ch 2 - seer

Kaiden would rather be somewhere else this morning. 

The dullness around him judging from his Ures senses and the way every eye kept staring his way was making him want to act on his instincts. But he knew what that would mean. The sun was fully out this morning; but Kaiden would rather the sun not have risen.

“And care to tell me why you’ve been silent since we arrived on campus?” Tyler’s voice broke him out of his thoughts.

Kaiden sighed. “Humans,” he muttered under his breath. “Santzans.” He added. Tyler walked closer to him and lowered his voice as they neared their classroom where their first class would be this morning.

“Is that what you were trying to  figure out yesterday when you stormed off like that from your house?”

This time, Kaiden turned to face his friend as Terri joined them. She was removing her backpack and resting her back against the wall.

“I can’t wait to be done with this grad school thing. Good thing it’s our last year,”  she said as a sigh escaped her lips.

“You look nice today. First day impression?” Tyler commented, winking at her. But Terri just rolled her eyes, causing him to laugh.

But before either of them could exchange more words, Kaiden spoke up. “I don’t think it’s them.”

“Tell that to the council members. My father told me last night while you were still gone that he’d had an impromptu meeting with some of the council members. And apparently some of them think it’s us.”

But Kaiden’s thoughts had escaped to somewhere else. And all of a sudden, both his fists tightened; and he couldn’t for the life of him shake off the noise he could hear coming from a distance. He narrowed his gaze as the noise drew closer.

~~

Zara was laughing so hard she could feel a tear almost roll down her face. Shoving Melina slightly, she stopped to catch her breath. 

But Melina spoke before she could utter a word. “I don’t know how you do it.”

“Do what?” Zara was resting against a wall as more students passed by them.

“Your energy. Your carelessness for life -”

“Carelessness?” Zara raised her brows. And Melina shook her head. “You know what I mean - Okay, maybe carelessness is not the word, but your high zest for life like you don't have any worries whatsoever.”

When Zara began to shake her head, Melina paused. “What?”

“Maybe it’s because I have a big brother who carries everything on his shoulders? I don't know but I probably should start caring like normal young adults.”

This time it was Melina who laughed, and Zara joined her. 

“How’s your brother doing though? I feel like I haven’t seen him in a while now.” Melina asked as she traced a strand of her hair.

 “He’s fine. I might be stopping by the house this weekend. You can come with me if you want. Anyway, we’ll be late for our first class if we don’t -” Zara answered, but immediately paused when a shadow passed her. “Who is he?” she asked quietly, and Melina followed her direction quickly to find a group of students standing across from where they were.

“If you’re talking about the tall one with the dark hair - oh I don’t know, but he sure knows how to stare,” Melina answered. But before Zara could say another word, she continued, “And to top it all, he is hot!”

Zara tore her eyes away from the students then, shrugged, and dragged an almost reluctant Melina out of the corridor.

“Girl, what are - wait!”

“We have to get to class!” Zara yelled as they walked the remaining distance to where their classroom was located.

~~

Zara had to remind herself as she discreetly began to twirl her right forefinger, letting the leaves fall off quickly from the tree - that she would enjoy the summer weather before it was over. She hung her head backwards, letting her long dark hair fall on her bare back exposed by the halter neck blouse she had on. Enjoying the feel of the sun on her back, she almost jumped out of her tights when she heard the loud voice behind her. 

“Hey, you!”

Zara sat up straight as she turned her head to find Melina, Tekena, Raf, and Ryan running towards her. 

She quickly placed her hand down and stood up. Dusting some dirt off of her tights, she asked, raising a brow, “I thought you guys had a class now.”

Melina was the first to speak as she slumped down on the grass. They were next to the Friendship Circle, a large gazebo-like structure in front of the music building that housed benches where students sometimes came and relaxed and socialized.

“It got canceled. And I am starving.” Melina said, opening her backpack to bring out a snack.

Tekena released a sigh and sat down on the grass. “I’ve got one last class and I will be done for the day.”

