Warm Blood

one

1

present day

The moment is pregnant with anticipation as I sit inside Dean Ramirez's office while she studies my transfer paperwork. She's unlikely to find any errors because I pay an overseas businessman a hefty sum of money to create a new life for me whenever I see fit. Should he ever create a life story that causes anyone to raise eyebrows, he knows his payment would be a swift death, so needless to say he does a pretty good job at triple checking everything.

Still, Dean Ramirez regards me with a careful look, probably taking in the sights of my long dark hair and piercing blue eyes. She's wondering how someone like me can have such a perfect and well-rounded resume because I sound too good to be true, but she doesn't question for long once I start talking about her rescue animals.

The inside of her office is reminiscent of someone who spends way too much time trying to convince others of their happiness. There are family pictures scattered around the room, each featuring herself alongside an unnamed man and three children, but there is no ring on her finger despite her insistence on having the best honeymoon vacation with her husband in Hawaii. She's a fraud and like most frauds, she puts on the appearance of her life being picture perfect when it is anything but.

But I can't blame her because I am a fraud, too.

Except my fraudulent activity isn't in the vein of impressing my peers. I am on a mission to achieve happiness and unfortunately, this happiness comes in the form of Savannah University in the heart of New Orleans.

"Here you go, Ms. Winters," Dean Ramirez says as she hands me a flimsy folder filled with papers with a pleased smile. "With your grades from your previous school and all of the amazing organizations you've been a part of, I just know you'll make a great addition to the gladiator family. Welcome, we're so glad to have you."

"Thanks," I say with the biggest smile I can muster. Of all the personas I have acquired in my lifetime, a college student is one of my favorites. Something about being in such close proximity to unsuspecting warm bodies who have no worries other than acing their Calculus test brings me a weird sense of joy. College students are happy, unrightfully so, but it is the kind of happiness I can only dream about. The kind of happiness I had when my fiancée was alive.

"Oh—" Dean Ramirez stands up abruptly from her swivel chair and moves around her desk to place a hand on my shoulder, ushering me out of the door along with her, "—now, before you head out, I'm going to send you off with one of our best student counselors. He's going to show you around and answer any questions you might have."

I open my mouth to object. The last thing I want is to become too much of a familiar face around campus, but Dean Ramirez does not want to take no for an answer. "I know it might be difficult having to transfer to a new school halfway through your career, so just know that you can utilize all of the student resources in order to acclimate better, m'kay?"

I am reluctant, but I say, "okay."

She nods her head in the direction of a boy who miraculously appears beside us. He stands close enough for me to catch a whiff of the strong, harsh scent of his cologne that he must've bathed himself in. "Hey, I'm Theo," are the first words to leave his mouth which are accompanied by a large grin that doesn't quite meet his forest green eyes.

His facial features are precise—a square face, a strong, angled jawline, a straight nose, and high cheekbones—but there's something about his face that has an oddly boyish charm to it. He spends a lot of time smiling because he has to showcase his unnaturally straight teeth that are probably the work of braces, and I can tell he's broken a lot of hearts with that smile.