Chapter 16: An exorcism gone wrong

At the gym we have our first sports club meeting of the Spring semester, so we play for the first time with magic allowed. To be more precise, we play soccer, and apart from kicking the ball, you're also allowed to use the push-spell to move the ball. This simple addition makes the game already more difficult and a bit more chaotic, but we have a lot of fun. I'm happy to be able to work up a sweat and forget about this morning's incident.
For classes the next week I decide not to focus on a specific magic colour. I already have some considerate skill in black, blue and green magic, compared to other freshmen. And as for white and red, I'm barely average. Ok, a bit worse than average, but not much.
On Monday I end up in a lot of classes with Ellen and we spend the break together. While we walk towards our next class through the halls, I notice that Ellen seems to be torn about something. "Is something the matter? Is something on your mind?" She looks up to me. "Actually, yes. I heard from Virginia about you and Damien. Can I ask you some questions before class?" She looks at me pleadingly. "Uh, sure." I let Ellen lead me towards a corner, where we won't get disturbed.
"Why did you two fight? Did he do something to you?" I shake my head. "No, he didn't, but he would have... Listen, you already have no contact to him, but I want to warn you nonetheless: stay away from Damien. He's dangerous." Ellen seems shocked. "Then… is he really a devil? Is he evil?" "No… I don't think that's it. I don't think that his nature is evil. I don't know what his race is called, but I doubt that it could define him that much." Ellen tilts her head. "You didn't seem to mind him before. I don't understand… That happened?" I sigh. How to explain, that I played with fire, because I wanted to eat funny jelly in the Glen?
"I know now about how he broke the hearts of many students. He tried the same scam with me..." There was a time, then I didn't know about the hearts Damien broke, for example before I knew Damien. Ellen stays silent for a while. "Do you hate him now? Now that you know what he tried to play you?"
I'm surprised, at Ellen's determined look. Does she worry about me? "No, rather than hate…" I deliberate. What ARE my feelings towards Damien? Fear, but I can't explain that to Ellen. Apart from that…. "I pity him?" Ellen tilts her head in confusion. "If he acted so mean … then why do you pity him?" Yes, why DO I pity him?
"I don't know. He just… He reminds me of an injured animal. He bites everyone, who comes close to him. And apart from that… he is incapable of building true relationships. He can't be trusted – because he doesn't trust anyone. That's so lonely… I don't know the reasons as to why he came to be self-centred person he is, and it isn't my business anyway, but… I'm sure it wasn't easy for him as well." We both stay silent for a minute, lost in our thoughts.
"Anyways, please don't approach him for any reason. Now, let's go to our next class. I don't want to be late to a Grabby-class…" With this last warning, we continue on our way.

While I hurry towards a red magic class from Professor Grabiner on Tuesday, I run across Damien and Pastel flirting with each other. They haven't noticed me so far. Good, I better avoid Damien. As I look for a way to circumvent Damien without being noticed, I hear a bit of their conversation. "- a bit of fun with me? We both know this dance.", Pastel *whispers* to Damien. I say whisper, but I can hear her loud and clear, you know? She behaves, as if she would whisper, but she simply isn't.
Is that her way of bragging about flirting with the bad boy? To my surprise he gently pushes her away. That's strange. This is just like the game event, but I'm not on Damien's route anymore. "You have bad timing, little fairy. If this were last year, I would be happy to take that offer. But… I have my eyes on someone else right now…" It sounds like a sorry excuse, as if Damien wouldn't even have made much effort in devising it. But that aside, the heck? Why is he still saying that?
Shouldn't he look for a new victim right now or something? Pastel inches closer to him and rolls her shoulders, shifting sparkles to him. Fairy dust?
"No one has to know" Damien looks a bit disappointed at her. "You do not have your mother's skills." As in 'I enjoyed her company more' or just as in 'she's famous for seducing'? Probably the latter, which might explain as to why Pastel tries so desperately to seduce everyone she meets.
A bit disturbed about the fact, that this event still happened, I head towards my class with Grabby on a detour. I often go to Grabiner's classes, not because I like listening to his lovely voice, but because he's actually the best teacher in his magic colours, unless he hates you. Due to his strictness, the classes are quieter and I can better concentrate. He's a bit impatient with explaining, but his knowledge is vaster and more detailed than the knowledge of the other teachers of blue and red magic.
The rest of the week I'm successful in avoiding Damien and nothing notable occurs. Though I had a slight feeling of being observed. Am I becoming paranoid?
We have a long weekend, since Monday are no classes due to Kings Day. I wonder what kind of holyday it is, but Virginia doesn't know it herself.

