Chapter 3

Avery's POV

I bit my lips anxiously as I walked to my desk. Amelia pulled me back and I turned to her.

“You don't have to meet their gazes. Just avoid them, I will be watching from my seat,” she assured and I smiled. Everyone has been gossiping about what happened at my birthday party.

Low-key, I was kinda regretting my decision. I settled on my seat and brought out my books. Shutting all my guts that was telling me to steal a glance at him. His scent was getting into my head, as if it was making me high.

Well, I was prepared for that.

I brought out a nose mask and put it on now. People were looking at me suspiciously. I could only face-palm inwardly.

How can you be staring at someone and make it so obvious? I shook my head and sighed. The teacher walked in after a while and the class began.

To be honest, my mind was far away from what he was teaching us. It has been two weeks since Jameson was last seen in school, because of Anna, my wolf, Jameson kept replaying in my head.

I could feel her emotions. It was as if she was mad at me for the decision I made. I heard a distant voice calling my name, I didn't respond until I heard a loud voice.

“Miss. Valentino!” I flinched at the intensity of the teacher's tone. He looked displeased as ever.

“Can you please tell us what you have been thinking about?” He asked in a stern voice.

“I'm sorry. I got a bit carried away,” I apologized, standing up and bowed slightly at him. He looked to still have some words to say to me, but because of how respectful I sounded.

He swallowed the rest of his words and I concentrated on the class.

“.... It's about channeling your inner strength and abilities. It comes from your soul and every part of your body,” he explained. I looked at the board. It wrote channeling energy.

I continued listening to him, jotting down some things until the topic navigated to finding a hidden treasure.

“Trust me class, it's gonna be fun. The treasure sparkles like a diamond but dull like coal. All I have to do is pair you guys up in groups,” the teacher gushed, everyone looks so excited.

Perhaps it was because of my already dampened mood, I wasn't feeling it at all.

“So I have my list here. Before I call out the names, do you have any questions?” He asked and someone raised their hands.

“Can we switch partners?”

“Nope! It's a big no. You are to work with your designated partners,” the teacher emphasized.

“Will there be a tutorial on how to survive in the forest?”

“Of course. We can't just leave our students stranded,”

“What if we don't find the treasure?” This question caught my attention. I rested my chin on my palm, my elbow on the desk, boringly looking at the teacher.

“Uhm... let's think and work with positivity. There are nine groups in total, at least one group should be able to find it,” the teacher responded.

A thought crossed my mind and I decided to ask, so I raised my hand.

“Yes, Miss. Valentino?”

“What's the sole purpose of looking for this long lost treasure? And why is it that suddenly we are asked to find it?” I asked him, and I noticed the way he looked uncomfortable.

“T-That… uhm…. It's not in my hands to know about it. I was only asked to inform you guys. It's a project for your midterm assessment,” he said, reluctance was in his voice.

I sighed and nodded at him.

“For group one, Keely and Simon…… group two, Amelia and Flair, group three Avery and Jameson, group…..”

“What?!” I shrieked aloud when I heard my partner, interrupting the class.

“Any problem, Miss. Valentino?” The teacher asked, he looks ready to give me a piece of his mind if I dare to complain.

I shook my head and my gaze turned to Jameson. He pressed his lips together before looking away. My stomach tightened when I saw this, I was expecting him to smirk at me or something.

My heart was already beating in anticipation of what was gonna happen with our time together. For the rest of the class, I wasn't myself.

*****

We just concluded the last class and that was all for the day. I placed my head on my table tiredly. I heard approaching footsteps, walking towards me.

From his scent, I knew who it was already. I raised my head and started packing my bags.

“We need to talk about the project,”

“Amelia is waiting for me alrea….” I was interrupted.

“I will wait!” I turned my head to the direction of where the voice came from. I gawked at Amelia and she winked at me before pointing at Flair. I nodded in understanding, they also wanna talk about the project.

“So what do you wanna talk about?” I asked Jameson, avoiding eye contact. He brought out a book and passed it to me. I raised a brow, I didn't collect it.

“It's just a book. Open it,”

“Tell me what's inside before I collect it from you,” he scoffed when he heard me. He opened it before placing the book in front of me.

“What's this?” I asked, looking at the sketched diagrams. I opened it to the other side, same thing.

“Since he didn't tell us what the treasure looks like, based on his statement, 'sparkle like a diamond but dull like coal,' we can infer that in terms of their physical properties, both diamonds and coal can be sharp or abrasive when fractured. Therefore, it's possible that the treasure is either as heavy as a diamond or as light as coal,” he analyzed. I can’t lie, I was amused.

“Oh… okay,” I pressed my lips together, looking up to meet his gaze. For the first time, I saw seriousness in him.