Chapter 4: His Arrow is a Death Sentence

The campus' main building held most of the dorms, and a few classrooms. Its doors were huge, victorian in structure, and gave the illusion of entering an elaborate mansion. Students mingled about the main hall, laughing with one another, or discussing their assignments. Their chatter filled my ears as I wove through them, and took the first right to the elevator. The third floor hosted my dorm, a secure place to avoid arrow boy.

My haste towards the elevator had caught a few judgemental glances, but retreating, and hiding clouded my brain. Their hypercritical glances held no importance to me, nor was it new.

The doors slid open, and I felt anxiety creep into my veins as they closed behind me. Small spaces were detrimental to my sanity, and I had to compose myself before the elevator opened again. When they did, I wasted no time getting to dorm three sixteen.

The room was bare, held no personal touches, and accrued so much dust that Tinkerbell would be jealous. Inspections weren't regular, and with my elemental gift, it was less than a second to dispose of it if necessary. I didn't have much, just a few pairs of clothes, underwear, and a some white sneakers.

Though I rarely wore them, I needed them for training classes, mainly those focusing on weapons. My next class, archery, was in an hour, and I was going to have to remain here the whole time.

This was harder than I thought, because the close concrete walls were like a cage. I needed open spaces, and this dorm literally suffocated me. My heart began to race, and electricity zapped through my nerves.

I made it only about thirty minutes when I desperately grabbed the door handle, and flung it open. I raced down the hall, past the few stragglers to the elevator. The doors began to slide closed when a hand reached out and stopped them.

I saw a flash of auburn hair flow about the inadequate space before trailing my eyes to the floor. I knew it was Ainsley, and my desire for conversation diminished completely. There was no pause before she spoke, true to her hyperactive personality.

"Oh, hey, I didn't know you lived on this floor." Her angelic voice chimed out. Even without looking at her, I knew that her smile was blinding. She had the charisma of a goddess, and it was no wonder Ainsley was the most popular fae here.

"How can you not remember? Basillia and Cressida live on this floor too. Aren't they your 'ride or die' girls?" My laugh rang out in the small space, and she smiled brightly at me.

"Oh, I knew that. I've never really seen you on this floor, though." Ainsley threw her head back and laughed along with me. Her auburn locks bounced around her shoulders, and she covered her mouth to quiet her fit of giggles. It irked me how perfect and fluid her movements were, but the kindness I knew she held in her heart allowed my own jealousy to subside.

"The headmaster was asking Professor Eldritch about you earlier. What is that about? Hey, I didn't see you after Professor Eldritch's class, you were supposed to meet me at the center fountain. Remember?" She spoke, making my eyes dart to hers in surprise.

Her words confused me for a moment before realization snapped in. I had forgotten to meet her at the fountain because a certain infuriating demigod had interrupted my entire routine. My lips pursed, and I gave her an apologetic smile.

"No, I'm sorry, something came up. Or more honestly, a certain demigod distracted me." With those words the elevator opened, and Ainsley was squealing.

"You mean Coop, arguably the hottest, and most social man on this campus, has taken an interest in my broody and aloof nymph? This is beyond exciting Oakley!" Her excitement rose her voice a few octaves, and I cringed away from her to preserve my hearing.

"Ainsley, please, yes he has taken interest in being my friend. He approached me twice, and almost shot me with an arrow. There is not and will not be anymore to the story. I told him I wasn't interested. So your inevitable, and comical ship is sailing away." My heart sped up as summarized my encounters with Coop.

I didn't understand why she was so enamored with love and my involvement in it. Love didn't create happiness, it added to it seldomly, and subtracted from it indefinitely.

We strolled out of the elevator and over to Basilia and Cressida. I greeted them and went my own way, conversation wasn't on my to-do list at the moment, I had twenty minutes before class, and though it was fifteen minutes away, I wanted some semblance of peace.

I hated archery. It drained my energy, and I'd like to drain my energy in more productive ways. I was fit enough, and I was able to defend myself just fine. Though gentle and carefree, that didn't mean nymphs could avoid danger in the forest.

Various monsters lurked around shaded trees, waiting to strike the creatures that inhabited it. Nymphs were nurturers of the forest, but protectors when they needed to be. I already knew my way around a bow, and valuable time wasted in this class irked me in a primal way.

