ELSKER: THE ELSKER SAGA *complete*

CHAPTER SIX

Chapter Six  

THE EVENING CAME AND went, and I didn’t hear from Ull. He didn’t show up to Mythology on Tuesday either. At first I was worried. I tried calling him, but his voicemail was turned off – and I didn’t have his home number. I didn’t know where he lived, so I couldn’t stop by to make sure he was okay. Not that I would have; he didn’t need to know how obsessed I’d become.

But a few days passed, and I started to think Ull might not be sick at all – what if he was avoiding me? He knew how to reach me if he wanted to see me again. And my phone was silent. Ugh, I was so naïve. Ull told me what I wanted to hear to get what he wanted. He’d been a jerk for a whole week, and when he’d needed to borrow my notes, he suddenly got all nice. Then he made out with me in a couple of castles and just disappeared. How did I not see this coming?

The unavoidable truth hit me in full force on Thursday morning. Ull got to know me and he just wasn’t that into me. I might not have known a whole lot about dating, but I did know he’d have called by now if he wanted to. There was no way around it. I’d opened myself up to a guy I barely knew, and he didn’t like me back. Humiliation washed over me in waves.

The problem was that Ull wasn’t the kind of guy you could just stop thinking about. Spending time with Nice Ull had been pretty fantastic. And now that I knew how great he could be, how was I going to go back to just ignoring him around campus?

I was going to have to cancel my pity party if I didn’t want to flunk out of Cardiff. My first class of the day was Mythology, and it started in less than an hour. “Of course,” I moaned, indulging in one last moment of misery.

Mythology. He would be there. I briefly contemplated staying in bed, but the semester was long and I couldn’t avoid him forever. It wasn’t like I’d fallen in love or anything. Besides, Mormor hadn’t raised me to get all wrapped up in a guy. With a groan, I rolled out of bed and took extra care getting ready.

I used almost all of the products in my new Clinique bag, from tinted moisturizer to lash curling mascara. With great care, I utilized the big and the small barreled curling irons and teased my hair into the style from the back cover of Victoria’s fashion magazine. There was no point in looking as pathetic as I felt.

It took tremendous effort not to drag my feet as I walked to class, and I slunk into the lecture hall and hid behind my perfectly curled hair. I permitted myself a glance towards his usual seat, but it was empty again. With a sigh, I headed to my row. Henry was waiting.

“Kristia.” He nodded.

“Henry.” I nodded back, not having the energy to fake a good mood. Thankfully, he was an easy seatmate.

“You look nice today. Going somewhere after class?”

“Nope. Unless you want to get a cup of tea.” I booted up my laptop.

“Rough morning?” Henry typed the date.

“You have no idea.”

“Well then, tea’s on me.” He patted my forearm, a brotherly gesture.

“Thanks, Henry.”

“Don’t mention it. Hey, do you think you could e-mail me your notes from Tuesday? I accidentally deleted part of the lecture on Jotunheim.”

“Sure.” I tried not to think about the last guy I’d shared my notes with. Look where that had landed me.

“Good morning, class,” Professor Carnicke took the podium, her sandy hair swinging behind her. “Let’s begin. On Tuesday, we talked about Jotunheim. Asgard had enemies in almost every realm. These enemies worked together to defeat the gods at Ragnarok, but each realm also launched regular attacks on Asgard.