Chapter 2

CHAPTER 2

Nati

I both love and hate having Divination so early in the morning. Sometimes I think it’s helpful for not having too many thoughts of the day clouding my mind when I try to see what’s in store for the future. Other times, I’m barely awake enough to think straight, even after having a coffee or two at breakfast.

The classroom is already full, with only a couple of seats left at the end of the second bench. I’m not sure why that one is the one no one wants to sit at, but it’s the same every time I come into this classroom.

I make my way over and set my bag down on the bench so I can start unpacking my textbook and other materials so I’m ready for class to begin. I wish I had more coffee with me, that would be really good for my concentration because right now it feels like I’m going to spend the whole day struggling to pay attention to what my teachers are actually saying.

Hopefully, none of them will be teaching us anything integral to the end-of-year exams, or I’m going to be in real trouble.

The door swings open, and Professor Bishop enters the room. He sweeps to the front, looking as suave as ever. That’s a man who knows how to draw the attention of the room. Several of the other students murmur behind me and I know they’re admiring how handsome he is. Which I guess is true, but he’s our teacher . That’s not my thing.

“Good morning, class,” he says. “You, in the end, put the kettles on.” He gestures to the students he wants to do the work.

A couple of the students at the other end of the benches jump up and go to do as he asks. I flick through my textbook to the section about reading tea leaves, presuming that’s what we’re about to start learning about. I suppose it makes sense while we’re still first years. There are probably a lot of people in the class who don’t have any real ability for divination, so this is something they can still learn about.

The door opens again, and I look up in time to lock eyes with Meic as he enters the room. Even though I’ll deny it if anyone asks, I take a moment to admire him. His uniform is in slight disarray but does nothing to hide the strong physique beneath, and his horns twist up from his head, parting the dark curls of hair that anyone would be jealous of.

It’s a shame someone so hot is so infuriating because otherwise, I would totally go there.

“You’re late, Mr Davies,” Professor Bishop says, looking down his nose at the ghoul.

“I’m sorry, sir,” Meic responds.

He sighs. “Just take a seat, next time it’ll come out of your exam mark.”

“I won’t let it happen again,” Meic says as he heads over to the only spare seat.

The one right next to me.

It would be much better if this were a class with assigned seats, at least I’d be able to ignore him then. But instead, I’m now going to have to spend the rest of the class trying to ignore how close we’re sitting on top of the fact I’m struggling to focus anyway.

I may as well kiss goodbye to any chance of paying attention today, because it just went completely out of the window.

“Nati,” Meic says as he sits down, his voice going up a little higher than it should, almost as if he’s nervous. He clears his throat.

“Meic,” I say without looking at him. But it’s hard not to.

“Morning,” he says, his voice deeper and full of the bravado that’s the other side of the coin. Sometimes, I just want to ask him what it is about me that makes him either a nervous mess or a bit of an ass.

Franks slips out of the nest of snakes and hisses loudly at him.

“What did I do to him?” Meic asks.

“He’s a good judge of character.”

“Maybe I can win him around,” Meic responds, an impish smile on his face that shows off his pearly white teeth. Somehow, they shine even brighter now I know he’s a ghoul. Maybe because I know what they’re supposed to be used for. Not that I think Meic is a threat to anything other than the institution of good flirting.

“Mr Davies, not only were you late to class, but you’re now distracting Ms McKay from her studies.”

“I won’t do it again,” Meic promises, turning his charm on our professor without even blinking.

I roll my eyes. He’s always like this. Nothing is serious and he’s able to charm his way through everything. It’s infuriating, even if there is a part of me that’s attracted to him.

“Hmm.” Professor Bishop gives him a look that doesn’t convey much trust in the situation. “Today we’re going to be learning about reading tea leaves. Pass the cups along. You should be on page fifty-four of your textbooks. Follow the instructions there and try your hand at reading them for the first time.”

“Is that it?” one of the students in the back asks. “Is there no more to learn?”

The professor smiles. “There is much more to it, but I find it’s usually easier to teach once you’ve had a go at it yourself.”

Meic passes down a cup to me. I take it from him, being careful not to let our fingers touch. There’s a part of me that wants to see what would happen if we did, but I’m a little too concerned about what I’ll discover to ever actually do it.

I lift my cup to my lips and blow across the top of it to try and cool my tea enough to drink. It may not be coffee, but it may do the trick. I take a small sip, almost burning my tongue in the process. If they knew we were going to be doing this today, why didn’t they think to brew the tea in advance?

A quick look around the room reveals that several of the other students are having the same issue as I am, though others are just drinking it down without a moment’s hesitation, including a girl I’m reasonably sure is some kind of dragon. I suppose she doesn’t have to worry about the heat.

“Mr Finnigan,” Professor Bishop says so sternly that it draws everyone’s attention to the minotaur who looks surprisingly bashful at being caught out in front of the whole class. “If I see you trying to pour out your tea again, you’ll be in detention. If you don’t drink the tea, you won’t be able to see your future.”

