Black Blood: The Runaway Mate

Chapter Four

The joke was on me when I thought it would be easy to give Aziel his towel back. I couldn’t find the right time to approach him. Every time I would come across him on campus, we were always surrounded by many people. I didn’t want to attract their attention, so I would often hold myself back and retreat. In the end, I kept his towel inside my backpack for almost a week.

Pursing my lips hard, I slumped on the seat across from Lindsay after another failed attempt, which caught her attention.

She raised a brow in suspicion and pushed her taco salad closer to me. “Want some?”

“Thanks,” I briefly said, picked up the fork, and started eating.

I wanted to relieve stress by eating, but Lindsay's intense gaze was making me feel uncomfortable instead.

“Why are you staring at me like that?” I asked.

Excitement flashed in her eyes while she rested her elbow on top of the table. She also placed her chin on the back of her hand. Just by judging her actions and that creepy look in her eyes, I regretted asking her. I knew we were about to go on a circle again―her insisting that I could be feeling something for Aziel, while I would keep on telling her to stop her delusions.

Lindsay raised her brows while wearing that annoying grin. “Is this about Aziel again?”

I heaved a sigh and nodded. Lindsay grinned wider like she got the answer that she wanted.

“No,” I cut her off right away before she could say anything. “I’m not interested in him. I just really want to give him his towel back.”

I wanted to return the towel right away to finally cut the only connection I had with him. I didn’t want to involve myself in their messy world again.

“Why don’t you go to their house, then?” Lindsay made a ridiculous suggestion.

“Are you serious, Lindsay?” She must be joking with me. “I can’t even approach him here on campus. What more in his house?”

She chuckled. “I’m just joking, Chan. Chill.”

“Jokes are meant to be funny, Lindsay,” I told her, as a matter of fact.

She pouted her lips and stood up, going around the table to sit right next to me. She snuggled closer and put her head on my shoulder. She would always do these actions, every time she would find me genuinely irritated because of her―and that would always do the trick.

“I just want to lighten up your mood,” she explained, doing baby talk. “You look like you’re carrying the world on your shoulders. You should take it easy, you know. It’s just a towel.”

Just a towel.

With a heavy sigh, I also rested my head against her without saying anything. She had no idea that I was feeling exactly how she described it, but I couldn’t tell her that.

I purposely put myself under a lot of pressure, making me feel disappointed every time I made a failed attempt. I wanted to give it back to him as soon as possible because it was doing things to me, and I didn’t like that at all. It made me feel uncomfortable and out of focus.

I kept daydreaming about when we’d get to talk again once I successfully approached him. I imagined how our conversation would go. I even rehearsed every night. If someone else saw and heard me, they might think I was preparing for an audition and doing script reading. I just kept saying the same lines over and over again ― differing only in tone and manner.

While I was lost in the middle of my thoughts, like a metal attracted to a magnet in human form, my attention was shifted from nowhere to the person who had just entered the cafeteria.

Aziel was wearing a playful grin while listening closely to his cousin, Cole Lewis, who was walking beside him. His presence immediately dominated the hall. I knew I wasn’t the only one drawn to him. He was literally like a magnet.

There was just something about how he presented himself which could make you feel so attracted to him. It must be because of his domineering aura―or his beautiful face. I had no idea if that was a werewolf thing. I hoped it was a werewolf thing, so that I could explain this attraction I was feeling towards him.

In the 18 years of my existence, I have not experienced being attractive to a man. According to my mother, I had fleeting crushes when I was still young, but I felt like they shouldn’t be written in my life’s history. It wasn’t eligible to be part of it. And that was why I was having a hard time trying to figure things out on my own.

I knew I could ask but that would only make things complicated. Although the feeling was making me uneasy and curious, I felt like it was better if I didn't get the answers I needed. If I wanted to focus on my goals, I was better off knowing nothing.

My eyes continued to trail after Aziel as I couldn’t take my eyes off. He seemed oblivious to his surroundings, unaware that he was being ogled by the cheerleading team who were probably fantasizing about him.

Well, that was what I thought. Not until his eyes shifted in my direction, unexpectedly locking their gaze on me.

I sucked in a quiet gasp. I gripped the edge of the bench tightly, trying hard not to panic. I thought he would just ignore me and break apart, but then he decided to do the opposite by putting a smile on his face as a silent greeting.

I had to admit that I was caught off guard because of the attention he gave me. I wasn’t used to it, so I could feel my cheeks burning. Nonetheless, I forced a smile, not to appear rude to him, when his cousin draped his arm over his shoulders, stealing his attention from me, which only lasted for no more than 5 seconds.

