Her Quest : Magic in the Blood
Chapter 13

"Can I?" Ian asked.

"Yeah, sure," Sonia replied and scooted away as far as the seat allowed. She sat on the very edge and ground her teeth.

He had been good to her that morning. Too good, Sonia thought. But he messed it all up by being his usual, overly egoistic self in the break. He had turned up his nose at her and had been all too haughty whenever she had tried to talk to him. And now she had to bear up with him for nearly an hour.

Why is she frowning? Ian thought as he stole another sideway glance at her. Surely she had been smiling but a few moments ago looking down at her cell phone.

Whom is she smiling at? Ian frowned at the thought and looked at her again, She was laughing in the cafeteria too. And why the hell is she perched on the edge of the seat?

He thought back. Surely he hadn't done anything this time, had he? Head cocked, he stared into midair thinking hard and them realized. He had again acted as an ass. Well at least in her eyes. But he didn't want her mingling with those Black guys. And she was getting all friendly with - what was his name? Yeah- Eric, fucking son of a bitch.

And Emm, Dim and others had agreed to the same. Keep her away from those bastards. And he will do anything to keep her safe.

But you have to talk to her first, the inner voice reminded him. He nodded his head in agreement and cleared his throat trying to gain her attention.

She was still staring fixedly at the board.

He leaned closer, "Sonia!"

She started at that, "Yeah!"

Ian tried to control his smile at her reaction, "I won't kill you."

Her brows knitted in confusion as she looked at him. Was there amusement in his eyes? Was that a smile he was trying so hard to hide? "What would you possibly mean by that?"

"You'll fall off if you don't move over from the edge."

She moved over a few inches.

"Surely, I don't think I got any wasps on my face or something," he said swiping a hand over his face making her look at him in confusion. He shrugged, "It’s just that you keep trying to run away from me all the time." He said teasing her.

She looked at him squarely in the eyes and slid over closer. Their arms brushed as did their thighs. "Is this close enough for you?" she whispered.

The hell! Ian's eyes widened a fraction. What is she doing? His voice clogged in his throat as he could only stare into those beautifully golden brown eyes of her, the gold flecks sparkling like fireflies.

Just as suddenly as she had came close, she scooted away a feet and he felt himself being able to get normal again.

She shook her head as she settled down in her place.

"Wha-" replaceing difficulty to talk through the clog in his throat, he cleared his throat and tried again, "What?" There! He was back his own self. Ian felt proud of the recovery as he waited for her to answer him.

"You have absolutely no sense of humour!" She said making him frown.

That's good! Sonia thought. She was okay with his frowns and growls but not his teasing.

Luckily, the lecturer came in and any further exchange was stopped.

"Hey class!" The professor greeted. He had a nice carrying voice that instantly demanded your attention. Sonia instantly forgot about Ian sitting next to her and responded with the whole class.

He smiled and Sonia thought all the girls in the class sighed. She herself too let out a soft dreamy sigh. He was tall and well built. The muscles of his biceps flexed from underneath the black sweater he wore as he raised his hand to smooth his already perfect mop of dark brown hair. He was tanned, a good shade of golden. The face surrounded by that mass of wavy hair, made his tan look all the more alluring. Sonia squinted but was not sure of the colour of his eyes, but thought they were dark. They were highlighted with dark, shapely eyebrows.

Well, what could you wish for more? Sonia thought, your favourite subject had an equally interesting professor.

"I am your Lit. Professor, as you all know," he smiled again, "and my name is Ryder Cole, so-", he broke off as he picked up a book from the desk and flipped open a few pages. He stopped and looked up, "but before starting, lets socialize some. Everyone! Shake your hands with the person sitting next to you."

Instantly, the class did as he said. "Congrats," he said and clapped his hands, grinning, "you all just got introduced to your term partner!"

At this, there were groans and exclamations. But Sonia couldn't believe it. She looked down at her hand still being held by Ian and then up at him.

Ian saw the look of bewilderment on her face, her eyes shouting IMPOSSIBLE, but he did not mind. She tugged her hand but he didn't let go. He did not mind holding her hand. As long as she was safe and away from that Eric and his group, he did not mind. His hold on her hand tightened at the thought. Sonia gasped and he released her hand suddenly.

Sonia hugged her hand to her chest. It pained and she gasped as she touched it. Suddenly, Ian grasped it again and before she could react, began to massage it.

"I am sorry," he said as he worked on her hand, looking down at it, while she stared at him.

"Ah, it’s alright. I'm fine," she replied.

"Are you sure?" He asked, looking up at her then.

"Yeah, the pain's gone now."

"Good," he said and released her hand.

Fortunately, for the rest of the remaining hour, they didn't get a chance to speak to each other. But Sonia occasionally felt him looking at her. The hour went by and as the bell rang, the professor wished them a good day.

Sonia was stuffing her books in her bag when Ian asked, "Can we walk together?"

Surprised, Sonia looked at him.

"Ahh, I mean others will be in the parking lot," he raked a hand through his hair.

"Sure." She replied simply and got up.

They just got out of the class when Jess came running towards her.

"Sonia, I need to talk to you!" She exclaimed, still a bit out of breath.

"Yeah?"

"Yes," Jess looked up at Ian.

"Umm, I will, I mean, we will be in parking lot." He put in hurriedly, "Bye Jessica," he said, a small smile on his face and walked away.

