Chapter 187: Transfer Students
Nina
Every day, I met with Myra in the forest to try and open a portal. But each time we met, she still couldn’t do it – and by that point, her absences were being noticed by the Fullmoons. Eventually, if we weren’t careful, Lewis would catch on.
We didn’t want that to happen because both of us knew that he couldn’t be trusted. For some reason, he clearly didn’t want Richard and Enzo to return, and I was certain that he would keep us from getting to the werewolf realm for good.
So, we eventually had to stop. I threw myself into replicating the antidote as a way to distract myself and give myself purpose. Night after night was spent sitting up in the infirmary until all hours, trying recipe after recipe to no avail.
No matter what I did, I just couldn’t replicate that bright blue color. Even with Lori, Jessica, and Matt’s help, I couldn’t figure it out. And yet, in a strange way, it almost felt as though I didn’t even want to figure it out; because if I figured it out, then I wouldn’t have anything to distract me from Enzo anymore. And if I thought about Enzo too much, I was certain that I would go insane from missing him.
Finally, the day of the dean’s hockey game arrived. I really didn’t want to go as even setting foot into the arena reminded me relentlessly of Enzo, but it was my duty to go as the team doctor. And, admittedly, I was intrigued.
I was intrigued because there were rumors that morning of two new transfer students, named Sadie and Eli, who were coming to the hockey game. For some reason, I almost couldn’t help but secretly hope that these two new students were somehow linked to Enzo, but I knew that was silly.
They were just regular transfer students, after all. I was probably only having these strange thoughts because I still couldn’t stop dreaming about Enzo, and I was losing. a lot of sleep because of it. Surely I wasn’t thinking logically.
But even then, I couldn’t help but wonder why two transfer students would even want to transfer here after what happened, to begin with. Something about it made me uneasy, and I wanted to see these students in the flesh.
The game was held on a cold Friday night, three weeks after Enzo disappeared. It wasn’t really an official game, but rather a simple friendly scrimmage. Our team with Matt as the new captain while Enzo was gone, and Justin was back on the team to fill in the gap would split up into two smaller teams, and they would play against each other.
It was just something fun and distracting to raise morale, and judging from the fact that every student and townsperson seemed to be showing up as I sullenly walked over to the arena, I supposed that it was much needed.
I stood in my usual spot along the side of the rink while the team got ready and the crowd got settled. “Hey,” Lori said, striding up to me with her hands in her pockets. “Room for one more?”
“Make that two more,” Jessica said as she jogged up to us. Her cheeks were red from the cold, but she was dressed up for the first time since before the attack. She was wearing her usual all- pink getup, with a short pink skirt and a pink jacket. It was almost comical, seeing as how Lori was always dressed in all black, but it worked somehow. Their relationship made me happy, and I was glad that they finally realized their feelings for one another during that fated camping trip. Deep down, however, I couldn’t deny the fact that I was a bit jealous. I wanted that same relationship with Enzo, but it seemed that the universe just kept getting in the way of that.
“Sure,” I said with a smile, scooching my medical bag over so they could sit on the bench. It felt nice to have my friends beside me, and I was just grateful that they had turned out okay during the attack. If I didn’t even have Lori and Jessica, I didn’t know what I would have done with myself by now. Without Lori, Jessica, Enzo, Luke, or even James before he went utterly insane I probably would have lost my mind.
“You know, if you think you can’t handle being in here at any point, we totally get it,” Jessica said, putting her arm around my shoulders and rubbing my arm. “I can fill in if you need it.”
I shook my head and looked down at my lap. I blinked away the tears in my eyes, then forced a smile and looked back up at my friends. “It’s okay,” I lied. “I think this is good for me.”
Neither of them were convinced.
“You don’t have to lie to us,” Lori insisted. “We know it’s been tough on you. But you have to keep holding out hope. Enzo is tough and smart; he could be home any day now.”
“And if he doesn’t come home,” Jessica chimed in, “just know that you’ll be okay. It’ll be horrible, I’m not denying that; but you’re even tougher and smarter than he is. I know you can get through anything.”
I was silent for a few moments, processing what my friends said. I knew that they were trying to be helpful but right now it wasn’t working. But it didn’t matter, because the team skated out onto the ice and the announcer started up.
The team split up into two, and the game began. Even though it was odd watching them play without Enzo, I did eventually find myself getting distracted by the game. Matt made a good team captain, and would swap back and forth between the two miniature teams before each set to make things fair. They all seemed to be having fun while they were playing as well, which I was certain was nice for them after having to focus on the Half- Moon Tournament all semester. But, at the same time, not having Enzo there left a glaring gap.
At one point, however, I suddenly felt the hairs on the back of my neck raise as though someone was looking at me. I rubbed my neck nervously and glanced around, but I didn’t see anyone. The crowd was solely focused on the game. Maybe it was just my nerves getting to me, I thought, and returned to watching the game with Lori and Jessica.
But that feeling of being watched lingered. I tried to ignore it at first, chalking it up to my exhaustion, but finally I couldn’t let it go on for any longer and straightened in my seat, looking around once more.
My eyes scanned the crowd for someone, anyone, who might have been looking at me- but there was no one.
At least, that was what I thought until my eyes fell on the VIP box.
There were two people in there who I didn’t recognize: a guy and a girl. The girl was happily watching the game with a grin on her face, but the boy….
The boy was looking straight at me. And his eyes were wide and disbelieving, as though he recognized me. Our gazes locked, and in that instant, I swore I felt something strange pass over me. It was as though I recognized him too, like we had known each other for ages, but I didn’t recognize his face in the slightest. He was the new transfer student; a complete and utter stranger.
Yet… I knew him, somehow. And the longer I looked at him, the faster my heart raced until I was sure it would burst.