On Tuesday Angela approaches me in the halls. "I heard you finally broke off with Damien? I didn't expect so much brain from you. But then again, it took you quite some time to catch on…", she mocks me. Is she stupid, or something? I thought she would be smarter. "Well, he isn't dangerous, if you don't fall in love with him. Speaking of which, I heard you were dating him?", I calmly retort. Don't expect me to just swallow your insults, Angela. "He told you? I broke up with him."
I smile at her sweetly. "Yeah, in public. How classy of you. But no, he didn't tell me, he's probably too ashamed to do so anyways."
Angela glares at me and then just leaves. I guess that means, that I won. I'm really no heroine-material, I won't let myself get bullied.

On Friday I walk around an empty hallway after my last magic class, thinking about what to do on the weekend. I could visit the mall, since I haven't been there for some time. Maybe I get Virginia and some other club members to play dodge ball with me on Sunday. Suddenly Damien obstructs my way. That's odd.
Shouldn't we both avoid each other? He has enough reason to stay clear of me as well. I want to turn around, but he catches my arm. The heck?
"Elise?" Damien looks at me pleadingly. The heck?! "Damien, what the…?", I stutter. "I'm sorry. I've been waiting for a chance to talk to you. I…"
Wait a moment. This. No. This can't be! This is just like Damien's confession event! Wait, no. Calm down, me. Whatever it is, I didn't behave like a stupid goody-two-shoes, naïve enough to die for him, so I definitely shouldn't be his type. Besides, he is no idiot, he wouldn't ask me out, after all what happened.
"Can we go somewhere more private?" Is this the game-fate-thingy, forcing him to confess to me, even though he should already know, that it is hopeless?
"There is no one else here." I want to avoid being alone with him in a truly deserted place, if possible. "I don't want someone to overhear." No chance, huh.
Well, it's not like it would be the middle of the night, I should be able to escape safely, should he try something funny. I nod reluctantly. "Lead the way."
"Class is over. So if we go to one of the rooms, we shouldn't be disturbed." So far, it's like the confession event. But then, all I would have to do, is to not accept his feelings, in order to be truly safe from him, right? That wouldn't be very difficult, so this thought calms me down. Just go with the flow for now.
Damien leads me to an empty blue magic class room. "So… what's going on?", I ask with honest curiosity. This whole situation seems so strange to me.
"This is hard for me. You can't imagine… You don't know.", he begins like in the game, avoiding my gaze. But he seems very serious.
That's so unlike his usual flirty personality. "I thought it would be easy, but it's not." Usually it vexes me, then the dialogs don't differ from the game, but this time it has a soothing effect. "What?" He turns his gaze towards be. "You. I don't understand how I feel about you. It's different. It's not - I can't control it"
This part is also like in the game, but this time that doesn't soothes me at all. "I thought I wouldn't care at all, if I wouldn't succeed in seducing you. That I would simply look for a new victim, someone more naïve, someone I could manipulate more easily. But… even though you caught a glimpse of my true nature, you… you don't fear me. You don't hate me." Ok, that definitely differs from the game. But not in a way I particularly like. Rather, it leads to a shiver running down my spine.
"I can't take it anymore." Suddenly Damien steps closer to me. A lot closer. I can even faintly feel his breath on my face. He's way too close!
I take a step back, but there is the teachers desk behind me, so I can't stir further away from him.
"What are you saying?", I reply, my voice sounding weak and broken, due to my fear. Yes, fear, I obviously fear him! "I DO fear you. A lot."
He chuckles. "And yet, you're neither screaming, nor running away. I have a feeling, you understand how … dangerous I can be, more than you should be able to understand. And yet… you don't call me a monster. You don't call me evil." Not like I could run away right now though? I'm trapped between him and the teacher's desk after all. He leans closer again towards me. With the back of his fingers he lightly strokes my cheek, still smiling at me. His smile is so scary right now.
The heck! How dare he casually touch me like this? Why am I feeling so weak right now? What is going on anyways? This was not supposed to happen!
This is so confusing. Damien should be angry at me now! He should never talk to me again! I'm usually so good with following the flow, but this time I fail to compose myself. I try to lean further back and place my hands on the desk behind me, thereby accidently touching a book, in order to support my weight shift.
"I want you." Another cold shiver strikes my back, leaving me unable to move. My eyes widen in shock. "I want to be with you. I want to touch your lips…"
"I… I'm sorry. I don't feel the same way…", I stutter, still paralyzed by the situation. Damien doesn't seem to react to this. Isn't he supposed to throw a fit now and leave? So confusing! "I know. But I'm confident, that I can make you feel the same way." And with that he leans in to me, closing the small distance left, and kissing me. My brain freezes. All I can think is: THIS ISN'T SUPPOSED TO HAPPEN! And yet I feel his soft lips on mine, his fingers on my chin. And suddenly… his tongue in my mouth, lightly touching my tongue. My emotions overwhelm me, leaving me motionless. A cough sounds and Damien stops kissing me.
He clicks his tongue and steps away, while glaring angrily at Professor Grabiner. PROFESSOR GRABINER? What is he doing here?
"I don't remember giving you permission to use this room as your 'little love nest', Mr. Ramsay.", Grabiner scolds Damien. Man, he looks super-pissed.
Due to his arrival, I finally snap out of it. I straighten my back and smooth down my robe, before I step in front of Damien and slap his face.
He just looks at me surprised. What, you didn't expect to be slapped for kissing someone against eirs will? But my slap was way too weak, it didn't even leave a mark. I strengthen my arm with green magic and slap him again.
"Lesson number 1, if you want to become a decent human be.. uh.. person, don't kiss people against their will." And with that I turned away from him and to a perplexed Grabiner. "Good day, sir." I nod to him and storm out of the room.
"Twenty-five demerits and detention!" I hear Grabiner yell at Damien behind me. At least he got punished for it.

