BLACK ROSE (COMPLETED)

31 -

We walked side by side down the school hallway, heading towards the infirmary.

"By the way, I want to apologize for that day," Kerem said, slowing his pace.

I matched his pace, curious. "What day?"

"For hitting on you at Derin's birthday party. Things were rough between Derin and me at the time—still are, really. And, well, you weren't with Fatih yet. I thought the easiest way to protect you from the curse was to keep you close, instead of letting Fatih get involved. So I ended up hitting on you. Sorry, Ece."

"If it were any guy in your shoes, he'd have done the same. Being beautiful and perfect is such a pain," I teased, flipping my hair in mock arrogance. "But seriously, no hard feelings." I reached out, patting his arm gently in reassurance. "I get it."

"Thanks for understanding."

As I slipped into his mind with my telepathy, I could see Kerem had no intention of making another move now that I was with Fatih. He had too much honor to come between a friend and his girlfriend.

As we approached the infirmary, Kerem added, "And thank you for rejecting me that day. You gave me the time I needed to try to salvage things with Derin. I hope I can manage it."

"I'm sure the two of you will pull through this rough patch. Derin loves you; she won't give up on your relationship easily."

"Hope so..."

Speak of the devil. As we reached the infirmary door, we ran into Derin.

"What's up, you two?" she said, glancing from me to Kerem.

"I scratched my leg a bit," I explained, gesturing to my leg. "Came to the infirmary to get it taken care of."

Derin shrugged indifferently. "What's one scratched leg? Lucky for you, spiders have six legs."

"Eight," I corrected her.

"Well, self-awareness is a beautiful thing," Derin replied, grinning like the Cheshire Cat from Alice in Wonderland. Then, without another word, she wrapped herself around Kerem and started chatting with him.

I rolled my eyes. "Now that I've been subjected to my daily dose of Derin's snark, I can die happy. I'll leave you two lovebirds alone while I go get my bandage sorted."

"Alright, Ece," Kerem called after me.

I stepped into the infirmary and closed the door behind me. I headed over to the corner, where a small medical cart stood. I pulled out a packet of gauze and opened it, tossing the wrapper into the bin. Then, I eyed the large plastic bottle of antiseptic solution sitting on top of the cart. The bottle had a small spout designed to dispense the liquid in a controlled manner.

As I sat down on the examination bed and hiked my skirt up to my waist, I examined the scratch on my leg. It was ready for treatment. I grabbed the gauze and the antiseptic bottle, tipping the bottle upside down over the gauze to soak it. And that's when it happened...

The bottle's cap, which was unfortunately loose, popped off and fell to the floor, and the antiseptic solution poured out in a torrent, drenching me. My thighs, legs, even my shoes were soaked in the brown liquid.

Damn this curse, damn it all!

Don't lose your temper, Ece. Just play it cool, I told myself. I pressed the gauze into the pool of antiseptic on my clothes and used it to clean the wound. It worked. My scratch was disinfected, and probably any future wounds as well, given how much of that stuff had soaked into me.

Not wanting someone else to suffer the same fate, I bent down to pick up the fallen cap and screw it back onto the bottle.

I got off the bed and crouched down, but when I reached for the cap, I accidentally knocked it further under the bed. Sighing, I dropped to my hands and knees and reached out. At last, I caught it!