THE LEGENDS

TWO

I quickly rush to the washrooms.

It’s not like I feel the urge to go there, but given the speed at which I’m rushing, one would think I’m in dire need.

I saw something strange in class.

Someone.

And it was a little out of the ordinary, so much so that I don’t know what to make of it.

When I get to the washrooms, I take a moment to stare at my reflection in the mirror.

I must be going crazy.

I blink about two times, just to make sure that I’m still awake. I take off my glasses and wash my face in the sink. I just need water on my face—maybe this time I’ll actually wake up.

Or maybe it was just my imagination.

It goes wild at times.

But I know what I saw.

And that wasn’t anything close to normal.

I take another moment to stare at my reflection when I hear the door creaking. I don’t bother turning around because it’s a washroom—anyone could come in and go.

I watch through the mirror and I see Lydia standing behind me with a look of… concern?

“Are you okay?” she asks, and I crease my brows.

Lydia has never asked me that in a thousand years, metaphorically. She barely talks to me, and when she does, she’s probably saying something mean or making fun of me, so this is a little surprising.

“Yeah.” I don’t want to talk to her because, honestly, I’m not in the mood.

“Your new desk mate is good-looking, huh?” She has a wide grin on her face, and I don’t understand what she’s trying to get at.

“He is not my desk mate. Maya is,” I tell her and put my glasses back on.

I don’t want to have a conversation with her, so I grab my stuff, ready to leave, but she stops me.

“I have an interest in him. I hope you won’t try to get in between us.”

Whoa. Okay.

I crease my brows, pissed.

She’s stupid.

I’m tempted to say something rude, but I opt not to. The last time I crossed Lydia, she pulled my hair out, bruised my face, and had my then boyfriend discontinued from campus.

I don’t want a repeat of that.

Especially the hair-pulling part.

“He is all yours,” I say and walk out of the washroom without looking back.

I know she wanted to start some sort of fight with me, but I won’t be having any of that. If she wants to pick a fight, she can try someone else.

I have a class in English Literature, but at the moment, I feel sick. I don’t think I want to attend another class.

Just as I’m walking down the corridor that leads to the main exit, I see the new guy and the lecturer somehow hiding by the corridor, and they seem to be in a very heated argument.

Some instinct tells me to ignore them and just pass by, but another one tells me to stop and eavesdrop.

I don’t know how I’m convinced to follow the latter instinct.

So I move closer, and they’re behind a wall. I can see them, but I’m so sure they can’t see me.

“You stay out of my way!” I hear Mr. Eric, the lecturer, warn Arnold.

“No, you stay out of my way!” Arnold warns back, and I can see Eric chuckle.

“I’m the eldest. My job is to watch over you. Staying out of your way won’t help with that.”

The moment he says that, I gasp and quickly cover my mouth when I realize the mistake I just made.

I’m glad they don’t seem to notice.

Eric said he was the eldest. I can’t tell what he meant by that, but could it be that they’re brothers?

I listen again.

“I’m not a kid anymore. You let me do my stuff without anyone interrupting. I’ve got this.”

I can see Eric raise a brow.

“Really?” he asks, and Arnold nods.

“Yeah.”

“You don’t seem to have. Your first day was already a fail.”

“It wasn’t.”

“You already made a bad impression. You scared her.”

The moment he says that, I can feel my heart beat faster.

I don’t know what they’re talking about, but a little part of my intelligence seems to put the pieces together.

They’re talking about me.

Or maybe not.

I see Arnold lean closer to Eric and whisper something in his ear that I don’t catch. Eric nods, looks around nervously, and walks away.

How I wish I could hear what he just told him.

Arnold leans on the wall once the lecturer is gone and scratches his head in frustration. He then turns to look in the direction I’m hiding.

I see him smirk, then he clears his throat.

“You can come out now.”

I look around, trying to see who he’s addressing.

I’m sure it’s not me, because he can’t see me.

“It’s you I’m talking to, Bianca.”

My eyes shoot open the moment he says my first name.

I didn’t tell him my name, and the lecturer had been addressing me by my surname, so how the hell does he know my first name?

