The weather cooled, the leaves changed colors, and Camelia had managed to convince herself that, despite the challenges that she faced with her personal life and her own biology, everything was going to be okay.
Camelia's phone rang shrilly as she walked out of her final class of the day on a Friday, and she pulled it out of her pocket as she tucked her graded essay into her bag. Professor Angelo had been thrilled about her essay on the history of Alpha and Omega social structures, and had even managed convince her to teach a mini-lecture on it. Camelia had agreed, not because it was the typical fare for the class, but because it was all that she had been able to think of since the dinner that she'd gone to with her father.
Speaking of.
"Hey, honey, how are you doing?" Carson sounded tired, but warm. He had been checking in on Camelia more frequently, and she smiled as she tucked her free hand into a pocket to shield it against the crisp fall wind outside.
"I'm okay. Tired, but that's par for the course. How are you?" Campus was as crowded as it always was, but Camelia ducked around groups of congregated students with practiced ease, heading towards the commons. She was meeting Aria for lunch before she headed to the library for a study session. Midterms were only a few weeks away, and she wanted to do well.
Carson sighed. "I'm alright, sweetie. Thanks for asking." He paused, and the hairs on the back of Camelia's neck raised. She glanced around as she entered the student center, but didn't see any reason for alarm as her father continued, his voice a little lower than before. "I'm going to be heading out of town for that summit here in the next few days, and I wanted to check in on you before I go. If you need to go to the pharmacy or grocery store or anything like that before I head out."
His voice was still light and casual, but Camelia understood what it was that he was really asking her. She bit the inside of her cheek, and she lowered her head as she said, "I'll be out the day after tomorrow, and the pharmacy said that they'll be out for at least a week. Evidently there's a shortage."
Carson cursed, and Camelia ducked into a side hallway that was empty. She leaned against the wall, running her hand through her hair as she tried to think of anything that she could say to reassure her dad. She came up blank, because she was nervous too. "It should be okay, though. I've only run into two Alpha students on campus, and neither of them has any interest in me."
"Yet." Carson blew out a breath, and Camelia could imagine him sitting back in his chair at his office, running his hands through his hair. "I don't like the idea of you being there without your suppressants, honey. It's too dangerous."
Camelia winced; she had been worried about the same thing, but hearing it said aloud by her dad only made the reality of the situation worse. "I know, Dad. I don't like it either." She bit her lip, then perked up a little as an idea occurred. "What if I stay at the house until I can get my meds back in order? My roommate can't stand me, so it isn't like she'll notice that I'm gone, and I can ride the bus to school if I can’t drive, for whatever reason."
Carson was quiet for a moment, then he made a small sound of assent. "Good idea, honey. I'll make sure your bed is made. Will you be here tomorrow or the night after?"
Making plans with her father wrapped up their conversation quickly, and only after she had tucked her phone in her pocket did Camelia lean back against the wall, her head resting against it as she let out a shaky breath.
Staying with her father while she waited to get her prescription refilled was far from the best solution, and the two of them had steadfastly not discussed what was going to happen when she did have to attend classes without her suppressants in her system. Camelia and her father both knew that she was much more likely to run into an errant Alpha who might sniff her out during the day than she was at night after she was supposed to be holed up in her dorm room, but one step at a time.
Hopefully her meds would linger in her system for a few days after she stopped taking them, and she would only truly be without for a day or two before she could get her refill. This was the first time that she was going to be without her medication since she started taking it, so she wasn't sure what to expect.
Camelia took another deep breath to steady herself, and then she stepped out of the hallway to head towards the commons again. She had barely made it two steps, though, when someone crashed into her side,hard, and she almost went tumbling down to the ground again.
"Shit, sorry!" A pair of hands grasped her shoulders to steady her, and Camelia blinked dazedly upwards before her vision focused enough to see the person who had both nearly knocked her over and kept her from falling. He was tall, a Beta with reddish hair and a smattering of freckles across his nose as he looked down at her. His brown eyes were wide as he looked up her up and down, and Camelia couldn't stop herself from blushing a little as his eyes lingered on her tits, just for a second.
"Sorry," he finally said again, his voice a little breathless as his gaze returned to her face. His hands fell away from her shoulders as he took a tiny, respectful step away from her and rubbed one hand over the back his neck sheepishly. "I wasn't watching where I was going."
He was cute, in a geeky, harmless kind of way. He wore a faded The Cure tour band shirt, and his jeans hung low on his narrow hips, betraying more hours spent at the library than at the gym. Camelia smiled, hitching her backpack a little higher on her shoulder. "It's okay, don't worry about it."
His eyes widened a little at her nonchalance, and Camelia couldn't stop herself from giggling a little. "What, is forgiveness really that rare of a commodity around here?"
He shook his head, the corners of his mouth quirking up in a sweet smile. "No, not that. Just...sorry, you're gorgeous and I'mhaving a little bit of a hard time thinking of anything less cheesy to say to you."
Camelia laughed again, louder and more genuine this time, and the hairs on the back of her neck prickled up again. She didn't rub the back of her neck like she wanted to, but when she looked around, she was met with a familiar pair of intense gray eyes. James was standing near the archway that led out of the commons, and his eyes were blazing with an emotion that Camelia didn't want to unpick.
Instead, she turned back to the guy she was talking to and flashed a wider smile. "I'm sorry, I didn't catch your name." She jerked her head for him to follow her and ignored the burning intensity of James' gaze as she and what-his-face brushed past.
Redhead smiled sweetly at her, leaning a little closer so that she could still hear him as they entered the much-louder commons. "Ian."
Camelia smiled at him, pausing and glancing around the commons. She quickly spotted Aria sitting in the corner, her laptop open in front of her as she typed out something furiously. She wore bright pink glasses on the tip of her nose, and Camelia smiled to herself at her friend's whimsy as she turned back to Ian. She stuck her hand out, her heart thudding a little harder when he took her hand to shake. "Camelia. Nice to meet you, Ian."
His hand was warm and his fingers firm where they wrapped around her hand, and he smiled wider. "Nice to meet you too, Camelia." He glanced over her shoulder, clearly looking towards Aria, and he tilted his head to the side. "Are you meeting someone?"
Camelia nodded. "Getting some food, then yeah. Meeting my friend for a study session." She shifted on her feet a little, a tiny flutter of nerves in her belly making the next words uncertain. "Ihave to get over to her, but...you seem nice. Any chance I could get your number and maybe text you sometime?"
It was the boldest that Camelia had ever allowed herself to be with a man, and the flash of surprise in Ian's eyes told her that he was thinking something similar. Still, his smile widened with genuine pleasure at the flattery, and he nodded as he held out his hand. "Here, let me put it in your phone."
Camelia ignored the burning sensation that she had come to associate with James' eyes on her as Ian programmed his number into her phone, forcing herself not to look over her shoulder to see if he was, indeed, still looking at her from the walkway. She took her phone back from Ian with a twinge of genuine happiness at the smile on his face, and she tucked the device away as she said shyly, "So...I'll text you?"
He nodded, his brown eyes warming. "I look forward to it."
Camelia turned away from him and made her way through the crowd towards Aria. It wasn't until she sat down next to her friend that she chanced a glance at the big archway that led into the commons. Despite the burning that still lingered on her skin, James was nowhere to be found, and Camelia had to wrestle down her disappointment at his absence as she turned to Aria to greet her.
