I blinked slowly, confused for a moment. His black eyes were staring at me with a weird intensity which made me freeze like I was under a spell that wasn't easy to break at all.
"What... why...? What are you doing here?"
My shaky voice made him give me a sympathetic smile. He adjusted his white hair for a few seconds and then cleared his throat.
His face was the same. The moment I was looking at him, I could feel all the horrible things that have happened 2 years ago. I shivered like the room was colder with a few degrees. Why was he here? He had clearly told me that was the last time I would see him after we managed to save the dimensions, and Lucifer escaped with his Demon Destroyer.
"This is not the place for this kind of discussion."
I inhaled quickly and nodded. Right, we were still at the university.
"Should we go for a coffee, then?" I said, not ready to part ways with him once again.
He smiled again and took a book from the shelf.
"I think this psychology book is amazing for our classwork, student." He said, handing me the book and I took it with a confused look.
"Wait..."
But I didn't have time to ask him what was going on, because he disappeared without a trace.
I sighed. He was really back. I had... mixed feelings. I missed him so much and yet, something told me there was a problem going on and that was why he came back.
What was going on this time?
I touched my neck, feeling the ghost of his charm around it. He took it back, as he already "touched" me and my bad luck had disappeared. But my memories didn't. And the feelings I've tried to hide so far just came back like a tsunami over me, making me drown without escape.
The sound of my phone ringing made me flinch and I sighed again, answering it.
"Ivy! I have your lunch with me, wanna come out to eat on the bench in front of the main building? Hey... hey, you idiot, it's Ivy's lunch, back off!"
Her laugh made my heart full again and I smiled, shaking my head. Everything was fine. Maybe Caiden had some other issues he had to deal with.
At least I could hope so.
Ready to exit the library, I threw a bored look through the book Caiden gave me and I sighed, trying to place it back on the shelf. I couldn't be bothered to get that book at that moment.
Right before I put it back, something fell off from the book and, with a deep frown, I lowered my body and took the piece of paper with a confused, but curious look.
It was a folded piece of paper, which seemed to be ripped from a notebook. I sighed. A lover's note from one of the students that used it before?
I opened it, laughing at myself for doing it. And then I widened my eyes, realizing that Caiden left it there.
It was an address.
***
"Thank god you showed up! Jason wanted to eat your hamburger!" Emily, screamed at me the moment I came out of the building.
I grimaced, seeing a few people turning their heads towards us, but Emily didn't seem to be bothered.
The sun was shining strongly, making people sit down on the grass, talking, studying, laughing, or just socializing in general. I inhaled deeply the fresh air and sat down on the bench, next to Emily. She handed me the hamburger and I started eating it, without any appetite.
I wanted to be done already with the courses so I could go to the address Caiden gave me. I was so curious to find out what he was doing here. He said he would go back to hell... so why didn't he? Or maybe he just came back from there? Maybe he was visiting...?
But if he meant to visit Earth he wouldn't choose to be a teacher, right?
Not like he cared about human morals and ethics and the fact that a teacher should stay some time and, well... teach.
Or maybe he could spare a few years from his eternity to teach at a university in New York City...?
"Hellooo! Earth to Ivy! What's going on with you?"
Right! Emily! Was I supposed to tell her that Caiden was our new teacher? Well, she would've found out sooner or later.
"Emily... our new teacher... is Caiden," I told her, realizing that I had no clue how to explain to her how my boyfriend from high school, who was roughly the same age as us, was already a university teacher.
Her confused expression shocked me, instead. "Wasn't his name Sean and something?"
"I think it's S-h-a-w-n." Jason corrected her and she threw him a deadly glare.
"Yeah, that's what I said."
"No, you pronounced it as S-e-a-n."
"Aren't they pronounced the same?!"
"There's a small difference..."
I was staring at Emily's face, not understanding what happened.
"Emily... it's...it's Caiden."
"Okay, who's Caiden?" She asked me, tilting her head and looked at me with a worried expression, seeing my face going pale like I just saw a ghost.
"What do you mean who's Caiden?" I replied, not sure of what she was trying to say.
"I have no clue who you are talking about, Ivy!" She insisted, frowning.
My brows furrowed in disbelief. That was impossible! We went through so many things because of Caiden, we spent just a few weeks with him, that's correct, but she couldn't forget my only "boyfriend" from highschool!
She even comforted me when Caiden left, leaving me alone back in Norfolk... She cursed him so much, making me laugh because of the weird words she was spitting, as she ran out of ideas and started inventing a few laughable swearings.
She couldn't... just forget all of this, right...?
