The Initiation

Chapter Nine

 “Professor White!” I exclaimed. “What are you doing here?”

 His gaze softened as it turned back to me, and he said, “I was hungry, so I thought I’d grab a bite.”

 Glancing behind me again, he said, “If only I’d gotten hungry earlier, we could have eaten together.”

 I felt my face warm up again and giggled. I heard Gavin clear his throat behind me and sobered. My face felt like it was on fire. 

 “Um, Professor White, you remember Gavin from your class,” I said, glancing back at him. 

 The two men stared at each other, and I could practically smell the testosterone pouring off of them. 

 Professor White nodded after a moment and said, “Yes, I remember Mr. Montrose. He was late for his first day in my class. I hope that isn’t a regular occurrence.”

 “It won’t be, Professor,” Gavin said, emphasizing the word, “professor”.

 I glanced between them again as they glared at each other. 

 “I’m sorry you will have to eat alone, Professor White,” I told him, drawing his attention back to me.

 “Suzie, we’re outside of class,” he said. “It feels strange for you to call me ‘Professor White’. Please, call me James.”

 Swallowing, I smiled at him and nodded, saying, “Sure thing, Pro-uh, James.”

 “If you’ll excuse us, I have to get Suzie back to her dorm before it gets much later,” Gavin said, gently putting his hand on my lower back and putting pressure there so I would move. 

 “What’s the rush?” Professor White asked, his gaze darting between me and Gavin as a frown crossed his face. 

 “I want to get her back to the dorm before it gets too late in case that thing that has been attacking lone women is still around,” Gavin said, staring at Professor White.

 I could sense a tension between them as he said this. 

 “That makes sense,” Professor White said after a moment. “You two be careful out there. You don’t know what kinds of creatures are out there, roaming the night.”

Laughing, I said, “I think you’ve been teaching Folklore and Mythology for far too long.”

 He didn’t smile at me and said, “Those stories originated from somewhere, so who’s to say creatures don’t roam the night?”

 My smile vanished as I remembered my attack, and I nodded. 

 “Who’s to say indeed?” I asked in a soft voice.

Feeling Gavin’s hand on my back once more, I said, “It was nice running into you, Prof-uh, James, but Gavin’s right. We should be getting back to the dorms.”

 “Don’t let me keep you,” he said. “Be careful on the way back.”

 We walked past him as we left. Gavin still had his hand on my lower back. I glanced back to see him staring after us with a worried look on his face. 

 Turning back around, I asked Gavin, “What do you think is attacking these women?”

 He glanced at me out of the corner of his eye, then shrugged. 

 “I’m not sure, but I don’t think it’s a person,” he said. 

 Turning to look at him, I asked, “Then what do you think it is?”

 Shrugging, he said, “I’m not sure, but it may be a wild animal of some sort.”

 Frowning, I didn’t respond, but I didn’t think it was a wild animal.

 Instead, I asked, “Have you seen any animals roaming around campus or even around town?”

 He shook his head and said, “No, but then again, I’m usually inside a building at night. Either my dorm or someone else’s.”

 He gave me a look as he said that. I rolled my eyes again. I realized I did that a lot while he was around. 

 “Do you think you’ll be safe going back to your dorm?” I asked him. 

 He grimaced, then nodded, saying, “I’ll be fine. There are still a lot of people around, and I can take care of myself.”

 I looked at him doubtfully but didn’t say anything else about it. 

 We walked a few steps in silence before he spoke up again. 

 “I know we just had dinner together tonight, but would you like to have dinner with me this weekend?”

 I looked at him with a surprised look.

 “Are you asking me out?” I asked. 

 Stopping, he turned to me and said, “I thought that was pretty obvious.”

 “Why me?” I asked, stopping in place and still confused. 

 He smiled a slow, sexy smile and said, “In case you hadn’t noticed, I’m attracted to you and enjoyed our talk tonight. I want to get to know you better, so I thought we could talk more over dinner this weekend.”

 I thought about it for a moment, then slowly nodded. 

 “Fine,” I said. “I’ll go to dinner with you.”

 Holding his hands up in front of him, he took a step back and said, “Whoa, now! Hold down the enthusiasm there!”

 I giggled despite myself and shook my head. 

 “You are something else,” I told him. 

 He grinned back and said, “I try my best.”

 “And it worked,” I told him.

 Holding his arm out to me, he asked, “Shall we continue?”

 Threading my arm through his, I nodded and said, “We shall.”

 As we started walking again, I felt as if we were being watched. I turned my head to look behind us, but no one was paying us any attention. Frowning, I turned back around and tried to concentrate on what Gavin was telling me. 

 When we got to my dorm, he paused outside of the door, leaning against it. 

 “So, you are staying here?” he asked, glancing up at the building. 

 I nodded and asked, “Where are you staying?”

 He waved his hand to the area behind me, not taking his eyes off of me, and said, “Over that way.”

 “Quite specific,” I said, nodding. “Thanks for the clarification.”

 He grinned but didn’t respond.

 Instead, he said, “Give me your phone number so I can call you about dinner this weekend.”

