Finally, class was over. I waited patiently until everyone had left before stepping out myself.
The hallway buzzed with endless chatter, students rushing to their next classes, some pressed into corners making out, others smoking weed like they had nothing to lose. Everyone seemed busy doing something, anything, except me.
I dragged my feet toward the school cafeteria. It was packed, but luckily I spotted Krin sitting alone at a small table tucked into a tight corner. I walked over and dropped into the seat beside him.
I slumped forward, resting my head on the table and letting out a low groan.
"How was class today?" he asked, sliding his smoothie toward me. "Something tells me you had a hard day."
I sighed. "Tell me about it."
"Well, I had a weird dream," Krin said. "Still can't believe I experienced that."
"Neither do I," I replied, taking a loud sip of the banana smoothie.
Just then, Vic walked up to us, his hands casually tucked into the pockets of the Louis Vuitton jeans he wore. He sat between Krin and me without asking and grabbed one of the donuts from Krin's plate.
"What's up, peeps?" Vic said, taking a bite of the donut. Cream smeared his lips, and he casually licked it off.
"I was gonna eat that," Krin muttered under his breath.
"Where's Kora?" I asked, almost whispering.
Vic pointed toward the southeast side of the cafeteria, near the window. She stood in the middle of a group, deep in conversation. Everyone around her laughed loudly, taking turns talking like whatever they were discussing was the most entertaining thing in the world.
"Let me guess," I said. "They're all demons, right?"
He nodded.
My eyes drifted to the front of the cafeteria, where Dian sat with two other guys. He looked relaxed, unaware or maybe pretending to be. I sighed. I should go talk to him, but after everything that happened in class today, the embarrassment still clung to me.
"You wanna go over?" Vic asked teasingly, catching me staring.
"Erm… no," I said quickly, coughing and looking away. "Why would I?"
He studied me with those daring grey eyes, like he could see straight through my thoughts.
"Because this might be your only chance to talk to your forever crush," he said plainly. "Besides, you know you want to."
Yeah. Of course I did.
But what if it didn't turn out the way I imagined?
I sighed, shifting my focus back to the table. "Nope. I'm not going."
"Well," Vic shrugged, pulling a bottle of water from nowhere and taking a drink, "suit yourself."
"Wow, how did you do that?" Krin asked, clearly amazed.
"Well, it's demon magic," Vic said with a wink as he gulped down the water.
"Demon magic?"
"Yeah. Every demon has special abilities. What about you?" He tilted his head toward me. "What's your demon power?"
Erm…
Krin and I exchanged a confused glance. I'd never thought about that not even once. I didn't even know having demon powers was a thing.
"I don't think I have one."
Vic scoffed like I'd said something ridiculous. "Come on. All demons have powers. Maybe you just haven't discovered yours yet."
Maybe.
"You know," Krin blurted out, his emerald eyes scanning Vic's face, "I don't really understand this whole demon stuff."
"Well," Vic began, "demons are Lucifer's minions, as you both probably know. They walk around in human skins. There are different kinds, half demons, for example are offspring of demons and humans…"
"Erm… what about a demonganger?" I cut in, gripping my smoothie bottle. "Yesterday a nurse saved me from the crowd. She said she was a demonganger. What does that mean?"
Vic stared at me for a moment, his expression unreadable.
"Demongangers?" he repeated slowly. "They're quite rare. And very mischievous. A demonganger is a human whose blood has been mixed with that of a demon. It was a banned experiment."
He looked genuinely worried like he'd just remembered something ancient and dangerous.
Silence stretched across our table, making the surrounding cafeteria noise suddenly louder.
Then Krin slammed his fist down.
"Well, demons have problems with the Bossa Nova, not humans! So why can't I ask about Zinnia?"
There was a pause. Then Vic burst into laughter, a controlled, almost rehearsed laugh. He turned to face Krin calmly, though Krin was clearly demanding answers.
"And who are you to Zinnia?" Vic asked.
"I'm her mother!" Krin snapped, like he'd been holding it in for ages.
Vic raised a brow. "Yeah? And how are you planning to explain that?"
"Mum," I said softly, grabbing Krin's hands to calm him. "The Bossa Nova are savage demon hunters. They're trained from a young age to hunt and kill demons with no mercy."
"And once they find out you're a reincarnate," Vic added quietly, "what do you think they'll do?"
Krin's shoulders slumped. He slowly unclenched his fists. With everything that happened yesterday, he should've known better, those women weren't to be toyed with.
"But Zinnia..."
"She's fine," I said gently. "Probably doing better than any of us."
Silence fell again.
"Well, Peige," Vic said, slipping back into his teasing tone as he pointed toward Dian, "aren't you gonna go over there?"
I glanced at Dian's table. He was sitting alone now; the other guys were at the counter ordering something.
I think I can do this. I sighed and stood up. "Here goes nothing."
I walked over and sat beside him, at first he didn't notice, he was too busy smiling at his phone. Probably texting Tasha. That wench.
"Erm… hello, Dian," I waved awkwardly in front of his face, like talking alone might not get his attention.
He looked up, those charming blue eyes instantly making my heart stutter.
"Hey, Peige," he said with a smile then glanced back down at his phone.
"Hey, erm... you..."
Great. Brilliant start. Why was I always like this around him? Words vanished the moment he was near, like my brain short-circuited on purpose. And to make it worse, he wasn't even paying attention, his eyes glued to his phone, his smile meant for someone else.
"I see your phone is… important right now," I said, hating how small my voice sounded.
"Oh." He looked up, surprised, then smiled. He slipped his phone into his pocket and turned fully toward me. "Sorry about that."
There was no rush in his movement, no annoyance, just ease. "What did you wanna say?"
My heart slammed against my ribs. This was it.
The moment I'd replayed in my head a hundred times.
The moment where I finally stopped being a coward.
"Well, erm…" I swallowed, fingers curling into the hem of my sleeve. Say it. Just say it.
"I..."
The word caught in my throat. I could feel his attention now, like, really feel it and suddenly the weight of it terrified me. What if I ruined everything? What if this smile disappeared the second I spoke?
"I…"
Before I could say another word, he cut in.
"Is something wrong?" he asked, his voice filled with concern. Then his eyes widened slightly. "Is this about what happened in class today? Don't worry, what happened yesterday scared everyone. It's normal if you had a weird dream about it."
He placed a hand on my shoulder. That simple touch made my breath hitch. Our eyes met, and I swear time paused. The cafeteria noise faded into nothing. It felt like it was just the two of us, suspended in that moment.
The look between us was so intense I almost leaned in, almost closed the space between us...
"Just stay away from demons in your dreams," he said lightly, almost joking. "It might mean something."
He smiled. I smiled back, even though my heart was racing.
Then his phone buzzed.
"Okay, catch you later," he said after glancing at the screen. He stood up, walked over to his friends at the counter to let them know he was leaving, and then headed out of the cafeteria still smiling.
I stayed seated, staring at the empty space beside me.
That was… magical. Truly magical.
But I didn't understand guys at all. Were they really that clueless? Or was he pretending not to notice? Didn't he know I liked him? I mean, it was obvious… wasn't it?
Or maybe he did know and just didn't feel the same.
The thought cracked something inside me.
I shook my head, forcing myself not to dwell on it.
"Hey," Vic said, sliding into the seat beside me with Krin. "Dian's not the only guy around here."
"He's the only charming one I know," I groaned, burying my face in the table as Krin patted my back gently.