BLUE BLOOD

28 | gloria's secret

x

She told him to take her son away. 

When she regretted it, it was too late.

x

For the next week, a tentative truce and alliance between us was silently agreed upon.

After that party, varying rumors had been spiraling around the academy. Most of them speculating that we had broken up, due to my convenient disappearance after the party. To dispel any rumors of Erik and I or a breakup, Avery and I had to ramp up the relationship act. 

I thought it would be exhausting. 

Surprisingly, it felt almost... normal.

Avery Dragomir wasn't hard to be around when we were alone, without our troubles. He could read my moods and most of the time, draw out a grudging laugh. He had wild theories and thoughts that I liked to comment on. Avery did have to stay the night at my dorm, but I wouldn't have even known he stayed the night if I didn't wake up to an empty bed with lingering warmth on his side of the bed. At times, we staged acts to sneak away, when really, Avery and I just wanted peace from prying eyes. 

I had chosen well. He was a very convincing actor. Every time Avery walked me to class, he'd launch into some grand philosophical question or complex math theory to keep me entertained. And when he dropped me off, he'd kissed my forehead so mindlessly, that it almost convinced me it wasn't planned at all.

But what really changed the rumors was the first time we attended a class we shared.

The teacher was lecturing about vector spaces and matrices when Avery mumbled something I couldn't hear.

"What?" I whispered, shooting him an irritated look. I could barely pay attention and now he was trying to distract me. He repeated it again but he was a bit far so I could not hear him. I shook my head before glancing back at the professor.

But Avery was impatient so he reached over to me. "What are you-" I started to say but he was smoothly dragging my chair over so that I would be right next to him. His chair touched mine.

"Can you hear me now?" he murmured, leaning down to me.

I blinked up at him, my shoulder brushing against his. His silver eyes gleamed with amusement and mischief as they held my gaze, glanced down to my lips, before flitting back up to my eyes. I felt my cheeks flush at the proximity. Butterflies that rose in my stomach. Shit.

A moment passed before I regained my senses. I brushed a lock of my hair away as I grumbled, "For someone who can wait years to obtain something they want, you can be so impatient. What were you asking?"

He tapped to a problem on the sheet of paper in front of him. I wasn't surprised to see that it was next unit's assignment instead of notes for today's lecture. It was literally the first day of class. "I was asking if the constant-"

"Mr. Dragomir, Ms. Du Sang," Professor Moore repeated for what must have been the second time. I flinched back, trying to hide my mortification at being called out in the middle of class. "Did you have something more important to discuss other than my lecture? Apparently, everyone else is more interested in what the two of you have to say than me."

That was when I was aware that everyone had been watching us and the whole interaction.

"We were just sharing our answers to that problem on the board, sir," Avery replied smoothly. I smiled weakly, knowing I had just lost a recommendation letter from this professor. I silently shot Avery a dirty look that said way to get us more into trouble.