for.
I wanted to be happy for her, but I wasn’t. Magic continued to spit in my face while it smiled on her, and even though I had never wanted to be a witch, Gates’ success at being a warlock made me flaming jealous. I hadn’t managed to replicate the show I had put on shattering the door at the geology building, though Charlie assured me that I had, in fact, been asserting my magical prowess at the time.
As the semester progressed, Vince got busier with his assignments, and the scheduling for our group assignments started to take precedence over our trysts. Even then, he all but disappeared seven to fourteen days each month when the moon started to wane and the wolf took over. I had thought he was getting better at controlling it, but he would disappear for days at a time and then show back up without warning. He said he was going to the pack commune in the mountains to “run off the wolf.” I knew it was necessary, but on top of everything else, a small voice in my head told me he was avoiding me. Kendra had made things too difficult, and we were growing apart.
I buried myself in my studies on campus more and more, avoiding Gates and Kendra’s soul mate connection and Lyssa’s condescending tone when she repeatedly assured me that I had made the right decision breaking up with Vince. When Kendra finally granted Lyssa a reprieve to go and see her family for a week, I told her I was happy for her.
Late on a Thursday evening, just after my astronomy lab, I was joking with Tristan about the wisdom of pursuing a career as a professional astronomer. He had kindly listened to a twenty-minute rant about how I was struggling with an unreasonable jealousy after my aunt had given a precious family heirloom to my best friend, so I figured I owed him at least a few minutes of feigned interest in his motivational pep talk.
He said I was a natural at understanding stellar parallax, and I said that the odds of ever becoming a professional paid astronomer were slim to none.
“They save the jobs for the best in the field,” he said, lowering his chin and shaking his head at me. “Devote yourself, and your odds are better than average.”
I scoffed at his apparent delusion, and for the third time, the janitor walked in and interrupted our conversation. Tristan gave me a silent wink and loaded his laptop into his backpack, and we both gathered our things and wordlessly exited the room.
He usually went west on campus. I went east. But today, when he continued to walk with me, I felt a touch of discomfort, but I didn’t know why.
He saw me looking behind, the way he usually went when we called it a night, and started to apologize profusely.
“Oh, geez—” he said, hesitating. “I feel like a creep now. I’m so sorry. I have a friend picking me up for a concert tonight, and we’re meeting off of where the highway comes into town. I didn’t mean to make you feel like I was following you in the dark.”
“No, of course not!” I shook my head and pulled my jacket tighter. I had been being paranoid, but a girl couldn’t be too careful. I took the more popular and lit paths back through campus, and when we went under the highway overpass, I quickened my pace to make sure we went under with two other girls who were also making their way home. We had been laughing and talking and joking the whole time, but I know he noticed, and he didn’t comment or try to stop me.
Safe on the other side, he slowed his pace beneath a street lamp, smiling.
“Well, I suppose this is it, then,” he said. He nodded at the sandwich place behind my apartment. “Do you know if that place is any good? I’m still early, and I am really not waiting in the cold.”
I raised my eyebrows, stamping my feet and rubbing my hands against the fabric of my pockets to try and get some heat from friction.
“Yeah,” I said. “They’re great. I actually eat there a lot. I’m not a vegetarian, but check out the vegetarian options. Best thing on
I wanted to be happy for her, but I wasn’t. Magic continued to spit in my face while it smiled on her, and even though I had never wanted to be a witch, Gates’ success at being a warlock made me flaming jealous. I hadn’t managed to replicate the show I had put on shattering the door at the geology building, though Charlie assured me that I had, in fact, been asserting my magical prowess at the time.
As the semester progressed, Vince got busier with his assignments, and the scheduling for our group assignments started to take precedence over our trysts. Even then, he all but disappeared seven to fourteen days each month when the moon started to wane and the wolf took over. I had thought he was getting better at controlling it, but he would disappear for days at a time and then show back up without warning. He said he was going to the pack commune in the mountains to “run off the wolf.” I knew it was necessary, but on top of everything else, a small voice in my head told me he was avoiding me. Kendra had made things too difficult, and we were growing apart.
I buried myself in my studies on campus more and more, avoiding Gates and Kendra’s soul mate connection and Lyssa’s condescending tone when she repeatedly assured me that I had made the right decision breaking up with Vince. When Kendra finally granted Lyssa a reprieve to go and see her family for a week, I told her I was happy for her.
Late on a Thursday evening, just after my astronomy lab, I was joking with Tristan about the wisdom of pursuing a career as a professional astronomer. He had kindly listened to a twenty-minute rant about how I was struggling with an unreasonable jealousy after my aunt had given a precious family heirloom to my best friend, so I figured I owed him at least a few minutes of feigned interest in his motivational pep talk.
He said I was a natural at understanding stellar parallax, and I said that the odds of ever becoming a professional paid astronomer were slim to none.
“They save the jobs for the best in the field,” he said, lowering his chin and shaking his head at me. “Devote yourself, and your odds are better than average.”
I scoffed at his apparent delusion, and for the third time, the janitor walked in and interrupted our conversation. Tristan gave me a silent wink and loaded his laptop into his backpack, and we both gathered our things and wordlessly exited the room.
He usually went west on campus. I went east. But today, when he continued to walk with me, I felt a touch of discomfort, but I didn’t know why.
He saw me looking behind, the way he usually went when we called it a night, and started to apologize profusely.
“Oh, geez—” he said, hesitating. “I feel like a creep now. I’m so sorry. I have a friend picking me up for a concert tonight, and we’re meeting off of where the highway comes into town. I didn’t mean to make you feel like I was following you in the dark.”
“No, of course not!” I shook my head and pulled my jacket tighter. I had been being paranoid, but a girl couldn’t be too careful. I took the more popular and lit paths back through campus, and when we went under the highway overpass, I quickened my pace to make sure we went under with two other girls who were also making their way home. We had been laughing and talking and joking the whole time, but I know he noticed, and he didn’t comment or try to stop me.
Safe on the other side, he slowed his pace beneath a street lamp, smiling.
“Well, I suppose this is it, then,” he said. He nodded at the sandwich place behind my apartment. “Do you know if that place is any good? I’m still early, and I am really not waiting in the cold.”
I raised my eyebrows, stamping my feet and rubbing my hands against the fabric of my pockets to try and get some heat from friction.
“Yeah,” I said. “They’re great. I actually eat there a lot. I’m not a vegetarian, but check out the vegetarian options. Best thing on
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