The Shadow Within Me

Chapter Forty Six - Talk

Crystal Raine Meadows

"Ahh! It's finally over!" Jenny and the boys cheered after we got out of our room, which made me chuckle together with Rayleigh.

We didn't waste the remaining hours left for us to study back there at the library, all of us were dedicated to what we were doing.

Peter even offered to give us the reviewers that might appear on the exams, which was really helpful because I gathered a lot of information that I used at the examinations.

Though I already know some of it because I have been advancing my readings lately despite how busy I am.

"History almost killed me," I heard Razer Black sighed, so his friends just laughed at him because he hates history so much.

"We should thank Peter for letting us borrow that reviewer," Rowen appeared on my side, "We would be screwed if we didn't see that," he claimed, so I shook my head at him.

"Don't be silly, you would've nailed it because I heard you studied a lot according to Jenny," I tapped his shoulders, so he just scratched the back of his head.

"Yeah, that guy is just a little paranoid," Liam jumped on Rowen's side before wrapping his arms on his friend's shoulder.

"Gosh dude, are you even working out?" Rowen complained while pushing Liam away from him, so they both started arguing with each other about their weights.

I just shook my head and noticed Calyx casually walking on our side with his hands hidden in his pockets again. 

He looks like he's not alone because of our company, but he's alone as he just keeps on glancing in the hallways. I wonder if he's doing it on purpose? People like his friends seem to always accompany him a lot.

I bit my lower lip before deciding to walk slowly beside him, "Did you do well on your exam?" I curiously asked, so Calyx slowly eyed me.

I wanted to freeze on how cold his eyes were as he stared at me intently, "How is that your business?" he coldly asked, so I glared at him.

"Jeez, calm down, I'm just asking if you did well," I honestly said, can't this guy handle a simple conversation?

"I probably did better than you," he replied, so my eyes widened at his response. Is he trying to provoke me?

"Do you want to bet on that?" I raised my eyebrows, so he smirked at me. I almost stopped because I was surprised at the reactions that he was making.

"Deal, the one who gets the highest can have a wish," he suggested, so I suddenly got excited. I've never been on a bet before, so this is fun.

"Fine, may the best student win," I gave him a small smirk, so he just looked at me intently while shaking his head.

"Better not cry if you lose," he threatened, so I scoffed at his statement while shaking my head as we all stopped at the main entrance of the university.

"We'll probably have some free time tomorrow until they announce what we should do on our field trip," Peter claimed while calling some of the ferry dragons for him and his mate.

Human dragons with their mates don't always ride together in their dragon form, it would be risky to let everyone see that they're naked though it's normal in our world.

We all still prefer to ride ferry dragons, maybe it'll be okay for mates to ride each other after they get married or there's a natural disaster.

"That would be great, I think I'll sleep once I get home," Razer yawned, so David just laughed while tapping his friend's shoulder.

"We should all ride together!" Rayleigh suggested, so everyone just glanced at her before smiling. One look and I know that they all agree.

"Sure, let's plan on that tomorrow, let's go to the library again!" David cheered, so Peter immediately agreed with him.

They called their own ferry dragons as Jenny looked at me together with Rowen on her side, they both looked like they're going on a date, "Hey are you not going home yet?" she asked, so I slowly shook my head at her.

"I think I'll train for a bit, see you tomorrow!" I bid her goodbye, but she just furrowed her eyebrows at me before smiling.

"What are you sure? Don't be home late, okay?" I just nodded and waved my hands in response to her command.

Everyone then left and bid me goodbye. I know I don't need to train after exams, but I just want to get stronger. I was about to walk away and proceed to the special training room when I noticed that Calyx was standing on my side.

"U-Um, what are you doing here?" I curiously asked, but he just glanced at me before whistling in the air.

Flash then landed on our front and was immediately overjoyed after seeing me, so I patted his head and gave him some snacks.

"Going to train with you, of course, I'm not going to be your tutor for nothing," he claimed, so I stopped before glancing at him.

My heart was thumping inside of my chest and I know for sure that it isn't normal especially when I'm also around men ages like us both, but I heard he's two or three years older than me.

It's been a while since we both trained together. I have this feeling that he's trying to avoid me or something like that ever since that incident inside of that strange room.

I stood up before smiling at him, "Then I'll be in your care," I stated, so he just looked at me intently before avoiding my gaze as he mounted Flash.

He stared at me for a moment before glaring at me, "What are you waiting for? Get in," he impatiently called, so I immediately ran and mounted Flash behind him. We're probably going to train in the enchanted forest today.

"Hold on tight," after he said those words, Flash flew up into the sky forcing me to wrap my hands around Calyx's waist.

He looked a bit surprised at what I did, but he did eventually relax as he let me hold on tight to him. My heart was thumping against my chest, I can't help but feel this when I'm this close to him.

I felt that Flash landed on the flat ground, so I slowly let go of him as I unmounted Flash to get ready. I wanted to ask him why he didn't train with me for days before the examinations, but I'm too terrified to confront him.

