Bailey
My mouth falls open in awe when I see what's inside the shed. The names of the first ever witches framed on the wall, witch books, spells, potions and even wands.
"I didn't know the campus had this, it wasn't stated on the website" I say as I look around.
"Well it's more like a headquarters for all the witches but when students started stealing things instead of just admiring it, the dean banned everyone from it."
I frown "That's unfortunate"
He nods and holds up a potion "This was the first ever potion made and Cynthia made it to poison her abusive husband" I hum and he holds it out to me "Just smell how strong it smells even after so many years"
I lean closer and almost gag at smell "Yeah it is pretty strong. Does it still work?"
"Unless someone uses it then we'll never know" he picks up another potion "Love potion"
I raise an eyebrow, intrigued "And who made that?"
"Hannah Almond." He says without missing a beat "She was in love with a man who didn't reciprocate the feeling."
"And did the potion work?"
He nods "It did, they got married a month later and had three kids if I'm not mistaken."
"I see" I watch as he puts the potion back in place "You good at this."
He glances at me with a raised eyebrow "At what exactly?"
I pick up a cute red wand and gesture to him "Knowing your history and being a witch"
He scoffs "Well I'm not a witch"
I nod slowly "The other day you mentioned not being one anymore. What happened?" He stiffens and I can practically feel the room becoming tenser "Oh, that's okay. You don't need to tell me, I was just curious."
He's quiet as he stares at the framed names on the wall while I admire the wand in my hand and I hear him say "He stole it."
I pause and glance at him "Excuse me?"
He grits his teeth "My magic. He took it."
I frown "Who?"
He rakes a hand through his hair "My father. I was thirteen when he took my magic and he didn't just do it to me but to other witches too."
My mouth falls open in disbelief and my chest aches as I see the absolute hurt on his face as he avoids looking in my eyes. "I'm so sorry to hear that, Eli"
His eyes snap to mine "Did you just call me on my first name?"
I blink about a thousand times as I realise my mistake "I didn't mean to it just slipped out."
He lets out a chuckle but it doesn't sound like one of amusement "It's fine, Miss Harper. Just don't make that mistake again."
I nod and he goes back to look through the things and I can't help but say "I killed my parents." He turns around so fast I almost get whiplash "I accidentally used my magic to start a fire and…they died."
My voice cracks on the last word and he lets out a small sigh before stepping closer to me and wrapping his arms around me and without hesitation I wrap my arms around him too. I haven't been hugged in ages and this feels…nice. He's so much taller than me that I barely reach his chin and I bury my face in his chest, taking a deep breath and butterflies erupt in my stomach when his smell hit my nose. My heart rate spikes when he grabs a fistful of my hair and gently tuck my head back to make me stare up at him.
My lips part on its own accord when I see how his eyes has darken. I stand on my toes to press my lips against his but he moves his head back and my heart sinks to my stomach
"Oh my god" I say horrified as I untangle myself from him "I'm so sorry, I don't know what came over me just now."
"It's fine" he says through gritted teeth and I see how hard his fists are clenched
"No, it's not fine. Please don't tell the dean that I tried sexually assaulting you"
He lets out laugh and I find myself relaxing "I'm doing no such thing, Miss Harper" he gestures between the two of us "This is a strictly professor-student relationship"
I nod "Right. Of course."
He gestures to the door "I think it's better if we leave"
We make our way back in absolute awkward silence and I find this need to apologise again "I'm sorry"
"It's okay so stop apologising"
I nod and gesture to one of the buildings "My dorm is in that one"
"Alright then. See you, Miss Harper"
"See you, Mr Matthews"
I walk to my building and I narrow my eyes before glancing over my shoulder to find him staring at me before walking in the other direction and I feel absolutely stupid for almost kissing my professor. I walk into my dorm and freeze when I see it looking completely different than when I left. Instead of just Liliana's loveseat that she brought the first day, there's a coffee table, two bean bags, random pictures and quotes hanging on the wall and even a decent curtain covering the windows. I glance around but it's awfully quiet so I'm going to assume they are either sleeping or out. It's a Saturday night after all.
I walk into my room and groan softly as I see the mess I left just to go have coffee with Luke. I let out a heavy sigh before getting work.