarcasm.
"Perfect!!" Cameron mirrors her stance, sneering back at her.
"Brilliant!!!" Fiona gets in his face, refusing to back down, and their eyes lock in a silent battle of wills, their breaths ragged from the intensity of their argument.
And in the heated silence, Cameron's gaze dips to Fiona's rosy red lips, and his stomach clenches as a wave of desire engulfs him.
He sucks in a breath and swallows hard to stifle the groan trying to escape him.
Fiona, breathless and panting, looks up and notices that Cameron's eyes aren't just blue, they're sparkling blue with green striations and dark black circles ringing the irises. They're intense and tempestuous, like a stormy ocean, and with those long, thick lashes, by all the gods, they're gorgeous!
Her breath hitches, and before she can stop herself, she's leaning in and rising up onto her toes slowly... slowly... slowly... the world around them ceasing to exist as Cameron's lips part and his face dips closer to hers.
And then...
Fiona gasps and jerks back, retreating as if physically burnt by the tension crackling between them.
What the hell is going on here?!
She takes a big step backwards, and frustrated, growls, her hands flying up by her sides. "Ugh! I can't take this anymore! You're insufferable!"
Cameron takes a step back as well, breathless, his heart thudding in his chest like a drum.
Okay... not sure what happened there, but he's willing to admit, that in the heat of the moment, he was really, really tempted to kiss her. But was he right in thinking that Fiona wanted to kiss him as well?!
Fiona whips around and starts to walk away. Then, she recalls just how arrogant Cameron was being before she'd momentarily lost her head and decides that it's time she put that boy in his place.
So, she turns on her heels and marches back to the table. Looking down at Cameron's open books and scattered notes, she jabs a finger at his notebook and says, "Just so you know, it was the Sanguinarium not the Sanitarium that sparked the rebellion among Vampyrs. The leader of Shifter resistance was Franklin Stillwater not Franklin Wells." And then pausing for effect, she adds with a smirk, "And you misspelled 'hegemony,' genius."
And with that, Fiona turns and walks away leaving Cameron speechless and shell-shocked in her wake.
**********
Aidan and Jake are sitting on the green lawn surrounding the Longan Tree that sits in the middle of the academy courtyard.
"Do you think we should wait for Sebastian before we divvy up Master Liu's assignment? He said he'd be here, but he's already fifteen minutes late."
"Look," Jake replies calmly, "all I know is that I don't have the time or the energy to read up on a hundred and fifty years' worth of Otherworlder economic history. Seriously, I was ten years in before my head hit the desk. So..." Jake leans back and rests his forearms on the grass and says, "I'll make you a deal. Why don't you get started on the chapters and take good notes. Then Sebastian and I can work on actually writing the report?"
Aidan nods as he considers Jake's proposal. "Hmm... That actually might be the best way for us to— Whoa, whoa, whoa! Wait a minute, now!" He holds up his hands. "How do I know you just won't turn around and tell Sebastian that you and I did the notes and she should write up the report?"
Jake cracks a slow smile, surprised Aidan caught on to his little plan. He spreads his hands innocently. "Now, what makes you think I'd try to pull something like that?"
Aidan shrugs. "'Because that's what I would have done, if I'd thought of it first."
Jake laughs at this, patting Aidan on the back. But his laughter dies abruptly when Aidan calls out, "Inez!"
At the sound of her name, Jake looks up and his gaze locks onto Inez's and for a moment, time freezes along with his heart as memories of how pretty she looked at the ball resurface. She'd looked so beautiful, so stunning, so unattainable it took his breath away.
He gulps audibly, his heart restarting with a wild rhythm in his chest. The thought that she could ever be interested in him seems ludicrous to him now.
And as she greets them both with a radiant smile, all Jake can manage to choke out is a feeble "Hey..."
Inez waits a beat. When she realizes that's all she's getting from him, she turns to Aidan. "So, Aidan, the ledger in the library says you checked out Dickinson's Book of Minor Magic?"
"Yeah, I did." Aidan acknowledges. "I've been practicing." He smiles.
"Well," Inez replies, "after this mission, I think I should get in some practice too. Can I borrow it when you're done?"
