-Corrine-
Since that day, I can’t get Andrew out of my mind. But I haven’t seen him since the party at the sorority house and judging by the way Eva talked about him, they didn’t get along well. They’re not like me and Trevor. So it is very unlikely that I will meet him again.
Even though Andrew asked me to return his jacket, but I couldn’t find a way to return it. I didn’t want to ask Eva for help because, well, she definitely didn’t like it, and to be honest, I wanted to see him again. I know I shouldn’t, but I can’t just ignore him. The jacket is now stored neatly in my closet after I washed it.
“You also have an older brother, right? Is he as annoying as Andrew?” asked Eva, after we finished our morning class. We continued our talk from last night when we couldn’t sleep and started talking about each other’s families.
We walked towards Houghton Commons, the building where students gather for lunch. It is about a five minutes walk from the lecture building. I enjoyed every little trip I made from one building to another because the Golden Valley university complex was so beautiful. Lots of lush trees and open areas that make me feel like I’m in Wesgrove.
“I know nothing about Andrew, so I can’t compare him to my brother,” I said. My words also opened the way for Eva to want to talk about Andrew further. “I’m pretty close to Trevor. He is a kind and caring brother.”
“Well, Andrew is, too,” said Eva. She gulped. “It’s just, I could never feel comfortable around him. Maybe it’s because we’re not siblings.”
“Yeah, maybe because of that.”
Houghton Commons is quite crowded around noon. Many students lined up at the food counter, choosing what was served at the glass display counter. Eva and I joined the queue while looking around, deciding where to sit.
We can’t stand the heat of August, and the sun was starting to shine hot outside, so Eva and I chose to sit in a place far from the glass wall. We found an empty sofa set in a corner, sheltered by the shadows.
My stomach rumbled as I smelled the aroma of the food on my tray. Bagel sandwich with egg, bacon, and cheese filling, and a cup of cafe latte.
“When I was an only child, I always hoped to have siblings,” said Eva after we sat down. “But after Andrew came into my life, I didn’t know what to do with him.”
“How was your first meeting?” I asked. I was careful in asking questions so that Eva didn’t pick up on my interest and curiosity for Andrew.
“I don’t really remember,” Eva replied. She paused as she was about to take food from the tray, then raised her eyes upwards. “Eight years ago,” she said later. “I was only eleven then, and he was fifteen. I don’t know what to do and he was so quiet.”
“Didn’t he greet you? Or do something to get you two close?”
“His father brought me all kinds of gifts and I was happy about it. But I don’t really care about Andrew.”
I nodded my head as a sign that I more or less understood Eva’s feelings. It’s not easy to see our parents remarry and bring strangers into our lives.
“Trevor sucks sometimes too,” I said later. “I think every sibling has had a fight.”
“Yes. But Andrew has done things I cannot forgive,” said Eva.
My eyes widened in surprise and when Eva caught the expression on my face, she quickly said, “He didn’t abuse me. If that’s what you think.”
I breathed a sigh of relief.
“Speak of the devil,” Eva hissed then. Her eyes turned towards the entrance. I followed her gaze and my heart seemed to stop beating at that moment.
Andrew walked into Houghton Commons. He was alone, with no noisy gangs of bad boys and hot girls walking around with him. Every girl who saw him was stunned and I could understand why they acted like that. Because so am I. I couldn’t take my eyes off him.
He headed towards us and stopped beside the couch Eva was sitting on.
“My sweet little sister,” he muttered. Then he glanced at me. “And her friend.”
“Hi,” I greeted. I’m trying to be friendly. Wrong move. Eva glared at me.
I immediately looked down and stared at the contents of my bagel sandwich.
Andrew plopped down on the one-seater sofa between me and Eva. We sat on three different sides and now Andrew shifted his gaze from Eva to me, then back to her again.
“Why are you guys quiet?” he asked. “Don’t girls usually like to chat when they’re hanging out?”
Eva half-slammed her sandwich onto the plate and glanced sharply at Andrew. “What are you doing here?”
Andrew shrugged. “Does there have to be a reason for me to come here?” he asked. Then he looked up and saw the ceiling of the room. “After all, this university is my alma mater too.”
“You study here?” I asked. I covered my mouth with one hand as I realized I shouldn’t have asked him a question.
Eva glanced at me again with cynical eyes.
Andrew lowered his head and looked at me. “Yeah,” he said. “Didn’t Eva tell you?”
