Chapter 3

Rose Greyson

I opened my eyes to familiar surroundings: our house.

“Oh my God, Rose. You’re finally awake!” I heard my mom’s shaky voice. Just by the expression in her eyes, you could tell how worried she was.

She helped me up to a sitting position. “How long have I been sleeping? And where is he?”

“Who? Who is he?” Mom asked.

“The guy that was here earlier.”

“No one is here. You were brought back home after you fainted. Are you okay, dear?”

I held onto my head as I tried to recall all the events. Was it a dream? I remembered him soothing me, calming me down with his melodic voice. Was that all a dream? Surprisingly, I didn’t feel any more pain. I felt as strong as before.

“Dear, why didn’t you tell me you were not feeling well? We could’ve postponed it. Why do you have to fall sick on your first day of school?” My mom’s voice snapped me back to reality. She was rubbing my hand in a soothing manner.

“Mom, how did I come back home?” I asked. I needed to be sure it wasn’t a dream.

“Of course, you were brought back from the school.”

“I mean, the person that brought me back.”

“I don’t know. It was a guy and a girl, though they came with the school car.”

“A guy and a girl?” I repeated in my head. What could that possibly mean? Was it a dream or reality? I couldn’t seem to wrap my head around it. However, the main question is, why did I faint? The last time I checked, I was fine when we left the house. Then what happened?

“Enough with the questions. Don’t think too much. What matters is you’re fine now. I’ve made some soup for you. Eat and take your medicine,” Mom uttered, much like a command.

I was only forcing myself to eat, but my mind wasn’t together with my body. I couldn’t seem to get the thought of the strange man out of my head. It felt too real to be a dream. Could it be he was the ‘guy’ Mom was talking about?

“If you’re not going to finish that soup, allow it to rest. You’ve been drawing circles on it for how many minutes,” Mom spared me a deathly glance.

Initially, I wasn’t that hungry. I only decided to eat for the sake of the medicine. I can’t take medicine on an empty stomach. The best thing was to cut the soup some slack. And I did that. Stored the leftover in the refrigerator.

“Don’t forget to take your medicine,” Mom said as I made my way to the room.

“Okay, Mom,” I said almost to myself. I grabbed a bottle of water and then proceeded to my room. The medicine was already sitting by my bedside. I took it as per the instructions and lay back on the bed to rest so that everything would digest.

“Rose…”

“Rose…”

“Come, Rose…”

“You belong to me, Rose…”

“Rose…”

I jolted up, snapping my eyes open. I held onto my racing heart, panting hard. I reached for the bottle of water beside me and gulped down its contents. What did I just dream of? Someone was calling my name. Who? Why?

At first, I wanted to go talk to Mom about it, but then it would only make her more worried than she already was. I didn’t want to add more to her plate. It was just a dream, not something for me to worry about. With that thought, I adjusted myself on the bed and switched off the lamp.

***

Morning came faster than I anticipated.

“Morning, Mom,” I said in a groggy voice as I sat down on the chair.

“Morning, dear. How was your night? Hope you’re feeling better. If you can’t go—”

“I’m fine, Mom. I’m not feeling any pain anywhere,” I assured her, squeezing her hand on the table.

“All right then. Eat your breakfast, and I will drop you off since I’m going out too.”

“All right, Mom.” I pushed my breakfast forward.

“By the way, there’s a letter for you. I forgot to give it to you last night.” She passed me the small white envelope.

“Thank you, Mom.” I finished my food first before giving my attention to the envelope.

Get ready. Your mate is coming for you.

I read and reread it to make sure I was seeing correctly. I burst into a fit of laughter. What a joke. Who is trying to play a prank on me? Mate, my foot! Let’s see how someone will come and claim me as their mate. I folded the paper and dumped it inside my bag.

“What’s making you laugh?” Mom asked as she made her way toward the entrance door.

“Nothing, Mom. Just some rubbish jokes.”

Mate or no mate, I don’t believe in that. Another laugh escaped me, making Mom look at me weirdly.

“I’m fine, Mom. I’m fine,” I said, forming my lips into a thin line.

We shall see.

Like yesterday, Mom dropped me off at school and went on her way to her workplace. From a distance, I saw Nora making her way inside too. Before I could look for a way to hide, she had already seen me.

“Shit!” I muttered.

“Hi, Rose,” she said when she approached me.

“Hi, Nora,” I said back with a smile.

“Hope you’re all better now. You looked like shit yesterday.”

Okay, if Nora doesn’t know about it, who will?

“Yeah, I’m all better. Thanks for the care.”

She formed her lips into a thin line. “It’s okay. All thanks to Rob. He was of great help.”

“Rob? Was he the one that took me back home?” I asked, for the first time getting interested in Nora’s stories. I wouldn’t be surprised if she knew everything about school gossip.

“Yeah. Kind of. He came out of nowhere and volunteered to take you home. And we took you home. Girl, your mom was damn worried.”

Could he be the same guy with the melodic voice? I wasn’t able to make out his face since I wasn’t in the right state of mind.

“Is Rob in our department? I need to thank him,” I asked as we walked through the hallway.

“Yes and no.”

“Yes and no?” I repeated. “What does that mean?”

“He’s in the department, but he barely attends any classes. The same goes for his gang. They are like a lightning bolt. They come and go whenever they like.” I listened as Nora narrated to me.

“By the way, don’t bother thanking him. They don’t accept thanks or apologies. In fact, if you happen to meet him anywhere, don’t look his way.” She patted my shoulder for a mere second before sliding the door to the lecture room open.

Wow. What a story. How can someone go to the extent of paying all the school fees and the procedure and not attending classes? Do their parents know about it? And does the school know about it?

“Excuse me.” I was snapped back to reality by someone’s voice. I didn’t miss the look the girl gave me.

“Sorry,” I flashed her a smile, giving her way. Then I followed suit as she entered.

Nora was busy talking with some guys, so I didn’t even bother to go her way. I grabbed an empty seat at the back. I have a thing for sitting at the back when in class, especially by the window. That way, whenever the lecture gets boring, I can look through the window and get my mind off things.

I stared out of the window as the wind cascaded through it, sending chills down my spine. I love a mood like that. It calms my nerves down. The mood didn’t last when silence prevailed as the professor entered.

Nora passed me a wink from where she was sitting among the boys. I’ve only known her for a day, but I would say she’s the kind of person who doesn’t care about what others think of her. She does her own thing her own way.

The first lectures ended normally, and we proceeded to the lecture theater for the second class. This time, Nora and I sat facing each other. Surprisingly, she was calm, and I couldn’t help but ask.

“Are you okay, Nora?” I wondered what was making her so quiet.

Her brows creased in question. “For what?”

“You seem quiet, and earlier, you were on top of the mood,” I said, my eyes darting from left to right.

“You’ll find out the reason for me being quiet. It… Ehem…” She cleared her throat when the door slid open, and the professor entered.

For a moment, my mind went blank. Like, totally blank. From the very first step he took, an aura was lurking around him. It had been a while since my hormones rose at the sight of a handsome man. I don’t know how it happened, yet our eyes met. And I could swear something clenched in my heart as my eyes fixed on him. All of a sudden, those strange voices began ringing in my head.

“Rose…”

“Come to me, Rose…”

“You belong to me…”