Chapter 13

Damon was back within thirty minutes, fully dressed in a navy v-neck and ripped jeans, carrying two steaming cups of Leslie's coffee. I was already ready, just finishing brushing my hair out when he knocked on the door. I had chosen denim shorts and a red off the shoulder blouse for my first day. I hoped that it wasn't too casual. I knew that most of the students here were very wealthy, and I could imagine them all in sweater vests or something equally stuffy.

Damon placed the coffees on my desk and walked over to me, reaching out to touch my cheek gently.

"You are so beautiful," he breathed out before kissing me briefly. "Can I just tell you that I'm really glad we are at the kissing stage now," he said with a laugh. "I have been wanting to kiss you since the moment I saw you."

I blushed.

"I'm glad too," I answered affectionately.

He handed me my cup of coffee and looked around my room.

"Are you ready for class? What do you have first?" he asked.

With my free hand, I picked up my backpack that I had put my supplies in the week before, after finalizing my class schedule.

"I have three classes today," I answered. "First up is Art History at 9:00am, then Intro to Psychology at 10:45am, and then I have Statistics at 2:00pm."

"Perfect, we can have lunch together after your 10:45 class," Damon said. "I mean, if you want to have lunch," he said hurriedly, after I raised my eyebrows at him.

I laughed at him affectionately.

"Of course I do," I answered. "What classes do you have?"

"Well, I have Art History at 9:00am, and then Advertising and Promotion at 10:45am," he answered. "So I guess I will get to experience your first college class with you this morning," he said with a wink.

I let out a breath I didn't realize I had been holding. I had actually been really nervous about starting classes, but with Damon at my side I had nothing to fear. Damon grabbed my bag from out of my hand, and slung it over his back. I laughed at the picture of my masculine Damon carrying a pink backpack on his shoulder. He winked at me again, and I melted a little. He grabbed my hand and we walked out of my room and the dorm together.

It was a gorgeous day, the leaves around campus were starting to change, and there were bursts of crimson, burnt orange, and gold everywhere you looked. Students were everywhere, hurrying to and fro, yelling out greetings to one another after a summer apart. I soaked it all in, acknowledging that a few months ago I couldn't have even dreamed that I would have this opportunity. Having this chance meant so much more to me than going to the Grammy's or mingling with stars.

As usual, people were staring at us as we walked along, but I attributed it more to Damon's presence than my own. Damon had put on a pair of Ray Bans, and despite the pink backpack on his shoulder, managed to look the epitome of cool. I sighed inwardly at the fact that his lips had kissed me earlier.

As we walked I had a thought.

"Isn't it a little unfair that you play football?" I asked. "I mean you can fly…I'm sure there's some inhuman strength and speed mixed up in there as well."

He laughed, looking chagrined.

"So this is embarrassing...but there's actually a pill that Mason and I discovered that has a dampening affect on supernaturals. I take it before games so that I'm playing more on a human level," he explained. "Thousands of years would be pretty boring if we couldn't interact with humans at all, and I've always been obsessed with sports or things related to sports."

I shook my head in understanding, musing on what he had just said. Thousands of years caught my attention more than anything else. It was one thing for them to casually mention how old they were, but it was quite another to actually imagine it.

Suddenly I heard a squeal, and I was knocked to the side as a body collided with mine. It was Lexi, looking her usual beautiful, boisterous self in a pair of artfully torn jeans and a black tanktop.

"Eva, babe, you look gorgeous," she exclaimed.

As usual she didn't wait for me to respond, hurrying along.

"Wasn't this weekend amaaaazing?" she said. "I can't believe we are already starting classes! What class do you have first?"

Damon was staring at Lexi in shock, I think more amazed at how many words Lexi had managed to get out in so short a time, than anything else. I told Lexi my schedule and she squealed again.

"I have statistics too!" she said excitedly. "We can walk to practice together afterwards!"

My heart leapt a little at finding out I had another friend in a class. This day was going to be even better than I had imagined. Suddenly a group of girls passed by, one of them yelling "slut" at Lexi and I. I looked around shocked, and saw that it was Selena and her group. Lexi recovered quickly, flipping them off and telling them to "fuck themselves." The girls hurried off, looking appalled at Lexi's behavior. Damon chuckled beside me.

"I like her," he told me.

I grinned.

"Me too," I answered.

Lexi hurried off in another direction after a few more minutes of walking with Damon and I, pushing it to make it to her class on time. We walked up the concrete stairs into an imposing red brick building named "Abravanel Hall." I squeezed Damon's hand harder as we walked into a large lecture room where at least a hundred students were milling around, chattering with one another. The room went silent as people began to notice us. I saw Eric to my left. He had been sitting with a bunch of what looked like football players, but he had stood up upon seeing me.

"Eva," he called out, gesturing me over, and looking relieved to see me. I didn't really want to sit next to him, but I still felt like I owed him since he had been the first friend I had made here. Damon sighed as I led him over to the group, but didn't say anything. I realized we were still holding hands when I saw Eric staring, but wisely Eric chose not to say anything. Eric reached out to give me a hug, ignoring the little growl that Damon gave under his breath.

"I tried to get ahold of you a million times this weekend," Eric said. "I wanted to apologize about last week."

