Chapter 03

Eliana's POV 

If my feet could talk, it would already be screaming by now. I stayed up late last night trying to do some advanced reading, which I should have done a long time ago if only I was not too preoccupied. I am a vampire, yeah, and sleep is not the biggest deal for us. But when I decided earlier that I would grab some before going to school, I was unaware of the time, making me lost track of it completely. And whether it is a blessing or a curse, I have this case of always trying to arrive twenty minutes before the first class. I do not know but I just got used to it and it is just too late to stop that now. I am thinking of all of this as I speed walked my way towards the classroom. By the time I reached the door, Lucas was there waiting, as always, like a routine.

“I wonder if you intentionally memorized my habit where I always arrive at least twenty minutes before the class so you could arrive earlier than me. That is too much for being competitive, my friend,” I told Lucas while jokingly patting his broad shoulder, which I earned a laugh from him, darting his narrowed eyes at me. Ha! I know what he will do next.

He took a step closer while shaking his head, like putting the word ‘Don’t mess with me’ in action as he always does whenever Kat or I start to mock him. He tried extending his left arm to put it on my head, messing my already messy hair. I put my hand on his chest to push him slightly, which I successfully did that also prevented him from doing his dark agenda to my hair.

His lips curved into a sad face. “So close, though,” Lucas said, before stopping from what he was going to say to take a look at my face and scrutinized it with his forehead creased as if he is solving an equation that is hard to solve or something was attached there but he could not name what it was.

“Your face was composed like something frustrates you. It is still early for that, and mind you, we still have two major classes to attend to which require our full attention and energy. So if I were you, I will put that –“ there was something in Lucas that made my words cut off.

“Are you okay? You look off and why are you not saying anything?” I asked him. Typical Lucas is silent; but this Lucas in front of me was extra silent.

His eyebrows furrowed before opening his mouth to speak. “It was you who is not looking like your usual self, Eli. You look glum and your eyes are looking so puffy, too. I would bet my newly bought vinyl to someone who is a self-proclaimed old soul and uses vinyl for their aesthetic; you worked yourself up until dawn, again, no?” I could hear how worried he was in his tone, even with his judging remarks to the old soul thing part.

Knowing Lucas for two years, you could never slip a single lie to him because of his detective-like traits. So I let out a deep breath and shook my head, as a signal that he was telling the right thing. But knowing myself, I could not just admit something without telling them my part or reason. “As I have told you earlier, we will be attending our two major classes today, and Kat also told me yesterday that our professor for that major will be Mr. Hubbard and Mr. Krane, who are known for flunking almost half of the junior year, last year. So, my knee jerk reaction was to do some advanced reading and comprehend every word and term that was written in the readings that were given to us;” I carefully explained.

“Even so, sleep is sine qua non to function properly in our daily basis. You are lucky because you have the ability to memorize a lot of things without slipping and familiarize it effectively. If not, your effort of staying up until dawn would just be a waste because you are lacking of rest and sleep,” Lucas did not let his guard down and voiced out his claim even with my reason that was just imparted. He was always like this, and so I know that it was just him being the protective guy best friend that he is. Of course, this side of him was not just bestowed on me, for Kat experiences this, too, and we are able to get ourselves used to it.

I could not help but feel guilty because of the skeletons in my closet that I am trying my best to keep. Kat and Lucas did nothing but to make me feel like I am one of them; they also make me feel more alive. With them, I can always stay sane. “I would not promise to stop working myself at night. Rather, I promise that I will always grab some sleep in between of whatever I am doing,” I said to Lucas to assuage his feeling.

Lucas finally nodded his head and was about to open his mouth to say something when suddenly, the new student named Hugo in our block was walking towards our seat, accidentally bumping Kat’s chair that caused the object to fall on the ground. His pair of grey eyes were on me while smiling cheekily. He had a deep dimple carved on his left cheek, and the beautiful bone structure of his jaw was very prominent not to look at. I shook my head as I have noticed how long I was staring at his face that he managed to put the chair back on its place and was already walking towards his respective seat, not far from us.

I pulled myself back together and busied myself from reading and reviewing what I have read yesterday night. It did not take long enough to carry myself away from the smile that was plastered on Hugo’s face.

*

By the time our class was dismissed by Mr. Hubbard, I started stuffing the things that I pulled out back inside my bag to go out and eat our lunch. Suddenly, I saw Hugo walking purposefully towards our way. I did not know why but I unconsciously braced myself for whatever he was about to say. And thankfully, I was right. He was going to say something.

“Hi, uh, I was wondering if I could join you guys for lunch. As you know, I am only new here, and I do not know much about the places where good food are present. So, yeah, I was thinking if you could take me with you. I promise I would not knock down any more chairs on the way,” he said, with a joking tone on the last part, all the while not letting his smile disappear from his face. What an enchanting smile, it is.

“Of course, you could join us, as long as you are paying for our food. Kidding. And what is this thing about knocking chairs? Do you have a knack for that thing? Ha-ha, kidding again,” Kat answered almost immediately. Typical Kat, almost always being friends with everyone on the first interaction. At this, Hugo shot Lucas and I a look, like asking for our approval.

“Is it okay with the two of you, though?” he said.

“If it is okay with everyone, I do not really mind,” I said back.

“Perfect! Now, if we start moving, then maybe we could get a table for four at La Nature,” Kat blurted, not giving Lucas a chance to speak, knowing fully well that the latter would not talk anyway. Kat pulled him so they could walk together, though, to compensate. That left Hugo and I to walk behind them.

“Eliana, you did really well in the class today, just like yesterday. A very active student, indeed. I wonder what your secret is,” Hugo said playfully, with that ever-so-consistent smile of his. I wonder if ever stops smiling, if he ever gets tired of doing so.

“Thanks, but I am really not that great. I just study the handouts that the professors give us,” I said. “And, uh, you could just call me Eli. That is how everybody calls me.”

“Okay, Eli it is,” he obeyed. “By the way, this place, La Nature, do the three of you always go here to eat?”

“No, not really. This food chain is fairly new, so we only started going here ever since the first day.”

“Must be nice if you keep going back here, then,” he shot back, to which I only nodded to.

I was getting itchy with the small talk, because I am not really fond of making new friends and meeting new people every day. No matter how smiley he is, I still cannot stay long in the conversation with just the two of us. Thankfully, La Nature came into view, in which we entered and started looking for a table that the four of us could fit. I felt relieved because I know that in the table, Kat will do all the talking, to which I am pretty sure that Hugo would entertain. Lucas and I could just eat quietly and nod from time to time.

And that was exactly what happened during our lunch. It was not all bad, but by the time I got to bed in my dorm room, I started thinking if tomorrow would be the same. Fear started creeping into me, for I am not sure if I could handle another person joining in the circle, another person whom I would be keeping a secret from.