Love Denied Vol.1 Of The Love Trials Trilogy

Chapter 8 "Gathering..."

(Minori's POV)

Third lunch was finally starting and I was heading towards my new hideout when I caught sight of her.

Victoria Saul.

I changed the direction of my course, and headed towards her. Herds of people who were heading to or from lunch crowded the halls, and I almost lost sight of her if not for the tall guy next to her. I may not have even noticed him if I hadn't noticed Tori talking to him. They moved into an empty hallway, and both of them were a good two feet away from. I didn't want to run after her, so I walked right behind them.

They led me to the art room, the room where the very secret art club meetings were held. By the time I reached the door, they had entered the room. I took a moment to look at the doors that led into that room, they were very interesting. The door had anime characters painted on a blue background. The two windows on the doors were covered up by black paper.

Taking a deep breath, I placed a hand on the door handle and pulled it open.

"Ah... Hi!" I said cheerfully as I glanced around.

Everyone stood frozen inside, except for the tall guy I had seen talking to Tori, and a girl who I swear could've been Tori's twin...except paler.

"Well, hi there girl!" Logan Paige the Vice President of the Robotics Team exclaimed with a grin.

I shivered inwardly.

I also noticed that the Robotics Teams President was here... Baird Orville. Everyone else who was well known to be part of the Art Club was here, except Jamie Locke, the Art Club's Vice President.

"What are you doing here, Minori?" Tori asked her voice flat, but her eyes showed me otherwise.

They were warm and welcoming.

"I have to talk to you about that art gallery... So I wanted to know if you'd go out to lunch with me tomorrow?" I asked, my stomach doing flip-flops.

For a moment as she glanced at the people around us it seemed like she would turn me down, but when her dark brown eyes met mine a smile broke out on her face.

"Yeah, I'd love that! I'll pick you up at your house... How about two o'clock in the afternoon?" Tori asked, her eyes seeming to melt my insides.

"That's okay! It's a date!" I said cheerfully, but then I felt panicky as my words registered in my mind.

It's a date!

Ugh... How obvious can I be?! What if she doesn't swing that way, or worst! She's a homophobic! Oh god! Everyone knew how she felt about Baird and Logan's relationship! What if...

"Yeah, it's a date." Tori said giving me a wink and a grin.

I broke out in a smile as I turned to leave.

"See you around Flower!" I said spontaneously with a wave and a glance back.

"Bye Babe!" Tori said with a wolfish grin.

And one glance at everyone behind Tori showed me that a lot of people were as baffled as I was by Tori's nonexistent outrage at the little nickname.

Then again, I wasn't a bit outraged by my little nickname.

I smiled smugly because Hikaru was wrong. Tori wasn't dangerous, she was everything I ever wanted. She was an aspiring artist, tough, could smile a smile that melted my heart, and maybe she'd be able to handle my deep dark secret...

Maybe.