He might avoid me again for asking questions, I don't know if he'll really do that, but I just can't help but be anxious about it.

My mind was lost in thoughts while I was warming up and doing the routines he gave to me. I was looking for an opportunity and the right time for me to ask him what happened back there and why we were there.

I also have a lot of questions, about the kiss and everything else. I wonder if that means something to him? I just sighed.

"Woman, look out!" I heard Calyx yell, so I looked at him and didn't notice that I jumped too high from reaching the rope and hit my head on the branch where it was tied. I felt the pang on my head as I fell to the ground.

He immediately appeared on my side as he was touching my head carefully, "You reached the rope, but your clumsiness got ahead of everything else after," he sounded like he's scolding me.

"Where does it hurt?" he worriedly asked as he touched some parts of my head and reached the bump over there.

"O-Ouch, don't touch it there, there's a bump," I whimpered, so he just cursed underneath his breath.

"Where the hell is your head?" he coldly asked as he called Flash to get some ice and left us alone near the tree.

"I-I'm sorry, I-I was just thinking about you," I admitted, so he stopped for a moment before looking at my eyes.

He looked confused at what I said, "I was thinking about how to talk to you about what happened before the examinations," I bit my lip while wincing at the pain in my head.

I don't know where I got this confidence, so I'm just going to claim that it's because I bumped my head, "You were acting strange ever since we left that room and didn't attend our training, did I do something wrong?" I calmly asked, he looked uncomfortable talking about it.

He didn't say anything as he averted his gaze at me, "I did something, didn't I? If I did, I'm really sorry and also for messing with the book of wonders, I shouldn't have done that," I mumbled while biting my lower lip.

"You didn't, I was the one who did something," he whispered, so I stared at him for a moment. He sounded different from his usual blizzard tone.

I can't believe I'm talking to this side of him, I don't know why I feel so giddy about it. Is this what they called infatuation?

"W-What exactly did you do?" I inquired, but he simply ignored me and sat comfortably next to me on the ground.

"Something you wouldn't like to know, it's about your desire that I needed to participate in," he shared, so I furrowed my eyebrows for a moment. What does he mean that he needed to participate?

The book sounds truly bad news, "Y-You didn't mention that was a book desire!" I complained, but he just glared at me.

He looked highly disappointed in me, "You read it was a book of desire, you just forgot about it," he hissed, which made me bite my lip. He's right, I think I remember reading something like that.

"S-So um, we didn't do something against mine or your will right?" I curiously asked, but he didn't respond to me.

He looks like he’s thinking about something while resting his fingers on his chin. I've been seeing lots of gestures from him ever since we started training together.

I got nervous for a moment waiting for his response, but he didn’t say a word, “H-Hey, I’m getting worried, is there something I need to apologize for?” I bit my lower lip while laying with my fingers.

He slowly glanced at me while shaking his head, “No, there’s nothing for you to apologize for,”  he firmly said, so I sighed in relief.

“But you need to apologize for your stupidity, it’s starting to annoy me so much,”  he muttered, so I frowned at him. He’s just getting meaner and meaner.

“I’m sorry for my stupidity,” I sighed while scratching the back of my head, he looked oddly surprised at what I did.

“You don’t have to do what I said, you’re really stupid,” he coughed like he’s trying to stop himself from bursting out. Is he trying to laugh or something? I shook my head because that would be really impossible.

“But you said I have to apologize for my stupidity,” I complained while glaring at him, but he just shook his head at me as he ordered me to train with swords this time.

Surprisingly, I think it’s easy for me right now to wield this heavy metal thing and Calyx looks like he knew about it too.

“Swing to the left then, swing it to the right, block, swing again,”  Calyx was watching me from afar as I trained eagerly.

“Do you have a first kiss aside from me?” he coldly asked, I was caught off guard with his question that I almost lost my balance while swinging that sword.

“W-What do you mean? What kind of question is that?” I bit my lip while trying to recover from the question he fired at me.

Why is he asking that? That’s so freaking embarrassing to answer, does he know about that? I shook my head and continued swinging the sword.

“I’m asking you a question woman, you have to answer me,” he sounded like he was getting mad, so I bit my lip as I felt my cheeks heating up.

“W-Why do I have to answer you? You don’t answer many questions from me,” I tried to segway, but it wasn’t working as he glared at me intently.

“Answer my question, Crystal,” my eyes widened after he mentioned my name. It was the first time I heard it from his lips and it sounded so beautiful.

“N-No, you were my first kiss,”  I bit my lower lip as I turned my back on him. It was quiet for a moment as I continued swinging the sword even though I could feel my heart pounding against my chest.

How can I allow him to ask such questions when I couldn't even ask why the hell did he kiss me?!

“Good, keep it that way, I thought I'll burn something or someone after our training,” he sounded pleased from his tone, what does he mean about that? I wondered for a moment before looking at him.

There was a small smile plastered on his lips while he’s talking with Flash. I reached out towards my chest and felt my heart pounding so rapidly over there.

One look and I knew that I was ultimately attracted to this guy and there’s nothing I could do to stop it.

To be continued...