Mesmerized | ✓

6

After another night of weird dreams Carl felt so feverish and sick that he actually ended up with his head in the toilet bowl as soon as he woke from one of the nightmares. Once he was done emptying his stomach, he sat down on the cold floor wondering what the hell was wrong with him and how could Yuli bend him according to his will.

The mysterious boy was at his side in an instant soothing him with his sweet and enchanting voice. Carl leaned into the soft sound letting him rub his arms and pet his hair. He was immediately healed of his sickness and of his rational thinking. "It's okay." Yuli kept saying. "You're okay."

And it was okay. No, it was perfect because as long as Yuli was with him, as long as he whispered sweet nothings into his ear Carl knew there was nowhere else he'd rather be but right there, in Yuli's arms.

They grabbed a quick breakfast and then went off to attend Carl's classes. The boy didn't know if he had all the right coursebooks in his backpack nor did he remember if he had the homework done but one flash of Yuli's smile reassured him that neither of that mattered.

As they walked through the hallways Carl felt lost in the maze that was the building and he wasn't exactly sure if he was walking in the right direction. Yuli kept curiously looking around at all the people passing by and they in turn stared right back at him. Each of them would slow down their walk when their eyes landed on the mysterious boy and their gazes would glue to him.

It was as if a movie star had entered the school. Yuli clearly loved all the attention he was getting as he beamed smiling at each and every one of them. And this smile seemed to be the greatest gift one could receive. Carl felt proud that he was the one Yuli was walking with. He felt satisfaction when other students looked at him with envy.

Carl and Yuli finally managed to find the right lecture hall, probably mostly thanks to Carl's muscle memory or something like that. It was already mostly filled out and when the students saw Yuli they all looked at him but they didn't seem to enter the same weird trance that Carl appeared to always be in when he was around him. They fell silent for a second but quickly resumed their conversations.

But there was one person that didn't even cast a look at Yuli but stared at Carl instead. It was Candace. Something buried deep inside reminded him that he should be worried about her seeing Yuli but he was too weak to spend more time thinking about it. This notion left him quite quickly as he moved to take his usual seat beside her but this time with Yuli tailing him.

*****

Seeing her friend so frantic made Candace worried about Carl. She had been trying to contact him ever since their weird encounter outside his apartment but it was as if he was dead to the world. And yet, here he was, entering the lecture hall as if nothing had ever happened. Well, she noticed that there was still something off about him.

Carl looked dazed, as if he wasn't really there, his clothes were wrinkled and hair greasy, seemingly unwashed for a couple of days. It wasn't usual for him. What also surprised her was that when he entered the classroom everyone became silent. Like there was some rumor going around about him and Candace wasn't in the know.

The silence ended as Carl took his usual seat next to her. But the girl noticed also another person. A boy she had never seen in any of their classes before. He looked a little young to be in college but he could be some kind of genius for all she knew. He had pale skin of a fragile porcelain doll, eyes so green that he had to be wearing contact lenses and a mop of wavy ginger hair. He was looking at her weird, as if expecting something from her. "Would you introduce me to your friend?" He finally asked when the girl didn't react to him on her own.

"Oh, this is my friend, Candace." Carl said in a flat voice that didn't really sound like his own. "Candace, this is Yuli."

The girl raised her eyebrows. "Yuli who?" She asked not really caring that she could come off as rude.

Carl opened his mouth, as to answer, but nothing came out so he looked to Yuli for help. But the boy wasn't even looking at him, his gaze was fixed on Candace and Candace only. She didn't like that. He seemed creepy.

"My friend." He answered hesitantly.

"Where did you two meet?" She asked. "I haven't seen you around the campus before."

This time it was Yuli who seemed a little taken aback by her questions. "Ugh, we just bumped into each other." The boy answered.

"Interesting." Candace had a bad feeling about that Yuli guy. "Are you okay, Carl?" She asked turning back to her best friend. "You don't look well."

"I'm great." He answered with a smile. "I just haven't been sleeping well lately."

Before she could voice any more of her doubts their teacher entered the lecture hall.

"Bonjour, tout le monde." He began dropping his things onto his desk. "We'll start by..." He trailed off when his gaze landed on Yuli. "Ugh..." He cleared his throat, shook his head and continued on with the lecture.

The boy looked at her with his eyes only half-open. He smiled at her slightly. "Nothing is going on." He said simply. "Everything is alright."

*****

Yuli was stunned by Candace, truly enchanted. Yet she was resistant to his charms. It was beyond frustrating but at least now he knew it was her he was chasing after. It was her that would grant him immortality. But first he needed to make her fall in love with him, but for real without having the advantage of being irresistible.

He watched her confusion and frustration with amusement as she got more and more worried by the behavior of her friend who didn't have the same resistance as her. It would be a challenge but one Yuli was ready to take on.

A/N: Thank you for reading and the votes! I appreciate them all :)