“Sorry, sir,” Finnigan mumbles.

“Well, I’m glad he tried it before I did,” Meic whispers to me in a conspiratorial way. He seems to have decided that this is his persona today. Right now, I wish I had the more nervous Meic beside me.

“Do you ever take anything seriously?” I ask him.

He shrugs. “Life’s very boring if you do that.”

“Or maybe you’d find that you got much further in it because people weren’t annoyed at you all the time.”

“Maybe. But I’m going to go with fun. You should try it sometime, Nati. Loosen up and live a little.”

Frank slides out of my hair and hisses loudly at Meic even before I can respond, saving me from going to the trouble of doing the same.

I flash him a tight smile and drink down my tea. It’s still slightly too hot, but that’s the least of my problems, because the tea is also awful.

“Not the best, right?” Meic asks, seeming to not care that I don’t want to talk to him. Probably because no matter how many times I tell myself that’s what I’m going to do, I never actually do it. There’s a part of me that wants to be close to him. I just wish I got to see more of the real Meic.

Oh. No. That is not a good direction for my thoughts to take.

“I’ve had better,” I admit, mostly because it’s easier to deal with my own emotions and desires while staying on a safe topic of conversation. And tea is that.

“I can show you better,” he quips.

I groan. “Seriously, Meic?”

He grins, his pearly white teeth should make it menacing, but it’s kind of charming at the same time. “If you keep glaring at me like that, I might turn rock hard.”

“That’s not how gorgon magic works,” I mutter. And I know he’s aware of it because I look at him like this often and he’s never once turned into stone.

Unfortunately. It would definitely make him easier to deal with.

“Who said anything about gorgon magic?” His lips quirk up into a knowing smile.

“Just drink your tea,” I murmur.

“If that’s what you want.”

“It’s what we’re supposed to be doing, Meic,” I remind him.

He shrugs and drinks his tea, not seeming to have any problems with the taste. Maybe it’s a ghoul thing, but I don’t really want to ask in case he mistakes it for interest in him.

I check the instructions in the textbook and roll my eyes at the lack of detail in them. Whoever wrote this didn’t think anyone needed more instructions than drink the tea and look at the leaves left at the end .

It seems as if the professor isn’t the only one who believes that reading tea leaves is something that doesn’t need copious instructions.

I finish my tea and stare down at the leaves at the bottom of the cup.

“See anything?” Meic asks.

I sigh. It seems like we’re going to have to have a conversation. “Not really. You?”

“I see me asking you out on a date,” he responds.

I look down at my cup, not even trying to see what’s in there. “I foresee myself saying no.”

“I thought you didn’t see anything.”

“I just didn’t know how to interpret it until I knew the question,” I throw back. “But it says never, clear and simple.” For all I know, it might say that, but with no knowledge of how to actually make sense of the gloop at the bottom of my cup, I can’t be sure about that.

“That’s not what my cup says.”

“I know you think you’re being cute, but you’re really not,” I respond, resisting the urge to roll my eyes but only barely.

“If you’re even thinking I could be cute, then it’s a win,” he responds.

“Seriously, Meic? Do you ever give it a rest?”

“Say my name one more time and I’ll be serious, Nati.”

I roll my eyes and look back at my cup, letting my vision blur so I can do my best at actually foreseeing the future. Sometimes, I can manage it, but most of the time I find myself far too distracted to even get an inkling of what I’m trying to do.

“Do you want to know what my cup really says?” he asks, something in his voice making it seem like he’s being serious this time.

“Sure,” I respond softly.

“It says that I’ll have a life-changing event soon.”

“How vague,” I mutter.

“It is.” He pauses. “Do you want me to help with yours?”

“Can you really read them?”

He nods. “My aunt reads tea leaves all the time, I’ve been able to do it since I was a kid.”

“Oh.” I pass my cup to him, feeling surprisingly nervous. “Okay, read my future for me.”

He takes it from me and stares down at the bottom of the cup. His eyes glaze over, and I recognise the expression as one I feel like I have every time I manage to get divination right.

“It says you’re going to accept your fated mate soon,” he says, handing it back.

“It can’t possibly say that, gorgons don’t have fated mates.”

He shrugs. “I’m just telling you what it says. Maybe it means that you’re someone’s fated mate.” There’s an intensity in his gaze that makes him harder to read than normal.

“Maybe it’s confusing the two of us,” I murmur.

“Maybe.” He doesn’t sound convinced.

I take my cup back from him and stare into it, trying to see what he does but failing. If it really does say that I’m going to accept a fated mate, then it’s probably wrong. I suppose it doesn’t matter too much. I’m not dating, so if my fated mate wants to just walk by, then it’s fine by me.

Without meaning to, my gaze slips to Meic, who is doing everything he possibly can to avoid my attention. Which is new. Normally, he’s doing everything he possibly can to gain it.

I should make the most of his silence.