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“Ah, you had Ancient Runes?” Meic asks as he reaches over to grab a club sandwich from one of the platters piled high at the centre of the table.
“Yeah. Have you?” I ask my other friend.
He nods. “I had it first period, he almost made me late for Sports Ed too.”
I grimace. “Ooof, that wouldn’t have been good.”
“I was worried Professor Puddlemoan would give me extra laps,” Meic moans.
“Don’t you already have some to do from the beginning of term?” Afan asks.
“Yep. I laughed at his name. Never going to do that again.”
I shake my head in bemusement and pick up a perfect-looking BLT from one of the plates while they continue to complain about several of our professors. Though I have to agree with some of their assessments.
Meic lets out a low whistle. “Hottie alert,” he says through bites of club sandwich as he stares past us to whoever has caught his attention.
“Seen any of them you fancy?” Afan asks, picking bits of cucumber out of his tuna sandwich with a vague air of distaste. I know he prefers to eat fish, but there are plenty of sandwich choices that don’t have salad in them.
“Several,” Meic responds. “There’s a girl with snakes for hair in my Divination class, and she’ssmoking.”
“A gorgon?” I ask, somewhat surprised. I’d never have guessed that was his type.
“Careful, or she’ll make you rock hard,” Afan jokes.
“That’s the idea.” Meic grins widely.
I roll my eyes. I’ve known him since long before we came to Blackthorn together, and he’s never going to do anything about it. “What about your mate?”
“What about my mate?” my friend responds, taking another bite of his sandwich. “What does it hurt to look before I’ve met them?”
I raise an eyebrow, but don’t say anything. He’s been my friend long enough for me to know that he’d never do anything that would jeopardise his chances of finding his mate, and that includes messing around, even if heclaimshe will.
“How do you even know your mate is real?” Afan asks. “I’m not sure I buy into the whole thing.”
“Really?” Meic responds. “You don’t think that you’ll find the person that’s the perfect match for you?”
Afan shrugs. “Just seems like a lot of power to give fate. What if I don’t like my mate?”
“I think the point is that you like them,” I say.
“What’s changed your tune? You’re normally the first person to start talking about how this whole thing is probably made up to stop us sowing wild oats or some ridiculousness like that.” The way Afan says it makes it feel as if he suspects something. Though I’m not entirely sure what.
“Maybe I’m just considering my options,” I respond, refocusing my attention on my lunch instead of on the conversation.
I don’t want to admit that I think I’m changing my tune because of how I felt when Anja sat down beside me in Charms and Potions yesterday. He’ll probably tell me that it’s something to do with her magic, or it’s just that she’s hot.
But I know what I felt when we touched, and it’s not either of those.
The air around us changes, and I freeze, sensing the proximity of the only person who has ever had this effect on me. I look up for my gaze to catch on Anja’s. She sucks in a small breath, almost as if she can feel the connection between us too.
Mate.
I can feel it in every part of my body, the need to protect her, cherish her, andfarmore. I want to dismiss it as something I’m making up, but I can’t. There is something about her that makes me certain that it’s the truth.
“Hey,” she says, tucking a strand of loose purple hair behind her ear. “Are these seats free?” She gestures to the bench on the opposite side of the table from us.
I nod, gaining a weird look from Afan and Meic in the process. I ignore them. No doubt I’ll be laid into when we get back to our room later, but I don’t owe them an explanation, not when I barely have one myself.
