Page 56 of Just One Bite
“Parker?” There’s a hard knock at the door. “It’s Olivia.”
“Come in.” My attempt to sit up results in the room spinning, so I lay my head back on my pillow.
Seeing her walk through my door almost cures me. Because even in the dim light, I see she’s got half her hair pinned and she’s opted for one of the shorter uniform skirts.
I have the most breathtaking fake girlfriend.
“Are you all right?”
Internally, I’m giddy she sounds worried, but on the outside, I’m on death’s door. I don’t think Olivia thinks much of anyone outside her circle, so the fact she’s here means I’m in her head.
“What are you doing here?”
She drops her school bag and moves to the hearth to bring in some light, almost tripping on a pile of clothes on the floor. The fire light leaves us in a soft-yellow haze, and she flips on my bedside lamp.
I grab her forearm to bring her to sit, and her skin is cool against mine. I want her in my bed.
“Are you sick?”
“A little. There's a full moon today.”
“Don’t werewolves get supercharged then?
“They do. But hybrids without blood get weak. Gavin usually brings me some blood from the infirmary after his classes, then I’ll feel better by tonight.”
Not all hybrids need blood, so we aren’t required to sign up for The Donor Program, but sometimes, that makes getting blood harder when you need it. It’s easier to get blood when you’re younger because you’re only allowed to drink from blood bags until you enter The Donor Program, but because I don’t need blood that often, I don’t think it’s worth it. Now I have to rely on private sources.
“I was looking for you. I didn’t see you at breakfast.”
I laugh at the serious dent in her forehead, then reach up to poke her there. “I’m sorry. I should have told you.”
“What can I do? Can I get you medicine? Blood?”
“Medicine won’t help. And they won’t give you any blood at the infirmary. They don’t just hand out blood, especially to humans. Gavin’s preapproved because of his dad.”
“So you just lay here all day, and skip class?”
“Usually. And nobody misses me when I do.” I grip my pillow tighter to my chest.
“I’m heading to Potions, and I … wanted to … bring you a muffin.”
I smell the mountain high plate of food on my nightstand. It’s more than a muffin.
I grin. “A muffin? Are you saying you missed me?”
This beautiful woman smuggled a plate out of the dining hall to bring to me,and even cuter, she’s lying about it.
“We live across the hall from each other. I don’t have time to miss you. But … are you really not coming to class?”
Why does it feel like she wants me there … that she needs me there? Something about that gets the blood pounding in my head, which sends the ache in my skull down my spine.
Her eyes sparkle in the dim light of the hearth. It looks different in each one as it mixes it with the different colors.
I lean back on the pillow. “I want to, trust me. But I’m too exhausted. My head is killing me.”
“They don’t have a better way to get blood for hybrids?”
“Hybrids don’t need to be in The Donor Program. There’s no use in me joining when I don't need blood that often. I just get by.”