He was completely taken away close to the counter, falling in line behind the students who lined up first to get their food. He didn’t look back at me again.

I looked around the hall, afraid that other people might have seen that interaction. Good thing no one noticed. I heaved a sigh when Lindsay suddenly sat up straight, giving me a mini heart attack.

“Aziel!” She shamelessly pointed her finger at him.

I quickly pushed her arm down. “Stop that,” I whispered harshly. “Someone might see you!”

She pursed her lips again. “Sorry,” she said. “I just got excited since we were just talking about him.”

I just shook my head, exhaled a heavy sigh, and decided that it was best for me to leave. “Are you done eating? I’ll go first,” I said while wearing the strap of my backpack on one of my shoulders. “I have to go to the library.”

“Okay…” She waved her hand cutely. “I’ll just finish my tacos.”

“See you later,” I bid before turning away to exit the cafeteria.

The classes ended earlier than usual because of the basketball tournament. When almost everyone went to watch the game, I took the other way to the lockers and got my backpack. Since the weekend had finally arrived, I wanted to go home right away and study since I felt like I was out of it for the whole week.

Lindsay was supposed to come home with me, but she had to work on her electives in art class. The deadline was Monday the following week, and she couldn’t do the project at home. She had no choice but to stay late.

While walking out of the campus, I came across some students running towards the gym. However, my eyes were once again drawn to the human magnet walking in the same direction as me. And yes, I’m talking about Aziel.

He had one hand in his pocket while the other one was fixing the airpod on his right ear. Once again, he looked uninterested, like he had his own world. That was when I noticed he was alone.

My eyes widened and I unconsciously put my hand over my backpack where his towel was kept safe. I licked my lower lip and took a deep breath after. I didn’t know why I was suddenly chickening out when I had been waiting for that moment to come.

I just need to approach him and return the towel, I silently told myself those words repeatedly for encouragement. It sounded easy, but putting it into action would need a lot of courage.

Whatever! I’ll just do it!

Once I became bold, I hurriedly followed him. I realized that he was on his way to the parking lot where I was also headed. When he stopped in front of a black coupe, I desperately tried to keep up before he could enter his car while simultaneously surveying the lot.

As soon as I confirmed that we were the only ones out there, I braved myself and shouted, “Aziel!” But it was too late for me to realize that he was wearing his airpods. And because he didn’t turn around, I figured he didn’t hear me at all.

Triggered by an adrenaline rush, my feet picked up speed. I was already half running when he opened the door to his coupe. I don’t look really good when running, so I was thankful that he had his back turned on me.

Before he could slide inside his car, I was just right on time. I yanked his arm and forcefully made him face me.

A pleasure of warmth filled my body the moment my skin came in contact with his. It felt good inside that I couldn’t let go of him even when I already got his full attention on me.

“Chandra?” From looking irritated, the look in his eyes gradually turned gentle. He removed his AirPods using the other hand I wasn’t holding on to. “What’s up?” he asked, then glanced at my hand on his arm.

Like I was stung by the warmth of his body, I frantically removed my hand from him and took three steps back to put distance in between us. I swallowed the lump in my throat in embarrassment. My cheeks started to heat up, and I was sure that they were slowly turning red. I had to thank the cold as I could use it as an excuse for blushing.

“Uhm, I’m sorry, uhm…” I completely forgot the speech I rehearsed every single night. My brain couldn’t function well to form words into coherent sentences that I even stuttered. “I-I just want to give this back to you.”

I rummaged in my backpack to get his towel inside. I held it as neatly folded as possible and presented it to him using both my hands.

His eyes dropped on the towel, but he lifted his gaze back to my face right away.

“Thank you for letting me use it,” I said, trying to look him in the eye to show my sincerity. “I’m sorry if I’m only returning this to you now.”

“It’s okay. I’m not expecting you to return it,” Aziel told me. “You can have it.”

I shook my head and shoveled the towel on his chest with my eyes wide open. “It’s yours! Take it!”

Aziel looked taken aback a bit because of my aggressiveness. But it worked since he finally took his towel back.

“That’s all,” I said, tight-lipped. “I’ll go ahead now.”

With my heart feeling restless, I spun my heel to walk away.

“Are you going home?” he suddenly asked when I had not even taken a single step yet. “Do you want me to give you a ride?”

My throat went dry. I almost hurt my neck while shaking my head again. ”No need,” I replied and looked back with an awkward smile. “Thanks for the offer, though. See you around.”