The Garden of What Once Was

CHAPTER THREE

Ember sped through the math homework that she had forgotten to finish the other night. The majority of the problems were most likely wrong, but it was graded for completion, not accuracy. Right as Ember was about to complete the last problem, she was interrupted by the sound of the seat next to her being pulled out from under the desk. Normally, Ember wouldn't have cared if someone sat beside her. It wasn't like she'd talk to them anyway. But that wasn't the case with Casper, who was staring down her homework that was filled with sloppy scribbles that were supposed to be math equations. This was the first time Casper saw Ember in class, as she was the type of girl who blended in anywhere. It was good that he recognized her though since he still needed to apologize to her. 

            She followed him with her eyes as he sat down. "You're in the wrong seat."

            "I won't bother you. I promise," Casper told her, hoping she wouldn't get up and move to another open seat. "I just want to talk to you."

            "That sounds like being a bother to me."

He placed his hands on the desk and started to get up. The sad look on his face made it feel like someone had punched her in the gut. Although Ember acted cold and tough, she couldn't handle the sight of someone looking sad. 

            "Wait," Ember sighed, annoyed that she couldn't stop herself from feeling bad for him. "I'll let you stay if you give me the answer to number twenty."

He sat back down with a smile on his face. Quickly, Casper retrieved his homework from his backpack, handing it over to Ember.

            While she busied herself with secretly copying his work for the last question, Casper began his apology, "About what happened yesterday, I'm really sorry. It was my fault that you fell and got injured."

No response of forgiveness was offered by Ember, instead, she just ignored him. Once she was finished copying his work, she gave him his homework back. She silently waited for him to get up and go back to his regular seat. Their class was going to start soon. He wouldn't be able to switch seats once the clock hit 11:05.

            "Well, you made your apology. You can go back to your seat now." Ember shooed him away with her hands.

            "I'd rather stay here."

            "Look, I'd really rather that you not. I don't want anything to do with you or your friends," She firmly stated, reverting back to her stone-cold self.

            Casper was unable to stop himself from correcting her lie. "You're afraid of us, but you've been alone for so long that you don't mind the company, even if it's vampires."

Casper had told her the truth that she had been refusing to believe. Her brows furrowed together in confusion. What the hell...? She felt like her brain had been pried open and picked away by him.

            "How did you do that?" Ember knew the answer, but she wouldn't be able to believe it until she heard him say it himself.

            "To put it simply, I'm like a lie detector," He explained, "If you tell a lie, I'll go inside your mind and find the truth."

Her eyes widened with shock. If he had gone inside her mind, he could have discovered that she was a true blood. She stared at him, trying to see if anything was off about him now. Fortunately, nothing was different. He was still smiling at her like it was the only facial expression he could muster.

            "You must be mistaken," Ember foolishly argued with him, not wanting to accept that he was right, "I know myself better than anyone else. When I said I don't want anything to do with you, I meant it."