The curse

Six years ago

It isn't my first time inside the walls of Havenwood Academy. The big concrete walls look rather familiar than I want them to be. This said too much about the last three years I had attended this academy.

However that didn't say so much about my current situation right now. I don't understand why I couldn't just live like a normal hormonal teenager girl for once in my life. Yea, I said it.

How can one of the hottest boys in school to be flirting with me and all I can blurt out is birds?

Crazy, right?

Ryke lifts a brow at me in a daze. That definitely didn't come out as I hoped.

"Are you okay Macy?" Ryke studies me concerned.

No.

Definitely not. If I open my mouth one last time, I am going to ruin everything and probably die a virgin at this rate.

"Macy?"

I lift my gaze to Ryke's and notice his light green eyes intent on me. Oh shit! What do I do now?

Run.

That is always my first response to any threat or problem in my life. Would I call myself a coward? Given different circumstances, no but infront of a pretty boy, I don't want to answer that.

"You are still coming right?" he asks curiously. I wrack my brain for the part of the conversation he's referring to.

Sneak into his dorm.

I was out of my mind if I said yes to such an offer. If I couldn't say things to his face, how was I supposed to suck his dick.

"I am going to go finish my homework." I don't wait for his reply as I gather my things and quickly bolt from my seat despite his protests only to bump into someone.

Ha-ha. Jokes on me I guess.

There is something definitely trickling down between my chest.

Coffee.

No sooner do my senses cooperate than I realise it is hot. Fuck!

I look up to find the gaze of the culprit of my clumsiness only to find myself tensing. My bones might crack from how rigid my body immediately turns. I can no longer feel the temperature of the liquid as I take in the mess I created.

A brown liquid at the front of his white button up and a text book on the ground.

To Kill a Mockingbird.

I am sure that is what the title says but all I can read is to To Kill Macy Thornton. It is that bad especially when my eyes meet his darkened ones.

The buzzing crowd has come to a halt with the accident and it couldn't get any better. It is like they are all waiting for the moment when the pin drops and the whole room erupts.

Before I have chance to open my mouth, Ryke comes to my rescue not that I would call it that especially when I was practically sprinting away from him.

"Oh shit!" he exclaims handing me his hankie.

Until now, I hadn't taken in my own mess. There is a big brown stain at the front of my shirt and my skin is aching from the impact of the hot liquid.

"I am sorry man. She is having a bad day." Ryke mutters. Like that is an excuse to ruin someone's shirt.

He looks down at Ryke his eyes darkening even more before they focus on me. Right.

I am so sorry. I really didn't..."

"My book isn't going to pick itself up."

What? I recoil back at his controlled tone that sounds nowhere near calm.

Of course, his book. If it was someone else talking to me like he is, they wouldn't open their mouth to speak to me that way ever again. I would single handedly make sure of that.

The guy glaring me down to flames before me wasn't everyone else. He wasn't someone you messed with without expecting a return. He was Tobias Spektor. The name in itself scared the shit out of me. In other words, it is safe to say he is that boy I can't seem to get over despite him not even knowing my first name.

I quickly bend down to pick his book thrusting my hand before him to take it. Tobias quietly grabs it out of my hands.

"You are lucky you are his girlfriend." Tobias looks down at me gaze hard I feel the skin of the back of my neck itch.

"And Liese, keep your girlfriend in check. I wouldn't want a repeat of this ever again." He walks away after addressing Ryke. I had known they were good friends. That is why I sought out Ryke's attention in the first place. Feeling the tension rolling off his body makes me cringe. I guess even his friends have the same feelings about him.

"What was that?" Ryke turns to me. Oh that? That was the part where I was freaking out and decided I needed space only to bump into the devil himself.

"I will see you later Ryke. Thanks for the hankie." I don't wait for another word of his as I exit the cafeteria making sure to not bump into another being before I make it for the bathroom.

First I needed to change and second, I needed to even my heart and breathing. It had always been like that with my encounters with Tobias. Throbbing heart and uneven breathing. It hasn't been many times and I think I might come up with a circulatory or respiratory malfunction one of these days.

For fucksake it is Tobias Spektor. He is the last boy I should be thinking about right now especially in the way I do. Never in my mind is there a thought about Tobias associated with sanity. I shouldn't think about his dark eyes, how one look from them caresses my body in a way he will ever know.

I shouldn't have thoughts about his lush pink lips, about how they would feel against mine. The point is I shouldn't be thinking about some emotionally unavailable vampire who might never realise these feelings I have for him.

I don't call them feelings. It is a curse. It is my curse I have kept from the world. For the past three years, it has been at bay. I was planning on it staying like that but it is getting harder to contain. If Aaron, my elder brother caught wind on my curse, he would disown me. I don't want to think about what father may do.

It is one thing going to school with the vampires, it is another thinking about one like I do. Sooner or later I have to let it go. It is like building castles in the air despite knowing none would happen.

"Macy?"

I straighten at the sound of my best friend's voice.

"I know you in there?"

I splash a few drops of water to my face before Tara fully emerges inside the room.

"Don't tell me you are fine because I know you are not." she stares into my reflection's eyes from behind me. I would never lie to her. I might lie to myself a million times but not to Tara Kempton. The witch. Jokes on me because she is one.

"I brought you a shirt." Tara passes the shirt before I murmur a thank you.

"I saw that shit you pulled by the way." she accuses. I don't dare look in her eyes. She will figure ne out in a second. It is better to play dumb in this situation.

"Ryke?" I ask unbuttoning the ruined shirt.

"Don't play dumb with me Macy. You know who I mean." Of course I know.

"It was an accident." I murmur.

"I saw that."

"What do you want me to say?"

"I see the way you look at him Macy. We both know that is off limit territory."

"Says who?" I cock a brow this time meeting my challenging stare with hers in the mirror.

"Really?" Tara scowls.

"I am going to sleep with Ryke. Why isn't he off limits and he is?" Tara let's out a dry chuckle.

"We both know you are not too dumb to sleep with Ryke."

"Maybe I am not as smart as you think." I retort.

"Well, and I am your best friend. I am not going to sit around and see you screw up your life for dick." Tara snorts.

I glare at her reflection. She shrugs.

"You should stop thinking about yourself for once. The things you do, they hurt him you know." Tara's eyes soften this time when they look in mine. A purge of guilt tugs in my chest. Of course I know whom she means.

Everyone in the academy knows Liam has a crush on me. Liam, Tara and I are a trio and have been since we were young but lately things have been tense with Liam's admission of his feelings for me.

Everyone likes Liam. My family loves him. Everyone would say he's an absolute catch but I don't see him like that. He's my friend and I love him but I don't have romantic feelings for him.

He would lose it if he caught whiff of my curse. He would hate me.

"Get dressed. We have classes in five."

I sigh hard at my reflection. I really need to get rid of the curse before it eats me up like a dark hole.