31. Gavin
Julez got an A, which means our weekly movie night now includes Wren.
Wonderful.
I can’t even be too upset, though, because he’s been struggling with his grades, getting closer and closer to academic suspension, and if she’s the one who can help him…
I’m not salty at all.
What I am upset about is that he let her pick the movie, because it’s not enough that she’s here.
Something seems different with her, though. Where she was simply ignoring Titus before, she seems to be openly matching his glares, and the smile on her face around Nolan and Julez is bigger and brighter than before.
It’s annoying because these are my friends, but I keep my mouth shut because it’s not just her; something feels different with all of them.
Dimitri has told me a million times I need to let our rivalry go, and I know he’s probably right, but I’m not sure how to do that if I’m being honest.
Most of my life, I’ve spent working toward being the best and the brightest. Wren’s the only one who has ever pushed me to do better, be better.
Before she started Meadow Ridge, I’d flown to the top with ease, but now I’m constantly working to keep my place, and we won’t even know if I’ve succeeded for a few weeks when we take our first semester finals.
“This movie is shit,” Titus says, still only speaking in German around her, as he drops into the chair on Julez's other side. It earns him a glare from Julez as he snatches the popcorn tub from him, and the rest of us pick seats in the school's theater.
Julian rents it out twice a month for movies; it’s a great way to unwind after a long week and just enjoy the moment, something that Wren seems to be struggling with.
Nolan nearly had to carry her here; she’d been so tied up with her projects and homework that it almost made me feel bad for giving her such a hard time. She has double the classes we all do so that she can make up for the time she missed. I’m half tempted to ask her why she would do that.
I’d thought when she first started that she was skipping things, that her family's money bought her a pass, but now it would appear that while it got her in, it’s not saving her.
I watch as she rubs at her temples and her lips purse in a look of annoyance I’m all too familiar with.
“Your attitude is shit,” she snaps back, and every head turns toward her, eyes wide, mine included. Not only did she clearly understand him, but she responded in German.
I guess I was right in my assumption, but she’d never hinted at understanding, so I’d thought maybe her language of choice was another.
“If you're going to talk shit, at least have the balls to do it to my face.” Wren glares at Titus, and he doesn’t back down; instead, he holds her gaze.
I’d hate to be Julian right now as he sits between them, turning to look from one to the other and back again.
“Clearly I was,” Titus says, sounding unbothered, but I know better. I see the anger burning in his eyes; he’s upset that she got him.
I can’t say I blame him; he’s talked a lot of shit in German the last few weeks, assuming she couldn’t understand him. She let him play himself, and honestly, that’s worse than her doing something because he has nobody to blame but himself.
Wren isn’t someone to be underestimated.
“Well,” Julian claps, the sound echoing around the room and pulling everyone's attention away from what would have been a blowout.
“The movie’s starting.” He points toward the screen, and we all turn to see that it is, in fact, starting.
I run over and flick the lights, annoyed that I have to do things the old-fashioned way because she’s here.
Even if I dropped the rival thing, having a mortal around all the time isn’t my idea of a good time.
I drop back into my chair, a row behind them, and watch as she fiddles with the necklace around her neck. I’ve never seen her without it, not just since she started school here, but ever.
It’s nothing special, just a little glass beaker with black shimmering sand, corked and hanging on a black rope.
It looks like something you would buy from the mall or one of those ‘fairy dust’ necklaces, yet she acts like it’s her most prized possession—well, that and her camera. She always seems to have that with her, too.
We make it through the movie without any more fights, and I’m not sure whether that’s because the movie, despite Titus’s grievances, isn’t bad or because Wren fell asleep halfway through.
“So glad we let her pick,” Titus grumbles when Julian hauls her up into his arms, and we file out back to the dorm for dinner.
Julian ignores him, the smile on his face so big you’d think he won the damn lotto, all because he gets to carry her back to the dorm. Judging from the way Nolan reacted, he’d been itching to do it as well.
If she weren’t mortal, I would worry she spelled them or something, but then again, I’m not sure many are strong enough to spell Julian.
The only person I know of is…
Felix.
We all stop as we reach the doors and find him sitting in the last row, his gaze very clearly on Wren, where she’s tucked against Julian’s chest, fast asleep.
Nolan moves to stand in front of him, blocking her from his gaze, and I don’t know why, but it makes me breathe easier. I don’t like Wren, but Felix, well, there are very few people I would dare wish to catch his attention, my father being one of them.
“What do you want?” Titus asks, stepping toward him, pretty much the only person I’ve ever seen talk to him or dare approach him.
“To watch a movie.” His voice is deep and husky, but calm and even, unlike Titus’s, but the smirk that pulls at his lips tells another story.
“Well, you weren’t invited. You aren’t welcome.” He turns back to Julian, nodding him toward the door. “Let’s go.”
He doesn’t follow, instead staying in the chair, eyes forward, but it’s impossible to miss the low rumble of his voice as we leave.
“Are you sure about that?”
I wait until we’re nearly back to the dorm before I ask the question that’s been eating at me from the moment the doors fell closed behind us.