The main part of the training grounds contained an open field with various obstacles, and workout equipment scattered around the edges. Combat and defense mats covered about thirty five percent of the open field. The mass of sweaty students practicing various fighting strategies in the center were difficult to manage through without threat of injury, so I trekked around the edges of the field to the large wooden targets. The bows and arrows were placed neatly next to each one, and I decided to do a little warm up before the class officially started.

Archery was something that just came natural to me. Having to watch Coach Yiorgos show me how to do something I already knew, was infuriating to me. His condescending tone didn't make it better, and he seemed to take a liking to the werewolf species above all else. I grabbed a bow, and a quiver of arrows, and walked to the line opposite the target. I lined up my sight with the crimson center, inhaling deeply as I pulled the string of the bow back to the side of my mouth.

The wind had picked up just a tad bit, and I adapted my aim to its breeze. With a steady exhale, I let the string snap, and the arrow flew into the center dot, with a satisfying thud . Smiling with pride, I grabbed another arrow from the quiver on my back, and secured it within the bow's string. I closed my eyes and felt the breeze change its direction, and inhaled deeply again before opening my eyes again, adjusting the aim. With the string pulled back again the arrow sat nicely against the bow. Once again I adjusted my aim to fit the wind's direction.

"Damn, little nymph, I didn't know you had such good aim. You wanna come work for my dad?" Coop's voice interrupted my concentration, and I snapped the string in surprise. The arrow flew right above the target and into the nearby tree with a disappointing whack.

"What the fuck arrow boy? Have you lost your mind?" I turned around and dropped the bow onto the ground with force. Okay, I threw it down. Anyway, I turned my icy gaze towards him.

"How am I the only one that manages to piss you off? I've never seen you so angry before." The amusement was clear on his face, and it took all my strength not to wipe it off with even more force.

"Because for some reason, you are a constant in all of my near death experiences so far. On top of that, you continue to sneak up on me. It's quite annoying, since you asked." I spat out, and stomped my foot childishly.

"Woah, near death? My arrow wouldn't have killed you! They dissolve in our targets, they don't maim." Confusion laced his voice, and the look on his face was soft, completely vulnerable. Suppressing my guilt, I scoffed at him and rolled my eyes.

"Your arrow would have been a death sentence." I spat, and picked up my bow, trying to ignore his presence for once. I knew he didn't understand my disdain for love, no one did. No one would.

"You really think so?" There was a tinge of sadness to his voice, and I my heart leapt into my throat. Lowering my bow, I turned to face him.

"Yes, I do." It was true, and I'm not one to lie. Evade the truth? Sure. To love was to die, emotionally and mentally, but die nonetheless.

"You know...I asked around about you." His voice whispered against my ear, and I closed my eyes, trying to find a steady rhythm for my breathing.

"Why?" I opened my eyes and turned back around to find him a few inches in front of me. I lifted my hand to push him away, but he caught it and stepped closer.

"I was curious about you." He was smirking now, and I couldn't help the irritation bubble inside of me, snapping me out of whatever trance I was in.

"I don't know if you were confused about what I said before, but I meant it Coop. I don't want to be mean, truly, but it's best if we don't mingle. You almost hit me with one of your arrows, who knows if that could happen again, and goddess knows who I'd open my eyes to. Your magical love arrows are a death sentence, just the same as the one in that target." I tried to keep my voice even, but it wavered a bit, emotion thickening my tone.

His chocolate brown eyes were boring into mine with intensity, I had to lean on the bow to keep my balance. I tried to keep my face passive, but I'm not sure how well that actually worked. Students began to make their way over to the targets, and my desire for this conversation to end increased.

"It wouldn't happen again, Oakley, I promise. I heard what you said before, but I am not one to give up. Truthfully, I love the challenge in you. You, little nymph, are going to be my friend." His eyes flashed a vibrant pink when he spoke, and I'll give him credit.

Coop hardly gave up when it came to getting something he wanted. Though he never had to try hard in the first place. I wanted to admire that about him, but his insistence on friendship was so annoying that is drowned out everything else. As Coach Yiorgos made his way to us, I used that as an excuse to get him to leave.

"Yiorgos is on his way over. Class is starting soon, you should head to yours, and have a good day Cooper." I meant it, I wanted him to have a good day despite the absolutely annoying past few hours.

"Darling, I'm helping the coach with this class." My heartbeat stopped completely. Cooper had a shit eating grin on his face and walked over to the coach. When Coach smiled at him and patted him on the back, I paled a bit. For the next hour and fifteen minutes, I would not be able to avoid him, and he was smug about it, too