“Should I tell you about my brother, who never even came home to visit his mother?” she snapped.
Andrew’s expression hardened at Eva’s words. His hands gripped the armrests. I expected Andrew to reply, but he said nothing.
The atmosphere became awkward in the silence. I tried to concentrate on my food, but now my bagel sandwich was tough and bland. I racked my brains, trying to find a way to lighten the mood, but I couldn’t find anything, so I decided to stay silent.
“You have to be careful every time you come to the party like the last time,” said Andrew then. He was looking at Eva. “There are a lot of assholes out there and you have no idea what goes through their dirty brains every time they see a girl like you.”
Andrew’s face was serious, as serious as his words to Eva. Seeing him reminds me of Trevor. He often said more or less the same thing to me every time I came to a party.
“Don’t pretend to care about me,” Eva muttered. She didn’t even glance at Andrew.
“I never pretend to care about you,” said Andrew. “I do care about you. Because we’re family.”
Eva took a breath and clenched her jaw. She glanced sharply at Andrew. “Oh, really? Because I’ve never felt that way.” Then she grabbed her bag, stood up, and drifted her gaze to me. “I’m going to the restroom,” she said. Then she left us.
Looks like she’s mad at me, too.
I don’t know what happened between them to make Eva this angry at Andrew, and I tried to hold back my curiosity. As long as Eva doesn’t tell me, I won’t try to find out.
I tried to ignore Andrew’s presence, but the look in his eyes on me was so piercing that I couldn’t ignore it.
Hesitantly, I turned to him. Sure enough, he was staring at me.
“Does Eva know?” he asked.
I was about to bite the last piece of my sandwich, then I stopped and asked, “Know what?”
“That you are a werewolf.”
-Corrine- The question didn’t surprise me. He must have known my identity as well as I knew his.“I could ask you the same thing,” I said.Andrew smirked. “Smart girl.” Then he leaned in towards me and looked at me closely. “You know? I like smart girls.”I returned his smile, putting on my best arrogant face, and said, “Too bad. I’m not into bad boys.”He pulled back and leaned against the sofa, the smile still on his face. His reaction made me feel embarrassed. I had hoped he would be upset, but it was the opposite.“Are you Eva’s roommate?” he asked later.I thought for a moment, considering whether to give an honest answer or lie to him. Then I decided that providing information like that was not dangerous, and hopefully, Eva wouldn’t be angry with me for it.“Yes,” I replied. I glanced towards the restroom. There was no sign of Eva yet. “Seems like she hates you,” I said bluntly.I was quite surprised when I saw Andrew’s eyes change to sadness, even if it was only for a moment. H
-Corrine- “You’re daydreaming again.”I jumped at the sound of Gary’s, my classmate, voice. I blinked and turned towards him, then returned his smile. “Busted,” I murmured.“The lecture’s over.” Gary nodded towards the front, letting me know that the professor had left the classroom.“Oh...” It took me a few seconds to realize what I should do. Gather my books and stationery. “Oh!” I exclaimed.I bent down to grab my bag from under the desk and placed it on my lap. My movements paused when I saw what was inside.Andrew’s jacket.Yeah, call me a pervert. I have been carrying that jacket for the past week. Ever since I met him at Houghton Commons, I thought I would meet him again. Maybe he would show up at the same place, or he could suddenly appear in front of my dorm room.Who knows?“Nice jacket,” Gary said, peeking into my open bag.Reflexively, I closed the bag and grimaced at him. “Not mine,” I muttered.Gary withdrew and gazed at me. The gleam in his eyes radiated curiosity.“Boy
-Corrine- We stopped after leaving the department building. I turned around, slinging my bag over one shoulder, and pointed at him. “You made me skip class.”Andrew cracked a smile. “Between you and me, who dragged someone and took them out of the classroom?” After that, he perfectly arched one eyebrow.Hearing the word “drag” made me realize that I had still been holding onto his arm. I quickly let go and clasped my hands together.“What do you want?” I asked, turning my face away."Haven't I already told you?" Andrew tilted his head. That annoyingly sexy little smile appeared again. "You.""And what exactly do you want from me?" I pressed."I want to spend time with you.""First things first," I shot back. "If you're trying to seduce me, you’re really suck at it.""There's no harm in trying," he shrugged. His expression showed that he found my behavior amusing, and I felt like a helpless child in front of him.I glared at him, telling him to shut his mouth, and continued speaking. "
-Corrine-The rackety sound of a game center welcomed us as we entered that place.“First time?!” Andrew half shouted to overcome the surrounding noise.I looked up at him and shook my head. “No!”I didn’t want to go into details about my experience at the game center. First, because places like this brought unpleasant memories for me. Daniel used to take me to the game center in Wesgrove when we were still dating. Second, because I was a terrible player at games like these.Daniel would often mock and scold me every time I made a mistake and suffered defeat. Looking back, I should have realized how repulsive his attitude was. But love did make people blind sometimes.I was lost in my thoughts about Daniel, staring blankly at the row of games when Andrew bent down towards me and whispered in my ear.“Wanna get out of here?”His deep and sexy voice made me stumble. I turned and almost kissed his lips. Our faces were only about an inch apart.I lingered, gazing into his dark blue eyes.
