Elysium by Sylah Sloan Page B

anything. Maybe then I wouldn’t be such a freak.” I felt his fingers under my chin as he slowly lifted my head, until we were staring at each other. I met his eyes and saw the serious look on his face.
    “You are not a freak. There’s something so incredible about you, Meadow, something monumental waiting to be released. Give it time, okay?” The words were soft and gentle and made me want to believe everything he said.
    I nodded, noticing how he didn’t move his fingers away. We were pretty close, so close that if I would just lean in, I could brush my lips against his. I wanted to, just once, a real kiss I would feel with every cell in my body.
    I didn’t move though, because as much as I wanted to believe he was attracted to me as well, I wasn’t about to make a fool out of myself. “Well, thanks again for this.” I gave him back the empty glass and bag and smiled.
    He watched me a second before he stood.  “Well, good luck with your classes tonight.” He ran a hand through his hair, slightly disheveling the strands.
    “Thanks again. You don’t have to bring by the blood anymore. I can always go to the clinic for it. I don’t want you to go out of your way.” He smiled at me, and I felt my heart skip a beat. It wasn’t even a big smile, just a little pull of his lips. It was a tiny lift, though, which did something to me. I felt so ridiculous for feeling the way I did. My emotions were so out of whack, but maybe it had everything to do with my change?
    “I want to bring it to you. I wouldn’t want you to go through the bloodlust again. It isn’t out of my way anyway.”
    “Okay then.” He lifted his hand in goodbye and headed out the door, my eyes following his every move. I lay back on the bed and breathed out heavily. I had a stupid smile on my face and turned my head to look at the clock again. It was a few minutes before six, and I quickly got up and grabbed my bag. I didn’t know what books to bring, so I just shoved them all in, hooking the bag over my shoulder and heading out the door.
    I reached the stairs and saw Violet standing at the bottom, Nikolai standing next to her with a NY Yankees cap on. As if they sensed me, they both looked up, Violet waving with a big smile on her face and Nikolai giving me half a smirk.
    “Hey. Are you ready for this?”
    Violet had so much excitement in her voice I couldn’t help but glare at her. “I don’t think so.”
    “Oh, it won’t be bad. You already know Nik, and he is in a lot of our classes, so it will be awesome.”
    “Hi, Nik. It is okay to call you Nik?” I said the nickname Violet had used, a little unsure if that would be too weird, seeing as we had just met.
    “That’s cool. How are you? You look nice in your uniform.”
    I picked at my skirt and muttered my thanks in embarrassment. I hated it when people noticed me. I was self-conscious of myself and never knew how to take a compliment. Violet had on almost the same uniform I had, Nik wearing navy slacks and a white polo with the dragon emblem in the upper left hand corner of his chest.
    “Ready? Class doesn’t start until seven, but I thought I would show you around.”
    “Mind if I tag along?”
    I looked at Nik, as he asked the question, shaking my head and smiling. “I don’t mind.”
    Violet led us outside, and the cold air hit me in the face like a sledgehammer. We headed off to left and walked a few minutes, until we saw a one story stone house. Candles were lit in the only two windows, the building more like a cottage than where classes were held. We walked inside, the warm air immediately surrounding me. We had only been outside for a few minutes, but with the Colorado weather, it only took seconds to freeze you.
    “This isn’t the school, is it?” I looked round the tiny room.
    “No, this is just the check in.” There was laughter in Violet’s voice as she answered me, and a big smile on Nik’s face.
    A wooden desk sat off in the corner, a fireplace to the