Bind Me To You

Chapter Thirteen

Avery spent English and Religion reliving the moment that Azrael had appeared before her and snatched Paige's hand out of the air. The look of fear on her face as she stared into the eyes of a demon, and the memory of the pair scrambling out of the room.

She felt so powerful, and for the first time she didn't stop herself from thinking about eating in the cafeteria, or even talking to Ethan if he passed her in the hall.

She imagined how she would bump into him and how they would both apologise at the same time. He would ask if she was free that afternoon, and when she said 'yes' they would swap numbers. He would take her to a cute little cafe and she would finally get the courage to tell him that she knew him in middle school.

She had been so caught up in her imagination that she had almost missed it when Miss Edal announced the next assignment for religion. It was to be a report about a topic from the first few weeks of the semester.

"You're more than welcome to choose your assignment focus as long as it has links to the first few topics. You can choose to write about Michael and his role in the battle against Lucifer, the fall of angels to earth and what became of them, demons or angels and so forth" Miss Edal explained, placing her marker down on her desk. "This assignment is due two weeks from now, on Friday". With that, the bell rang and with groans and complaints students slowly packed up and began to leave for lunch.

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The cafeteria was a large square room with rows of rectangular metal tables and chairs. Countless students had already gathered, crowding towards the food lines and filing through the buffet style selections.

A feeling of intimidation was quick to overcome Avery as she watched students push and shove each other against the metal poles that served to keep some kind of order in the line. She turns to look back at the big blue double doors before taking a deep breath. No, I don't want to be scared anymore.

After a minute or so of being bumped and pushed forward, she was looking over the selection of food. Half of the food looked as though it was some kind of meat thrown in a blender until it looked like oddly coloured sludge. She managed to pick up a small serving of beans, corn and what she hoped was some kind of pasta bake.

It wasn't until Avery was carrying the plastic tray back towards an empty table in the middle of the cafeteria that Paige and her gang caught Avery's eye. Paige squinted, pressing her tongue to the inside of her mouth and looking Avery up and down in disgust.

Her expression was quick to change into a smile when Ethan walked up beside her and put his hand on her shoulder, saying something to her that Avery couldn't hear. The pair were followed by Hayden, Scott, Addison and another girl that Avery didn't recognise.

Avery averted her eyes, hoping that she could go through lunch without any trouble from Paige or her posse. She took a seat at the empty table, placing her tray down in front of her. "Slut" A stranger muttered with a low chuckle as they passed behind the blonde, causing Avery to bring her eyes down to her lap. Maybe I shouldn't have come here after all...

Avery thought for a moment about what it would be like if Azrael was sitting across from her. She was sure that this appearance and demeanour would scare everybody away. It was just that she didn't want to encourage any attention towards her, she already had enough from those girls who hissed nasty words to her.

Where does he go when he isn't around? Does he go back to ... Hell? Avery's gaze shot up as she glanced around the room, or does he follow me like some kind of stalker? It wasn't Azrael that she saw though, attracting the attention of many people in the cafeteria as they walked towards her. Who she saw instead was Ethan, plastic tray in hand.

"Hey..." He began as he approached the table, giving Avery a nervous smile as he eyed the seat across from her. "Hi..." Avery muttered, trying to look up at him but finding that her eyes would dart away the moment she saw emerald green. Why is he here?