THIRTEEN: Stay Away

CORNELIA MADE SURE to stay home for the weekend. From the second she left the school building on Friday during lunch and up to Monday morning, she had remained cooped up in her room. She tried to keep herself busy with homework, reading, and even housework.

However, her mind was cruel. It kept trapping her in the thoughts of the rumors and what would come for her if Jerry knew what was happening exactly. She then began to wonder if Lucien knew about it.

It made her anxious, at one point Cornelia was breathless, her heart was thudding in her chest with a rhythm so fast, and cold sweat poured out of her body. Her mind began to imagine things, scenarios of what could happen.

Monday morning rolled around, and she found herself dreading it more than anything. She felt the literal meaning of "Her heart was in her throat."

She wished she could speak to Abigail about it, but she couldn't. They hadn't talked since their last encounter in front of the school. And although Abigail tried to reach out several times, Cornelia simply ignored her.

She stood in front of her front door, and breathed in then out several times. She opened the door, and began walking towards the school. During her walk, she couldn't help but feel someone's eyes on her. She turned around several times but she found no one.

It was that feeling one would get which make the hairs on their neck rise and their shoulders stiffen. Cornelia wondered if she was becoming paranoid, and she shook her head and ignored it.

Suddenly, she felt an arm on her shoulder and she jumped startled. Turning around sharply, but her anger dissipated when she saw him. "Mr. Amarok, what are you doing here?"

"I was passing by, and I saw you." He answered, but she could see something more in his eyes.

She scanned the street, noticing that there weren't all that many people around. However, she knew it was bound to get busy when students rush towards the school.

"You shouldn't be here." She whispered with a worried look on her face. She wished they could talk, or that he could walk her to school. But she feared what people would say.

He raised an eyebrow at her, "I remember when you were the one who did everything to speak to me, now you don't want to be seen in my presence?"

She shook her head, "Look, you don't understand." She nibbled on her lower lip nervously. Her eyes looking around once more to make sure that they were clear. She didn't know how to tell him about the rumor, she wasn't sure what was the proper way to explain it.

"At the ball... when I went to your study and we... uhm... talked." She was stammering more unsure than ever of how to explain it.

She began to wonder if he would think it was her fault and blame her for the whole thing. That maybe he would avoid talking to get altogether, that he would not allow her to speak to him again. Those thoughts were enough to bring her to silence.

"Are you worried about that absurd rumor?" He asked.

Surprise, shock, and relief washed over her all together. She was glad she didn't need to explain it to him, but shocked her came to the knowledge and knew exactly what she was concerned about.

She nodded her head, "This can bring you a lot of trouble, and me too. You don't know how people here are like."

"No, I don't." He replied flatly, and she wasn't sure what to make of his reaction.

"We shouldn't be seen together. If you're planning to settle down in Formid Root, a rumor like that would really ruin you." She warned him softly.

He gritted his teeth then just walked away without saying anything further. She only took a step about to follow him, but then she noticed how other students from her school were heading her way and she turned around quickly and rushed to the building.

...

Lucien couldn't believe her. He had gone with the expectation that the sight of him would bring that smile on her face, that flutter in her heart which told him how much he affected her, and he was waiting for the way her eyes glimmered when she looked at him.

But he got none of that.

All he got was worry, tension, and her desire for him to not be there. Lucien knew he shouldn't have had much of a belief in a teenager attraction. They easily started and just as easily fade.

"I saw what happened." He heard Daniel say once he entered the mansion.

Since the ball, Lucien had ordered Daniel to follow Cornelia and make sure she was not harmed. He knew that Daniel was close when he met her, but he wasn't sure what Daniel wanted by talking about it.

"You should understand where she's coming from, Lucien." Daniel continued when the alpha didn't say anything. He faced Lucien, "Such a rumor in a small town is never a good thing. Perhaps she's trying to protect you, with her being a minor and all."

Lucien still didn't reply, but he decided that his anger was only a result of disappointment. And as he headed straight to his room, he wondered how he had become attached to her in that way.