Surviving Year One (Grim Reaper Academy 1)

He shrugged. “Why wouldn’t I? You’re the most interesting girl at the Academy, normie. Even if I wanted to cheat on you…” He scrunched up his nose in that cute way I was starting to really fall for. “Who would I do it with? The other girls are so boring and so last season. Been there, done that.” He grinned.

I couldn’t help the smile tugging at my lips. Of course. He’d done all of them. Did it bother me? Well, he was with me now, in his bed, and even though his cock was angry hard, maybe harder than before, he wasn’t pushing me to finish him off. Which I kind of wanted to do but wasn’t sure how.

“Come on, let’s go get breakfast. I’m starving!”

He jumped out of the bed, stretched, and I had my answer. He didn’t want me to finish him off. He was just happy that he’d done it for me.

“I’m not sure about breakfast…”

“You’re not eating in the kitchen again, normie. You’re my girlfriend now. Also, I want to flaunt you, okay? You’re coming, and you’re sitting at the VDC table with me.”

“Flaunt me? Are you sure? Because you’re still calling me normie. You want to flaunt a normie girlfriend?”

“Fine.” He turned to face me, a bright smile on his lips. Oh, those dimples… I could stare at them for hours! “You’re right, you’re no normie anymore, because you’re dating a false god.”

“Excuse me? I’m not defined by whom I date.” I wasn’t serious, though. I could tell this whole thing was just friendly banter.

He laughed out loud. “Shut up and take it! What if I called you…” He came closer, climbed back in bed, and put his nose so close to mine that I could feel his breath on my face. How could his breath smell so minty fresh when he’d just woken up?! So, false gods don’t do morning breath? “My normie goddess.”

I huffed. “It still has normie in it.”

“Yes, but it has goddess right after. You’d rather I called you false goddess?”

“Oh, no! Normie is fine.”

“Yep. I don’t like to be called a false god, either. But such is life. N

ow, breakfast?”

I bit the inside of my cheek. This was nice. It felt nice. In other circumstances, I wouldn’t have minded going to the dining hall with GC and sitting at the VDC table, but Sariel would be there. And Lorna. Paz and Francis. And after what they’d done… I wasn’t sure I could face them. I wasn’t sure I wanted to sit at the same table with them.

GC must have read my worries in my eyes.

“Don’t worry, my normie goddess. I will protect you. If someone as much as looks at you the wrong way…” He made a cracking noise and moved his hands as if he was breaking someone’s neck. “I’ll make sure that’s the last thing they do.”

I sighed. How could I resist this guy? I couldn’t.

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

Everyone was staring at us. Not just because GC and I walked into the dining room together, holding hands, but also because they had all heard about what had happened the night before. As we stood in line at the open buffet, the students started whispering amongst each other, but in such hushed tones that I couldn’t understand what they were saying no matter how hard I tried to listen. It felt strange. Usually, when someone had something bad to say about me, they said it to my face. Or behind my back, but still loud enough for the entire school to hear. GC squeezed my hand, and that calmed me down.

I was craving sugar all of a sudden, so I piled a bunch of pancakes onto my plate, added both strawberry jam and maple syrup, and grabbed a bottle of orange juice. GC went for the classic fried eggs and bacon. He led the way to the VDC table, and when we sat down, everyone went silent and focused on their owl plate. It was as if breakfast had suddenly become a sacred meal they were supposed to consume in peace and reverence. Well, that suited me just fine. I dug in and proceeded to enjoy my first normal breakfast at the VDC table. Apparently, my association with GC was doing wonders for my reputation.

I stole a glance across the table at the Mighty Jerks. With GC on my side now, their group had shrunk to three. Francis was poking at his food, his eyes not leaving his plate. I didn’t know why, but I’d hoped he’d say something. I thought he’d want to apologize, or maybe tell me he hadn’t known a thing about Sariel’s plan. Maybe, he didn’t even have to apologize, because he hadn’t been involved. Instead, he was pretending I wasn’t even there. Shame. I’d thought we had something. When we were just the two of us in the Holy Chapel, it felt like there was a connection. It felt like we could be friends. It turned out I was wrong.

Sariel was eating ravenously, as if he was in a hurry, as if he didn’t want to be there, but he had to. Lorna was nowhere in sight, though. She wasn’t at our table, but she wasn’t her Cabal’s table, either. She hadn’t come down to breakfast. Pandora, on the other hand, was all over Paz. She was practically sitting in his lap, although he was doing his best to push her away so he could actually eat like a normal person. She kept playing with his black hair, whispering in his ear, and giggling every time she kissed his cheek or temple. Paz didn’t seem to be into it, though.

“Come on, baby. I’m all yours again. I got rid of those NDC idiots. They were so boring! I missed you, baby.”

“Pandora, please,” he almost hissed at her. “I’m not in the mood.”

“Oh, but I can get you in the mood.” Her hand went under the table, and by the way Paz tensed, I could guess she’d grabbed his crotch. “I promise I’m all yours from now on. No more games.”

He sighed deeply, then pushed her off of him. “Not now.”

She was shocked for a moment but recovered quickly. She laughed lightly and cut a piece of her fried egg. As she placed it on her tongue, she looked at Paz as if to say she couldn’t wait to devour him just like she was devouring her breakfast.

“You done?” GC’s voice startled me. “Let’s get out of here.”