“What the fuck was that?” I hiss, trying to keep my voice down. I don’t really want to wake Wren because A: I feel bad, and B: something tells me I won’t get the answers I’m looking for if she wakes up.
The others exchange a look that tells me I’m the last to know, and for a second, I’m mad until I remember why they might have kept it from me. Until this moment, I hadn’t exactly cared about anything to do with Wren if it wasn’t a way to get her out of our dorm.
“The other day when you two—” Titus looks between Julian and me. “Were fighting, Julian mentioned her being in the library all the time.” I look at him and wonder where the hell he’s going with this. I’d been there, I remember, and if I’m being honest, it’s not a moment I’m very proud of.
Looking back, I cringe at where that conversation went and the memory of Wren running off.
I’d never intended to hurt her feelings; in my mind, Wren wasn’t someone I could make cry. She was above me, better in every way, perfect.
But she’s only human, and I think I need to remember that, seeing her like this, asleep in Julian’s arms after a week of studying with a headache. It’s eye-opening in a way I didn’t know I needed.
I still don’t want her in the dorm, but maybe I can shut the hell up when I get up early.
Nolan seems to get annoyed with my inability to catch on and rolls his eyes.
“And who spends all of their spare time in the damn library?” he asks with a huff.
“Well, he used to spend all his time there. Apparently, he enjoys movies now, too,” Julian grumbles. I don’t need to see his face to hear the sarcasm that bleeds into each word.
Felix.
“Felix has been spending time with Wren?” I ask, unable to make sense of that in my head. “Like your brother, Felix.” Titus glares at me, but I don’t bother correcting myself. Dimitri and I are only half-siblings, and I don’t see him any differently than I would if we shared both parents.
Titus just hates Felix.
I wave his annoyance away and continue. “The same Felix who doesn’t like anyone and can kill people by touching them?” I hiss a little too loudly, which gets me hushed by Nolan as we all look around to see if there’s anyone near enough to have heard us.
Thankfully, most people are out on Friday night, leaving the dorms mostly deserted.
Once we’re sure nobody overheard us, Julian answers me, though it’s not necessary; I don’t know another Felix.
“Yeah, leave it to Wren to befriend him. Maybe if she had felt comfortable in the dorm, she wouldn’t have had to hide away there.”
Shots fired, and while he’s right, I don’t like it. Sadly, I don’t have a good comeback to that.
“She would have ended up there, anyway. The girl could live in a library,” Nolan says, and I turn to see him looking at her in Julian’s arms with a softness in his eyes that I’ve never seen before.
“Yeah, she could.” Julian agrees, and suddenly I’m feeling like a fourth wheel.
Thank God for Titus.
“Enough. It doesn’t matter why or how. It only matters that Felix is dangerous and we need to keep them apart.”
“Which would be a hell of a lot easier if she weren’t a dud,” I say more to myself than to them because I can see it now; she’s never going to listen.
And honestly, I don’t really blame her. Why should she listen to a thing any of us has to say, Titus and me especially?
“What?” Julian roars, stopping dead in the middle of the hall, and it’s only because of years of sports that I react quickly enough to avoid ramming into his back.
“What the hell?” I growl, turning to face him and finding him staring at me, eyes wide, his hold on Wren looking as if it borders on uncomfortable as I feel his magic seep into the air.
“What did you say?” he hisses, stalking toward me, and I have to think about it for a second.
Shit.
“Sh—she’s a dud.”
“Don’t. Ever. Call her that again,” Julian seethes, and I feel his magic as it wraps around me, the threat impossible to miss.
“Okay,” I manage to force the word out between my shock and the fear that pumps through me. I know Julian is strong, but I’ve never felt it.
“Julian,” Titus reaches out, resting his hand on Julian’s shoulder. He shrugs him off, making Titus clench his jaw, but other than that, he doesn’t react. “I don’t think he was trying to insult her, just stating a fact.”
“No, I didn’t mean it like a dig. I was just saying it would be easier to tell her if she knew about us, not that there was anything wrong with her.” I toss my hands up in surrender because, again, I might not like Wren, but I don’t hate her because she was born mortal.
I just don’t love that she’s somehow smarter than me; her being a mortal actually only makes it more impressive if you ask me.
Not that I would ever admit that out loud.
“That’s the least of our worries right now, though. We need to keep her away from Felix.” Nolan’s brows pull into a frown, and I think he’s realizing how hard that’s going to be.
“Why don’t we just have her friends keep them apart? It would be a lot easier and less suspicious.” Wren might not be loud and forward like some girls we know, but she is a force, and stopping her from going to the library is likely to be a job in and of itself.
This time, the look on Julian’s face is pure disappointment as he shakes his head and turns away, heading toward the dorm.
“She doesn’t have friends, Gavin. It’s just her.”
I watch as he moves away with the tiny sleeping girl in his arms that’s been a thorn in my side for all these years and think about the way I’ve treated her since she arrived.
Crap.
Being alone is shitty, and even at my lowest, I’ve always had my brother and the guys.
I can help with this; nobody said I had to be her friend, but I can help make sure she stays safe. The guys care about her, so I can do this, even if just for them.