Chapter 17

"Hey man! It's been a while!" Sean thumped Aaron's back with aggression, approaching him for behind as he refilled his beer. Aaron's drink spilled out of his hand from the abrupt force.

"I'm sorry! S-sorry! I thought you were somebody else. Everyone's wearing white. It's confusing, I'm sorry." Sean voiced a string of apologies, frightened by the look Aaron had on his face when he turned around to look at him.

"H-here, let me get you a refill. I'm sorry." Sean cautiously approached the beer keg, reaching for a cup, hoping Aaron wouldn't attack him. He quickly filled the cup with beer, slyly slipping something into it, before nervously handing it to him.

Taking large gulps of his drink, Aaron made his way back to Natalie. He ran his hands up and down her back, touching her provocatively. He whispered something into her ear and Natalie bit her lower lip. Looking up at him with a inviting gaze, she inched her lips closer to his. He took her mouth sloppily, exploring her mouth with bated breaths.

Suddenly, Aaron felt a wave of nausea hit him. He tried to pull away from her, but she held onto his collar and pulled him back into this kiss. Unable to control himself any longer, he pushed her just far enough to heave all over her white dress.

"WHAT THE FUCK, EWW!" Natalie screamed shoving Aaron away from her. Aaron fell on his knees and threw up once again all over the mud on the forest floor.

People around her stood still, momentarily shocked from her screaming, before bursting into snickers and taunting giggles. She felt her face turn red as she looked around for someone to help her. Not a single person came to her aid. The smell of the vomit filled her nose and her eyes teared up, unable to handle the humiliation.

She ran from where she stood, quickly making her way out of the party before more people noticed her. She thanked her stars that it was late and most people already left. She would hold Aaron under water until the bubbles stopped. This was all his fault.

"Are you okay?" A kind voice approached her from behind. She turned around to see a stranger with silver hair and blue eyes offer her a handkerchief. She sniffled as she took it from him and attempted to clean herself up.

"What a bunch of losers! I saw what happened." He said. "You threw this party, didn't you?"

Natalie continued to clean herself as she eyed the stranger, looking distressed. "Who are you?" She asked him.

"My name is Sean. Sean Perkins." He flashed her a smile, moving closer to her as if the smell wafting from her didn't bother him.

"Hi Sean. I'm Natalie Vilmot." She muttered.

"Was that your boyfriend? Is he okay?" Sean feigned concern as he took the handkerchief from Natalie, helping her clean her dress.

Natalie scoffed. "Never. I wouldn't date the likes of him." She said. What happened earlier did nothing to bruise her inflated pride.

"Right. Excuse me, I must leave now. I have to meet with Gordon to discuss my legacy training plan."

He whirled around and started to walk towards the parked cars when Natalie caught up to him. "Wait, I didn't know you were a legacy. Can you give me a ride back to Arcane?" She asked coquettishly, holding on to his arm like she needed support.

"Of course." Sean summoned his most charming smile, the gears of his mind spinning internally.

"So this is the girl that broke your heart." Natalie looked at Anaya's picture on Sean's phone with malice.

Kissing her shoulder, Sean hummed into her hair. Natalie coyly asked Sean if he could help her clean up and Sean didn't waste any time giving her what she needed. Before the hour ended, they lay naked and tangled in bed, sweaty from their activities that night.

He watched Natalie stare at a photo of Anaya for a long time, her expression holding disdain. A smug smile spread on his face as he hid it in her blonde hair.

"Please turn that off. Looking at her is too painful." Sean's brusque tone had Natalie frowning. Although she was only interested in Khai, Natalie was a very hedonistic creature. It did not sit well with her that Sean's heart belonged to someone else as he lay in bed with her.

"I saw her with Khai earlier at the party. She looks exactly like the type that would cheat on you." She couldn't sense the hypocrisy in her own words. Sean grinned as he heard her words. She was just the right person to help Sean teach Anaya that he owned her.

He took his phone from Natalie and spoke in an unnervingly calm voice. "If only I had a chance to teach her a lesson."

