Uncle Reily "Eve," Eve smiles at uncle reily instinctively even though a part of Eve feels frozen in place she turns back to confront the mystery man but he's gone before Eve can spot him, Uncle is wrapping Eve in a huge bear hug and lifting her off her feet, Lara smiles from behind her dad. "I'm so sorry I couldn't meet you at the airport. A couple of kids got hurt, and I had to take care of things here." "Oh don't worry about it, I'm here now, and that's what matters." "How was your trip? More importantly, how are you?" "It was long, but it was fine, and I'm okay" "I'm pretty sure 'okay' is a bit of an overstatement. I can only imagine how hard the last few weeks have been for you, I wish I could have stayed longer" "It's fine, the estate company you called took care of almost everything" "Come on Dad, Eve is exhausted let me take her upstairs" "okay, I'll leave you to settle in with Lara but come see me tomorrow morning and we'll talk about your schedule" "about your room eve... my dad wants me to give you a choice about what kind of room situation you want." "Room situation?" "Well, all the single rooms have been assigned for this term, we could move some people around to get you one but-" "But I hoped you might want to room with me instead."
Lara smiles hopefully for a second but it quickly fades as she continues "I mean I get that you might need some space right now after..." There's that fade out again just this once I want someone to say it maybe then it will feel more real "After what" Lara gaps and turns the same colour as the snow outside "I'm sorry" Lara looks down like she's going to cry and eve is hit with a wave of guilt. Oh no, we're not going there. If we do I'm going to break down "Why don't you me to our room Lara" "Our room? Really?" "Of course, rooming with you sounds perfect" After all, I've lost a lot more in the last month than my own space. Besides, I probably shouldn't have my room right now. I'd probably spend all my time alone and even I'm aware enough to know that's not good for me. "Awesome! You won't regret it!" "I know I won't, I'm looking forward to getting to know you properly." "I'm looking forward to getting to know you to eve" "Plus how else am I going to learn everything I need to know about this place?" "I promise I'll fill you in on all the deets, eventually." Lara throws her arms around Eve for a fast but powerful hug for a second she thinks about melting into her, but the last thing Eve wants to do right now is cry.
When Eve pulls away, Uncle Reily narrows his eyes at Eve and looks her over "How are you doing with the altitude." "I'm okay, not great but okay" uncle reily sighs loudly before turning to Lara "Make sure she takes a couple of paracetamol and ibuprofen when she gets to the room and that she drinks plenty of water" "Will do Dad!" "I'm glad you're here, Eve. And I promise things will get easier" Eve thinks about the way the mystery boy looked when he told her to leave never moor and the way he scowled when she refused. Eve reaches for one of her suitcases, but Uncle Reily jumps in "Don't worry about those, Hey Kaleb! Come and give me a hand, will you?" Lara makes a sound that is halfway between a groan and a growl as her father shouts down the corridor "Come on, let's go before Dad chases him down" "What's wrong with Kaleb?" "Nothing! He's great, amazing! Also, super hot, he doesn't need to see us like this" "Lara, don't you have a boyfriend? What does it matter?" "I have a boyfriend! And I love him! That doesn't mean I want to look like a slob in front of Kaleb " Eve rolls her eyes but doesn't say anything else, the last thing I'm interested in doing is trying to attract some guy's attention.
Kaleb "Hey, Lara don't worry about those suitcases. I'll get them for you" Eve turns to see a guy charging towards her, he's tall and dark and surly and very muscular, he's light and fire whereas the mystery boy is dark and cold, Kaleb stops next to Eve before gently easing the handle out of her death grip hold. "Hey there, new girl how are you?" "I'm okay" Eve sways back and forth a little but doesn't say anything else, it's none of his business if I'm feeling sick "Well come on then, new girl climb in my back. I'll give you a ride up the stairs" just the ideas has eve's stomach-churning even more, "umm what n-no thank you that's okay I can walk-" "come on..." kaleb bends his knees to make it easier for eve to grab onto his shoulders "you've got a long three flights of stairs ahead of you" eve glances up the stairs, they are a long three flights and Kaleb's been so welcoming compared to that other guy I'll allow him to carry me up these stairs just once "pretty sure they'll be longer for you if you're carrying me" "no way, your so little I won't even notice, come on climb on"
I don't think I can get up the stairs by myself no matter how much I want to Eve takes a deep breath and wraps her arms around Kaleb's neck he reaches down and grabs eves legs boosting her onto his back. Oh my god, I can't believe this is happening! Wow, he smells really good... "ready new girl" is not even close. Eve wraps her arms more tightly around his neck and tries to ignore the way she's pressed against his hard, muscular back "As ready as I'll ever be" Eve holds on tight as Kaleb grabs two of the suitcases and then climbs the stairs three at a time. How strong is this guy, anyway? Kaleb lets Eve off his back when they reach the floor, Lara turns into the north hallway but before she can go any further four guys walk past her like she's not even there all four guys are broody but eve only has eyes for one of them oh, it's the guy from downstairs eve holds her head high and avoids making eye contact no way am I saying anything to this jerk once a day is more than enough times to be treated like dirt, thank you very much. As he passes his shoulder brushes against the side of eves arm heat sizzles through Eve at the contact she can't shake the ideas that he did it on purpose, neither Lara nor Kaleb says anything to them instead they wait for them to be out the way and then head down the hallway. Eve walks past all the decorated doors and stops outside the most elaborate adorned door of them all, "Here we are! Home sweet home!"
