Teenage Vampyrs, Enchanteds, and Shapeshifters join the Otherworlder Academy to train to fight off a demon horde and save the Otherworlder realm.
Welcome to the rewrite of The Otherworlders! (This is v2 version, which explains the odd read to vote r...
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A/N - Sorry, for the delay! This chapter somehow turned into two!!
I'm publishing the first part now (at the Academy) and then the next part (back to the mission) next week.
This chapter also turned out to be really, really complicated (but enlightening!) I had to fight for every word. It was like chipping away at a block of marble to let the statue (the narrative in this case) come through. ARGH! It was tough but I love it!
I hope you love it too!
~ Paula
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Inez and Cameron are sitting at a table in the middle of the academy courtyard, eating lunch and studying. While Aidan is away on his mission, Headmaster Pierce has given them an assignment to work on, largely focused on honing their Minor Magic skills so they don't get rusty.
However, instead of studying, they're procrastinating.
Cameron-having finally earned Inez's forgiveness for trying to interfere with her and Jake's newfound friendship-feels entirely at ease with her again, the tension between them having dissipated. At one point, he even leans over and points out something in his book that makes Inez squeal, then throw her head back and laugh.
Jake, who's standing in the dining hall doorway leading out to the courtyard sees this-the two of them together, getting along so well-and feels the sharp pang of envy sucker punch him in the gut.
He leans his head back against the cold stone of the archway and sighs.
For the past twenty minutes, he'd been scouring the campus, looking for Inez. He's got a one-on-one scheduled with Master Achebe to discuss his studying habits (apparently, Master Achebe has already had his little chat with Cameron and Sebastian), but Jake's appointment got pushed back an hour.
So, with time to kill, he thought he'd track Inez down and return the Harry Potter book she'd read to him in the infirmary, but left behind for him to finish. He was also hoping that he could use the book as a pretext, or at least an opportunity, to spend some quality time with her... alone.
But finding her and Cameron hanging out like this has thrown a major wrench into his plans.
And it's only made worse by the fact that, in some ways, they look really good together, they just fit, interacting so naturally and amiably, like two friends who've known each other all their lives. And even if their relationship was only platonic, it physically hurts to see the intimacy between them, see them laughing and joking so comfortably together.
Frowning, Jake considers turning back because the last thing he wants to be is a third wheel, especially to-of all people-Cameron.
But after giving it some more thought, he realizes that while he may not be able to hang out with Inez as he'd planned, by going to the trouble of returning her book, at least it lets her know that he's thinking about her. Okay, sure, it's a tiny gesture, but it's still a meaningful one because, seriously, whoever bothers to return a book they've borrowed from a friend?
