Page 6 of Zodiac Hybrids

Was I really that desperate?

I glanced at the cooking club, where they were spooning bowls of ramen into Styrofoam bowls to anyone who considered joining. I’d probably be the last recruit they ever got if they had to subject people to my burnt toast skills.

On the other side of the courtyard was a whitewater kayak club, showing off maps of local rivers. That was the perfect club for a girl like me who didn’t know how to swim. What could go wrong?

I sighed. Not knowing a single person here didn’t help matters. It’s not like I had any former classmates to latch onto and follow their lead, either. Even if anyone I’d known in high school had come here, they would likely already be graduating, while I was only just arriving, since I spent all that time working and getting my Gen Ed classes out of the way. Which meant I was in a sea of completely new and incredibly intimidating faces. I didn’t even know how to approach someone to make friends. I recalled it being so much easier when I was little.

I continued perusing my options to try to find anything I’d be able to tolerate. Something stimulating, but not physical. Interesting, but not so overwhelming that it would get in the way of my studies.

The sports booths had the most sparkle and decoration, with balloons and streamers and athletes showing off their talents to try to win members. No matter how big the smile on that soccer player’s face, I was not going to be tricked into thinking running was actually fun.

The debate club would mean way too much talking, and the hiking club would require entirely too much bug spray. Where were the book clubs? Where were the opportunities to sit quietly around other people who also didn’t want to talk?

Dread only settled in deeper as I passed what seemed to be the last booth. Knitting with friends was the current top contender, even if I’d never held a knitting needle in my life. I stood in the middle of the court, scanning all of the booths again, hoping something would jump out at me. I didn’t even see the Astrology booth. If they were present, they were pretty well hidden.

“You look lost, Baby doll.”

I jumped at the low growl so suddenly in my ear, then I whipped around to a pair of eyes that glistened like gold. They were wildly unusual in their flecks of orange and yellow, mixed in with a soft brown. The man was impressively tall—which seemed to be consistent in this place—definitely a bit older than me, but not too much. He was strong, obvious even through his fitted school uniform, with its high collar and tailored burgundy jacket, while his blond hair was an unkempt, attractive mess that nearly reached his shoulders. His cologne was scented with sage, and piercings created a ladder of rings and studs down his ears. His thin lips upticked when his eyes crawled over me with the hunger of a starved wildcat.

“I-I’m just trying to decide what club to join. There are so many good options, it’s tough.” I stumbled over my words for no reason other than a hot guy was talking to me, and no hot guy ever talked to me. Not even unfortunate looking guys talked to me. I wasn’t even on the radar for desperate construction workers who liked to shout catcalls at passersby, from my experience.

And no, the professor from sexy hell didn’t count, because he was old enough to be… well, not quite my dad, unless he got someone pregnant in middle school, but probably old enough to understand taxes and mortgages. Which was old.

“Go with your gut, and I’m sure you’ll end up in the right place.” That stare of his had me in a chokehold. He reached forward and placed a single finger beneath my chin, lifting my face so it was angled in line with his. He was gentle, far removed from the terrifying way the professor approached me. “The stars never get it wrong, after all,” he added with a wink.

“Funny you say that, because I was considering the Astrology Club.” That had to be what this guy was referring to. And well, if he was in that club, maybe I kind of was considering it now. “I just can’t seem to find it.”

“Oh? Good choice.” The smile on his lips told me he already expected me to say that. Which was… also weird. “What’s your sign?” He purred out the words in a way that made me shiver. If it hadn’t been incredibly relevant to the club, I might have thought he was hitting on me.

“Virgo.” I answered immediately, almost embarrassed that I knew that so well. My mom had been huge on Astrology, reading our horoscopes every single morning of my life, and constantly commenting on every little trait I had that was ‘just so Virgo of me,’ and it had all but driven me insane. There was no science to it at all. She may as well have been reading me children’s books about dragons and elves with how much logic was tied to the whole thing.

“Of course you are.” This stranger said with a smirk, and I’d never flushed so hot in my fucking life. “Do you live up to the sign?” His chuckle sent ice through my veins that helped cool the burn in my cheeks.

“Th-that’s—” I knew the Virgo was represented by the virgin, but I just hoped I was being over sensitive about it, and that wasn’t what he was implying.

He cut me off by brushing a strand of my hair behind my ear, before he lifted the arm of my glasses and removed that one barrier between us. Being nearsighted meant he was now the only thing I could focus on clearly, and that made my heart strum harder. The men in this school are going to give me a heart attack, I swear.

“What do they say? Practical, logical, with great attention to detail?” He clarified, though that didn’t slow my pulse even a single beat per minute. “It’s just good to know how well someone aligns with the constellations that power them.” He folded my glasses, then touched the arm to my neck briefly before he slid it under my collar and hung my lenses from my shirt.

I was frozen in his gaze and held perfectly still, neither breathing nor blinking, as he retracted his hand.

Then, like nothing had happened, he broke the spell with a nod, side stepped me, and walked away. I turned to watch him go, until he was out of my field of vision, then I scrambled to put back on my glasses, just in time to catch him disappearing into one of the halls.

“Hey, wait!” I called after him, entirely too late. He didn’t even tell me his name. This was my chance to make a friend, and instead of responding with something logical, I stared at him like a fucking goon. Goddammit. Get it together, Lila.

Despite my better judgment, I chased after him as if I might still have a chance of salvaging this mess of a meet-cute.

I pushed through the door, but I didn’t see him anywhere in the expansive hall. He could have disappeared into any one of the classrooms along the way. I paced slowly down the corridor, idly glancing at each room, until I came upon a door with a handwritten note taped to the center. In sloppily penned letters scrawled across the lines, it read:

Astrology Club.

I glanced around before I committed to entering, knowing I was somewhat obligated to join once I did. Knitting or horoscopes? Knitting? Or… horoscopes?

God, they both sound so awful.

Though, judging by how quiet this hallway was, I could safely assume that it wasn’t a terribly popular club, which meant it would be minimal on the human interaction. I tilted my head to each side before I grabbed the knob and gave it a twist.

Fuck it. Let’s call this my college experimenting phase.