I further hasten my steps, without caring much as to where they'll lead me. Suddenly Virginia obstructs my way. Where did she come from? "You ok?", she asks me concerned. "…No. Let's… Let's go to the gym, maybe? I think I need to work up a sweat right now.", I answer her with a rough sounding voice. My inner thoughts are a mess. Not because I was just kissed against my will, although that adds to my inner turmoil, but because Damien is obviously interested in me.
Even though I rejected him. Virginia acts unusually sensible and doesn't ask me what happened, but heads to the gym with me instead. Enough club members have already gathered there and we play dodge ball. I play more aggressive than usual and fully burn my energy.
As we head back to our dorms, my whole body feels sore. As soon as I reached my room, I throw myself into my bed, burying my face in my pillows. Ok, I calmed down a bit, due to my three-hour workout. So what if Damien is a bit interested in me? It's not like I'm the first person he's interested in, right? He had so many lovers after all… "So, what's gotten into you? You played like a berserk today. Some guys were a bit afraid of you…", Virginia inquires curiously.
"It's just… ugh. Nothing important, I'm just a bit angry about something. Please don't worry. I'm alright, I just needed to let off some steam."
The situation is already worse as it is, if I were to tell Virginia about, she would definitely do SOMETHING, and I don't want any weird rumours to spread.
"Well, if you say so… But you know, that you can come to me, if something is bothering you, right?" I look at Virginia and give her a small smile.
"Yeah, I know. Thanks. And thank you for taking me to the gym today. I really needed it."
With that, I managed to stop Virginia from worrying.