Chapter 15: Homecoming
Rowena
I let out a soft sigh and pushed my glasses up on my nose, then tucked a stray curl behind my ear as I bent over the notebook in front of me.
“I’m going to lunch, Rowena.” The head manager stood from his desk and grabbed his jacket off of his chair. “You’ll be okay in here on your own for an hour, right?”
I nodded and looked up, meeting his gaze with a polite smile. “Yes. Enjoy your lunch.” With a curt nod, the head manager strode out of the office and left me alone. I watched his form fade away through the glass door, mingling with the other students who were walking past. I could see how they were chattering excitedly, pointing at the new posters that were practically lining every wall.
“Come to the Homecoming Honeys dance this Saturday!” the sign read. Then, underneath: ” Bring your ‘homecoming honey‘ for free drinks!”
I glowered a bit at the sign and shook my head. The atmosphere around the camp had changed so much this week since the dance had been announced; everyone seemed to be talking about it, and everyone seemed to have a date already.
Everyone except for me, it seemed.
But I had plans. I wasn’t going to skip out on the dance; I just needed to ask someone first, and I had someone in mind, no matter how crazy it was.
Returning my attention to the warrior stats on the page, I went back to my work. This past week, for my first week of the internship, I had been tasked with keeping track of stats.
It wasn’t the most exciting work, but it was a start. And the head manager was already happy with my work, so I knew it was only a matter of time before I began moving onto more advanced tasks–like performing physical exams.
I wasn’t working for long, however, when the door suddenly swung open. Lifting my head, I looked up to see none other than Eric walking in. He had two sandwiches in his hand, wrapped in tin foil, and handed one to me.
“Thanks,” I said as I accepted the sandwich. “What kind?”
“They only had chicken salad. Sorry.”
I grimaced a bit and set the sandwich aside. “I’ll eat it anyway,” I said, then gestured toward the chair next to me. “Sit.”
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Eric obliged and opened his own sandwich. He leaned over to take a look at my notebook. ” They’ve still got you on statistics duty?” he asked. “Thought you’d be onto more interesting stuff by now.”
“Just because it isn’t interesting doesn’t mean it’s not important.” I clicked the pen and shut my notebook. “Hold out your hand. I feel like practicing.”
With a shake of his head, Eric held his free arm out, palm upward, while he continued to eat his sandwich with the other. I took his hand and spread his fingers out, poking at the lines on his palm with the back of my pen.
“Your hands have gotten huge since I last saw you,” I teased. “They’re practically twice the size they were before you left.”
Eric shrugged. “Don’t forget that I was gone for three years, Rowena,” he said. “I’m a man now. Hardly a boy.”
I quirked an eyebrow at him, but couldn’t retort; after all, he wasn’t wrong. So much had changed over the past three years. For both of us, actually. But we had gone in two separate directions–while Eric had embraced his playboy nature, I had become even more studious.
Maybe we had both gone a little too far in those two directions.
Returning my attention to his arm, though, I continued the normal checkup. I traced the length of the tip of his middle finger all the way up his forearm, taking a mental note of the measurement. The muscles looked good and sturdy, and his veins were a good size.
Then, turning his hand over, I began to inspect his knuckles. All of the bones were shaped perfectly, just like a sculpture. He really was in peak form, as was expected for a Griffith.
Yet another reason as to why no one ever believed we were siblings. My parents had always said that my body would fill out more once my wolf would emerge, but I had already lost hope. Maybe I was doomed to being skinny and awkward forever.
“Any irregularities, Doctor?” he teased.
“Nope.” I smirked. “Perfect as always.”
Eric smirked with satisfaction and returned his attention to his sandwich. But then, something came over me. I carefully turned his hand over again, letting my finger trace a lazy circle on his palm.
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“Can I ask you something?” I asked softly.
He nodded. “Anything.”
I drew in a deep breath, then lifted my gaze to meet his. I intertwined my fingers with his, and
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Chapter 15 Homecoming
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took note of the confusion in his bright blue eyes. “Rowena-
“Will you go to the homecoming dance with me?” I whispered.
Eric froze, and there was a heavy silence between us. The longer I looked at him, the more dazed he seemed to be. I could feel his fingers twitch, tightening ever so slightly around mine.
He swallowed. “Rowena, I… I think…”
Suddenly, I leaned back and flashed a cheeky grin, untangling our fingers. “Well, what do you think?” I asked, crossing my legs with satisfaction. “Do you think that will work on Adrian? You think he’d say yes?”
Eric’s eyes seemed to flash in that moment, the brilliant blue clouded by something unexpected. “What?” he asked.
I shrugged. “I’ve been practicing ever since you showed me how to flirt,” I said. “So, what do you think? I want Adrian to say yes.”
There was another heavy silence. Eric set his half–eaten sandwich slowly down on the wrapping on the table, and in that moment, I felt my naughty smile begin to fade.
“Eric…”
I could see the way that his jaw seemed to tense, the way that a shallow ravine became strangled in his jawbone from the tension. Even the veins in his arms began to bulge more than usual.
Was he… angry? Angry because I teased him and practiced my flirting techniques?
Suddenly, he stood. His next words came out biting. “Obviously, Adrian won’t oblige you.” “W–What?” I stood too, feeling a slight tremor take over me. Eric never yelled when he was angry; instead, he always stayed calm, but the calm voice he took on when he was angry was like the thousand omens of a storm.
It was so unlike his usual teasing playboy nature, which made it almost frightening- especially now that he was older and more muscular, and his voice was deeper.
He grabbed his jacket off of the chair and turned coldly to face me. “Your flirting skills are going to need further refinement if you expect anyone to say yes to you,” he said. “And you should also learn how to dance before homecoming as well.”
I swallowed. Maybe Eric was right; I had been too teasing in my approach, and besides, I had no clue how to dance. Even if Adrian did somehow say yes, I wouldn’t be prepared for homecoming.
All of a sudden, Eric gripped my chin and leaned closer so that his warm breath mingled with
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my own.
“And besides… there’s a price to pay for fooling me, Rowena.”
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