Torn between two lives

Missed connection

Eliza tried to concentrate, she honestly did, but imagine her surprise when she walked into the tiny classroom and selected a seat at one of the two person tables, just for Eric to walk in a minute later and give her a charismatic grin and ask if the seat next to her was taken.

She had found guys attractive before, she was human, after all, but never had she felt a pull towards someone the way she did with Eric. His tousled, chocolate brown hair and warm brown eyes, the way his body had melted into hers when he saved her from getting hit by that i***t who was texting. Eliza made a mental note to chew out Eric’s friend later for it but she also wanted to thank him. She was trying to be discreet but she kept stealing glances at the handsome guy next to her. Dr. Winters was going over the syllabus, which was painful considering it was almost an exact replica of the one Eliza received from her in the other class earlier that day.

Eliza nearly jumped out of her skin when her hand felt coated with warmth, simply at the tap from Eric’s finger as he discreetly got her attention and whispered, “Hey, I never got a chance to grab that pen, do you have an extra one?” She nodded sheepishly, wondering why she was so nervous and for that matter, attracted to him. Sure, he was handsome but it went deeper than that, there was a pull, like she needed to touch him, to be around him and it was itching something in the back of her mind, why did it feel strangely familiar?

She bit her lip, allowing the small bit of pain to focus her as she dug in her backpack, pulling out a pencil case and opening it in the space between them on the desk. Eliza held back a laugh when he saw she had at least a dozen pens of multiple colors. He took his time picking one out and finally selected a lime green one and grinned at her. “Nice selection.” He whispered, uncapping the pen and underlining the grading scale. She was too embarrassed to tell him she color coordinated everything, including her notes. She weirdly didn’t want him to think of her as a nerd or find it unattractive.

Eliza kept her gaze on Professor Winters but she swore Eric kept coming up with excuses to touch her: shifting in his seat so his knee touched hers, extending his elbow as he wrote so he grazed her arm, stretching so his wrist touched her shoulder. With every minute movement, she felt sparks. Finally, she realized where she had felt that feeling before. Eliza slowly reached into her book bag again, pulling out her tattered journal and used the tabs to flip through the passages. She used the tabs to separate it by entry, Donna always asked to read it and after she left an old journal with one too many ear marked pages, Eliza started putting the tabs in.

Anna grinned as her teeth sunk into the t****l’s neck, she was a newer one and her blood tasted of apricots, she was quickly becoming a favorite.

She flipped to a few tabs ahead.

Anna and Leo lay in a close embrace, as much skin to skin contact as they possibly could. Leo was still not used to how it felt having a mate and she relished in his gentle shivers, the dopamine rush too much for the younger vampire to fully settle into. She mused how long she waited for a mate, how many lovers she had taken into her bed and been ravished by and chose to r****h herself, nothing would ever feel so complete as Leo in her arms. They didn’t even need to be making love, simply touching him filled her with warmth. Although, they had time now, so she spun her body around and inched her way down his torso, lipping and nipping his exposed flesh–

“Do you write e*****a?” Eric whispered with a waggle of his eyebrows and for the second time that day, Eliza wanted to dig a grave and bury herself from the mortification. He had been reading over her shoulder and she hadn’t even noticed.

She opened her mouth to respond but shut it quickly as Dr.Winters stood before them, “Any questions I can answer?” She asked crisply, tapping the syllabus in front of Eric.

“He was just asking about office hours, I wasn’t sure what time they were at this campus.” Eliza had never lied so smoothly in her life. Perhaps it was the quick denial of the dots she was connecting. She had never understood where the dreams came from but one thing stuck out to her: the feeling when Eric touched her was the same feeling she felt when she dreamt of Leo touching Anna. At times, it was hard to differentiate herself from Anna, from her emotions and memories but this was the closest she felt in terms of a physical reaction. Eric touching her lit her up like the fourth of July and she had no idea how to feel.

Her mind was caught in the loop of it, there was no way Eric was a vampire, the notion of them existing was insane in the first place, but the sparks she felt. Were soulmates real? She had never met anyone who claimed it to be true and she was sure a google search would send her to websites that claimed if she gave them five dollars, they would tell her what compatibility she had with a person. Who could even confirm or deny such a thing? Eliza honestly felt like a fool, pining for a guy she had met less than an hour ago.

She was honestly grateful for the spark she felt shoot through her when Eric discreetly elbowed her, signaling that class was letting out. Eliza smiled at him gratefully and began packing up her stuff. She glanced at her watch, once again, Winters let them out early. “Feel like getting that coffee now?” Eric was an eager puppy and she found it absolutely adorable.

“I would but it’s almost eight at night,” She felt guilty when he visibly deflated. “Um, hang on one sec.” Eliza pulled her phone out and quickly texted her roommate, saying her class was out and to just check her location and text her when his got out too. “John still has class, I think, his doesn’t get out until eight fourty-five, so I have to wait for him when we’re on campus after this class anyways. Do you want to grab a bite?” On cue, his stomach growled loudly and she laughed, enjoying how he perked up at her suggestion.