 I looked at him with one eyebrow raised and said, “That attitude may work with other girls, but you need to be more of a gentleman to me.”

 His smirk faded, and he stood up from the wall.

 Nodding, he asked, “May I have your phone number so I can contact you in regards to our dinner this weekend?”

 I smiled at him and nodded. Holding out my hand, I wiggled my fingers for him to give me his phone. Grinning at me, he pulled it out of his pocket and put it in my palm.

 Trying not to think about why it felt warm after being pressed to his body, I went to his contacts and added my number to his list. 

 Handing it back to him, I let my fingers caress his palm and felt a spark run up my arm. He must have felt it as well, as his eyes widened. 

 “Wow,” he breathed. 

 I nodded, too stunned to say anything. 

 “What was that?” he asked. 

 I shook my head and said, “I don’t know. Built-up static electricity?”

 Glancing around, I said, “It is a pretty dry night. Maybe we picked it up as we were walking.”

 He looked doubtful but nodded once and said, “That must have been it.”

 Looking down at his phone, he tapped the screen a couple of times, then said, “You should have a text from me.”

 I pulled out my phone and saw a text. 

 Opening it, I read, “Can’t wait for our date, beautiful.”

 I texted back, “Got it.”

 Looking up at him as he read the text, I saw the grin fade from his face.

 He looked at me and said, “You sure know how to deflate a guy, don’t you?”

 Shrugging, I said, “I am who I am.”

 Seeing his crestfallen look, I relented and added, “But I am looking forward to getting to know you better during our dinner.”

 A smile bloomed on his lips, drawing my attention there. He must have noticed as his smile dimmed a little, and he leaned forward with his eyes half-closed.

 Despite myself, I leaned toward him, my lips parting in anticipation. 

 “Hey, Suzie! What’s-?” 

 I heard Veronica’s voice call out as she came out of the main door to the dorms.

 Jumping away from Gavin, I looked at her, feeling flustered.

 Her smile wavered as she looked between Gavin and me, and a look of uncertainty crossed her face. 

 “Oh!” she said. “I didn’t mean to interrupt you.” 

 I shook my head and said, “That’s okay. You didn’t interrupt.”

 Gavin screwed up his face and started to say something, but I cut him off by saying, “I was just saying good night to Gavin here. He was nice enough to walk me home from the cafe tonight. You know, with the attacks and all?”

 I knew I was babbling, and I suspected Veronica knew it, too, but she just nodded and said, “That was nice of him.”

Nodding, I said. “It was, wasn’t it?”

 Turning to him, I told him, “I should get inside and let you get back to your room. I don’t want you to get attacked either, so you better get going while it’s still fairly safe out here.”

 He looked back and forth between Veronica and me, then nodded. 

 “I’ll call you about this weekend,” he said as he walked away, waving as he went.

 I waved back, a weak smile on my lips. I could see out of the corner of my eye that Veronica was watching him walk away with wide eyes. Then she turned to look at me. 

 When I didn’t say anything, she finally put her hands on her hips and asked, “Gavin? Is this the hot guy in your folklore class you were talking about earlier?”

 I nodded, a sheepish look on my face. 

 “So, what happened?” she asked. “How did he end up with you outside of our dorms?”

 Looking around to see if anyone was near enough to hear us, I grabbed her arm and said, “I’ll tell you inside.”

 As we went through the door, I glanced around, feeling as if we were being watched again, but no one was paying us any attention. 

 I released my hold on Suzie’s arm when we were inside. 

 She turned to me and asked, “Well? Spill it! What was going on? What did I interrupt?”

 I looked around to see if anyone was around to hear, but no one was in the hallway.

 Sighing, I nodded. 

 “That was Gavin Montrose, that hot new guy in Professor White’s class,” I told her. “I was eating in the cafe, just minding my own business with my book, when he came up to my table and sat down.”

 Veronica’s eyes almost popped out of her head. 

 “You mean he approached you and sat down with you?” she asked, a breathless tone to her voice. 

 I nodded and continued.

 “We got to talking, and I really enjoyed our conversation.”

 “Not to mention the scenery, I bet,” Veronica said, grinning at me.

 I grinned back at her and said, “I’m not going to lie. It was nice having him sitting across from me.”

 “Then what happened?”

 “After we were done, we left the cafe,” I told her, then frowned. “Then, we ran into Professor White as he came in.”

 Veronica’s mouth dropped open, and she asked, “Weren’t we just talking about how he doesn’t seem to go out anywhere? Then you just happened to bump into him right after!”

 I nodded and said, “It was kinda weird. He was nice, but he seemed to not like Gavin.”

 “Two hot guys not liking each other?” Veronica asked with a wry grin. “I wonder why?”

 Chuckling, I added, “He even told me to call him James, since we weren’t in class. I have to tell you, that felt very weird!”

 Nodding, Veronica said, “I bet, but dang, girl! Two hot guys talking to you tonight! What kind of magic do you have these days, and where can I find some?”

 Thinking back to my attack, I had to wonder the same thing.