I take a moment to breathe in and out before I shamefully drag myself out of my hiding place.

“Eavesdropping, huh?” he asks, and I try not to look at him.

He takes slow steps toward me, and my heart is racing. I’ve been caught red-handed, and I don’t know how to get myself out of this situation.

I could lie, yeah—but I’m not so sure he’d believe me.

I still give it a shot.

“I was just passing by.”

That lie is so fake that I don’t even believe it myself.

He chuckles.

“Then you saw us talking and decided to listen in.”

I can tell by the tone of his voice that he’s not pleased with my behavior.

But I’m not in the mood for that.

I’ve already had my day ruined by two people, and I don’t want to add him to the list.

“I didn’t hear anything. I swear.”

Another white lie, and it obviously isn’t working.

“Yeah, sure.”

Then a long silence follows. I don’t know what he’s thinking, and given how scared I’ve been of him since the first time I saw him, he’s probably thinking of ways to kill me or something.

“Why would you think I’d want to kill you?”

I turn to look at him, surprised, my mouth wide open.

I did not say that out loud.

“What?”

“You think I’ll kill you.”

My heart beats even faster, and I’m really scared.

Did he just read my thoughts?

“I didn’t say that.”

“I know. You thought it,” he says calmly, like what he’s saying isn’t weird at all.

“What?” I can’t seem to get any sensible words out.

“I’m psychic. I read minds.”

I crease my brows.

That’s insane.

Psychics don’t exist.

“What are you talking about?”

When he sees how scared I am, he puts a very wide grin on his lips and bursts out laughing, throwing his head back.

I’m still confused about everything, yet he’s here laughing.

“Just kidding. I don’t read minds,” he says. “You’ve been looking at me all day like you think I’m going to kill you. That’s why I said that.”

I let out a sigh.

It wasn’t funny, but I’m glad it was just some stupid joke.

“I’m sorry about how my brother treated you in class,” he says, and that’s when I connect what they were talking about earlier.

“He’s your brother?” I ask.

“Yeah. He can be a little bit of a jerk,” he says, defending him.

I chuckle.

That’s true.

“He doesn’t like me.”

“I doubt it. He doesn’t even pay attention to his students. Today he probably just woke up on the wrong side of the bed.”

I shrug.

I know the lecturer has never really liked me. He was just waiting for the right moment to show it, and when he found me sleeping, he took advantage of that.

“Plus, there was a new student in his class—who just happened to be his brother—and he wanted to show that he could be a serious lecturer,” he adds.

I chuckle again.

“Anyway, don’t mind what you might’ve heard back there. My brother and I argue a lot.”

I nod.

I’m tempted to ask about the strange things I’ve noticed ever since I encountered him, but I brush it off. I don’t want things to get awkward when they don’t seem to be.

“I’m sorry I eavesdropped.”

“It’s no problem.”

We stay quiet for a moment. Then my eyes move to his, and I stare at them longer than I should.

I don’t tear my eyes away.

And I know exactly what I’m looking for.

I just want to see that shade one more time.

As much as my mind keeps telling me it was probably just my hallucinations, another part of me insists that what I saw was real.

That’s why I don’t want to look away.

“I know I’m handsome, but you’re staring a little too much.”

I quickly take my eyes off him.

“What?”

“What?”

I don’t even know why I acted that stupid.

“I should leave,” I say as I pass by him.

I don’t want things to get any more awkward than they already are.

He grabs my hand to stop me, and I feel my heart jump.

Why the heck does he make me feel this nervous?

“You’re a beautiful woman.”

I take in a deep breath when he says that. He moves his hand gently up my arm, and that’s my cue to leave.

“Ahem… thank you,” I say and hurry past him.

“Bianca, I could offer you a ride,” he calls after me.

I stop and turn.

“You know my first name?” I ask. I just met him today, so him addressing me by my first name feels awkward.

“Yeah. Eric told me.”

“He did?”

“Yeah. He talks a lot about you. So… the ride?”

“No, I’m fine. Thanks.”

I know better than to take free rides from people I just met today.

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