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The bell sounds, and I jump up from my seat along with half the class, stuffing my belongings into my bag even as the professor is trying to tell us what our required reading for the week is. I'm far too stressed to worry about that.
Instead, I half-run out of the room, heading away from everyone and everything. This is all too much at the moment. I don't want to have to ask Ryan such an awful thing. And yet, I don't want to have to ask Daphne to do it for me. And after that, I need to tell Thomas that I've said yes to it too. I'm sure he'll be thrilled. For the same reasons my best friend is, no doubt.
"Mona, wait up!" Ryan shouts.
I don't slow down. I want to cry, but I don't feel like I can go anywhere to do that. My room is full of kittens and potentially Daphne too. And everywhere else seems to have at least one guy in it.
Without really intending to, I end up in front of the entrance to the secret library. If I'm quick enough, I might even be able to disappear into it before Ryan catches up.
I pull the lever, and slip inside the moment the stone entrance opens.
A hand catches around my wrist, stopping me in my tracks.
"Mona, where are we?" Ryan's voice cracks as he asks.
"A secret library." There's no point lying to him now he's almost inside. He'll soon be able to work it out for himself.
"I didn't even know the school had one of these."
I choke back a laugh. "Of course you did. Isn't that what you had Daphne try and seduce a vampire for?" There's a hint of bitterness in my voice, probably because I know how upset she is over what went wrong with Heath.
Ryan hangs his head in shame. "Not my best move."
"No. It wasn't. But she's forgiven you."
"That was the vampire secret library. This...isn't that."
I shake my head. "Thomas showed me it."
"The teaching assistant you've been spending time with?" He doesn't sound as annoyed as he should, and I'm not sure if that's going to lead to another awkward conversation, or if its because Daphne is wrong about how her brother feels about me.
"That's the one," I admit. "He might be along soon." I'm not sure about that bit, but I don't want Ryan to be taken by surprise if Thomas does show up.
"I wonder why he showed you this place." Ryan walks around, staring at the huge bookcases with the same look of wonder Daphne had when she first saw it.
I've never seen them as much alike until this moment, but the two of them have more similarities than they think they do.
"He thought it might have some answers to what's wrong with me," I admit.
"Is he right?"
"Yes and no. He thinks he's found something that'll unlock my magic."
"That's amazing." There's real excitement in his voice. "What are we waiting for? Why haven't we done it yet?"
He closes the gap between us, but doesn't touch me. It doesn't stop me being aware of how close he is, though. I can feel the heat of his body radiating towards mine, and I can see the pulse beating beneath the skin of his throat.
Alright, that last one is a lie. Or just a reaction to the quick beating of my own heart.
"It's illegal."
"How illegal?"
"Are there levels of it?" I cock my head to the side and narrow my eyes, not too sure what he's on about.
"Of course. Something like drinking while under eighteen isn't nearly as bad as murder."
Oh. I suppose he
