looks… magical. As we pull in, a large bird takes off from the roof of the school building behind us, its wings backlit by the sun like in a goddamn movie.
“Glad to be back?” Cam teases as we get out of the car.
“A little, actually, yeah,” I admit.
We grab our bags from the trunk and haul them up to our room. I’ve lived with the guys since a few weeks into my first semester, although student housing still doesn’t know about it. If they did, I’m sure they’d pitch a fit. But since my original roommates were Alyssa, Megan, and Kendal, I have no desire to leave the men’s dorm.
Alyssa is the rich brat who’s been annoying me like it’s her job. Megan is one of her hangers-on, the loudest and most dedicated of her crew. Cristina’s another one, but she’s generally silent, like the world’s preppiest assassin. Kendal’s also a groupie but she’s… oddly sweet. Shy. Not like the others. I think she feels like she has to hang out with them. They’re all from old, powerful families so there’s a lot of pressure to do the “right thing” socially.
Anyway, it worked out for the best. Living with the guys is awesome—and not just because I’m crazy attracted to all of them. We actually room well together, which, with four wildly different personalities in a small space, is saying something.
The room is large, with beds, desks, and small dressers in each of the corners and a large couch in front of a TV along one of the side walls. We all move automatically to the quadrants we claimed last year and start unpacking our stuff.
“Home, sweet home,” Dmitri says sarcastically, and I laugh because it really kind of is.
I’m the last to finish emptying my suitcase, and when I turn around, I see all three guys standing there staring at me.
“You want to get something to eat?” Asher asks.
I frown, tugging the zipper on my empty bag closed. “Umm… I mean, not really. You guys can go get something if you want.”
“Nah, we’re good,” Cam says, sitting back down on his bed.
My brows pinch together as I narrow my eyes. Hmm.
I’m pretty damn sure the men are hovering—and my suspicion is confirmed when, for the rest of the evening, they stick to me like glue. Even Dmitri. God knows he’s trying to pretend he isn’t, but when he’s always in the same place I am, well… a girl starts to get suspicious.
I can’t really call them out on it, though—or blame them. If one of them had been in a magically induced coma for three months, I’d probably be hovering a little too. And it’s not like we don’t already spend almost all of our time together. I don’t really have friends on campus outside of these three and Roman. Blame Alyssa and my own tendency to be a hermit.
So I keep my mouth shut and just try to enjoy their presence, hoping that in a few days, once we get back into the swing of classes and they realize I’m not going to drop back into a coma at any moment, they’ll relax a bit.
The next morning, there’s an assembly after breakfast. I’m assuming Dean Hardwick will give a speech as usual, probably something about welcoming the first-years and how it’s cool to be Unpredictable and how proud of us he is. Hardwick means well, really, don’t get me wrong. I like the guy well enough, and I know he cares about this school and the students here a lot. But he’s got a fine line to tread between acknowledging the prejudice Unpredictables are faced with and encouraging us to celebrate who and what we are.
We walk in a bit of a pack, the guys around me, but even though I’m in the middle, people still seem to spot me from a mile away.
“Hi, Elliot!” one girl says as we head down the steps outside the dining hall.
I’ve never met this girl in my life.
“Umm… hi?” I reply, confused.
“Hey, Elliot, glad to see you’re doing better!” says another guy from my History of Magic class last semester. I don’t remember his name, seeing as we’ve never once spoken to each other.
It keeps up like that as we make our way to the auditorium. Everyone’s saying hi like we’re close friends, like they were all holding candlelight vigils all summer to make sure I woke up safe and sound. Several first-years—they tend to move around in terrified packs—gape at