Chapter 2: Lunch break

An entire week passed, during which I felt more and more restless. That feeling of being watched never seemed to go away, and every now and then I caught a whiff of that intoxicating smell that I couldn’t get enough of. The only problem was that I never figured out what the source of the smell was.

As Sirens mature fully on their eighteenth birthday, which is when they get to find their own mates. My siren was still silent, but she could feel my emotions and I can feel hers.

It was Friday, which is the best day of the week in my opinion. And why is that? Simple, the weekend is next, which means no school for two whole days.

As I put my books in my locker and picked up others for the next class, I felt goosebumps prickle my skin. I turned to look, but as usual, I couldn’t see anything out of the ordinary.

“Are you looking for someone?”

As I closed my locker, I saw Mandy. I smiled at my friend, shrugged, and said, “I just can’t shake the feeling that someone is watching me.”

Mandy looked around and saw a few new kids that joined our school at the beginning of this week, but other than them, no one was looking our way.

“I think someone’s a little too excited about this weekend,” she teased as she winked at me.

I rolled my eyes and shrugged again.

“Oh my goddess, you might find your mate this weekend. I wonder who it will be. Tyson, maybe? He’s always looking at you and he’s super hot… after your brother.” She giggled.

I rolled my eyes in response and chuckled.

“You’re acting like it’s your birthday,” I said.

“It will be in a few weeks, and then I get to find my mate. I can’t wait!” Mandy squealed.

Laughing at her reaction, I looked around for Annie.

“Where is Annie?” I asked.

“Oh, she texted me that she has a practice to attend today because  your dad asked her to join, so she won’t be coming to school,” Mandy said.

“Oh, I didn’t know that. Okay, let’s go to class. If we’re late, we’ll get in trouble, and you know how Ms. Friskies hates when someone comes into her class after her.”

We walked through the hallways to the science classroom, and once we got there, we took our seats while other students were meeting up and sitting with their friends.

I noticed a few new faces and guessed they must be the newcomers, so I gave a small smile at the ones who were looking around the classroom.

“I can’t wait for the football team to come back,” Mandy said with a dreamy look on her face while she rested it on her hands.

I chuckled at her, and grabbed my textbook and placed it on the table.

“I hope we don’t get a new seating arrangement,” I said.

“Oh hell, I forgot about that,” she responded.

A few minutes later, Ms. Friskies entered the classroom, took a seat at her desk, and spoke. “Since we have had a change in our school due to new students, we will have a new seating arrangement assigned starting next week. Until then, you may sit as you are sitting now.”

Mandy and I exchanged glances as we both groaned softly.

“Great,” I said quietly.

“Fingers crossed that she doesn’t separate us,” Mandy whispered.

The rest of the class flew by, and the sound of the bell couldn’t have come soon enough. When the bell rang, Mandy and I separated as she went to biology.

Time flew by after that and soon enough we were back together, sitting at a lunch table eating fries and cheeseburgers, which were on the menu today.

“So is it still on?” Mandy asked me as she was picking at her fries.

“Is what on?” I asked her before taking a bite of my cheeseburger.

“Oh God, girl, shopping for your party, you dummy,” she said with an eye roll.

“Oh, that…”

“Yes, that, and don’t you dare say no,” Mandy said, pointing a finger at me.

Laughing at her serious face, I said, “Yes, of course we are going.”

Mandy squealed, and a few faces turned in our direction at the sound, while I covered my ears with my hands.  As we chatted happily about our plans, I smelled that smell again, which made me turn towards the entrance of the cantina. I couldn’t exactly determine where it was coming from, but I saw a group that entered. I looked at them and noticed how tall and well built they were.  I knew immediately that they were the new students that were transferred from the Cornal High School.

“They are looking hot,” Mandy said next to me.

I looked at them, and noticed that the one on the left was tall, with lightly-tanned skin; light blond hair, and dark blue eyes. He was well built and easy on the eyes.

My eyes traveled to the one on the right, and the smile on his face indicated that he was probably joking around. He had a nice smile with pearly white teeth. He seemed slightly taller than the other with light brown hair that was attractively falling over his brown eyes.

I moved my eyes to the third guy that was in the middle. He was looking around the cantina, and I took the opportunity to look at him more closely. He was slightly taller than the other two, with jet black hair that was messy and slightly longer. He was tanned and a little bulkier than the others. He had a strong jawline and plump, lightly pink lips that I couldn’t tear my eyes away from. When he licked his lips, a feeling of warmth flew through me.

What the hell is happening to me?

My skin prickled as I let my gaze slowly roam over his handsome face, and I shuddered as I felt an electrifying current flow through me at the exact moment my eyes locked with his beautiful light gray ones.

His look was intense as he roamed his eyes all over my body. I could feel every inch of my body roar to life with just a look from him. His eyes moved painfully slowly from the bottom to top of my body, stopping briefly when he got to my chest. The look in his eyes made my breath hitch. I saw him licking his lips and watched as his gaze roamed up further over my collar bone, my neck, and my jaw, stopping at my lips which made my cheeks blush. Finally, he reached my eyes.

“Ollie? Are you okay?”

I jumped when I heard Mandy speak. I felt my cheeks blush more and cleared my throat before speaking. “Yeah, just thinking about shopping and what all we’re going to need.”

“Oh, come on, you were so checking out that hottie next to the entrance.” She poked me in the side.

Gasping at her realization I couldn’t help the slight stammer in my voice. “N-no.”

Mandy laughed as she turned towards the guys I was looking at. “They are hot. Too bad we can’t be with them.” She sighed with a dreamy look in her eyes.

I hated that rule - or better yet, the law - that said we couldn’t mix species.

Things were different before. People, shifters, could mate with whoever they wanted to, considering they were mates, even if it was someone from another species. They could freely accept each other and live their fairytale happily ever after.  But now, since the war, which lasted centuries, the Elders made a peace pact that forbade mixing or mating between two different shifters communities.

That rule was the cause of one-too-many heartbreaks, as many fated mates got rejected because of it, and the heartbreak caused some of them to slowly lose their minds… and some their lives.

“He is watching you.”

Turning my head towards the entrance, I saw the middle one, the most gorgeous of them all, looking at me as if he was in deep thought.

“I think he likes you,” Mandy whispered into my ear, making me blush.

As if he heard what Mandy said, he smirked at, which made me blush even more, if that was even possible.

I was trying to get a grip and stop blushing, but I couldn’t help but look over at him again.

He and the others took their trays and walked to a table that was not too far from our table.

He took a fry and popped it in his mouth, which was oddly erotic to watch as he chewed slowly. I couldn’t look away.

His muscles flexed, drawing my eyes to his arms as my breath got caught in my throat. Following the movement of his arm as he picked another fry and put it in his mouth, I saw him smirk and realized I got caught ogling at him. He winked at me and I blushed again, turning back to my table quickly.

I couldn’t help but wish for the ground to open and swallow me to save me from my embarrassment.

What is wrong with me…?