Page 32 of Angel I Am Not

“Mr. Morningstar. Yes, both of you. Please leave our new student alone. Your antics have no place in this classroom. Ari, is it? Let me have you sit a little closer to the front.”

I froze, unsure of what to do. Even if I hadn’t been with these demons, I still wouldn’t have wanted to sit at the front. Even in training, I had always chosen a seat where I was the least likely to be noticed or called on. Sitting in a classroom full of angels that knew what their gifts were meant that not only was I constantly ridiculed, I was also constantly a disappointment. And now I was being moved closer to the front, the fears of previous schooling haunting my mind.

“Miss Meyer,” the professor repeated more firmly. “Would you please?”

I almost snorted at the fake name Dante had left me with. Angels didn’t have last names. We just were.

Nick removed his hand, letting me slide out from my desk and move to the front. I spared them a glance before plopping my ass in one of the seats closer to the window and as far away from the rest of the student body as possible.

The girl beside me was immediately drawn to me, sticking her hand out in greeting. “Melody. Saw you come in with the kings of the campus. What’s the deal?”

Her grin took over her entire face, her bright blue eyes demanding answers I didn’t want to give. I kept my gloved hands tucked beneath the edge of the desk and glanced toward the professor, who was already scribbling something across the board.

“Aren’t we supposed to be listening?” I muttered, trying to give her the cold shoulder.

Melody leaned closer like personal space was a suggestion. “Nope. He gives us all A’s anyway.”

“Then why are we here?” Human school seemed like a waste of time if they weren’t actually using the knowledge for anything.

“He grades on attendance.”

She shoved her outstretched hand closer to me again. “I’m Melody.”

“You mentioned that.”

Her smile only widened.

I looked past her shoulder toward the back of the room. Nick was staring at her hand like he wanted to set it on fire. Luc looked marginally more civilized, although the cracked pen still sat between his fingers.

Seeing that I wasn’t going to shake her hand, Melody dropped it back to her side. “What’s the deal with them? You dating one of them? You related? Shit, you’re a cousin or something, right? Did your mom marry their dad or something? That’s why they’re so protective!”

Her voice crawled above a whisper but no one even batted an eye at her monologue.

My frown deepened, wondering how she thought we could be related. We looked nothing alike. “Do you let other people talk, or do you just assume things?”

Training would have told me that those words should have never made it out into the open, but I was trying to embrace this be-myself thing. If I was truly going to do that, I had to stop holding my tongue and apologizing all the time. Ari, the angel everyone expected me to be, did that.

I was still figuring out what Ari, Temptation, actually did.

“Why—that’s rude.” Melody blinked at me, offended for all of two seconds before barreling right back in. “Anyways, you open to playing wingman? Never seen either one of them date but I figure that—”

The growl that tore from my throat was anything but human. The silver of my eyes illuminated her face for a moment. Melody jerked back, her eyes widening before curiosity quickly overtook the brief flash of alarm.

Unfortunately, the mere thought of anyone having my demons for themselves made something ugly twist beneath my ribs. Three days ago, I would have laughed at the idea of getting territorial over anyone. Now the bond reacted before I even had time to pretend I didn’t care.

Melody blinked several times before leaning even closer. “Your eyes are so fucking cool. Where’d you get the contacts? I’ve been meaning to get some for my cosplay.”

“Cosplay?” I asked, tilting my head to the side.

My braids fell with the movement, shielding half my face as my emotions calmed and so did the brightness of my eyes.

“Yeah! Like roleplay and—oh, you must think I’m weird. I’m so sorry. Don’t worry about it. Back to those delicious boys back there…”

She wiggled her brows.

I bit back the urge to growl again.

A few of our other classmates were starting to stare now, and when I glanced back, Nick was already halfway out of his seat. Luc caught the back of his shirt and dragged him down again without ever looking away from me.