METANOIA

CHAPTER 11 "HABROMANIA"

HABROMANIA
(n.) desilusions of happiness.

"Yes, a contract." Eden repeats in turn. "You are cute and you're obviously a sub. My last contract is about to expire and I've grown tired of him."

A sub? The word echoes in his head several times. Landing him in his thoughts. She wants that kind of contract. Does that mean having sex? To belong to her? Does he really give off this submissive, weak person attitude?
He won't say it, but it offends him in some ways. If she'd noticed, anyone can do it. Is that really the image we see of him? Too many questions plague him. He purses his lips and plays with the piercing in his mouth.

And as if Eden had read his mind, she speaks up to clarify some things. "The fact that you are a sub only shows up in physical encounters, it's not noticeable in everyday life. You'd be surprised how many people at school are, not to mention teachers. We don't have to have sex together, you can set your limit, that's why we have a contract." She straightens up after tying the strap of her high heel.

Kallan still can't speak, he's too tormented. He went from being surprised when he joined Eden in Nadir's bathroom and got yelled at by her. Then to excitement, during their kissing session. Then, once again, he got yelled at by her as she was upset about being interrupted by Colins and forced him to clean and dry her dress.
And now she's talking to him about a contract. The alcohol ingested at the beer pong game he'd played with Olivia earlier in the party isn't helping him organize his thoughts.

"Do you have any questions?" Eden wakes him from his reverie.

"Does the contract mean there's some kind of exclusivity between us?" The question came out of his mouth faster than he expected.

"We have a different contract you and I, with different conditions. You're exclusive to me, I'm not exclusive to you."

He frowns, a little disappointed at the answer she just gave him.

"Can I change things on your contract too?

— Of course. But if the modified things don't suit me, I'll change partner."

So he'd better not change anything to ensure he has a relationship with her. Eden would never bend to someone else's demands so this contract is sort of not a contract for him.

"I'll give it to you tomorrow.

— Tomorrow is Saturday.

— And?

— We don't have school.

— We don't have to have school to see each other. I'll send you my home address."

Without waiting for an answer from Kallan and thus imposing her will on the boy, she leaves the room. Leaving the boy alone with his thoughts.

Everything happened so quickly and once again Eden had this confidence that never lets her flinch. She had just offered him an unusual contract, but she had done it as if it were something common in life, normal.
For her, it is normal.

She already has a contract in place and the only person he has in mind is Lev. He's sure Lev is that person she's tired of. Yet Lev has everything perfect, he's handsome, has money and is captain of the basketball team. Plus they looked like they were having fun in the basketball locker room last time.

Kallan winces as he remembers the scene. He hides his face in his hands, his cheeks slightly red and hot. Come to think of it, if he could have looked any longer, he would have.

Slapping his cheeks lightly to wake himself up, he gets up and walks out of the room looking for Colins. He must currently be with Olivia. Kallan hadn't seen the scene between the two girls. He had just seen Eden going up the stairs and Olivia coming out of the kitchen quickly, pushing him. Colins just had time to tell him that he was going to check on Olivia before he started running after her.