Eve enters the room and takes a look around no matter what Lara said about being okay with me having my room she planned on rooming with me, eves eyes up the bright hot pink sheets on the spare bed in her room "I remember you loved that colour as a kid" not so much now but it's obvious she's gone out of her way to make me comfortable "it looks great" great might be an understatement but it is comfortable and bright. Eve looks around all of her things are arranged on one side of the room and everything on her side is either school-issued or pink, "I know you like surfing so I for the comforter with the hibiscus flower, it's a surfing pattern, right?" "Yes it is thank you" It's obvious she spent a lot of time trying to do something nice for me I'll just focus on that, "the room is perfect thank you so much" "your welcome I just want you to feel at home here I don't know if that's possible but if it isn't it won't be Lara's fault, she's great "do you guys need anything else before I head out?" "I'm good, thank you so much, Kaleb, for the help" Kaleb flashes Eve a 10,000-kilowatt smile "Anytime, new girl, anytime" eves pretty sure she can hear Lara whimper a little at his smile but doesn't say anything.
The second the door is closed and locked Eve grins at Lara "You've got a crush on Kaleb" "What no I don't!" "Ummm I don't believe you" "What! Why not!" "Because you practically drooled on the boy, I almost offered him a towel." "Whatever. It's not a real crush more like an" "Aurora surrounding the most popular guy in school?" "yes, that! Exactly that! Except Kaleb isn't quite that high on the list, Hunter and his group have the top positions pretty much sewn up."
Eve's body goes on high alert she doesn't know how she knows she's talking about him but she does. "Hunter, who's Hunter?" "Hunter Jaxson I have no idea how to explain hunter except... oh wait! You saw him!" Eve tries to ignore the way monsters have appeared to have taken over her stomach, "he was one of the guys we ran into in the hallway the really hot one out front" It's him. I wonder what his deal is, Lara's been at this school forever she probably knows all about him. "you mean the ones who completely ignored us?" "Yep, that's him but don't take it personally though that's just Hunter is... angsty. Angsty is pretty much an understatement. That guy I met was a total jerk "Why is he so angsty" "That's a question that will take more time to explain than what we have."
Lara crosses the room to the mini fridge next to her desk pulling out a large bottle of water and tossing it to Eve. "here drink think and ill show you the rest" "The rest?" "Yeah, I figured your wardrobe wasn't exactly equipped for Montana so I supplemented a little" Lara crosses to one of the closest and throws it open, lined up inside are several uniforms, clothes, jackets and snow boots. "Uhhh Lara, a little is an understatement" Inside the closet are several black skirts and pants, along with white and black blouses plus blazers there are also several pairs of snow pants and boots plus red, purple and black hoodies. No hot pink in sight, thankfully? "There's also socks and thermal underwear and more in your dresser drawers, I figured moving here is hard enough I didn't want you to wave to worry about anything extra." and just like that Lara manages to knock down the first line of eves defence tears puddle in her eyes, even looks away blinking quickly.
Lara makes a small exclamation of dismay and is across the room in the blink of an eye pulling Eve in for a hug "It sucks Eve, This whole thing just sucks and I wish I could make it better, I wish I could wave a magic wand and everything back to the way it used to be. There's a lump in eves throat so she just nods, after all, there's nothing else to say except that I wish my mum and dad were here "Are you okay?" "I'm not okay" "Well that has to count for something right?" "That's what I keep telling myself" "I want you to know if you ever need to talk or whatever I'm here, I know it's not the same but I know what it feels like to be alone and I'm a good listener" that's the first time she's acknowledged what happened. Hunter didn't shy away from it either he didn't treat me like I was going to shatter under the weight of a harsh word.
Eve looks down at her suitcases with distaste, "I should probably get unpacked" "I can help with that, why don't you go take a shower and get into your fav pjs" "Hmm, that sounds perfect" I should probably insist on helping but I'm too tired "a shower sounds really good right now" Lara shoos eve into the bathroom, fifteen minutes later eve is out the shower and dressed in her favourite pyjamas to find Lara dancing around, there's a bowl of soup on eves nightstand but she doesn't have the energy to eat instead eve climbs into bed and pulls the covers overhead. Despite everything tonight is the first time I've taken a shower without struggling not to cry since the accident, later that night Eve wakes up slowly with her head feeling fuzzy and her body feeling as heavy as a stone. Eve sits up trying to ignore the unfamiliar howls and screams and even the occasional animalistic roars in the distance, though if I'm being honest it isn't the utter foreignness of this place that has my mind racing over time, it's him.
