Page 20 of A Lesson in Deceit
I glanced up at the clock above the whiteboard and refrained from letting out a groan. It had only been twenty minutes.
8
Grayson
Idrummed my fingers against my desk, waiting for my professor to say the two words I loved more than anything.
Class dismissed.
It was only the first day and I was already exhausted. I could have chalked it up to being my senior year, but no, it was simply just the million and one things I constantly felt like I needed to be doing. I didn’t dislike school, but I enjoyed my work study much more than any term paper I had to write. The school had given me options to choose from, but the minute I saw the library assistant position, my pencil was checking the box next to it faster than I’d like to admit. My scholarship covered most of the books and housing, while the work study put a major dent in my tuition. Mystic Riegan offered much more to their work study students than most universities in the country.
No one could ever say I didn’t work hard at the things I wanted.
My parents had been shocked to say the least when I didn’t exude shifter abilities like they did and even if it skipped a generation or two, they assumed I would just end up a regular human. They hadn’t expected me to produce shadows. The last person to do that was mydakilang lolo.There was no sign ofdisappointment growing up, but they didn’t exactly know what to do with me. They didn’t know how to manage my powers or help me understand them. My parents, well mainly my dad, grew up in the Philippines, where shifters were half the population. He didn’t shift much anymore, but I knew if I had presented those powers, he would have done it at least one more time just for me.
My parents tried their best. I decided that burdening them with trying to figure me out wasn’t worth it so I went to the library and looked up anything I could about shadow magic. River had bugged me to apply to Mystic Riegan with him, but it was a prestigious university that cost more money than I would let my parents offer, even though they could barely afford it. I never went without, but I knew the university’s price tag was lofty. I wanted to go to a school where I could find more shadow wielders, but yet again, I could work hard and do the things I needed to do to get what I desired.
Two years of community college, one transfer application, and a few scholarship papers later, I was here. Here…with my best friend and his girlfriend, who I had the most natural crush on. River was always an open guy who believed in open relationships when necessary, but Riley was a little different. I didn’t want to tread on toes or fuck up two of the best relationships I had, butfuck, there were times when I wanted to cross that line with them.
My phone buzzed in my pocket. I checked the clock on the wall quickly, noting that it was two mins before class was over, before I looked at my phone.
RIVER
lunch?
Sure. Riley coming?
Ever since they’d started dating, our mutual relationship had only flourished, and I’d never questioned its ease. I was always a flirt, but I’d been a bit more subtle about it early on and when Riley would laugh with no nerves or lack of comfortability in sight, I kept going.
River would look on like he was amused by it all. He would make someone think they wanted to run in front a truck if they fucked with her, but it seemed I was bestowed favoritism.
RIVER
I can make that happen.
let me guess, you made a copy of her class schedule, so you are fully aware that she has time to eat with us
RIVER
Don’t make it sound weird. She knows I have a copy. Do you want the gorgeous girl to come eat with us or not?
I was about to type something severely inappropriate about eating something else, but I refrained.
yeah, of course.
RIVER
perfect, meet me at Leif’s when you get out.
I noticed people getting up around me, letting me know it was time to go and head across campus. I knew River primarily chose Leif’s because it was close enough for me to get to the library for my work study shift and for Riley to get to her next class. For a guy that had a stereotypical scary exterior, he was a softie. Besides having tattoos myself, which I guess made me biased, I felt like his only made him more interesting andthey were a conversation starter. Especially the ones his clothes tended to cover up.
I still hadn’t told Riley that he got her name tattooed on the side of his thigh. It was in cursive mixed in with a few other pieces he had done, so if she did look, it wouldn’t jump out at her immediately.
I casually scrolled on my phone until I saw a new email notification. I opened it, assuming it had to do with the start of the new semester. Something I could easily trash. I sighed, tension growing in my shoulders when I read an email from the school about an immediate need to speak about my scholarship and a link for me to be taken to the site that I could make an appointment to discuss it. I looked at the clock on my phone, seeing that there was still time for me to just talk to them in person and get this sorted out before I met up with River.
I shot my best friend a quick text and tried not to let my anxiety get to me. My shadows were raging but I kept them at bay, just like I taught myself.
9
