Page 63 of Blood

I settle against the headboard and grab a single cheese puff out of the plastic jar. I then toss it up in the air and tilt my head all the way back so I can catch it in my mouth.

Correction—sort of catch it in my mouth.

Correction—sort of catch it on my face.

The cheesy ball of heaven bounces off my cheekbone, and I quickly squint my eyes to capture it in one of my eye crinkles. My tongue snakes out and aims for it as I wiggle my head from side to side. Finally, the cheese puff lands on the tip of my tongue, and I happily swallow it.

Nailed it.

“The others are making themselves presentable,” Dimitri answers at last, reminding me I asked the stoic headmaster a question. He just continues to regard me with those cold, unruffled blue eyes of his. “And discussing strategy for the battle to come.”

“Good. No offense, but you guys were beginning to stink.” I wrinkle my nose as I toss another cheese puff up in the air. This one doesn’t even make it close to my mouth. “EEEP! I have cheese in my eye!” I desperately brush at my poor, watering eye with my hand as pain barrages me.

Who knew cheese puffs could be so dangerous?

With my one good eye, I see Dimitri’s face go carefully blank, like a slate wiped free of chalk. His lips purse together, causing lines to deepen on the corners of his mouth.

“How can you be so...nonchalant?” Dimitri asks in a deceptively calm voice.

“Excuse me?”

I blink repeatedly, grateful when the stinging sensation in my eye begins to subside. Good. I was beginning to worry that the cheese had done permanent damage.

Wouldn’t that be fucking embarrassing?

“You nearly died today.” Dimitri sounds as if he’s speaking through clenched teeth. “When I arrived, it was to see your still, motionless, unconscious body lying in a sacrificial hole in the ground.”

“I was totally still conscious,” I lie, trying to dispel the tension I can see in his shoulders. He looks one lit fuse away from exploding. “I heard everything you told me.”

His eyebrows arch. “Did you, now?”

“Obviously.” I shove a handful of cheese puffs into my mouth, chew, and then swallow. “I totally heard you confess your undying love for me.”

Yup. I’m totally bullshitting.

But isn’t that what always happens in movies and books? The girl is near death, and the hero admits that he loves her, has always loved her, and will always love her? I’m just assuming the same thing happened with my guys.

Or they called me a selfish shit for daring to die on them.

Ehhh.

Who knows?

Sidebar—if my life ever gets made into a movie, I demand that Jack Black plays me. No one knows how to play a perky, blonde teenager better than him.

The tight set of Dimitri’s shoulders relaxes just a bit. “You seem awfully nonplussed by everything that transpired today.” He pauses, and a furrow manifests between his brows. “Do you want to...talk about it?”

Dimitri wants to talk about feelings? Has the world ended already? I glance out the window, but...nope. No pigs are falling from the sky.

“Nah.” I toss another cheese ball into the air and watch as it lands a solid foot away from me. I really need to get better at my throws. How is it so hard to throw something vertically?

“Violet...” The light reflects on his silvery blue eyes like the sunrise on water.

I heave out a breath and throw my arms out in either direction, incidentally, raining down cheese puffs in the process. “What do you want me to say, Dimitri? That I think I died? That it hurt like hell to be sliced repeatedly by a blade? That I was fucking terrified the entire time? That I can’t stop thinking of Mason and my parents? That I should be happy you guys are here with me, but I’m too damn worried about what’s to come to really muster any excitement? Is that what you want to hear?”

Despair thrums headily through my veins. I hadn’t even realized I felt any of that until I articulated my thoughts out loud. Huh. Maybe that’s why people see shrinks. It actually feels good to get all of that off my chest.

Dimitri’s eyes don't waver from my face as he slowly rises from the seat in the corner. My skin tingles with the intensity of his gaze, though I don’t allow it to show on my face. Instead, I do the only thing I can do when I’m nervous.

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