Conquest of Magic

Part 2

My eyes froze for a moment when he caught us staring, and to my shock, he started walking toward us.

"Shit, he's coming this way!" Emma whispered urgently as he pulled out a chair and sat down right next to me. I felt myself freeze on the spot, completely caught off guard. The suddenness of it all made me feel uneasy. He had hair the same shade of brown as mine, stunning green eyes, and lips that were almost distractingly perfect.

"I'm William, Jacob's friend, and your new classmate." He introduced himself with a smile that could make any girl's heart skip a beat. His voice was smooth and deep, and those dark green eyes sparkled when I quickly looked down at my plate. My heart was pounding so hard, I was sure he could hear it.

I've never felt so self-conscious around guys before, but something about him had me instantly hooked. I couldn't bring myself to meet his gaze again. Everything around me blurred into the background—except for him.My friends looked at him with wide eyes. He chuckled, bringing us out of our trance.

"Hi! I'm Emma, and this is Lucy and Kristen," Emma said, introducing us to the green-eyed hottie.

"Pleasure to meet you," he replied, his gaze lingering on each of us.

"I'm sorry, but Jacob never mentioned you," Lucy chimed in, her tone flirting.

"Oh? Maybe you should ask him about that," William suggested, glancing behind us just as Jacob approached with a tray of food. William waved at him, and I couldn't help but wonder how he knew Jacob was there without even turning around.

"I see you've met my friends," Jacob said, sitting down across from me.

"Well," he added with a playful wink and a grin directed at me, "I just had to come see these gorgeous girls you always talk about." His comment made us blush even harder.

"Jacob, you never bothered to mention William to us!" Lucy teased, her voice still flirtatious.

"Sorry," Jacob said, giving her a look that seemed to say, I know exactly what you're up to. She rolled her eyes but kept her focus on William.

"We met while I was on a research study," Jacob explained. "He recently moved here." His tone suggested that was all he knew about William.

"William! Professor Arthur wants us to meet in his office to discuss the project," Jacob said after finishing his juice.

"Let's go," William agreed, and they both got up to leave.

"Wait, that was weird," I said, feeling a bit unsettled.

"Definitely," Emma replied, her voice filled with curiosity. I watched William walk away, but just before he turned the corner, he glanced back and winked at me. I gasped and quickly turned my head away.

Lucy caught my reaction and gave me a knowing look. "Well," she murmured, raising an eyebrow.

"What?" I asked, trying to sound innocent.

"He winked at you. Looks like you've got an admirer," she teased, giving me a playful wink of her own. My face flushed bright red.

"Seems like the handsome hunk wants your attention more than ours," Emma added, grinning and joining in on the teasing.

"Shut up," I muttered, blushing even more as they both chuckled.

When the bell rang, we all split up for our next classes. I found myself glancing back over my shoulder, searching the crowd for him.

Why am I looking for him? I wondered, frustrated with myself. He was just a stranger, yet my heart skipped a beat at the thought of him. I'd never felt this kind of instant attraction to any guy before, but there was something mysterious about him that had captured my attention.