Taste of Secrets

Chapter Four

I felt a pulsing pain on either side of my head, making my eyes water slightly. Randall knelt beside me, his hand on my shoulder. "Y/N? Y/N/N?" he said. His face softened when he heard me groan. My eyes cleared up, allowing me to see how he was wearing my robe. Randall looked down at his new outfit and then back to me. "C'mon," Randall said. He set a hand on my lower back, helping me up from the ground. 

He made sure I was standing up before removing his hand from my back. His clothes were next to my bed, making me even more confused. Once I had fully remembered, the conversation before I passed out came to mind. "Are you-" I began to speak. "No! I'm not killing people," he interjected, "Are you sure you didn't hit your head?"

Randall put a hand on my shoulder, leaning down slightly to look into my eyes. I shook his hand off and stepped over to my computer, which was still at my desk. "So, did you get bitten, or are you one of the hides?" I asked. Randall's brows furrowed in response to my question. "Before you freak out, I need to tell you something, but you can't tell anyone else," I said. He nodded his head and crossed his arms. 

And, so, I told him everything: how I'm the daughter of Vera Stone, what I meant by shadowing my mother, the bow and arrow, stealing the books, and how I've been researching everything. Randall's brows remained raised as he plopped down on my sofa. "Randall," I said. "Yeah?" he replied, leaning back. 

"The robe."

"Oh, sorry."

~~~~

(The Next Day)

Students conversed as I walked down the sidewalk. I couldn't help but think if there were other people like Randall. After class, I planned to drop the book off at the temple now that I knew enough. My chin rested on my chin while I waited for class to start. Students took their seats around me and brought out their computers or notebooks. I heard heels hit the ground, making me look up. 

Gabrielle strolled up the aisle of seats and sat down beside me. She put her leather purse on the seat beside her, not bothering to think that someone might want to sit there. "Good morning, Y/N," she said. "Hey? Why're you sitting next to me?" I said, looking up from my computer screen. She smiled to herself and typed something on her computer. 

"Can't a girl just sit next to her friend?" she said. My confusion grew at her sudden comment. Gabrielle ignored my expression and continued to start our notes for our class, surprising me. "I didn't know we were friends," I said. She shrugged and smiled once our professor walked into the classroom. 

Everyone looked up from their desks when our professor began to write something on the dark green chalkboard. "Also," Gabrielle whispered, "You are the Grand Magus' daughter, so..." Her sentence trailed, bringing her attention to the professor. I glanced at her, a small smirk appearing on her face. She winked at me and leaned back in her chair. 

~~~~

(Later)

On my way to class, my phone hadn't stopped ringing. I stopped walking and pulled my phone out of my pocket. My mom's profile popped up on the screen multiple times. "Six new messages? C'mon, mom," I muttered. Her face lit up the screen once more before I accepted the phone call. "Where are you?" she asked. "Well, I'm currently walking to Biology," I said, looking around me. 

Randall shouted my name from behind me. I looked over my shoulder and saw him chasing after me. He fixed the hood of his jacket when he caught up to me. He gave me a thumbs up, noticing me on the phone. "I noticed this morning that a book had gone missing from my shelf at the temple," my mother stated, "You wouldn't happen to know where that could've gone, right?"

My eyes widened at her comment. Randall tilted his head when he took notice of my sudden expression. I put my hand over the speaker of my phone. "She knows about the book I stole," I said. Randall's eyes widened, gritting his teeth in my position. I put my phone back up to my ear and continued the conversation.