I took my backpack from Damon and began to rifle through it, trying to stall for time. I wasn't sure how to explain where I had been this weekend. Luckily for me the professor, a thin, distinguished looking man with the most amazing mustache I had ever seen, walked into the room.

"Everyone get seated please," he announced as he began to pull books out of a leather briefcase he had laid on the front desk.

I gave a small sigh of relief, and Damon let go of my hand, giving it a final squeeze before he settled himself into the seat next to mine.

The hour passed quickly with the professor providing an overview of the class, and a brief explanation of the art periods we would be studying. I stared enthralled at the slides the professor went through, slide after slide of stunning artwork, each with a much deeper meaning than I would have guessed at first glance. With the exception of the professor staring a little too hard at me while calling roll, it was the perfect start to my college experience. I was so caught up with everything that we were going over that I lost track of time and was surprised when the professor announced class was over.

I looked over at Damon. He had been doodling throughout class. I supposed if you were an ancient being, studying art that you had probably seen in its original time period just didn't compare. Still, I was grateful that he was in the class with me, and that I would be able to pick his brain about pieces that he had seen in real life. I got up and began to start gathering my things. I felt a soft touch on my elbow. Before I even looked up I knew it was Eric.

"Do you want to go to lunch with me next?" he asked me, giving me a pleading look.

"She actually has class after this," said Damon stepping around me, and taking my elbow from Eric to start leading me out of the room.

"She actually can speak for herself Damon," Eric snapped at him.

The rest of the football players were watching the scene with trepidation. I was sure that they didn't make it a habit of starting problems with Damon. Damon stopped walking towards the door and turned. He glowered at Eric, holding eye contact with him until Eric finally looked away. Damon then took my hand again, and we proceeded to walk out. I looked back. Eric was staring at Damon with so much hate that it put a shiver down my back. He would need to be dealt with soon. At the very least his attitude towards Damon needed to stop if we were going to stay friends.

The rest of my first day of classes passed uneventfully. I liked my second class just as much as my first. I was interested in psychology and why people behaved the way they did, and thought the class would be a great introduction to the field. Damon was waiting for me outside of class and again walked hand in hand with me to the lunch hall. I got the usual stares, with the addition of some jealous glares from various girls we passed by, but besides that we were left alone. My third class was my most fun class of the day surprisingly. I had always hated math, but Lexi kept me laughing the whole time and surprisingly seemed to be really good at Statistics, always knowing the answer despite not seeming to be listening at all.

After class, Lexi and I walked to cheerleading practice. I tensed up as we got closer to where the team was gathered. I was sure there was going to be repercussions from Selena for the attention I was getting from Damon and Mason. I was sad that something I had been so excited about had already become something that gave me so much anxiety.

The fallout started as soon as Lexi and I stepped foot on the field. Selena had decided to freeze me out, and had gotten a lot of the team to follow suit. Lexi muttered curses at them every chance she got while I tried to ignore the fact that most of the girls were acting like I didn't exist.

We were practicing a pyramid routine when the next part of Selena's plan went into action. Coach Ryan had put me as the flyer even though it felt like I was too tall for the role based on YouTube videos I had been watching of routines. We had practiced this routine a little bit the week before, and everything had gone off without a hitch. This time however I had butterflies in my stomach as we started.

Selena had a huge grin on her face when she looked over at me, like she knew something that I didn't. It was hard to concentrate as her devious grin reminded me of the one she had flashed me at Damon's the other night when she was butt naked and on her knees. As we approached the part where I was hoisted to the top, I saw her give a nod to someone below me. All of a sudden the hands gripping my ankles let go, and I toppled towards the ground. Right before my face crashed into the ground, what felt like an invisible cushion seemed to appear in front of me, and my descent stalled. After a second I fell again, but this time only from an inch away, so I wasn't injured at all.

I laid there for a second in shock, listening to the girls yelling back and forth. I had no idea how I was going to explain what had just happened to the team. I couldn't even explain it to myself. I should have had a broken leg or worse. I sat up slowly. Lexi had gotten to me first, freaking out hysterically and patting me down.

"Eva, are you okay?" she said, her voice catching with emotion.

"I'm fine," I said reassuringly, pretending to stretch out my arms and legs to check for injuries.

Coach had run over to me, talking quickly into a walkie-talkie in her hand. She stopped suddenly in shock when she saw me moving around.

"Never-mind," she spoke into her handheld. "Eva, how are you feeling?" she asked.

"I'm fine," I said again. "I hit some girls on the way down so it broke up my fall," I told her, trying to think up a plausible excuse for what had just happened.

After seeing that I was okay, Coach seemed to get furious, immediately turning around and yelling at Selena and some other girls for their "carelessness." Selena was looking at me like I was the one who had done something wrong, but her friends around her looked shaken up. Weirdly it didn't appear that anyone had seen me stop right before hitting the ground. Surely they would be saying something about it right?

Lexi grabbed my hand and helped me up, brushing dirt off of me.

"Are you sure you are really okay?" she asked me again searchingly, staring at me as if she could see my secrets.

I smiled in response and gave her a side hug.

"Perfect, it wasn't that far of a fall."

Lexi didn't seem convinced, but luckily let it go. Coach didn't seem to be over what had happened, and called an early end to practice. I strode off the field with Lexi, aware of a dozen girl's eyes on my back as I walked away.