Chapter 10

10

KING

Returning to the dorm room after class has me in a funk. I don't know how to act around Niko anymore. I tried really hard to be his friend, but there's only so much shit I can take. We haven’t talked since I saved him in the quad, and to be honest, I’ve been avoiding him. I wasn’t planning to talk to him at all, but once I saw him freaking out and struggling to get home, I knew I had to help him. But it’s been a few days since that incident, and we still haven’t spoken.

Today I had my Intro to Monsterkind class and I'm really enjoying it. Professor Fan makes the class really interesting, plus I love learning more about the different paranormal species and where they originated from. I grew up around monsters, so I knew of them and hung out with them, but learning more about their past has been fascinating. But, through the entire class, I was in a sour mood. Because all I could think about was Niko and how much I hate he’s always on my mind.

I quickly shower and dress, then head for the couch. Today was weight training for baseball, and luckily, I don't have practice until tomorrow morning, so my plan is to relax in the dorm room the rest of the night.

I'm lying on the couch when the door squeaks open. Heavy thuds sound on the floor, and I close my eyes knowing it's Niko. He's always wearing those thick black combat boots that make a ton of noise as he walks. A shadow falls over my face, and I keep my eyes closed, hoping he'll think I'm asleep and leave me alone.

"I know you're awake," he whispers. He boots clunk around the couch, and the cushion dips from where he sits.

"No, I'm sleeping," I mumble, cracking one eye open to look at him.

He smiles softly at me and scoots closer. "Can we talk now?"

"Sure." Sitting up, I move back to the edge of the couch. I take my hat off and run my fingers through my hair before placing it back on my head. I don't know why I'm nervous, I barely know him, and he's just my roommate.

"First, I wanted to apologize. For what I said the other day. At Zomb-Bar.” He wrings his hands in his lap and avoids making eye contact with me. Nope, if he wants to apologize, then he needs to look me in the eyes.

"Don't you think if you're wanting to apologize, you should actually look at me," I tell him, growing irritated at the whole situation.

He turns in his seat and faces me. "You're right, and I'm sorry. You haven't deserved any of my anger. I was expecting this year to go one way, and then we got notice humans are allowed in, and to be honest, I hate it. But that doesn't give me the right to take it out on you. You haven’t deserved any of that.” He takes a deep breath, then closes his eyes. “And second, I want to thank you for the other day in the quad. I’ve been a complete ass to you, and you could have easily walked away from me, but you didn’t. You saw me at one of my weakest moments and you chose to help, even after I treated you horribly. I haven’t been fair to you, and I never gave you a chance. I'd like to start over, if that's okay?"

As much as I want to know more about why he hated me from the start, I don't want to ask too many questions. Besides, if he wanted me to know then he would tell me.

"Thank you for apologizing, and I’d like to start over too."

He blows out a breath, then beams a smile at me. "I really am sorry. Mateo has told me daily how much of a dick I’ve been, but I didn't want to admit it. Friends?" He reaches his hand out, and I shake it slowly.

"Yeah, man. Friends," I tell him.

"I have to get ready for work, but tutoring tomorrow?"

I nod my head, and Niko takes off down the hallway. It wasn't how I expected us to become friends, but I guess I'll take it. To be honest, I wasn’t expecting us to ever get along after what’s happened so far this semester. But I’m willing to start over if Niko is. It seems as though there’s things going on with him he isn’t ready to share with others.

When I first walk into the library, I’m blown away by how it looks. The floors are this gorgeous ivory tile and there’s huge columns throughout. The outside of the building is a gothic style, and the inside is more modern and sleek. Of course, I head straight for Mummy Mocha to try a Werebear Claw and a Sarcophacappuccino. The moan that came out of me wasn't natural, and from the looks I got from several people, they thought the same thing.

Niko and I are sitting side by side in the library, and it's as though a whole new Niko has appeared. He’s been chatty and smiling, talking with me about how his day has been, and even asking about mine. We're up on the second floor where there's study rooms all throughout. Since Niko had to work today, we figured it would be easier to meet here because I still have to head over to the Athletics Center later.

"Does this one make sense?" Niko asks, taking me out of my daydream.

"Yeah, thanks."

I'm not going to lie, things are still pretty awkward between us, and I don't know how to change that. It's not like a switch can be flipped overnight. Besides, I'm still human, and as much as Niko said he wants to be friends, I know things will still be rocky from that fact alone.

"Okay, so this is how you would solve this one. Make sure you pay attention." He grabs his pencil and starts solving the next problem on the page, and my dick starts plumping up. Yet another reason why things are awkward as hell. I wanted to be his friend, but I can't help how attracted I am to him. Even when he was being an ass, I was turned on by him. Plus, I haven't hooked up with anyone in a while, since before I got to Creelin U, which is unusual for me.

"Let me try," I do the next problem, whooping loudly when Niko tells me I'm right.

"Hell yeah. I don't know why my dad thinks you need to be tutored. You have all of this down."

