Rowena“Rowena? Honey, is everything alright in there? I thought I heard shouting—”The door handle continued to jiggle, and I quickly shoved Eric away and scrambled to my feet. Running over to the door, I quickly unlocked it and flung it open.My mother stood in the doorway, holding a plate of fresh cookies. Her blonde hair was pulled back in its usual neat bun, and her eyes looked a little bewildered as she looked back and forth between me and Eric.“Sorry,” I said, stepping aside to let her in.She shot me a quizzical look as she walked into the room. “Why did you lock the door?” she asked. “I got a little worried.”I fell silent, unsure of how to explain. How was I supposed to tell my mother that Eric was teaching me how to flirt? She’d find it strange, to say the least, and maybe even a little inappropriate given how close we had gotten at the end.Suddenly, Eric stood behind me and cleared his throat. “I was just giving Rowena some combat manager lessons,” he said coolly. “Locke
RowenaI let out a soft sigh and pushed my glasses up on my nose, then tucked a stray curl behind my ear as I bent over the notebook in front of me.“I’m going to lunch, Rowena.” The head manager stood from his desk and grabbed his jacket off of his chair. “You’ll be okay in here on your own for an hour, right?”I nodded and looked up, meeting his gaze with a polite smile. “Yes. Enjoy your lunch.”With a curt nod, the head manager strode out of the office and left me alone. I watched his form fade away through the glass door, mingling with the other students who were walking past. I could see how they were chattering excitedly, pointing at the new posters that were practically lining every wall.“Come to the Homecoming Honeys dance this Saturday!” the sign read. Then, underneath: “Bring your ‘homecoming honey’ for free drinks!”I glowered a bit at the sign and shook my head. The atmosphere around the camp had changed so much this week since the dance had been announced; everyone seeme
RowenaI stepped up to the front door of Eric’s dorm; more of a cottage, really. All of the highest-ranked warriors, like Eric, had their own cottages in a small village on the east side of the camp. Some of them shared the space with two or maybe even three roommates, but not him.No, Eric had his own cottage.He rarely stayed the night here, though; why would he, when he had our parents’ mansion to stay in? His cottage was pretty much reserved for date nights with random girls and parties.I let out a small huff of annoyance as I raised my hand to knock on the door. Eric had insisted that I come here after class today, wearing something I could move around in easily.A moment later, the door swung open. Eric puffed his chest out a bit as he drank me in with his eyes. “You brought heels, too?” he asked, his gaze sweeping over my comfortable sweatshirt and leggings.I nodded and held up the bag where my high heels for the homecoming dance were waiting. “Yep. Got them here.”“Good. Com
RowenaI stifled a yawn as I glanced at the clock; only nine-thirty in the morning. I still had a few hours left of my shift in the manager’s office.Normally, I wasn’t this sleepy in the mornings. But I had been up later than usual last night with Eric, practicing my dance moves. I had to admit, though; he was right about us making good dance partners.After spending the night practicing together, it felt surprisingly natural. It was probably just because we were siblings. We just clicked, in a way.Suddenly, the door swung open. I looked up and felt my heart almost stop when I saw a familiar head of black hair push into the room.“Adrian.”“Rowena.” Adrian walked up to me and sat down in the chair across from me. “Can you look at my shoulder? I think I pulled a muscle.”Nodding, I set my notebook down with trembling hands and circled around the desk to look at Adrian. I swallowed as I poked at his shoulder, tugging the collar of his shirt aside to peer at his tense muscles. We were
RowenaFor the first time in a while, I walked into the house without Eric. I dropped my bag by the door and kicked my shoes off—maybe a little too angrily, because my mom heard me.“Rowena? Honey, is that you?”I sighed and wandered over to the kitchen where my mom was preparing dinner. “Hey, Mom,” I said as I slid up onto one of the stools at the counter.“Hey, honey.” She stirred the pasta in the water and tapped the wooden spoon on the side of the pot. “Carbonara for dinner tonight. Your favorite.”Normally, the idea of my mom’s homemade carbonara for dinner would have gotten me excited; but I hardly had an appetite today after my fight with Eric. “Thanks,” was all I could manage.My mom shot me a surprised look. “What’s wrong?” she asked, then glanced around. “Where’s Eric? You two usually seemed attached at the hip lately.”I shrugged and rested my cheek in my hand as I idly flipped through a magazine that was sitting on the counter. “I don’t know where he is.”“Are you two figh
RowenaA pair of strong hands encircled my waist and whipped me around beneath the flashing lights. A moment later, as I came back to my senses, I found myself looking up at none other than Eric’s face.My eyes widened slightly. “Where’s Heather?” I blurted out.Eric simply shrugged and nodded over my shoulder. I followed my gaze to see Adrian and Heather dancing together, although a little stiffly. It wasn’t uncommon for warriors to switch partners during songs like this, but I hadn’t planned on it. I came here with Adrian, not with Eric.“Are you having fun dancing with Adrian?” Eric asked.I remained silent. I was still too angry to speak with Eric, and so I tried to turn to go back to Adrian—but Eric’s grip tightened on my waist, and he pulled me closer so that our hips were now touching as we moved on the dance floor.“I was having a great time, before you pulled me away,” I said in a slightly snarky tone. Although, I wasn’t so sure if I was telling the truth.If I was being hone
Rowena“You taste sweet.”I was left stunned beneath the bright flashing lights of the homecoming dance. In an instant, Eric was gone; I was alone on the dance floor after an intense kiss with…My brother?This had to be a joke. But even if it was, it was too far. The incident in my room on the couch was bad enough, but this? This was way over the line.Suddenly, I felt a hand on my arm. I spun around, breathless, to see Adrian standing there. He still looked a bit confused. “You okay?” he asked. “Your brother took you away so abruptly. Did he need to talk to you or something?”I swallowed and nodded. “Yeah, uh… We just needed to talk. I’m sorry,” I said. “I hope your dance with Heather was nice.”Adrian shrugged. “Want another drink?”“I, um…” I froze, staring down at my empty hand where the punch cup had been before but was gone now. The idea of sipping a bit more to calm my nerves was appealing, but…“I think I actually need to go home,” I blurted out.Adrian’s eyes widened. “What?
RowenaI sank down into the hard plastic chair of my little office and looked around with a sigh.How was this possible? For three weeks, I had been working my ass off in the manager’s office. For three weeks, I had been receiving top scores in my internship assessments. Hell, since I had come to this school, I had done nothing but prove my abilities and my worth.