Page 8 of Toxic

I shook it. He was unquestionably attractive, but somehow, he didn’t appeal to me.

"I’m Skye, nice to meet you."

"Likewise!"

"Sorry for intruding on you like this, but I’m new here and don’t know many people yet," I said, though I was already sick of constantly repeating that I was new. It sounded so lame.

"Oh, where did you transfer from?" Sean raised his eyebrows slightly, and when I told him the name of my previous college, he murmured, "I see," and raised an eyebrow. "You probably have a lot of catching up to do. No offense, but I heard Dornel College doesn’t have the best reputation when it comes to programming courses."

"I’m not offended because it’s true. Right from the start, I can see how much I have to catch up on, especially with Python. It’s intense here."

"Soren could help you; I’ve heard he’s the best with Python," Sean suddenly said, glancing at Soren, who was eating with his head bowed low over his tray. Soren twitched slightly at the sound of his name and then glared at Sean.

"You're crazy. I don't have time for this!" he growled instead of responding normally.

"Of course, not for free—"

"No way," Soren cut him off sharply, shooting a murderous glance at his friend.

"Why did you decide to transfer here?" Sean asked, still cheerful, apparently used to Soren’s behavior and not fazed by it at all.

I hesitated for a moment, unsure what to say. Then, suddenly, I decided to tell the truth.

"The reason is pretty pathetic… a broken heart. My longtime boyfriend left me for his High Mate. That’s when I decided to move away. And I ended up here for the last semester of my studies. I know it sounds crazy, but I just couldn’t stay and watch him walk around campus with his new boyfriend, holding hands and kissing."

I noticed the quick glance Sean shot at Soren before he said, "Well, that sucks, but it happens more often than you’d think."

An awkward silence fell. Soren was eating really quickly now, shoving food into his mouth and deliberately avoiding eye contact with me. His fingers, adorned with silver rings and black nail polish, seemed almost clenched on the fork.

"Isn’t it hard to transfer during senior year? It seems crazy, if not impossible. I bet college policy is against it," Sean pressed, clearly trying to steer the conversation away from ‘exes leaving for a better mate’.

"It is, but my brother’s ex, Finn Delgado, is a professor here. I’m on good terms with him. We’ve kind of been friends for years, and he helped me with all the formal stuff."

"Finn Delgado, the geneticist? I’ve heard of him. He’s hot, to be honest."

"We’re just friends."

"Yeah, but he’s a beta, so probably not your type anyway." Sean winked, though his gaze was a little too inquisitive.

Soren lowered his head even further over his plate, as if cringing at his friend's line of questioning.

"That wouldn’t be a problem. I’m into betas and omegas, but he’s my brother’s ex, so he’s off-limits. I have standards,"I muttered, thinking about how my own brother, Storm, didn’t mind such entanglements.

Sean looked surprised but then smiled and murmured, "I see… So, you’re friends with Alvin?"

"More like, we went to the same high school."

"Good that you knew some people here; transfers can be lonely," he muttered, glancing at Soren meaningfully. "So, you two are roommates now?"

I hesitated, wondering if I should mention Archer’s name, knowing they had ‘kinda dated’.

"We also share the room with Archer Wentworth. But yeah, I knew people here before transferring—Finn, Alvin, and also Archer’s friend, Gabriel Nolan is my second cousin, he goes here too, sophomore year."

Sean’s mouth dropped open. "No way! I know both of them; they’re weirdos! I mean Archer and Gabe. Archer’s a backward conservative prick that I almost dated, and Gabriel… I’ve heard he’s some crazy ecoactivist—like, one of the deranged ones. He spills oil on antique paintings and stuff. I don’t envy you that company!"

Feeling defensive, especially since Soren was there and might judge me based on the people I was associated with, I quickly explained, "I don’t really hang out with them. We only hit the gym together, and that’s about it. I have to study a lot. Archer keeps to himself, and I barely know my cousin. We didn’t grow up together; we’ve only met at a few family gatherings. He’s pretty closed off too."

Sean eyed me with a skeptical look. Without a doubt, hanging out with those guys was a negative point for me in his eyes.

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