Sonia was still staring after him when Jessica slid her arm through Sonia's and pulled her in the opposite direction.

"You know what? Gage shared seats with me in Law. I really don't know what happened to me but I was stunned, was speechless when I looked up and he was just standing there and then he asked me if he could sit beside me."

"Yeah, I know the feeling," Sonia said and turned her head to look back in the direction Ian was going. To her surprise, he stopped and turned to look at her. She quickly averted her gaze, looking ahead and tried to pay attention to what Jess was saying.

"- and so now we are quite introduced and you see-"

"Excuse me," Sonia interrupted as her cell phone vibrated in her pocket. She pulled it out and read the caller id. It was Ian. Instantly, she looked back and there he was. Standing just as when he had turned to look at her.

Sonia frowned and answered the call still looking at him across the length of the corridor, "Yes?"

"Hurry," was all he said.

"What?"

"Jake is fretting for you. Hurry up, sugar."

Her hackles rose at the term and she replied curtly, "I will be in a moment. You don't need to wait on me," saying so, she hit the end button and turned to Jess.

"I need to repair my lipstick. Can you stick with me? There's still more to tell!"

Sonia smiled, "Why not?'

Ten minutes later, Sonia and Jess emerged from the restroom. Sonia had been introduced to at least a dozen other girls in there- all mostly gathered to touch up their makeup or tagging along like her. She didn't remember any of their names and nor had she heard any of Jess' further story. Her mind was elsewhere.

She was still thinking. What had happened to Ian? Certainly, he was not in such a happy easy mood during lunch! Beside her, Jess continued with her story. Sonia occasionally nodded and hmmed and hawed. They were rounding the corridor when someone called out her name.

Turning around, she looked in the direction and was surprised to see Eric hurrying towards her.

"Hey!" He said on reaching her.

"Hey," she replied.

Besides her, Jess opened her mouth, shut it again when Eric simply ignored her and continued looking at Sonia. She turned to her and said, "I'll see ya tomorrow. Bye!"

"Bye," she smiled as Sonia quickly hugged her.

After Jess was out of sight, Eric said, "I was just heading to the larking lot. You?"

"Me too," she replied.

"Let's go then," he said and they started walking together.

Sonia was very well aware of his every movement. Suddenly all her concentration was on Eric. Strangely, she felt a bit uncomfortable with him as compared to Ian and the others. They walked past the buildings and were reaching the parking lot, when Eric stopped suddenly.

"Sonia, need to ask you something."

"Sure," she shrugged.

"Can I have your cell phone number?" He asked shuffling from one foot to another.

"Huh?" Sonia asked completely surprised. To her utter astonishment, he blushed.

"Your phone number. In case I need to contact you," he added lamely.

"For what?"

"I mean, if I need your help, I mean with notes and you know-" he shrugged and dug out his cell phone from his pocket, "you giving?"

That was smart, Sonia thought, you didn't give me a chance. "Sure."

She opened her mouth, but before she could say anything, Ian called her. She looked up to see him standing a few feet away, staring hard at Eric.

"Ian!" She exclaimed, surprised to see him there.

"Everyone's waiting," was all he said. His gaze didn't flicker away from Eric. Confused, Sonia looked at Eric. He had the same hard expression on his face and was returning the stare back to Ian.

"I'll be just a second," she turned to Eric, "Ahh, see y-,"

"Sonia," Ian said in a low voice, interrupting her yet again. She looked up at him and gulped. Suddenly, she was afraid of him. She didn't know why!

"Bye!" She mumbled, looking down at her feet and moved towards Ian. She didn't look up when Ian started walking besides her. Just kept quiet. When they were a few cars away from their jeep, Jake ran up to them.

"Where were you?" He asked.

But again, she was not given a chance to answer for Ian said in the same low voice, "I'll tell you later. Let's go now."

She glanced up then to replace Ian looking at her. He was angry with her, she knew it. And this was not his regular I-am-pissed-off-at-every-damn-thing anger. There was a deep intensity in his gaze. She looked away immediately and walked away.

She didn't respond to Gage's jokes when they reached their car. Quietly, she climbed up to her seat in the rear end. To her horror, Ian climbed in beside her.

Clearly, Dim was in a good mood as he turned up the volume of the radio the moment they were out of the gates. She moved towards the far corner and closed her eyes. Hopefully no one would talk to her with the music blaring so loud. Her jaw tightened a fraction when she felt Ian move close to her but did not open her eyes.

But, suddenly, he spoke in her ear, "I know you are acting."

She started and opened her eyes to replace his face mere inches away from hers'. She jerked back, pressing against the seat and after a long heartbeat he too leaned away.

"Actually I am surprised," he stated. Sonia looked at him questioningly.

Ian merely gestured at her with his hand, "Considering its just your first day, you made quick work on getting acquainted, and look with whom you got all buddy-buddy!"

Sonia's eyes narrowed and she opened her mouth but he was not done.

"What I mean is there are many other guys too. You know, waiting for you to at least talk to them too."

Ian watched as her eyes grew distant. She looked at him for a full minute and then turned away her jaw clenching and unclenching.

Well, hell! He exclaimed to himself. What did I say wrong now? He looked straight, thinking it through and raked a hand through his hair, decided to speak to her again, then decided against it and made himself more comfortable in the seat.