Girls' clothes (Julia)

I haven't slept that much during the night, but I feel refreshed when I wake up. For the second time, I mean.

I'd like to just forget the first, even though Leo helped me and didn't let me suffer in his bed. I don't know what that was about, but I don't want to experience it again.

Not the bone aching, the lungs burning. The kisses and contact felt even more intimate after almost dying in this bed. It was like drinking after days of thirst. Immeasurable, pure pleasure.

Leo comes out of the bathroom while I'm still rubbing my eyes. He's drying his hair with a towel.

He notices my stare, and I turn my head away awkwardly. It's better not to stare too long, especially at the drops of water flowing on his neck.

I better erase that image from my mind before starting to drool like an idiot.

Oh, my... Who knows how those drops taste?

«You should take a shower as well,» he utters, passing next to me.

I wince, returning to the real world. After the blushing from my cheeks loses some intensity, his words reach me.

«Okay,» I mumble calmly, but my heart sinks.

It's true that I've sweated a lot during the night, and these last two minutes, to be sincere, but he doesn't have to say it out loud. It's embarrassing, especially for a girl, to be told that she smells!

Just while I look around in search of clean clothes, he turns towards me and crooks his mouth.

What now? Hasn't he already harmed my pride enough?

«Don't wear my clothes,» he whispers suddenly.

«Okay,» I repeat.

This time, I don't even try to hide my weird tone. What the heck? I'll wash the clothes after wearing them.

He seems to notice my stern grimace, and he chuckles.

«It's not what you think,» he says and pats my head. «Vampires have a keen sense of smell. They will immediately notice that you're wearing my scent.»

Oh, so that's it. I'm not smelling! Kind of.

I sigh, relieved, and he chuckled once again.

«I personally like your scent,» he utters. «It reminds me of winter.»

Winter? I guess that this is his way of making up for the harsh words of a few minutes ago, but I wasn't exactly dying to hear these details.

«Winter, like chocolate and cinnamon tea?» I can't help but ask.

I love cinnamon tea. I would drink it in summer if it was available. Unfortunately, they cut our supplies a few months ago, so I haven't tasted any, this last winter.

Ah, I miss it so much. I shouldn't have thought about it.

«No, like snow,» Leo says.

«Snow has a smell?» I voice, surprised. Doesn't snow collect all the pollution in the air? Do I smell like ashes?

«I don't know what you're thinking about, but you're most probably wrong,» he says and takes a bag from the sofa. «Here, girl's clothes.»

I lift my brows and observe the bag curiously.

After the shower, I find out what girls' clothes mean to a vampire. I wear a white t-shirt, a pink cardigan, and a long, plum colour skirt. He wasn't kidding: these are really girlish.

I spin, and the skirt lifts around my legs.

«This is so fun!» I exclaim. I had one skirt at the Order, but it was of a brownish colour. And it didn't spin.

Leo snorts noisily from his desk. He doesn't want to get distracted, but it would be a single second.

«Look!» I shout to attract his attention.

Weirdly, I can still communicate with him normally after what happened tonight.

Oh, maybe not normally, but almost.

When his eyes stop on me, I remember that I should act like an adult. Still, those gems analyse me with too much attention.

«The clothes are pretty on you,» he says, and I blush instantly.

I know that this is all unnatural, due to some kind of enchantment or crazy vampire chemistry. Still, I wish to believe he's not lying.

«Let's go,» he says and stretches his arm out to me.

I stare at his finger for a few seconds until he realises that we can't walk around hand in hand.

«Should I bring the gold pendant with me? The one with the lethal rune...»

«That might be a wise idea,» he approves. «Just keep in mind the way I reacted. Don't show it to anyone, or you may end up hurt.»

I wrap the pendant in a cloth and then put it in the backpack.

«Where to?» I ask, following him obediently.

I can't help but stare at the back of his neck with insistence. I feel the urge to peck his skin, but I ignore it. I should have had enough envisioning this morning, but it looks like my imagination has decided to fly free.

Is this an effect of Leo's magic?

I'm not feeling like dying, so I should just keep quiet and resist. If it's like thirst, I'll get used to it. Right?

«We're going to talk with Amadeus. To find out why we're acting like this,» Leo says, maybe sensing my thoughts with his keen senses.

«Oh,» I utter. «I hope Amadeus knows the answer. We can't go on like this, can we?»

We can kiss to ease the suffering, can't we? It shouldn't be too arduous. Yet, a solution sounds reasonable.

«If this feeling is anything similar to thirst, then it will only get worse.»

«Worse?» I repeat, shocked. I almost lost my mind tonight... How am I going to survive the rest?

Oh, that doesn't sound good. But if we can just kiss more to find relief...

«And even if he doesn't know what this is, we know what to do to make it bearable,» he continues. He's probably trying to calm me down. At least, we agree on that part.

Leo becomes silent when we turn the corner.

I bet he's quite timid or at least reserved. I haven't seen him talk much with anyone, but I've been here for a couple days only.

Also, he's a teacher. I guess it would be awkward for his students to approach him.

That girl that threw the dart at me, that Susan that almost got me exposed, doesn't seem to think it that way, though. She looked rather interested in Leo. Who knows if he had noticed her attention. It didn't look like that to me.

«Leo,» I call him,ì absent-mindedly. «Is that girl from yesterday a friend of yours? The one that complained about my noisy breathing...»

«Susan? Not really: she's my student,» he answers calmly, but my heartbeat quickens abruptly.

Oh, goodness! What is this for now?

«She likes making trouble, but I don't think she would dare to hurt you for real...»

In fact, the dart wouldn't have hit me even if I didn't move. It was lucky that I noticed it and slowed down my reaction. I lost balance and had to fall on the ground, not to let them find out.

I bite my lips, still upset about that incident.

«Are you perhaps getting jealous?» Leo asks, and I look at him with a dumbfounded expression.

He misunderstood my annoyance, but he's so sexy with that crooked grin. And it's better that he thinks I'm upset because of jealousy.

I sigh, observing his light eyes getting dark. I don't see the fangs, but I know that they have extended. I can feel it.

Why did it have to happen in the middle of the hallway?

I'm still wondering about this weird coincidence while he pulls me behind a corner. He pushes me against the wall, and I look at him with wide eyes.

Is it finally time for a bite?