"It's more so that I get too much into my baseball schedule and practice that my schooling tends to fall down my list until it's at the very bottom. And then I run out of time to learn the academics and my grades start to slip. It’s hard to catch up on my school work sometimes. And I’m not a very good test taker."

"Well, we'll make sure that doesn't happen this time."

"Thanks. For tutoring me."

"No problem. I'd do anything for my dad."

Ah, yes, his dad. My coach. Another reason why me being attracted to him is awkward. His dad is my coach, and is in charge of my future. If Niko finds out about my crush, all it would take is one word to his dad, and Coach could easily bench me. I warmed up the bench enough the last two years, I don't want to do it again.

"Since we're trying to be friends and all, would you mind if I ask you some questions?" I ask, trying to kill the silence.

"Questions? What kind of questions?"

"I want to know more about you. Friends should know things about one another," I tell him honestly. Niko is such a secret to me, and I want to know him better. Plus, maybe if I do, I can get over the fact he hated me for no reason. I really do want to be his friend, and that means knowing more about one another.

"Fine, but only if I can ask you questions too."

"Okay." I smile. "Hmm. What should I start with? Is Niko your full name?"

"No. It's Nikolai. But only my dad calls me that."

"Nikolai," I repeat quietly. "I like that."

"Is King your full name?" He asks the same question, and I laugh at how unoriginal he is.

"Ah, no. It's actually Kingston. Just always went by King since it's shorter. Do all of your snakes have names?"

Scoffing, he looks at me as though I'm crazy. "Of course they do. Why wouldn't they?"

"What are they?" I ask, scooting closer to admire them. Only one hisses at me, and I recognize him as Coby, the one that hates me.

"There's Coby, Rob, Bo, Art, and Lox. They all have their own personalities, but they're linked to me. What I think, how I feel. I can control most of their actions, but sometimes a little bit of their own personalities peek through. Hence, Coby and his assholey ways."

"You two are more alike than you think," I mutter, my eyes widening when I realize he heard me perfectly. "Eh, whatever. You know I'm right. You were an asshole."

"You’re right. I was.” He pauses, twirling his pencil around in his hand. “So, why did you decide to come to Creelin U? Out of all the universities out there, why did you pick this one?"

Rubbing the back of my neck, I take a second to think about how to answer and decide to tell him the truth. "Creelin U picked me. It wasn't the first one on my list. Actually, it wasn't really on my list at all. But my first two years at Washington State, I sat on the bench the whole time. The coach didn't want to risk playing me when he had his starting catcher ready and willing, so I was a bench warmer. But one game the catcher got hurt and I got to play. Apparently, your dad saw that game, because the next thing I know I'm getting calls and emails from Creelin U asking if I would be interested in a transfer. And at first, I wasn't thinking about coming here, but I didn't want to sit around watching everyone else play. I wanted to play myself, so when Coach called me again, I said yes. And I don't regret it. I love being here."

"Wow. Well, I know my dad loves having you on the team, so to him, you made a good decision." Oh, damn. I knew Coach was the one who picked me to join the team, but hearing he loves having me is a big deal. I can only hope to make him proud.

His eyes catch mine, and for a second I think about leaning in and kissing his lips. The moment ends quickly when Niko glances away and clears his throat.

"Can I ask you a personal question? And you don't have to answer, but it's been bugging the shit out of me, and I want to know," I inquire, hoping he’ll answer.

"Sure."

"Why do you hate humans so much?"

Niko leans back in his chair and scrubs his hands down his face. One of his snakes playfully bites his finger, and I snicker, loving that they have fun with him. "I don't hate all humans. Honestly, I don’t hate any of them. But, the majority of them view me differently. And I get it, I am different, but I hate the stares and whispers, the pointing and laughing. It's an insecurity of mine. I don't get to shift like many other monsters. This is my one and only form, and sometimes I want to hide away from it all. Other monsters don't look at me out of the ordinary because they get it, but humans? They treat me differently."

"But not all humans treat you that way, right?" God, I never imagined Niko would feel that way. To be honest, I never really thought of the fact that monsters have other forms and they might not feel comfortable in them. I’m starting to understand Niko more, and why he was so standoffish when I first arrived. He was worried about how I would treat him.

"No, not all. But most." His voice trails off, and he looks over to the shelves filled with books, completely lost in thought. "I've had some bad experiences with them. Creelin U was the one place I didn't have to worry, since all monsters have forms other than human. But then… they let humans in, and I felt like I didn't belong anymore. I don't belong with monsters, and I don't belong with humans."

"I don't see you any differently. You're just Niko to me. Asshole Niko," I joke, my chest warming when he cracks a smile at me. I take a second to really look at him, and while the snakes are a dominant part of him, they aren’t what I notice first. The first thing I see when I look at him is the gorgeous smile that spreads across his face when he’s playing with his snakes. Or the way his laughter gets higher when Mateo says something really funny. Or the fact that, even when he was grumpy, I still wanted to get closer to him.

My heart hurts for him. I can see why he was a dick before. He may not see it, but him acting that way was just him trying to protect himself. I need to show him not all humans are the same.