Page 21 of Vexing the Viper

Today I had my Intro to Monsterkind class and I'm really enjoying it. Professor Fan makes the class really interesting, plus I love learning more about the different paranormal species and where they originated from. I grew up around monsters, so I knew of them and hung out with them, but learning more about their past has been fascinating. But, through the entire class, I was in a sour mood. Because all I could think about was Niko and how much I hate he’s always on my mind.

I quickly shower and dress, then head for the couch. Today was weight training for baseball, and luckily, I don't havepractice until tomorrow morning, so my plan is to relax in the dorm room the rest of the night.

I'm lying on the couch when the door squeaks open. Heavy thuds sound on the floor, and I close my eyes knowing it's Niko. He's always wearing those thick black combat boots that make a ton of noise as he walks. A shadow falls over my face, and I keep my eyes closed, hoping he'll think I'm asleep and leave me alone.

"I know you're awake," he whispers. He boots clunk around the couch, and the cushion dips from where he sits.

"No, I'm sleeping," I mumble, cracking one eye open to look at him.

He smiles softly at me and scoots closer. "Can we talk now?"

"Sure." Sitting up, I move back to the edge of the couch. I take my hat off and run my fingers through my hair before placing it back on my head. I don't know why I'm nervous, I barely know him, and he's just my roommate.

"First, I wanted to apologize. For what I said the other day. At Zomb-Bar.” He wrings his hands in his lap and avoids making eye contact with me. Nope, if he wants to apologize, then he needs to look me in the eyes.

"Don't you think if you're wanting to apologize, you should actually look at me," I tell him, growing irritated at the whole situation.

He turns in his seat and faces me. "You're right, and I'm sorry. You haven't deserved any of my anger. I was expecting this year to go one way, and then we got notice humans are allowed in, and to be honest, I hate it. But that doesn't give me the right to take it out on you. You haven’t deserved any of that.” He takes a deep breath, then closes his eyes. “And second, I want to thank you for the other day in the quad. I’ve been a complete ass to you, and you could have easily walked away from me, but you didn’t. You saw me at one of my weakest moments and you chose to help, even after I treated you horribly. I haven’t been fair toyou, and I never gave you a chance. I'd like to start over, if that's okay?"

As much as I want to know more about why he hated me from the start, I don't want to ask too many questions. Besides, if he wanted me to know then he would tell me.

"Thank you for apologizing, and I’d like to start over too."

He blows out a breath, then beams a smile at me. "I really am sorry. Mateo has told me daily how much of a dick I’ve been, but I didn't want to admit it. Friends?" He reaches his hand out, and I shake it slowly.

"Yeah, man. Friends," I tell him.

"I have to get ready for work, but tutoring tomorrow?"

I nod my head, and Niko takes off down the hallway. It wasn't how I expected us to become friends, but I guess I'll take it. To be honest, I wasn’t expecting us to ever get along after what’s happened so far this semester. But I’m willing to start over if Niko is. It seems as though there’s things going on with him he isn’t ready to share with others.

When I first walk intothe library, I’m blown away by how it looks. The floors are this gorgeous ivory tile and there’s huge columns throughout. The outside of the building is a gothic style, and the inside is more modern and sleek. Of course, I head straight for Mummy Mocha to try a Werebear Claw and a Sarcophacappuccino. The moan that came out of me wasn't natural, and from the looks I got from several people, they thought the same thing.

Niko and I are sitting side by side in the library, and it's as though a whole new Niko has appeared. He’s been chatty and smiling, talking with me about how his day has been, and evenasking about mine. We're up on the second floor where there's study rooms all throughout. Since Niko had to work today, we figured it would be easier to meet here because I still have to head over to the Athletics Center later.

"Does this one make sense?" Niko asks, taking me out of my daydream.

"Yeah, thanks."

I'm not going to lie, things are still pretty awkward between us, and I don't know how to change that. It's not like a switch can be flipped overnight. Besides, I'm still human, and as much as Niko said he wants to be friends, I know things will still be rocky from that fact alone.

"Okay, so this is how you would solve this one. Make sure you pay attention." He grabs his pencil and starts solving the next problem on the page, and my dick starts plumping up. Yet another reason why things are awkward as hell. I wanted to be his friend, but I can't help how attracted I am to him. Even when he was being an ass, I was turned on by him. Plus, I haven't hooked up with anyone in a while, since before I got to Creelin U, which is unusual for me.

"Let me try," I do the next problem, whooping loudly when Niko tells me I'm right.

"Hell yeah. I don't know why my dad thinks you need to be tutored. You have all of this down."

"It's more so that I get too much into my baseball schedule and practice that my schooling tends to fall down my list until it's at the very bottom. And then I run out of time to learn the academics and my grades start to slip. It’s hard to catch up on my school work sometimes. And I’m not a very good test taker."

"Well, we'll make sure that doesn't happen this time."

"Thanks. For tutoring me."

"No problem. I'd do anything for my dad."

Ah, yes, his dad. My coach. Another reason why me being attracted to him is awkward. His dad is my coach, and is in charge of my future. If Niko finds out about my crush, all it would take is one word to his dad, and Coach could easily bench me. I warmed up the bench enough the last two years, I don't want to do it again.

"Since we're trying to be friends and all, would you mind if I ask you some questions?" I ask, trying to kill the silence.

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