She could. If a demonic party was involved.
I sighed.
"So you don't remember my high school boyfriend." I said, more like a statement and not a question.
She lifted her eyebrows and gasped, placing her hand over her mouth.
"No way! You had a boyfriend in high school?! That can't be true, you were glued to me, especially after you stopped talking to your mother!"
I gave her a sad smile and shook my head. "Yeah, sorry, I'm speaking nonsense. It's a prank."
They both threw me a confused look. "That's a pretty weird prank." Jason pointed out and I threw him a dismissive wave of my hand.
"Forget it, I'm not good at pranks. Now, should we go back to class? I just want to finish this day, I feel kinda tired."
Emily frowned and blinked quickly. "What do you mean you are tired?! What about the party?! Tomorrow's your birthday!"
I grimaced. "We can party tomorrow if you want. I just want to sleep tonight, I don't feel well."
Emily scrutinized me like she couldn't believe my excuse. But my tired face and my shifty eyes probably made her understand that I was telling the truth.
"Alright. Let's just go to this class and hope the lecture won't be too long." She decided, and Jason got to his feet as well, like a good puppy following her around.
I sighed and nodded, showing her a grateful expression.
Just a few hours left before I could find what was going on.
***
The last class was unnecessarily long and I could feel the sleep crawling slowly in my body making me close my eyes every few minutes. But I knew that even if I tried, I couldn't sleep.
Fortunately, we finished that day and suddenly felt energized, realizing I could go see Caiden. I knew that something wrong was going on, but I couldn't shake off this feeling of longing that I had had the moment I saw him.
I took my backpack in a hurry, ready to sprint towards the main street and get a taxi.
"Wow, you are so excited to go home and rest?" Emily asked me with a lifted eyebrow and an amused expression plastered on her face.
I looked at her with a frown and sighed.
"I want to sleep."
"Right. Is that a code for 'dick appointment'?"
I threw her a scandalized expression and she just shrugged, grinning.
"You talk about having a boyfriend, then saying it's a prank, and suddenly you hurry up to go home? Even if tomorrow is your birthday and we already agreed to go to the club?"
She was too perceptive for her own good.
"... I just want to sleep." I repeated myself, realizing that I had no other excuses ready to be served.
She sighed, tightening her purse. "Just be careful, Ivy. There's still that creepo going around in town. I'm worried, okay? And also furious because you keep secrets from me, even though I'm your best friend and I would never judge you."
My expression softened and I took her both hands and squeezed them.
"I know. And I would always tell you if something is going on, believe me. I just, honestly, want to sleep."
She looked carefully at my face, trying to find a breach in my composed attitude. Eventually, she gave up and got a grip on my shoulder.
"Okay. I'm always here for you. You know that."
I smiled. "Of course I do."
***
The address he gave me was in a residential part of the town, which made me feel uncomfortable. Only really rich people were living there. I drew in a big breath and kept walking, following Google Maps. Thank God for technology.
After other five minutes of walking, the robotized voice told me that my destination was on the left.
I stepped in front of a huge red mansion and I gulped. Technically, Caiden... Shawn, was a university teacher. And the university was quite good. And, it seemed that he also had published a few books some years ago. I had no clue how he managed to do that, but the point was that... he was rich in this new life. Not just a mere high school student.
He was always rich anyway, but at that moment he could show off however much he wanted.
I cleared my throat and pressed the bell next to the black, double doors from the entrance. A harsh voice answered me and I panicked. Was I in the wrong place? Maybe the address wrote down wasn't written by Caiden, but by another student who borrowed that book...
"I'm... I'm Ivy Moore..." I answered, hesitating, to the woman's question and, without saying anything else, the huge doors opened in front of me with a sharp sound.
I frowned in confusion, but I got inside the mansion's courtyard. There was a huge garden on my right, and I could smell the mesmerizing perfume of the roses grown there. I blinked slowly. Was Caiden that interested in having a rose garden? He seemed to be another person.
I kept walking on the narrow path towards the patio, where I could see some people standing on their feet around a small, white table with two, white chairs. The more I got closer to it, the more my anxiety would grow and I wiped my sweaty hands on my black, skinny jeans, realizing that wearing black on such a beautiful day wasn't exactly a smart move.
I placed a foot on the small, wooden patio and I could see his strong, broad shoulders relaxing, while he was sipping tea.
"You can leave us." He told to the other two people who were wearing uniforms. They bowed and left the patio, passing by me with a curious look.
I took a few more steps, not sure of what I was supposed to do.
"Well? Why don't you sit down? I'm sure you have a lot of questions."