Auras-Book One

Chapter 6

I didn't see Dustin again until class Monday morning. I wasn't sure how to act, since our relationship up to this point had been miserable, at best.

I took my seat in Art History and glanced across the room to where Dustin had sat last class. But his chair was empty. Same thing with my next class. Maybe today would be a good day, a day without Dustin's constant glaring.

But when I walked into my third class, I felt the familiar feeling of eyes boring holes into me. Sure enough, Dustin in his seat, watched me from under long, dark lashes. I gave him a tentative smile, but he looked away.

I sighed and took my seat. I should have known. Despite what happened between us on Saturday, it looked like things were going to stay the same.

Class seemed to go on forever, and every time I looked at Dustin, I caught him staring at me, his deep green eyes piercing mine. For the first time since I had met him, he wasn't looking at me like he wanted to kill me. He didn't look quite friendly, but the absence of his signature glare was progress.

"Miss Griffin?" The professor jogged me out of my internal monologue.

"Um, yes?"

"Would you care to answer the question?"

I struggled to remember what the lecture was about. "I think it was Monet?" I took a wild guess.

"Correct," he gave me a raised eyebrow. "Maybe your daydreaming look really is a paying attention look."

I tried to swallow my embarrassment and sat up straighter in my seat. I needed to stop getting lost in my own thoughts. I forced myself to pay attention to the rest of the class.

"Hey, Katie." I heard Dustin's voice while I was putting my books in my bag.

"Oh, hi," I mumbled.

"Pretty boring lecture, huh?"

My heart was pounding in my chest. "Yah."

"Look, I need to talk to you about this Anya thing."

"What about it?" He walked next to me as we headed out onto the sunny quad.

"She's a crazy bitch," he said, matter of fact. "She isn't used to people standing up to her, and she may try to get back at you and Dani. You need to keep your guard up."

I nodded. "I'm not worried about me. I can take care of myself. But I promise I'll look out for Dani."

He tilted his head and smiled at me, the first smile he'd ever given me. "You really do care about her, don't you?"

I met his eyes straight on. "Yes. I do."

He gave me an intense look. "If you need me, I mean, if it looks like Anya's going to," he stumbled over his words before taking a deep breath. "You don't have anything to prove."

"Don't I?" I whispered, letting my eyes wander to his full lips.

"Not if it's going to get Dani hurt." His voice was low and thick. "Or you."

I felt a patter in my stomach. Was Dustin actually saying he was worried about me? But before I could reply, he turned and strode away, leaving me staring after him.

# # #

The gym was crowded as Dani and I powered through our workout. Lines for the equipment were long, and more than once, while waiting, I caught sight of Dustin working out solo on the free weights.