Humanoid (Dream Warriors Book 1)

Chapter 23

CHAPTER 23

Erotic dreams featuring Jalun left me sexually charged and unsatisfied every single night. It pained me none of my friends noticed we were no longer an item. To limit his control, I applied a complete emotional shutdown, allowing me to concentrate on my studies and dim the clatter of multiple unanswered questions wallowing in the pit of my brain.

Each day rolled into one during the first few weeks of the Second Semester, every second a major effort. I avoided Jalun during classes and refused to interact with him around campus. Misty only attended one of mine and Kiah's four courses, preventing her from offering moral support during the awkward moments I bumped into Jalun. Persuading Kiah, however reluctantly, to attend alternative lectures (so I could avoid Jalun) helped my cause. I relished my lessons in inorganic, physical and organic chemistry because Jalun and Blake took a different chemistry course to support their degrees.

Those instances we collided, Jalun's gaze hungrily tracked my every movement. I sensed his burning confusion over my attitude, which fuelled my growing anger and frustration. How dare he act like this was my fault, not after he'd chosen to put cultural ideals before our relationship? Anger left me feeling irrational, stalling the possibility of talking through our problems. I accepted, however begrudgingly, the inevitable confrontation would flare up in the not so distant future.

Kiah and I sat with Blake in classes. Logan and Mason returned to the gang, Harry tagging along for those lectures he bothered to grace his presence with, even if he appeared haggard and withdrawn. Add Luke and Tom in the mix and their banter kept my mind off other painful thoughts I refused to get into.

From a distance, I identified the budding friendship building between Blake and JayJay, but neither of them revealed any details. Blake hung out with Kiah around campus before classes and went out with her at the end of each day. She disappeared until late in the evening, and one week she vanished for an entire weekend.

Kiah eventually let slip that JayJay introduced Blake to Muay Thai and other martial arts at his local club in Loganlea. We were privileged she let slip that little titbit of information, their relationship following a serious hush-hush formula. What I couldn't figure out. Had JayJay finally sussed out Blake dated his adoptive sister? I highly doubted it after his reaction to their canoodling on the backseat of his truck after the festival in Laura.

Dr Vernersen sent a text to remind me about our next scheduled wellbeing meeting arranged for the afternoon at the Biological Sciences Library. I enjoyed his dry sense of humour and gruff yet kind nature. To be honest, he'd become a sturdy constant in my life. Who'd have thought? He possessed the most amazing sixth sense, tuning directly into my moods. And today seemed no exception. Although he avoided probing me directly, each question sought to trigger an emotional reaction. Unfortunately for him, my childhood experiences with shrinks handed me the ideal tools to counter step his feeble attempts. His concern surpassed the teacher/student boundaries. Not in a creepy way, more like a worried uncle. I appreciated his interest in my life, but I knew he wouldn't be able to help me overcome any of the issues I faced.

Near the end of our meeting, he recommended I find out more about Peer Assisted Study Sessions or PASS for short; small discussion groups led by a senior undergraduate, aimed at students new to an academic module. Although meetings weren't compulsory, he rated them as a method to consolidate my course knowledge. His attempts at breaking through the crusty shell wrapped around my emotions prompted my immediate agreement to his suggestion. Give the man a bone, and he might leave me the hell alone.

I signed-up for PASS classes at the Student Office to reinforce my cells and organisms module, straight after our meeting. The faculty allocated me a PASS Leader from their portfolio, finding a session straight after lessons the same day. To my absolute mortification, the nominated student turned out to be JayJay. Although the pairing made sense since he studied in the fourth year in Environmental Sciences, the fact failed to sweeten the bitter taste in my mouth.