Beneath the Depths - Book Four (Moon Child Series)

Chapter Twelve

Sirena POV

“MJ.” I stare at it for a moment before reaching out mine to grasp his. A dull ache moves like molasses up my veins, and I pull my hand from his as quickly as possible without being rude.

“Do you mind if I sit next to you?” He asks as he stands. I shake my head no and bury my head in my tablet. This was all wrong, I was always paired with Cordelia. In fact, my master had fixed it that way, so I was always partnered with Cordelia. I had to fix this. I feel his heat beside me as he pulls out the chair and sits his big, intimidating frame in the small chair. His eyes are on me, I can feel them, and his presence is causing my head to lose all senses.

“Sorry I’m late. Family drama.” I look up in relief to see Cordelia standing in front of me, slightly dishevelled. Her eyes fall to the man sitting next to me and her brows furrow. “Oh I’m sorry. There must be a mistake. That’s my seat.” I glance next to me to see my mystery man smiling kindly.

“Sorry. But the teacher just announced partners, so I’m just sitting next to mine.” Cordelia smiles tightly at him, her question pointed at me through her eyes.

“There has to be a mistake.”

“No mistake.” The professors voice has me and Cordelia jumping as she comes to stand in front of my table. “I thought it would be a bit of fun to mix things up, get everyone out of their comfort zones.” Her gaze drifts back and forth between the three of us as if wondering if we’ll object.

“But I’m always her partner.” Cordelia says pointedly, the air around her starting to vibrate slightly. “She needs me to be her partner.” Professor Diana raises her eyebrow and glances at me. I look down quickly.

“I’m sorry you feel that way, but my word is final. Please join your partner at his table, so we may begin our class.” With that she turns from us and returns to the front of the room. Cordelia gives one last glance to me before walking behind me to sit beside her partner, a handsome blonde guy.

“Now that that’s settled. My first assignment for you all is a sort of getting to know you exercise. You will be working very closely with your partners this year for most of your assignments, so you will find yourselves having to rely on them as the year goes on. So, your first assignment is to draw the features of your partner before drawing something that matches those features. While you do this, ask questions. Get to know your partners likes and dislikes. Incorporate that new knowledge into your drawings. Understood?” Everyone nods in agreement, the room buzzing with excitement. “Wonderful. Now you and your partner can go off, find somewhere inspirational, quiet, where you can chat and draw. Have fun with it.” Her eyes seem to find me and she gives a wink before dismissing us all with little shooing motions with her hands. I feel his gaze on me and turn to see his dazzling smile.

“Ladies first.” He says, gesturing towards the entrance. I gather my things and follow everyone else as they exit the room. His hand gently grasps my elbow as he steers me away from everyone else towards a wall of vines and hedges. “I hope you don’t mind, but I found this awesome place while exploring during the week, I think it’s the perfect place for some peace and quiet to draw and talk.” I shake my head and allow him to guide me through a curtain of vines connected to a giant hedge wall that spans the far side of the courtyard and into a hidden gazebo with benches positioned around the edges. Purple and pink flowers adorn the vines as they embrace the posts of the gazebo and the light bleeding through the gaps gives the area an ethereal and secluded feeling. I’m floored by the beauty of this hidden gem. I’d been here for nearly a year and did not even know this place existed. My fingers brush gently along a delicate tendril of vine in awe.

“Beautiful, right?” His voice behind me startles me from my examination, and I turn to find him close by me. “Perfect place to get to know each other, do you agree?” I nod with a soft smile and follow him as he sits on one of the benches and pulls out his sketch book and pencils. “So, I’d love to start with your name.” He smiles, his pencil poised above his page. I feel my throat tighten as I realise, I have no way of communicating with him. He had no idea I was mute. I twist my hands in my lap, my heart pounding in my chest. He would surely make fun of me. Everyone does when they find out. Or they’re disgusted when my scarring is visible. I feel tears prick my eyes as I clench my hands into fists. What was I going to do?

I jump slightly as MJ’s hands grab mine, their unusual softness pulling my attention away from the building anxiety within me.

“Hey. There’s no need to freak out. I’m sorry.” I raise my eyes to meet his and my heart nearly stops. Kindness radiates from him in waves as his thumb softly strokes the back of my hand, and suddenly I feel safe with him. All my anxieties wash away as if being carried away by a refreshing wave. I gently pull my hands from his, deciding in that moment to do what I’d never done in front of someone else before, at least not on purpose. I reach up gingerly, my gaze averted from his, not wanting to see his reaction, as I gently pull down the high collar of my turtle neck, revealing my one insecurity. No sound comes from MJ. No gasp of horror and disgust, no standing abruptly to avoid the freak. Silence. And it’s worse than any of the other reactions I was expecting.

I jump slightly as I feel a soft brush of his fingers across my scar tissue, my eyes darting to his face, and I’m surprised by what I see there. Not disgust, or horror like I was expecting, but curiosity and kindness. I had never experienced this reaction towards my scarring before, and to be honest, it’s a little jarring.

