Forbidden Love

chapter nineteen

Getting sick was possibly one of the worst things that could happen to you.

With my head on my desk, and my eyes shut, I dreamt for my graduation day. I couldn't wait to finally be done with college.

"You okay Reign?" I heard Jamie ask me. I hummed a little, not in the mood to talk.

"She probably missed her daily chai," I heard Will snicker behind me.

"Haha, very funny," I croaked. Jamie's eyes widen while Will made a disgusting face.

"You sound terrible," Will pointed out. He moved back from me, as if I was contagious or something. Jamie noticed what he was doing and followed his lead.

"I'm not contagious guys!" I screeched, my voice sounding like a dying walrus.

"Just taking precautions," Will replied, lifting his hoodie over his mouth and nose. I rolled my eyes at his immaturity. He was making it seem like I had Ebola or something.

"Maybe you should go home or something," Jamie suggested, moving her stuff closer to her now that she scooted down.

"This was my only class today anyways. Don't worry," I said, crossing my arms. "I'll be gone soon enough."

"And I thought you would never leave," I heard Will mumbled. I threw my pencil pouch at him, exhausted of his comments.

"I'm just kidding!" He protested, laughing at my random outbursts.

After giving him the middle finger I redirected my attention to the front as Professor Rowe came in.

"I hope you guys did your reading because we're about to take a Quiz."

"What? He can't do that! It wasn't on the syllabus!" I heard Jamie frantically exclaim, flipping through her notes.

"It doesn't matter," I replied, shrugging. "He's a professor he can do whatever he pleases."

In the inside I was beaming. I've read the assigned reading inside and out, memorizing it like it was a religious passage. If I didn't ace this quiz I would know for sure he had it out for me.

~*~

"Get your sick self off my couch!" I heard Noel complain. I coughed one more time, just to annoy her. "Ugh, you know I hate germs!"

"Well deal with it," I childishly replied, grabbing the remote to change the channel.

I was snuggled up on Noel's couch, flopping through her channels. Noel came out of the kitchen in silk pajamas with a bowl of popcorn in her arms. She frowned at me as she put the bowl on the coffee table.

"As soon as Scott makes you soup you have to leave. I'm not trying to get sick too!"

"Oh cry me a river Noel. I doubt it's contagious," I replied, rolling my eyes.

"Did you ask Julian?" She asked, sitting at the end of the couch. I moved my legs over so she had more space.

"He said it was probably just the flu, since the weather is changing and all."

Noel nodded and redirected her attention to the TV. "So, you ready to tell me why you hate Rachel? I mean you two were friends just a couple of weeks ago and now you can't stand to be in the same room as her."

I shrugged and continued to look at the TV. I hoped my attempt to act nonchalant was working. "She annoys me, you know that."

"No, Charlotte annoys you. You never had a problem with Rachel," she continued.

Though Tobias and I were on good terms now, it still bothered me every time I saw him with Rachel. He was back to his normal charming self and Rachel noticed it. I knew since they were paired together for Noel's wedding they had to get along but, he didn't have to be that friendly.

"I figured out that she annoys me too," I told her. This wasn't exactly a lie. Every time I saw her she was practically drooling all over him, making me want to slap her.

Noel scuffed. "You have people problems."

I smiled smugly. "Oh you know it."

"Your soup is ready Reign!" I heard Scott call from the kitchen. I secretly squealed with joy; anything Scott made was divine.

I pulled the blanket off my legs and slapped it on Noel, earning another fit of complains from her. I laughed at her before I interrupted in a full out coughing war.

"That's what you get!" I heard Noel call behind me.

I maneuvered my way into their kitchen and slid onto a stool. There, a large mug filled with vegetable soup was waiting for me, the steam creating little clouds.

"Thank you, Scott. At least someone cares about my well being," I joked, my voice still sounding horrible.

Scott grinned at me before setting out some crackers in front of me. "Noel shows her love in her own way."

I snorted. "You and I both know that very well."

We both sat in silence for the next couple of minutes. The only sound we heard was the faint hum of the TV in the other room as well as the occasional slurp of our soup.

"I hope you're taking good care of my cousin," Scott finally spoke, interrupting the silence.

I frowned at his random comment, my mouth open ready to comment back before he continued.

"He really likes you Reign and I know how you can be," he told me softly, as if everything was going to be okay if he spoke it in a gentle tone. "Don't play any games with him. He's a good guy. You're either all in or all out."

His words made me wonder what Scott actually knew. The way he was talking made me ponder if he knew about Tobias in any way. We've been careful before, when we were together, and now that we were friends we exchanged the periodic jokes and brief hugs. There was no way he could know about Tobias.

"You don't have to worry," I replied finally. I rested my hand in his shoulder and gave him a reassuring smile.

Scott returned a smile of his own before nodding. "I'm sorry. I just have to look out for him, you know?"

Guilt passed through me as I nodded after slurping my soup. "I know exactly where you're coming from."

Light, short chapter before I write the next chapter, which will be filled with a lot of events.