Chasing the tesseract

Chapter 9

Pulling on my jacket and tucking may blades into the belt around my waist, I check myself over in the mirror once before leaving my room and heading for the library. My leather knee high boots click against the floor as I make my way down the hall, passing masters and students as I go. As I turn around the corner, I hit someone's hard chest and drop my book as I wobble.

"Watch it!" demands the stranger I've walked into as I bend down and pick up my book. Muttering curse words under my breath, I look up to be greeted by two blue-green eyes. Stephen's blue-green eyes. "Oh it's you." he states as he takes in my presence in front of him. A single strand of his dark brown hair falls into his face as I stand there, glaring at him.

"Watch where I'm going?" I repeat as I step away from him, my voice echoing off the narrow hallway. How does he have the nerve? Anger bubbles from deep inside of me as my power begins to spark. "You were the one who walked into me!"

"I did not." He argues, his eyes narrowing as he crosses his arms across his chest and looks down at me. Reflecting his movements, I cross my arms across my chest as I stare up at him through narrowed eyes. He really has the nerve to blame this on me?

"Yes you did." I counter.

"No I didn't."

"Yes you did."

"Yeah I did." he chuckles, a smirk forming on his face.

"No you didn't." I blurt out before covering my mouth when I realise what I said.

"Ha. Got you." He chuckles as I roll my eyes. I'm not letting him win this one. Frustration filling my body, my heart begins to pound as it echoes in my ears.

"You didn't get me Stephen." I reply, my voice calm even though my hands are in tight fists. I can't let him see that he's got to me. I'll never hear the end of it if I do.

"I did though." he chuckles, his voice raising a little as he steps closer to me. His warm breath tickles my face, sending a shiver down my spine. My breath catches as our eyes lock causing my cheeks to burn.

"No you didn't." I mumble, my voice trembling as I turn away from Stephen. Noticing how uncomfortable I am, Stephen steps even closer to me so that he's stood directly behind me, his voice hot on my neck. His body is inches from mine, close enough that if I move at all I'll either walk into the wall or step back against him.

"Your right I didn't." he whispers in my ear, his lips brushing against the top of my ear as he looks down at me. Swallowing hard, I steady my breath as his blue-green eyes trace their way from my eyes to my lips and then to my neck. His eyes are burnig my skin, leaving a tingling sensation everywhere they lay.

"Yes you did." I blurt out, unaware of the conversation, instead just wanting to contradict him. Lifting his hand, he takes a strand of my dark brown hair, tucking it gently behind my ear as he brushes the rest away from my neck, leaving the skin on my shoulder bare. "Why do I keep falling for that?" I mumble, closing my eyes as I turn away from him. Biting my lip, I take a deep breath, pushing down the heat from my cheeks.

"Because you just love to contradict me." He whispers as his had reaches for the belt at my waist. Or more specifically, the knife in it. Shaking my head and covering the knife with my hand, I turn around to face him so that our faces are inches apart. "See, you just did it then." he mumbles as he bites his lip. My eyes flicker down to his lips mometraily before I look back up at him. My cool breath collides with his as sparks fly in the room. Is it just me or is it getting hot in here?

"I don't have time to play your childish games." I hiss as my face turns up so that I'm looking him directly in the eyes for the first time. Stepping backwards in an attempt to make some space between our bodies, my back hits the wall. Within moments, Stephen has placed his hands on either side of my face, trapping me there. As a shiver travels down my spine, I take a deep shaky breath, reaching for my knife. His hand grabs mine, stopping me from reaching it and instead pressing it against the wall. My skin tingles as his fingers lace around my wrist and hold it in place by my side.