Chapter 6

I walked into class late with Damien by my side. I noticed Neferet scowl at me with her eyes whilst already into her speech. Damien and I sat next to each other at the back of the classroom as Neferet cleared her throat loudly, obviously to get our attention.

'Now I hope some of you will appreciate and understand how fortunate we are today to have Erik Night read us a poem.' She smiled. A whisper of excited girls filled the room. Crap I thought. Poor Erik, I can't stand to see him after what had just happened before class. Erik walked in casually and I swear I noticed him frown just slightly as he saw Damien and I. I was too busy trying to look away from Erik to notice Damien scribbling furiously on a piece of paper. He slid it slowly across the desk as I heard Erik starting to recite his poem, the class room hushed as all the girls eyed Erik dreamily.

I grabbed the piece of paper and hastily read what it said- wanting to get back to Erik's poem.

Zoey, I just want you to know that I truly care about you and I wanted to know if you felt the same way.

I smiled and got butterflies in my stomach as I looked up at his face. He unlocked my gaze by putting the pen in front of me- urging me to reply. Damien was so sweet, so kind.

Yes Damien! Of course I care about you. I thought for a moment before adding; So, are we out in the open now? I passed the note to Damien, hoping Neferet wouldn't notice. I heard Damien scribble before handing me the note, how I wish we could be together openly, I mean Erik knew right? So he would be sure to tell everybody anyway. I glanced down at the note.

NO. I had to read it a few times for it to sink in. I felt a bit crushed inside, Damien must have seen the expression on my face because he hastily grabbed the piece of paper, wrote on it and handed it back to me. Just give me some time Zoey, trust me. I looked up at Damien and mouthed OK to him. He smiled and scrunched up the piece of paper and grabbed a new piece. I turned back to the front while I waited for Damien to finish writing. He passed it to me and I read; This is a friken long poem. I laughed out loud and Neferet glared at me, along with 20 girls who all scowled at me at the same time. Damien took the piece of paper back and handed it to me once again, and my heart melted at the words;

I love you Zoey. He loves me, He loves me! Before I got the chance to reply Damien grabbed the paper and scrunched it up. I gave him a weird look and he nodded his head in the direction of the teacher. I looked at Neferet to see her with one of her eyebrows raised at me. I looked away and grabbed my book, flipped to the back and wrote as unnoticeably as I could; I cant seem to find the words to describe the love I feel when your around me. I wrote. I started to slide my book towards Damien when my book was suddenly lifted into the air. Damien and I both turned around to see Neferet holding my book a few inches above our heads.

'Writing something Zoey?' She questioned. The class turned around and Erik stopped reciting his poem. Neferet walked to the front and stood next to Erik. 'I am extremely sorry Erik but some students obviously have a poem of their own to share, lets read it shall we. She cleared her throat and I cringed. 'I cant seem to find the words to describe the love I feel when your around me.' She said with a disapproving face. I looked out the corner of my eye expecting to see Damien mad at me for spoiling the secret, but was surprised to see him smiling. Whispers started and I noticed girls envying me, I listened to the chatter at the desk in front of us.

'Oh my god! That stupid Zoey likes Erik! She can keep her hands off!' I heard them whisper angrily. I realised soon enough that everybody now thinks that I love Erik. Crap! Erik! I looked next to Neferet to see Erik starring at Damien blankly. I looked between them back and fourth and swore that I saw a tear escape from Erik's eye before he left the classroom.