Gothicana

“You need to be less obvious when you drift off. We all do it but I can’t let that slide without reprimand in my class. And I don’t want to bring attention to you.”

Corvina bit the inside of her cheek. “Why?”

“Because you’re bewitching,” he murmured, his eyes roving over her entire face. “And I don’t want others fantasizing about you during my class.”

“Others?” she asked, her heart pounding. He fantasized about her?

She saw the pupils in his eyes expand, a black hole consuming the silver, but he didn’t say a word. Hopping off the table, straightening to his full height, he kept his gaze steady on her as he’d done during the week. Corvina tilted her head back, her heart battering in her chest as their bodies communicated in the age-old way – quicker breaths, blown pupils, flushed skin. She saw his Adam’s apple bob as he swallowed, his lips pursed tightly.

“Steer clear of me, little crow,” he muttered, his eyes piercing, flaying her open. “You might be a luring siren but I’m no ordinary sailor. I’m a mad pirate and I’m trying to resist your call. If I land on your shores, I will plunder and take away everything worth having. Be very careful giving me those eyes.”

With that, he pivoted on his heels and headed to the door, pausing on the threshold to sear her with an intense look, before leaving in silence.

Corvina blew out a breath, holding her notebook against her chest for life. “Holy shit.”

God, she felt heady, intoxicated, aroused beyond belief from a simple look and those words. She imagined him speaking in that low tone at night, his words rasping over her skin from above her, around her, and closed her eyes, shaking it off. She shouldn’t. She couldn’t. Whatever lust he’d ignited in her could never come to fruition. But that probably wouldn’t stop her fantasies.

Just that morning, she had closed her eyes in the shower and imagined him there with her, just watching her with those eyes and intensity, and she’d come harder than any other time, grasping the wall to keep from falling. She didn’t know what it was about him. There was an animal magnetism there, certainly, but there was something else, an undercurrent she felt for the first time but didn’t have a name for. Maybe it was a facet of lust romance books hadn’t warned her about.

She needed a distraction.

Walking out after collecting herself, she passed through the corridors of the Academic Wing. This part of the wing had the tallest burette she’d ever seen, some classrooms and staff rooms on the higher levels, a library she had yet to visit in what had once been the dungeon, and beautiful, high windows that let in all the natural light. All her classes – World Politics, Language and Literature, History, Global Justice, Environmental Studies, Basic Economics, and her elective Psychology – were on the first and third floors. Except on Mondays, Mr. Deverell was usually her last class of the day, on the first floor, so it didn’t take her long to exit out into the sunshine.

A beautiful garden was nestled between the Academic Wing and the Main Hall, a long open corridor co

Corvina cut through the garden, feeling the warm rays of the sun on her face. Sun, as she’d realized over the last few weeks, was a rare guest this time of the year. Others said it would get better in the summer when the skies would clear, even though it would always be cool this high up in the mountains. The sunlight on her skin reminded her of her hometown. A small town in the middle of nowhere, Skarsdale had been a mostly moderate, su

Enjoying the warmth, she made her way across the garden where a few students were loitering, heading towards the left of the Main Hall where the cobblestoned path began on the edge of the incline. That wide path started on the side, ran to the residential towers, to the front of the university and the driveway where the car had dropped her, curving back from there towards the faculty and staff residences, and ending back on the Academic Wing. It was a semicircular path, one she’d not traveled over the days since the other side of the university didn’t have anything for her. Even though there were indoor paths to cross between the building, she preferred the outdoors with its exquisite view.

She found Jade and Erica sitting out in the gardens in front of one of the boys’ towers, along with Troy and Jax and another of his friends she’d never been introduced to.

“Please tell me Mr. Sexy Eyes had a delicious reason for keeping you back,” Erica spoke in the way of greeting, making them all look up at her. “We won’t tell.”

It struck Corvina sometimes how much older she was than the kids in her class. They were eighteen-year-olds just coming to college for undergrad, the seniors being either nineteen or twenty, and she was almost a twenty-two-year-old first-year. Sometimes, she felt a century older than the new friends around her.

Troy, with his light good looks, gri

“Oh, he’s hard something, alright,” Jade muttered from her side and they all snickered.

Corvina plopped her bag beside Jade and sat down folding her legs under her long skirt. “He’s a teacher,” she shrugged the topic off and focused on the other two guys she’d always seen with Troy. “Hi, I’m Corvina.”

The brown-haired boy from the class nodded with a nice smile. “Jax. Sorry if I offended you earlier.”

Corvina shook her head, turning to the other boy.

“Ethan,” he said, a blonde like Troy, but wearing glasses without frames said. “I’m a senior with Troy. His roommate.”

“Great, introductions are over,” Jade turned to her. “Now, what did he want?”

Corvina shrugged, leaning back on her hands and raising her face to the sun. “Just to tell me not to zone out in class.” Among other things she’d never say.

“That’s it?” Jade asked, disbelief in her voice. “Just, I know I keep saying it, but be careful with him. He’s skirted the rules before and it didn’t end well. He’s still too unknown to be trusted. Just, don’t bring his attention to yourself.”

Exactly what he’d told her, which made her wonder why he would even do that if his intent had been to hurt her. 

“Damn, you’re way too serious about Mr. Deverell, Jadie-girl,” Troy’s voice said from her right. “Chill.”

Corvina watched Jade’s face tighten and remembered that these guys didn’t know about Alissa and her hook-up with the teacher. They probably thought Jade was being weird. Corvina gave her a soft smile, telling her she understood her concern silently, and saw her relax slightly. 

“Anyways, so what are we doing for Black Ball?” Ethan piped up from the side.

Corvina’s interest perked up, but she tilted her head back and stayed in the same position, keeping her ears open.

“Staying together, what else?” Erica voiced from her opposite side. “My roommate told me about what’s been going on with it. I don’t see how anyone can disappear if they stick with a group of people.”

“Yeah, but it’s easy to get lost with the masks,” Jax pointed out.

“I don’t even understand what the point of the masquerade ball is,” Ethan huffed. “Like sure, it’s a ball but you know there have been incidents every fucking time. Why not make it less easy for people to vanish?”

Slight silence ensued after that. Corvina looked at the clouds, at all the shapes they made it the clear blue sky. The one she was staring at looked like a squirrel with a nut in its hand. She smiled at the image.