-Corrine-I should have guessed where Andrew would take me. He was a bad boy; it was obvious. So, where else would a bad boy go if not to a place where troublemakers gather?There was no such place in Wesgrove, or maybe I didn’t know. Trevor had many friends back in our place, and he always got reports on where I went, so I never went to places on his forbidden list.If Trevor knew I went to a place like this, I’m sure he would pick me up right now and tell me to move out of Golden Leaf.The roar of the car engine made me shudder. My hands were tightly wrapped around Andrew’s waist while my eyes darted around, seeing girls in skimpy outfits, some seemingly underdressed, dancing on top of car roofs with beer bottles in their hands.The place looked like an abandoned luxury housing complex on the hillside. Surrounded by dense forest with no other settlements or life around, this area was indeed suitable as a gathering place for youngsters who wanted to party to their heart's contents.A
-Corrine-The nauseating sting hit my head on the first gulp, after which I didn’t know how to describe the various sensations assaulting my body. But one thing was sure; I screwed.The girl before me, the one who handed me the booze, split in two. Or maybe it was just my imagination.“Is the—,” I paused to burp, “—booze should be this strong?” I swirled the plastic cup in my hand, almost dropping it in the process, then looked at the girl’s face again. Her brown skin glistened as she tilted her head and smiled.“Is great, isn’t it?” she cheered. “You want more?”I shook my head. Wrong move. My vision immediately spun as I did so. I closed my eyes tightly, dropped the plastic cup from my hand, and tried to find something to hold onto to avoid falling.Someone caught my arm, and I fell backward. My head hit something, and as I looked up, I found a pair of eyes staring at me. Not Andrew.“Hey Lily, what did you give to her?” I heard his voice echo in his chest.Lily and the others laugh
CorrineI was pretty sure there was a sledgehammer slamming into my head repeatedly because, damn, an incredible pain welcomed me as I opened my eyes. I groped in the darkness and groaned as a sharp sting in my thigh fully woke me up.Where am I? What happened? Am I dead already?I tried to move my legs, but something restrained my knees from moving. I squinted in that direction and found Andrew sitting near my feet. His hands were on my bare knees.Wait a minute.I was wearing pants when I left. Why are my knees uncovered now?“Don’t move too much,” Andrew’s voice sounded like a low growl. “You’re injured.”The first thing I wanted to do was find something to cover my legs because, for fuck’s sake, I was half-naked in front of a boy I had only met three times. The only boy who had ever seen me in panties was Daniel, and I wasn’t the one-night-stand type of girl. So being in this situation made me incredibly uncomfortable.It seemed Andrew realized my discomfort. He moved, and I saw h
-Corrine-Was it wrong to miss someone you don’t have a relationship with?From our last meeting and the agreement between us, I thought there would be a second date with Andrew soon. But it’s been almost a month since the incident at Mythic Manor, and I haven’t heard anything from him.That night, I didn’t ask for his phone number. I was too excited about the idea that we would meet again and assumed it would happen soon. Turned out, I was wrong.On the other hand, Andrew’s absence brought back Eva’s cheerfulness and her kind attitude towards me. She no longer let me eat alone in Houghton Commons and always said goodbye whenever she left our room.A part of me was tempted to secretly take Eva’s phone and look for Andrew’s number, but the more sensible side of me prevented me from doing so and surrendered our next meeting to The Moon Goddess.We were walking towards the dorm after spending the afternoon at the library working on assignments.“Who is he?” Eva whispered to me. I, who was