Hunter Jaxson when I close my eyes I can still see him perfectly, see that he knows as much about pain as I do it's the pain that Eve thinks of most when she's sat in the dark the pain that makes her worry for him, she shakes her head and takes a deep breath it's the middle of the night I should try and go back to sleep. Eve rolls over and pulls the covers up to her chin but now that she's gotten some sleep all the weirdness about being in Montana comes crawling back into her mind, Lara uncle reily and Kaleb have been so nice but this place isn't home Eve pulls herself out of bed slipping into her tennis shoes and heading out. Back home I'd go for a run when I couldn't sleep but here that's out of the question, it's a big castle with long hallways I can at least go exploring for a while.
Eve carefully closes the door behind her and she heads down the hallway towards the stairs, as she wanders down the hallways she can't help but let her thoughts turn back to Hunter. I wonder how he got that scar, however, it happened it had to be awful, terrifying, traumatic and devastating. The hallways are lined with tapestries worn and faded with age, Eve shines her flashlight on a wide wrap of one and gasps when she realises what it is. This is an artistic rendering of the aurora borealis (the northern lights!) Eve always wanted to see them and out here she'll have a front-row seat, I can see the northern lights another time, right now I want to find my way around this place. Eve keeps walking but somehow the castle makes a circle and eventually, she finds herself back in the entryway.
The front doors fly open and two boys walk in, these guys aren't wearing any jackets no sweaters or hoodies! This is so ridiculous, am I in hog warts? Eve wraps her arms around her waist to combat the cold guest of wind that came in with these two guys. "Well well well looks like we have made it back just in time, what are you doing out of bed Eve" something in his voice has nervous goose pimples prickling up on eves skin "Umm, how do you know my name?" "You're the new girl, aren't you? Everybody knows your name" he takes a step forward and for a second even thinks he's sniffing her "Since you here, why don't you tell me what you're doing out of bed?" "I'm just going to head back there now" "Before we even have a chance to get to know you? That doesn't seem very polite does it, Marc?
They walk towards Eve as they are talking getting in her personal space "It doesn't no, especially when fosters been up as asses about you for weeks now" "What does that mean" "It means we've had three different meetings about you all warning us to be on our best behaviour, it's annoying as hell right Quinn?" "If he's that worried about you being here I don't know why he didn't just leave you wherever you came from" There was trouble in the air Eve can feel it just like she can feel the barely leashed violence rolling out of these guys in waves. "What do you think, Eve? Do you think you can handle Montana? Because I'm pretty sure it's going to naturally unselect you pretty damn quick" These guys are trying to bully me because I'm new. I won't take it lying down I'm going to stand up for myself "Look I'm just to get by until graduation. I don't want any trouble" "Trouble? Do we look like trouble to you?" They look like the definition of trouble, "yeah, well you look like two guys who have something better to do than to hassle the new girl" "Is that what we're doing" "Here I thought we were just getting to know each other better." "Your uncle did say we should try and make friends with you" "How are we doing so far?"
Considering my hands are shaking and my feeling unease is getting worse with each second that passes "Not very well actually" "Now that's a shame, we'll try harder" "So tell me, Eve. Have you had a chance to see the snow yet?" "I saw plenty of snow on my way up here" "On the back of a snowmobile? That doesn't count, does it, Quinn?" Quinn shakes his head with a snarl that shows a lot of teeth, "You need to get closer, show us what you can do" "What I can do? What does that mean?" "Don't pretend you don't know" "I'm not pretending and I'm beginning to think you guys don't know what you're talking about" "I mean, it's obvious you've got something going on" Marc breathes in now even is sure that he's smelling her. "I just can't quite figure out what it is, yet" "Right? Me neither but there's definitely something there, so let's see what you've got" Quinn shifts, braces himself and that's when it hits Eve, what they're planning on doing and just how much danger she's in. Eve whips around, adrenaline pumping she makes a break for the stairs but Marc grabs her before she can make it more than a few feet. "Let me go!"
Eve brings her heel back to kick him in the knees but she doesn't have much leverage and he doesn't so much as wince, Eve turns her head and sinks her teeth into his upper arm "Dammit!" He doesn't let go though instead he squeezes harder until Eve has to stop biting him in a desperate rage for air I can't let them get me out of the door. I can't. Eve slams her head back with as much force as she can muster aiming to break his nose, Marc lets her go with a curse she hits the ground hard looking up just in time to see Marc fly across the entryway and slam into the farthest wall. Eve doesn't have time to think about how that happened though because it only takes him a second to recover, she turns to flee fists up in an attempt to ward off Quinn if he tries to stop her but suddenly he goes flying she bolts up and twists to the right when she runs straight into a wall of muscle. Shit, there are three of them now? Panic races through Eve she tries to shove whoever it is backwards but this guy doesn't move, he wraps his hand around eve wrist and tugs her forward hard enough to lift her straight off the ground. It's as he's pulling Eve towards him that she can get her first good look at his face. "Hunter?"
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