“I understand now.” He says quietly, his voice gentle as his thumb lightly brushes across the scarring, causing my body to shiver. He retracts his hand, too soon for my liking and does something next I was not expecting. “Hi. My name is MJ. What’s yours?” His sentence is accompanied by his hands signing along with his speech. My heart leaps in joy. He knows sign language. I can communicate with him through sign language.

“You know sign?” I ask excitedly. Not many people I know can do sign language, so it’s hard for me communicate with them. When I find someone who can understand it, I get a little excited. MJ nods, a melting smile on his lips.

“Yeah. We have a few members of the pa- um, family who are deaf, so we all learnt sign to help them out.” He shrugs sheepishly. I smile in response, happy to have at least one common ground.

“My name is Sirena, by the way.” He watches intently as I sign out my name, giving me his full attention. When I’m done signing his eyes raise to mine, something burning beneath their cool depths.

“Sirena.” My name on his lips has my body tingling uncontrollably. The way the sounds of it wraps around his tongue, every syllable treated with care, it’s almost sensual. “That’s a very beautiful name.” A blush creeps up my cheeks, which he thankfully doesn’t see as he dips his head into his page, scribbling away at something. I watch intently for a little bit before writing his name atop my page and softly tapping the edge of his book to grab his attention. When his attention is on me, I sign my question.

“Does MJ stand for anything?” MJ looks away sheepishly, a small smile on his face.

“Yeah. Actually it does. It’s a tad unusual but my parents are sentimental. They wanted to name me after someone who meant a lot to them, and well, he likes to claim he brought my parents back together. So my parents named me after my uncle. Magnus junior.” I bite my lip to keep the giggle inside, not wanting to hurt his feelings after he shared something personal with me. He smiles as if reading my mind. “I know. A bit unconventional. That’s why MJ stuck. Plus it was easier for 5-year-old me to spell two letters than the whole thing.” I chuckle along with him, feeling myself beginning to relax. “Should we get started?” I nod in agreement and we both get stuck into our art, stopping occasionally so I can sign to him. Pretty soon we’re being called back into the classroom for a debrief and homework assignments. MJ holds the vine curtain open for me and I slip past him, my body enjoying the brief closeness. I had to be careful or else I might grow attached.

Sitting in our spots again we wait patiently for the rest of the class to do the same before the professor stands in front of us all again.

“So I’m hoping that you’ve learnt a bit more about each other now.” Everyone nods enthusiastically, the air buzzing with excitement. “Wonderful. Now for homework. I want you to swap sketch books with your partners. Take a look at what they drew, how they drew it, the materials they used. And then do what they did in your own style, or view. Each artist views the same thing differently. I want to see how you interpret something different from your partner. Great!” She clasps her hands together and smiles. “I’ll see you all next time. Have fun.” I hesitate slightly as I glance at my sketch book clutched tightly in my hand MJ doesn’t even blink as he extends his book to me, a trusting smile on his face. With a deep breath I hand him the book and take his with a soft smile.

“I’ll see you in our next class. I look forward to working closely with you.” His words send a flush over my body as he stands and leaves with a quick wave, his blonde friend, who is partnered with Cordelia, following behind him. I clutch the sketch book close to my chest as I watch him leave. Oh dear. That boy is trouble.

I’m startled from my thoughts as Cordelia gently touches my shoulder, her eyebrow raised. I stand quickly and follow her from the classroom. As we make our way to our next class, Cordelia is oddly quiet. Usually she’s talking off my ear, but she’s oddly reserved today. Her hand suddenly stops me, pulling me into a little alcove along the wall.

“What the hell happened back there?” I look at my friend, confused. I don’t know what in particular she could be referring to. She sighs frustratedly as she grabs at the sketchbook still grasped in my hands and raises it in front of us.

“Your clinging to his sketchbook like a doe eyed school girl with her first crush. What are you doing Sirena? Remember the first rule, be invisible.” I snatch the sketch book back from her and carefully place it in my bag.

“I am being invisible. I have to blend into my class. If I don’t do the work, I’ll stand out.” Her eyebrow quirks, frustrating me. What was I supposed to do? Demand the professor change my partner, or ignore MJ even though he’s my partner.

“That’s not what it looked like Sirena.” She grabs my hand in hers, imploring me to look at her. “I’m only saying this because I’m worried. Something is happening with Vera and her group, something big. They’re very on edge right now. I’m worried that they’ll take it out on you. Please, please promise me you’ll be extra careful around this guy. There’s something about him that feels like it could be trouble.” I sigh as I look at our joined hands and nod my head. “Good. Come on. Let’s get to class.” I follow her as we navigate the flow of people heading to class, her words scratching annoyingly at my mind.

Sitting down in our seats I tried to concentrate on what the teacher was saying but all I could think of was the way his lips stretched into that irresistible smile and the way his hands caressed his pencil as he drew. By the end of class I had come to a realisation Cordelia was right. MJ is trouble, but he was trouble I wanted to get into.