The first thing he noticed was the impression on the bean bag where Zoe was sitting. Josh realized that he had fun with Zoe, which turned into a longing to see her again, and then an emptiness that left him feeling more dull than usual. He knew he was going to see her again and that brought him hope and for the first time in a long time, he was fueled by something other than anger and hatred. Josh laid on his bed contemplating all these thoughts while listening to music, till he fell asleep in the early morning.
When Zoe returned to her room, she was so tired she decided she didn’t have the energy to pull off her clothes and change into pajamas. While in bed she fell asleep immediately and began to dream. She dreamt of the recent days, recalling over and over the events during the physical tests, focusing and repeating the volleyball exercises. Towards morning Zoe’s mind isolated the physical contact she had with Josh, during the movie, when playing volleyball, and in his room. Her brain interpreted her actions as romantic gestures. These gestures were sound enough for Zoe’s brain to further continue the scenarios, filling them with hugging, cuddling, and even kissing! Zoe must have been more than alright with what she was seeing in her dreams because when her alarm went off to wake her up, she wanted so badly to go back to sleep and continue her dream. At least in her dreams, Josh, who she admitted was ridiculously handsome, wouldn’t attack her. She didn’t even know if vampires and humans could be together or if it was even allowed. But none of that mattered right now, if she didn’t wake up to shower during her time slot, she would be late for breakfast.
Josh woke up feeling refreshed and with a dream fading out of his mind’s eye. He hadn’t felt relaxed enough to dream since he was a child. In all honesty, this change excited him. Despite having no control over his life outside of this mansion and becoming angry and depressed by this, he felt that perhaps what he chose to do here and who he associated with could help him take back control. Josh had a feeling that Zoe was one of those people that was going to be essential for this goal. There were things about vampire society that humans from outside didn’t know. If Zoe does successfully come out of this college, she’ll learn about them eventually, but Josh would have to give serious thought to forming a real partnership with her. Fortunately for Josh, there was plenty of time to figure everything out.
In the shower, Zoe’s mind returned to whether she should entertain any feelings towards Josh or any vampire for that matter. No matter how excited romantic feelings get you, Zoe knew that she had to nip this in the bud. When she had more information about the goings-on of the college and vampires and their society, then she could revisit opening her heart. Zoe didn’t close her heart off just to vampires, but also to her fellow humans. The situation was precarious and technically, her human classmates could die. She didn’t want to think about it further, but she knew how best to protect herself and this was it.
Zoe had spent more time than usual getting ready because she was lost in thought and also because she accidentally imagined the deaths of her human classmates which had made her depressed. She was one of the last students to arrive at the dining hall, she immediately found her way to the buffet trying to gather oatmeal, fruits, and orange juice to satisfy her growing hunger. When she turned with a tray of food to scan the seats available, she saw Josh, who had a seat left available next to him. Zoe had briefly forgotten about the new seating arrangements. And because none of the humans have been hurt by any of the vampire students the fact that Zoe, just imagined that some of them would murder them, made it difficult for her to look the vampires in the eyes. But, when she approached the table to take the empty seat near Josh, she found that it wasn’t hard to meet his eyes. It was then and there that she realized that she had made him the exception and her depression and thoughts about death and hopelessness disappeared.
Lily rushed Zoe to sit down and eat because there were barely ten minutes left before they had to head to the gym.
“Wow, Zoe, you haven’t ever been late to breakfast before. I thought you were a morning person?” Lily remarked.
Between mouthfuls of oatmeal and gulps of orange juice, she replied, “I got lost in thought this morning. And since I don’t have my phone, I didn’t know what time it was. It’s so easy to lose track of time in here.”
“Oh, yeah. I am also still trying to get over the fact that I don’t have a phone anymore. We’ll have to find more things to entertain ourselves with,” Lily acknowledged. “Anyways hurry up and finish your food, before Ms. Todd comes to get us!”
Zoe nodded in acknowledgment. Despite only having a few minutes to eat, she was able to consume all the food she had gathered. She was hungry after staying up late last night with Josh. Ms. Todd arrived just after Zoe had returned from placing her dirty dishes in the bin at the end of the buffet table. As per usual Ms. Todd was there to take the class to the gym and Zoe wondered what they would be doing today.
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