"Of course!" Aidan says. "We can practice together!"
"Awesome!" Inez smiles coyly.
"So," Aidan says. "A little bird told me that you managed to successfully do a JMT? Is that true?!"
Inez shifts on her feet, looking off into the distance, suddenly shy. "Well, I tried it three different times and was only successful once, on a guard who was trying to--"
"Inez!" Aidan throws his hands up. "That's so cool! Do you realize how few Enchanteds can do that?!"
Inez blushes.
Jake turns to Aidan and asks, "What's a JMT?"
"JMT stands for Jedi Mind Trick," Aidan replies. "It's what we call this really difficult spell, Il Sussurro Della Mente, which is Italian for The Mind Whisper." Aidan wiggles his fingers as if casting a spell. "Seriously, only a handful of Enchanteds can do it!"
Jake still looks confused. "What does it do?"
"It lets you plant suggestive thoughts into someone else's head," Aidan replies, "and basically control them and bend them to your will. Oh, and..!" He holds up a finger. "Sometimes you can also read people's thoughts."
"Wait, what?!" Jake panics as he casts a furtive glance at Inez.
When he turns to Aidan, eyes wide with shock, Aidan catches on and resting his hand on Jake's shoulder whispers, "But mind reading is very, very rare."
"Oh, okay," Jake mutters, letting out a tenuous breath. Then, after a beat he asks Inez, "Is that how you, Fiona, and Ava escaped?"
"No, actually," Inez says gleefully. "That's how we got in! A guard snuck up on us while we were scouting out the Enchanted Chancellor's palace. And I was able to convince him that he really wanted to go away and forget he ever saw us."
"Oh, wow!" Jake exclaims. "That's freaky!" He smiles.
But unfamiliar with how Shifters use the term "freaky," Inez tilts her head and frowns at him. Did he just call her a freak?!
Alarmed by her reaction, Jake quickly adds, "Wait! I didn't mean freaky as in freakish. No, no, no..." He laughs awkwardly. "I meant good freaky. It's a good freaky!"
Inez continues to frown at him.
Shit!
"You know what I mean, like, killer..." His voice rises with apprehension.
Inez remains stoic.
That's a miss too!
"Uh... dope?"
He tries, making it more of a question. But still nothing.
"Awesome," Jake says slowly, clamping his lips together on the last part of the word, wondering why he didn't start with that word in the first place.
With his shoulders slumped in defeat, he decides to keep his mouth shut and quit while he's ahead instead of trying to engage Inez anymore, before he finds himself going down in flames.
Inez tilts her head and stares back at him curiously. Then she turns back to Aidan. "Anywhooo..." she says. "You'll bring the Dickinson book by my room when you're done?"
"You betcha!" Aidan replies.
"Cool!" Inez nods. "Well, I gotta run. I'll... uh... " She slides Jake a quick glance, no longer sure exactly where she stands with him. "I'll talk to you guys later, okay?"
"Sounds good," Aidan replies while Jake just stands there silently waving, as if he could somehow magically summon his dignity back
The boys watch as Inez leaves, and once she's gone, Aidan turns to Jake and pulling a face, he hisses in sympathy. "Wow, dude, that was really hard to watch."
Grunting with a heavy sigh. Jake flops back onto the grass. "Ugh! I know! I know! And it happens every time." He scrubs his hands over his face. "Every. Single. 'Effin. Time."
Still marveling at Jake's flame-out, Aidan adds, "Even I could have done better than that!"
"Aidan..." Jake warns, as he holds his head in disbelief.
Aidan reaches out and pats him on the leg. "There, there, now..." he says assuredly. "All hope is not lost."
Then after a moment, he reconsiders. "On second thought, while Inez is incredibly understanding, terribly thoughtful, and infinitely patient..." He hisses again. "With that performance, I think you're gonna have your work cut out for you."
Jake groans in frustration. "You might as well shoot me, dude," he mutters. "Seriously. Just shoot me now and put me out of my misery."
**********
A/N - Sorry for posting this chapter a wee bit late. I've got a cold. And this is after having the flu (even though I was vaccinated.) Well, at least it's not COVID, right? 🤷🏽♀️😆
See you next week!
~ Paula ❤️