“Yes! The campus has a dining hall that’s pretty good.” He waited until she stood up and took her backpack before she could and hoisted it on his shoulder next to his own. When she tried to protest, he claimed to be a true gentleman, which made her blush. Without thinking, he took her hand and they both grinned sheepishly. Eliza’s head was spinning, she had just met this guy, why did she feel so comfortable, so content with him? Her rational mind couldn’t fathom the idea of mates, the same way she insisted to herself constantly that her dreams were the product of an overactive imagination (as her parents had suggested when she was a child and gave her her first journal to chronicle them), because her dreams could not possibly be reality, vampires and wolves weren’t real. They couldn’t be.

Eric seemed to be aware she was lost in thought and respected that, he seemed content to simply hold her hand and walk across campus with her. He grinned to himself, ever the cat who caught the canary. The food hall was simple, mainly to-go items but large portions and fairly priced. Eric followed her as she did a lap, looking at her options before settling on a sandwich with chips and a soda after seeing the combo options. He followed her lead and picked the same. To break the ice she held up two bags of chips, “Should I get regular potato chips or barbeque?” She pursed her lips in thought, as if the decision were life or death. Eric followed her lead, staring at both in thought before grabbing the barbecue chips.

“You get one and I get the other?” He asked, obviously pleased when she nodded and smiled. “Deal.”

Eliza laughed, “Thanks, I tend to be super indecisive over the stupidest stuff.”

“Then we make a good team, then. Because I’m super good at picking chip bags.” Eric had an air of confidence with his words that made her giggle more, feeling like a love-struck teenager even though she was in her early twenties. After they grabbed their drinks, they walked to the cashier and he quickly told the guy working, “Two combos, please.”

Eliza beat him to the chase though, her debit card was in her phone case and she quickly tapped it to the card reader and smirked when she heard the ding. “Hey! It was supposed to be on me!” Eric was angry in a playful way, his pride hurt more than anything.

“Okay, mister knight in shining armor, you already saved the princess once today, the least I can do is buy you a sandwich.” Eliza deadpanned, giving him a look that said she wouldn’t take no for an answer.

“If you insist, princess.” Eric said with a lazy smirk in return, Eliza felt her face heat up at the nickname and he reveled in it, making a mental note to call her that as often as possible if she was going to blush every time.

They sat down at a corner table and she noticed that he once again tried to sit as close to her as possible, his knee brushing hers as they ate. Eliza took the tray and distributed the sandwiches and drinks, taking her bag of chips and dumping them on the now empty tray and smiled when Eric copied her, distributing the chips for them to share. He grabbed a handful of the mixture and tossed them back in his mouth, earning an eye roll from here.

“So that e*****a looked hot.” Eric said casually, causing Eliza to choke on her sandwich and cough. He grinned at her again, wiggling his eyebrows suggestively.

“It’s….its uh…it’s my dream journal.” She finally choked out, taking a long sip of her soda. She wasn’t quite sure how to explain it, or how much detail to go into. “I’ve had super vivid dreams since I was a kid so I started journaling about it.”

Eric’s eyes darkened for a moment, as if flashing black before he quickly looked away, clearing his throat. “Is Anna your middle name or something?” She blushed scarlet, realizing he thought it was some fantasy of her subconscious playing out.

“No, just the person I dream about.” Eliza still felt the need to touch him, sensing that skin to skin contact would calm both of them down but she resisted the urge. The tension hung in the air and she squirmed in her seat, chewing slowly on her sandwich.

Neither said anything and Eliza was grateful when she felt her phone ring in her pocket. “Hey, Johnny boy, how was class?” She tried to keep her voice light hearted but John heard right through her.

“Hey, Liz. I’m heading to the truck, want to meet me there or should I pick you up?” John always knew when to give her an out, it’s what made him such a good friend. “Donna texted we can crash at her place, her folks aren’t home.”

“Could we actually just head home, actually? I’ve got work in the morning, they had to adjust my schedule because of school.” Eliza asked honestly, “I can meet you out there.”

“Sure thing, I’ll see you in a minute.” John replied breezily, but she knew he would be full of questions. Eliza smiled nervously at Eric, feeling the same tingling sensation once more when she reached for a chip purposely at the same time as him. It bothered her now, and she wanted to look at her old journals, without thinking of what he thought of them.

“I better go…I’ll see you in class?” She stood quickly, grabbing her bag before he also stood. It felt weird to not talk to him for two days, even though it wasn’t that long so she amended, “I texted you my number.”

He looked pained, stiff in his seat as if he were worried about moving. “Sure.” Eric’s voice was crisp, eyes shadowed. For a moment, Eliza thought about hugging him goodbye but the moment for it had passed after she stood still for a long moment.

“Okay…bye.” She turned and walked out before she lost the nerve.