We Collided Again

ARIA

The first thing I learned about Crescent Moon College was that the campus was huge. The second thing I learned was that being late on your first day was a terrible idea.

I hurried across the stone pathway with my bag bouncing against my hip, desperately trying not to trip over the uneven pavement. "Excuse me! Sorry!" I squeezed between two students chatting near the fountain. My heart pounded as I checked the time on my phone. Eight fifty-seven. My lecture was meant to start by nine.. "Great," I muttered. "First day, and I'm already late."

Students crowded the walkways as I ran through. Some laughed with friends while others hurried toward their classes. I pulled my timetable from my bag. Building C. Room 204. I looked up. "Where is Building C?" I turned quickly. And collided with someone. It was a hard hit that made my phone slip off my hand. "Oh my—I'm so sorry!" I bent down at the same time as the stranger.

Our hands touched. And then everything stopped. The strange warmth shot through my fingers and it rushed up my arm, across my chest and straight into my heart. My breath caught as the world around me seemed to disappear. It seemed as though the noise of the students faded. Then I heard a voice inside my head. A voice I hadn't heard this strongly before. Mate. My wolf. My entire body went rigid instantly.

No. That wasn't possible. I slowly lifted my head. And the moment I saw the face in front of me, my heart shattered all over again. Kael Donovan. My fingers went numb. No! I screamed this time. Not him. He can't be my mate. Never! Why would the boy whom I already exited from my thoughts, whom I have pushed away from my entire world become my mate?

Kael stared at me. His dark eyes widened. I watched the exact moment recognition struck him. His lips parted slightly almost immediately. "Aria?"

Hearing my name from his mouth almost broke me and it brought me out of my thoughts. I quickly stood. "I'm sorry," I apologized out of nowhere.My voice sounded husked. Too husked that I could barely breathe.

I watched him stand as well, clasping onto my phone and for a brief moment, neither of us moved. Five years disappeared in an instant as I remembered two children running through the woods. I remembered the summer we spent lying beneath the old oak tree. His first confession. His hands were always holding mine. Then another memory replaced them. His betrayal with Maya. The way I screamed and cried. Oh… the way I repaid him.

Five years since I had left our neighborhood. Five years since I had promised myself I would never see him again. But then, look what we have here. Fate had dragged me straight back to him.

Kael held out my phone. "You dropped this." He mumbled almost like a whisper.

I stared at my phone then back at him and all I could utter was, "Thank you." I took my phone from him carefully, making sure there wasn't any touch between us again. In a second, I turned and began to walk away.

"Wait." He called out and brought me to my abrupt stop. His voice had changed, I told myself. It was different from the one I used to hear. It sounded so manly and intimidating. "Do you have class?" He asked and I knew where he was going.

I glanced over my shoulder and answered as softly as I could. "Yes."

"So do I." He added, his expression empty.

My heart sank as I stared at him. Of course. Of course we all have classes and of all the colleges in the world, I had to choose the one where Kael Donovan also would be studying. I forced a small smile. "Then you should hurry." With that, I turned my head and walked away. I could feel his eyes following me but I didn't look back. I wouldn't.

---

By the time I entered Room 204, the professor had already begun speaking and I quietly slipped into an empty seat near the window. My hands were already trembling as I struggled to place my bag beside me.

But the moment I tried to focus on the lecture, I felt the strange connection and I was forced to face back only to see Kael staring wide at me from the three rows behind me. I face my front instantly. What the hell?

Just then, my wolf who has been trying to get my attention while I was running into class whispered. “He's here.”

"I know," I whispered under my breath.

“He's ours. Why are you ignoring him?” She questioned and I wished I could shut her off. Only if she knew who he was. Only if she was already with me those times we knew each other.

"No. He's not out mate." I warned her, trying to make her see reason to stop disturbing me.

“Mate.” She called again and this time, I became pissed.

"Stop!” I snapped out forgetting I was in class.

And a girl sitting beside me glanced over. "Are you okay?"

I quickly forced a smile and lied. "Yes. Just nervous."

She smiled back. "I'm Lily."

I sighed at her introduction and returned the gesture. "Aria."

"Nice to meet you." She probed and faced forward.

"You too." Thankfully she wasn't the chatty one and I was glad. I turned toward the professor trying to argue with myself that Kiel wouldn't be in the same class with me but the more I refused to believe, the more doubt kept creeping in.

Yet, I kept telling myself. Even if he attended the same school as me. Have the same course with me, I would never have anything to do with him. He was in my past and in my past he would remain.

---

After class, I hurried as fast as I could toward the cafeteria. I needed space. I needed air to breathe. Most importantly, I needed to get away from Kael. Why would he return into my life? Why would the moon goddess allow him into my life and not even like a stranger, she made him my mate! For crying out loud, who does that? My soul grieved as I ran through memories. My heart was bittered remembering the moment we knew each other. The times when we played like tomorrow was never going to come. The promises we made to each other. The pain I had hidden a few years ago soon started creeping back into my heart and I felt terrible.

I had barely reached the entrance when I felt someone grab my arm and a spark aroused inside of me, earning my wolf to leap happily inside of me. I spun around only to come face to face with the very person I was running from. "What?" I snarled, allowing myself to growl even when my wolf was all over me.

He released me immediately. "Sorry."

I shut my eyes and I crossed my arms. "What do you want?" Not because I didn't know his answer but I was ready to give him a piece of my mind.

He stared at me for several seconds. Then he lowered his voice. "Are you really going to pretend you don't know me?"

"You're the one who called me Aria this morning." I conceded, giving him a daring look.

He sighed and mumbled. "I was surprised."

I shrugged, angrily. "So was I."

I saw his face squeezed as he uttered. "You're my mate. I mean, we're mates."

I looked around quickly before facing him back. "Keep your voice down." I warned, trying not to give him any chances. I just hate the fact he was coming plain.

"Why?" He requested and I felt like hitting him across his cheek but the happiness from my mate made me withdraw. She was happy and I was the only one getting tense so being in rage wasn't going to work.

"Because nobody needs to know." I said.

I watched him study my face for a moment before he uttered. "You're rejecting me."

His words caught me off guard and I didn't know when I responded. “No.”

"Then what are you doing?"

It was then it hit me. What did I just say? Did I just say I wasn't rejecting him? I swallowed hard. "I'm refusing to accept you."

The look that settled on his face told me he wasn't happy with my response. "Is there a difference?"

"We don't know each other." I told him clearly enough for him to understand. “From now henceforth, once you come across me, do not say a word to me.” I warned as my wolf kept struggling within me. “Pretend like we've never meant. I mean, we’ve never met.”

There was a brief silence before he muttered. "Fine.” He stepped past me and a wave of guilt washed over me.

Just then he stopped. He turned his head slightly. His voice was quiet enough that only I could hear him. "Don't worry." I stared at him. "I won't tell anyone I know you." I could sense the seriousness in his voice. Then, he walked away and something within me also left. I suddenly felt empty.

I stood there, watching his back disappear into the crowd. I should have felt relieved but I had no idea why I was covered with such emptiness. My emotions seemed to disappear and I knew he had taken a void from me. Then, my wolf spoke up again. “He is our mate.” She said sadly and I closed my eyes in agreement to her words. "I know." I told her and there was nothing I would do about it.