“And I’m just about ready to head out,” Raf announced as he began to make himself invisible. But Zara was quick to question him.

“You’re working today?”

“Don’t let him fool you. We’re going to play some video games in his dorm room,” Ryan said, shaking his head, and causing Zara to laugh. “Just you two please stay out of trouble,” she said, not hiding her smile as she said that, knowing what they were capable of. 

“Don’t worry about us,” Raf said, and in one zeptosecond, he was gone.

“You see what I have to put up with? The guy didn't even bother to take me with him, knowing that some of us are just mere humans,” Ryan said in feigned astonishment. And before they knew it, the ladies were laughing out so loud that Ryan just shook his head and went on his way. 

When he was gone, Melina spoke up again as she stood up and began putting her snack away. 

“Are you ladies hungry? Or do I have to head to the cafeteria all by myself now?”

Before Zara could speak, a group of students were passing by them. She immediately closed her eyes, letting the scent sweep past her nostrils.

And by the time she opened her eyes back up, they were gone. She turned around sharply, to the amazement of Tekena and Melina. But she couldn’t see the students anymore.

Drawing back slightly, she swallowed and turned back to face her friends. Tekena used that moment to get back up.

“And why do you look like that?” she asked, making a face.

Zara tightened her backpack around her shoulders. “I just can’t seem to sense his energy. But he’s definitely not a Santzan.”

Melina grimaced. “Who are you talking about?”

And as if just now coming out of a trance, Zara stumbled slightly.

“The same guy we saw this morning.”

Melina’s face grew serious then. “Why are you so curious about him?” she asked as her brows furrowed. 

“Kaiden. Are you talking about Kaiden?” This time it was Tekena who spoke.

And immediately, both Melina and Zara turned to face her.

“Is that his name?” Zara asked as she settled back down, causing Melina to sigh loud enough for her to hear.

“We’ll go eat soon, Mel,” Zara said without looking at her. Then she said to Tekena. “You know him?”

Tekena shrugged as she adjusted her position on the grass. “I’ve heard of him. He’s a final year grad student here - well, he and the majority of the folks around him. And I’m not sure but -” she lowered her voice as she added, “I think he’s a Ures. He gives off this weird vibe so I definitely understand why you can’t feel his energy.” She paused and sighed. “If you ask me, the guy is bad news. His whole vibe spells out danger.”

Zara’s eyes narrowed. “Why do you say that?”

“Uh, duh! You said it yourself - you can’t sense his energy, so -”

Zara got up then, causing Tekena to look at her weird. “Where are you going?” she asked as she got up. And Melina did the same.

Stretching out her arms before adjusting her backpack, Zara responded, “The fact that we can’t sense his energy doesn’t mean that he is bad -”

“You don’t know that,” Tekena cut her off. But Zara looked like she was about to say something when Melina interrupted. “Okay, uh, you two can continue this conversation later, but can we go have lunch now?”

~~

“So what was that all about?”

Kaiden turned his eyes at Terri and narrowed his eyes as the others busied themselves with their food. The cafeteria was packed, and the energy in the room could be felt as Kaiden tried to shut away most of it. 

It didn’t always work.

He inhaled deeply before asking, “What are you talking about now?”

Terri frowned as she placed her fork back on her plate. “The way you were staring at those ladies this morning, Kai. Do you know them or something?”

He swallowed. “No.” He could care less what or who those ladies were. Besides, from what he could see this morning, they were undergrads.

“No, I don’t.” He looked away and began stabbing at his food, silencing the rising noise around him.

“So…”

Terri stopped when she noticed his gaze was now focused somewhere else.

But she drew in a gasp when he aggressively stabbed his food with his fork as a grunt escaped his lips. At that moment, both Tyler and the others were now looking at him.

{To be continued…}

What’s with this Kaiden guy huh? 😂 What are your thoughts? What do you think is going on with him? Don’t worry, our two main characters will soon officially meet. It will be epic. Let me know what you think of this chapter!

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