Chapter 13

Jerald's pov

I thought I had it in me to simply cast him to the side and move on with my life here. I thought I could manage to go through my days with no lingering thoughts of him waltzing inside my head.

I had been wrong.

When I first made the choice to avoid him I had just received a phonecall from home. It had been my siblings. They said that father had prohibited them from calling me so that I would focus on my studies but they confessed to missing me so terribly that they had done so despite the orders.

And they had told me how missed I was, especially by our mother who kept on passing through my room back at home and running her hand through my things. 

And after the conversation I had decided to compress whatever feelings I had for Calen Silverstein. To try and dampen this fascination I had of me because it was scorching me from the inside out.

This was the terrible secret I had hidden back home, the one thing I never allowed myself to think of because that would mean coming to terms with a heartbreaking reality.

This was the reason I never looked at either Simra or any of the other girls back in Rabdah.

But it appears that Calen has made it his primary objective to pursue this newly found connection. I don't know what happens each time he's near me, he fills my heart with thoughts and images that would have gotten me severely punished back at home.

After supper that evening I returned to my Chambers first to grab a jacket since I had underestimated the chill. Then I stalled, wondering whether or not to go and meet him. But knowing that I eventually would.

Partly because I never went against my word, and partly because I truly wanted to. So I checked my reflection in the mirror, ruffed up my hair because I had gotten used to it running wild, took in a few deep breaths and left.

I found him exactly where he had said he would be. Seated on the log, noting something down on a small notebook in his hand.

He heard me when I appeared, I was deliberately stepping on some dried leaves, seeking them out on the ground and grinding them to bits with my feet. He stood when I was a step away and smiled, tucking the notebook into the inside pocket of his blazer. Realising that since my arrival I had never seen him in anything other than the school uniform.

I tended to change immediately after the days classes, and currently I was in a pair of jeans and the black jacket I had picked up.

" I like warmth, " I confessed and his dark eyes narrowed a fraction. He had this way of looking at me. Like he was trying to see through me, to demolish my walls and see the details about me that no one else could.

" Do you now? "

I nodded, tucking my hands inside my jacket pockets and looking around.

" I do. The sun and I have a mutual understanding, one almost as deep as the one I have with my fireplace. So please tell me that there will be a time when the sun here shines for more than a few hours a day. "

" There will, but what is is about the cold that you despise so much? " 

" Everything. "

" Then I must apologise for asking that we meet out here...in the cold. "

I shook my head. Falling into step beside him when he gestured to a path and started walking towards it. Feeling our arms brush against each other as we walked .

" I'm sure I can bare it. Besides, I have to learn to get used to it now. "

" That you do. "

There was silence for a few minutes. I followed him to an even prettier place, where the stream flowed gently, and the wild flowers grew on the bank. Some in bushes scattered around the place.

" It's lovely, " I confessed and the corner of his lips tilted up in a smile. Then he shifted to stand in front of me again. A position I was starting to realize he liked. 

" One hundred and eighty three, " he said afterwards.

" What?" 

" The number of days we have left here. The duration remaining until we complete this part of our educational life and leave this place. "

I licked my then dry lips and flickered my gaze across his. He was standing straight, his arms now crossed. And for some reason I realized that the closer to him I was, the warmer I felt. 

And I loved warmth.....

" Is that so? I must confess that I hadn't gotten around to counting them yet. "

He chuckled. Then he gazed up at the night sky that had disappointed me because it was devoid of stars. Night skies just weren't the same without stars.