FOUR
I dragged my feet and sulked as I tried to remember the way to the Prefect's office, where Klaus was waiting for me. It was so depressing to think that after everything else that had just happened. now I would have to deal with him, too. I really couldn't catch a break today, could I? How could my rosy dream of a wonderful school life vanish so completely on just the first day?
Finally, I stumbled down the hallway and found the door I was looking for. "Here it is," I grumbled, and knocked two times.
"Come in," called Klaus in that low, sexy voice of his. I tried to ignore the way the sound slid right down my spine. It could only be coming from sheer dread, I told myself as I rolled my eyes, then composed my face as I stepped inside.
"Excuse me," I said meekly as I stepped before his desk. Klaus was looking over some documents, but he glanced up over the rims of his glasses as I stopped before him.
"So you've come?" he asked, his violet eyes looking me over with surprise. "I was certain that you would run away."
"I told you already, I'm not going to run away," I insisted, and set my mouth in a firm line as I met his eyes. I had no intentions of letting him see any signs of weakness in me.
"Then you'd better get started," he replied. "Organize those documents in numerical order and put them on the shelf over there. Don't just stand there looking foolish, you've got to do anything I say."
"Yes, sir," I said, and quickly turned to do his bidding. It took me a while, but eventually I finished the task. I sighed heavily as I said, "Prefect Klaus? I've finished putting the documents away."
"Good, now put all the books on that table on the shelf too."
"What?" I gasped.
"I heard you grew bunny ears in your very first class," he said then.
I groaned. I had really hoped he wouldn't find out about that.
"We're Buddies, not Bunnies," he lectured. "Every time you screw up it hurts me, and as my Buddy your job is not to hurt me, but to please me. You do understand what that means, don't you?"
Sighing heavily, I said, "I get that we're Buddies, but why do I have to do everything that you say? I mean, what do I get out of it?"
Casting me a disgruntled look as if I should know already, Klaus replied, "Me. You get the exclusive right to special, private lessons, Elizabeth. Don't think that I would willingly give them to anyone else. From now on, I will be completely and utterly devoted to training you. I'll take care of everything you'll need, and in exchange you'll do the same for me. It's a perfect arrangement. If you'll just try it my way, you'll see exactly what I mean."
"I'm not agreeing with you or anything, but I'm willing to put away the books," I conceded with a little frown. I had to resist the urge to cry with all my might, but I managed to do the task.
"Come," he said, taking my hand as he led me over to another table. "I want you to take these books back to the library. I'll show you the way."
"Another task?" I gasped. "This is so unfair! It's just my first day. Can't you be a little nicer to me?"
"What would you like me to do, Elizabeth?" he scoffed. "I'm not a hearts and flowers kind of man. Straightforward, hard work is what I know. If you don't like it, just leave. With all the job offers I have open, it doesn't matter if I become a professor or not!"
"This isn't the way I thought school would be," I told him with a heavy sigh. "Do you hate me or something?"
"I'm not a nice man, Elizabeth," he replied. "If you had any sense at all, you'd steer clear of me entirely. I can see your emotions written all over your face," he added, cupping my cheek in his hand. "I never would have thought so before, but maybe I might enjoy teaching you."
"I think you actually mean 'teasing', not teaching, right?" I scoffed.
"Yes, that's correct too," he admitted with a sinister smile.
"Oh!" I gasped, too angry for words. I turned and ran out of his office without another word, intent on getting out of the school as fast as my legs could carry me.
"You forgot the books!" Klaus called after me. I turned, grabbed them, and left again. Just as soon as I got rid of the books at the library, I headed for the dorm thinking how nice it would be if I never had to see Klaus Goldstein ever again.
My body was trembling and exhausted, and I walked at such a steady clip that I had no time to react when there was suddenly a man standing right in front of me as I rounded a corner. My weak legs wobbled as I stumbled, but his strong hand reached for my arm, grabbing it to stop my fall.
"Whoa, careful there, miss," he said. "Hey, didn't I see you earlier?"
"Sorry, I wasn't paying attention," I said. "I don't think I've seen you before. But then again, I'm new here."
"Ah, wrong person I guess," he said with a suave, charming smile. His uniform was different than that of the other students, and he spoke with an accent that made him seem foreign. Then he pulled a little glass bottle filled with candies from his pocket. "Here, take this Konpeito, it should help you to feel more at home here."
"Wow, this is so cute!" I gasped. "What is it?"
"It's a type of sugar candy," he explained. "Consider it my apology for running into you. But I've got to run for now. I am late for my magical art club."
"What's that?"
"It's a class on creating portraits of people who aren't even there," he said. "Kind of weird, right? I'm pretty good at it, though."
"Oh, well good luck with that then."
"Thanks," he said. "See you around."
As he left, I nodded and said, "Wow, what a nice guy. Nothing like Prefect Klaus!"
"Are you all right, Liz?" asked Amelia as I came out from my bath later that evening.
"I'm so exhausted," I admitted as I collapsed onto my bed and dug my face into the pillow. "Prefect Klaus worked me so hard today I thought I was going to die!"
"I wouldn't mind a bit of working out with him," said Amelia. "He is really hot, don't you think?"
"If you like that sort of human, I suppose," I said, trying not to blush. "I suppose I can see the fascination. But you really don't want that kind of work-out. He ordered me around and made me work like a servant for him. Plus, he was sarcastic the whole time. It was really harsh."
"Wow, I really feel for you."
"But on the way back, I met a nice guy who gave me some candy," I added, showing her the little bottle of Konpeito.
"Wow, it's so cute!"
"The guy who gave it to me looked like he was from another country," I said. "He called this Konpeito and said he hoped it would cheer me up. He really cheered me up after all of the business with Klaus."
"We get students from all over here, you know," said Amelia with a nod. "Besides, once you're accepted at the school you can forget all about Emperor Klaus. But until then you'll just have to work it out."
I slipped one of the candies into my mouth and rolled it around on my tongue, trying to look at things on the bright side. He may be strict and high-handed, but at least Klaus was absolutely gorgeous. How I wished when he'd been saying I could have him it wasn't just his teaching he was willing to give!
I crawled underneath my covers and cuddled up to my pillow, wondering what I could do to get Klaus to be nice. But before I could manage to get a coherent thought in my head, a song began to play, strangely sweet. Before I knew it, the sound put me right to sleep, and I found myself dreaming.
Prefect Klaus as standing with me in an open field. In one hand he held a wand, and in the other he held his broom. But instead of using the wand to teach me a spell, he ran a hand down and over it suggestively, explaining what he wanted me to do and using it as an example. My mouth went dry as I watched him run the tip over his tongue, then cast me that same sinister smirk he'd used earlier in the day.
I gasped as I woke, and felt my whole body trembling with a heated desire. I never knew it was possible for a dream to get a girl so worked up. But then again, I'd never seen a man before that made me want to be worked up in that way. Prefect Klaus, with his violent, violet eyes and soft, touchable golden hair were too tempting to be ignored. Too bad he was such a royal prick into the bargain.