Natalie's eyes turned into cruel slits as she gazed up at Sean's face. "Let Khai be done with her. I have just the idea."

*****

Anaya woke up in a jolt to her phone's alarm the next morning. She groaned, rubbing her groggy eyes. She slumped back on her pillow, blankly staring at the soft rays of light dancing on the ceiling. Memories with Khai from the previous night came to her mind and her lips curved into a small smile.

She showered and cleaned herself up, taking longer than usual because of her hand. Feeling a dull ache in her left hand while drying her hair, she huffed loudly in frustration. However, when she remembered how Khai helped her change her dressing the previous night, her frustrations suddenly vanished.

After an hour of struggling every step of the way, Ana was finally dressed. She quickly cleaned up her room and dialed Meghan's phone on her way out.

Meghan's dull voice greeted her on the other side of the phone.

"I'm walking over with George to the woman's dorms Ana." She grumbled and then hung up on her. Laughing softly, Ana decided to wait for her friends outside her room. She walked around, quietly observing her new home for the next two years.

It was still time for breakfast and the hallways seemed to be quiet empty. Ana assumed everyone was still sleeping after partying late last night. She saw a few girls hanging out in the hallways, talking to each other or scrolling through their phones. Some walked in with white clothes that were clearly from the party last night, presumably reaching their rooms that morning.

The building was an old rectangular structure with rooms on all four sides. The hallways outside the rooms had plenty of light flowing in because the center of the building was a vast open space going all the way up to the high ceiling. On looking up, one could see through the hexagonal vaulted skylight that created a sense of height and grandeur.

Ana was distracted from admiring the roof when her phone suddenly rang. It was George. She looked ahead and saw them waving at her, standing outside Meghan's room motioning for her to come over.

George and Ana started to clean up the mess from last night while Meghan showered.

"You looked like you had a decent time yesterday." George quipped. They were both folding clothes and placing them into neatly organized piles.

"Yeah. It's been a while since we've met new people hasn't it? And Austin, he's such a funny guy." She laughed.

"What about Khai?"

Ana froze, a deep blush reaching her face. She picked up a pile of jeans and walked into the closet to hide her face from him. "He's sweet. We had a quick snack in my room before he left."

"Really? A quick snack?" She could hear him grinning from the closet and her eyes widened in amused shock at his question.

"Georgie, we only ate some noodles together. Simmer down."

"What? I think you should just explore that a little bit!"

"I agree." Meghan walked out of the shower, looking and feeling better than earlier this morning. She grabbed a bottle of water and drank in large gulps.

Ana slumped her shoulders and stuck her bottom lip out as she picked up another pile.

"I don't know guys. I feel like I'm permanently scarred ." Her voice came out from the closet. "Also, it's best to lay low around Sean isn't it?"

"Now that's just… no. Unacceptable." She heard Meghan from behind her. "You can't live in fear of that scumbag. I won't allow it."

"It's just two years. I'll move far away from him after leaving Arcane." Said Ana.

George raised his voice in frustration. "No Ana. You aren't running from him. You're going to have to face him sooner or later. We'll always be around and if he attempts something again, we'll get him kicked out of here."

Ana simply shrugged her shoulders, apprehensive at her friends' words. Suddenly she remembered something from last night.

"I asked Khai to teach me self-defense." She blurted. George and Meghan paused, probably dumbfounded by her shamelessness.

Meghan abruptly burst into an applause jumping up and down, while George was nodding at her grinning from ear to ear.

"Atta girl!" He thumped her back a little too hard. She rubbed the spot and frowned at his overreaction.

"That's an excellent idea Ana! George was telling me on the way here that Khai is rumored to be one of the most skilled Wahren's Arcane has seen in generations. He's going to teach you how to whack the day lights out of Scum Perkins!" Meg started punching the air comically, as if Sean was in front of her.

Ana laughed. "We just discussed it briefly last night. I don't know if he's serious about it."

George sat on the chair by the desk, swinging his legs happily. Khai didn't even need his help, he could tell that Ana was already falling for him and things were progressing perfectly. "Ohhh, he definitely is. I can tell."