Chapter 5 #2
He cocked his head to the side, and a slow smile spread across his face as Evan stepped a little closer to him. Together, they were fucking imposing, and Camelia had to fight her instinct to quail under their intense gazes.
"James Devin. Nice to meet you, sweetheart."
Evan chuckled. "If I had known that all she needed was a little persuasion, I would have called you right away, James."
The smile that widened across James' face was almost sinister, and Camelia bit back an aggressive retort as she clutched her backpack a little tighter on her shoulder.
"Nice to meet you too. See you around," she bit out.
She spun on her heel and stomped away, her emotions and hormones all in a tizzy, and she heard both men chuckle low, seductive laughs as she rounded the corner out of their sight.
And her reaction to those laughs was enough to make her anxious and on edge all fucking over again.
Fortunately, the rest of the day passed without incident, and by the time Camelia reached her last class of the day – Geopolitical history – she was ready to head back to her dorm and her overly-hostile roommate and lock herself away for the rest of the night.
Maybe order some food, and not think about the irritating itch between her legs that the encounter with Evan and James had left her to contend with.
The class was on the other side of campus from her course right before, and by the time she snuck into the back of the lecture room, the class was mostly full.
She slid into one of the only empty seats left next to a Black girl who was diligently organizing her notebook and pens, and she snuck a glance over as she pulled out a notebook of her own.
"Isn't it just the first day? I thought that we were just going to be reviewing the syllabus, yeah?"
The girl looked her way, her teeth bright as her face split into a cheery grin. "Dr. Graves likes to get started right away. I'd recommend diligent notes; she doesn't upload anything to the portal and doesn't lecture from the text so if you miss a class, you'll lose points on the test."
The girl had a bright energy that immediately made Camelia feel at ease, and she nodded as the professor walked into the room, immediately getting set up at the computer while the rest of the students settled.
Camelia leaned close, lowering her voice so as not to draw attention to herself. "Thanks for the tip. I'm Camelia."
The girl's smile widened, and she nodded, her tight curls bouncing a little with the movement. "Aria. Nice to meet you."
The professor started speaking after that, cutting their conversation off short, and as Aria had said, she wasted little time on introductions, instead jumping straight into the lecture.
Camelia was a little stunned at how fast the woman spoke and how much she covered in the fifty-minute lecture, but by the end of it she had filled three pages of notes and was debating ordering an old-school recorder so that she could review lectures later without triggering the professor's "no phones" policy.
Aria eyed her notes as everyone started packing up, nodding approvingly as she packed away her various pens in a little pouch.
"Nice. You'll do well." She cocked her head to the side, her dark eyes curious as she finished packing her notebook and other things away in her bright pink backpack.
"I've never seen you before. Are you a transfer? "
Camelia nodded. "Yeah. Harrison. Transferred here to finish my last year."
Aria nodded, and the two of them exited the classroom together. "Why'd you leave Harrison? That's a good school."
Camelia pressed her lips together, but the panic that usually arose when people asked about her past was strangely absent.
She shrugged one shoulder, tossing her hair over her shoulder.
"My dad is an ambassador and got transferred here to be closer to the capitol.
He asked if I wanted to come with, and there wasn't anything especially pressing that was keeping me at Harrison.
Ridgeview is a phenomenal school and they accepted all my transfer credits, so.
.." Camelia trailed off, shrugging again, and Aria nodded.
"You're lucky. I've heard they can be picky about what credits they accept.
" She pursed her lips as the two of them exited the building, glancing towards the student center and cocking her head to the side.
"Do you want to come and grab a bite to eat with me?
We can review the lecture, if you want."
Her voice was so shy but bright and hopeful that it almost made Camelia laugh, and she smiled as she nodded.
"My roommate has decided that she wants nothing to do with me, so I'm not especially in a hurry to head back to my dorm.
But we don't have to talk class, if you don't want.
We can just...you know. Hang out?" Camelia's voice tilted up shyly on the last few words, and her stomach curled in on itself in anticipation of the expected rejection.
"Great!" Aria's entire body relaxed, and she looped her arm through Camelia's lax one, clearly ignoring the surprise from the other girl. "There's a yummy Greek place that a student started as part of a thesis project, and it kind of exploded from there..."
She continued chatting as she tugged Camelia along, and Camelia slowly relaxed as she followed her new friend into the student center. The thoughts of Evan and James still lingered in the back of her mind, but she was able to shove them away to concern herself with later.