Page 23 of Fated for Flames

A nudge on my shoulder woke me up from my thoughts. When I looked, Theo had a shocked expression.

“Are you okay?” he whispered.

I nodded and offered a candid smile. “Well, that was fun…not.”

“Who the fuck are you?”

“Evelyn Everhart, dummy!”

16

Evelyn

Lunchtime rolled around, and to my surprise, it was a lot of fun. Without Lia being the center of attention, the table shed its usual atmosphere, transforming into a space of genuine conversations. A few witches from the coven, girls I’d seen but never really interacted with, joined us. Among them was the goth witch from earlier, her excitement palpable as she vividly recounted my standoff with Miss Clarissa to her twin sister.

Her sister, a stark contrast to her, with an aura of light and warmth, listened intently, her wide eyes occasionally flicking my way. I responded with shrugs, pretending it was no big deal. But internally I was proud of myself. I had finally faced my witch bitch tormentor.

Adrien approached, accompanied by a friend I recognized but didn’t know well.

“Mind if Felix and I join you?” Adrien asked timidly.

“Sure, the seats are open,” I replied, motioning to the spots across from me.

Ruby, who nearly swooned at the sight of any male, lit up when she saw Adrien and Felix. She straightened in her seat, smoothing her uniform in a subconscious effort to impress. The moment they settled down, she launched into a rapid-fire series of questions about their coven, their classes, and if they had dates for the Halloween party, which was still a month away. She was practically salivating over them.

I rolled my eyes but giggled at her eagerness as I ate my lunch.

Felix had a wide grin plastered on his face as he watched Ruby’s antics. He seemed to be enjoying the attention, not at all bothered by Ruby’s overwhelming enthusiasm.

As Ruby’s curiosity was satisfied, the conversation between the rest of us sparked up again. The witches bombarded me with questions about my hair.

“What’s with the mess on your head?” one of them asked.

I looked up from my desert, trying to come up with an excuse on the spot. “Oh, this? It’s a new trend in the human world called frizzy air-dry.”

Their eyes widened in awe, and I tried to contain my amusement. Some witches were completely obsessed with human fashion. They probably thought this was the next big thing.

Another of the witches commented, “I can’t imagine how scary it must be to have a class with shifters, especially with that big one—the son of the gang leader.”

“At first, it was intimidating,” I replied. “Those guys are huge and Ryker is…intense.”

“I’m sure that’s not the only thing that’s huge,” Ruby cut in.

The other witches giggled while Adrien and Felix grimaced.

“Seriously,” I continued, ignoring Ruby’s sexual innuendo, “they weren’t very welcoming at first. Chad was probably the nicest one, but even then he let me eat gravel instead of helping out.”

One of the witches gasped. “You had to eat gravel?”

“No, it wasn’t intentional. I just fell to the ground,” I clarified with a chuckle.

The witches were all hanging onto my every word. It was no wonder Lia loved having an audience; these witches were completely engrossed.

“All that to say, I think I’m making progress in the shifter friend department.” Ryker with his constant glare and Viper, who shoved me every chance he got, came to mind. “Well, maybe not with all of them,” I added with a slight shrug.

Despite the chaos that had brought me here, at that moment, everything felt strangely…normal. Like I was just another student enjoying lunch with friends, not a witch on a mission.

By the time lunch ended and we all began heading off to our afternoon classes, I couldn’t help but feel optimistic. I was still on guard, wary of potential threats lurking around every corner. But for now, at least, it seemed like things were looking up.

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