“Look away, you’ll just lose, nothing more,” Alex smirked as he continued to inch closer, and I narrowed my eyes at his egotistic self.

Despite my reservations about kissing Blond, I continued to stare back. I never backed down from a challenge, and I was definitely not going to let the arrogant blond Huntsman win.

Blond moved closer. Despite the nervous sweats beginning to trickle down my neck, despite the blush that must have practically made me look like a darned tomato, and even though a could-be Abercrombie model was barely brushing noses with me now, I stared back.

Alex suddenly grinned, and my eyes widened as a spark shot across his eyes, slightly glazing his beautiful blue orbs over. He inched close, only for a second, as if going in for a kiss and I fisted my hands tightly on my sides, before moving back to brushing noses again.

This was bad. I felt more nervous than when I had to sit for the surprise quiz for AP Calculus. I was sure I was going to die of intense heart palpitations. This was that bad.

Suddenly, Alex’s expression turned more serious, and the smirk disappeared. It was then that I knew that this was never about the game. He had just wanted to kiss me. Get ready to initiate a punch.

He moved slightly closer, and I stilled, realizing that my back was now pressed against the bookshelves. Either, I would lose this game or get kissed. Lose, it is.

Just as I was about to push Blond away, a very loud yet distant growl rang out from the direction of the castle. I shot my head towards the window to see a blur of white run past one of those windows. Strange.

Blond stilled instantly. I stilled, glued looking at the castle. Ghosts… The whole world came to a standstill.

Alex grimaced slightly and moved back until he sat on the other edge of the bench. His face shone true horror as if he had just encountered a ghost or realized the woman he wanted in his bed was, in fact, a man.

Oh, makeup! Shine thy light upon my beard for I want smooth cheeks too!

“You alright there, Blonds? I wonder what that was, though,” I asked him, awkwardly placing my hand on his shoulder. I silently hoped he would tell me what he knew about the growl because it was clear he knew something.

Disappointed on my part, Alex nodded before looking at me and smiling slightly.

“You lost,” he stated, got up, and moved towards the door. Opening the door, he turned back and smirked. Damn that smirk! “See you in school, Theia.”

I slumped slightly onto the bench and sighed, my mind whirling with Alex’s reaction after the growl. It was clear he knew something; his face had been too scared not to know. What was Alex hiding?

Turning to look at the castle once more, I opened the window wide open. Bright lights now illuminated half of the castle windows and grounds. The other half, however, still stood in darkness because of its little usage, perhaps. It made sense.

That castle seemed big enough for a thousand people or more, actually. Still, though, to see the soft glows of the castle against the slightly bluish gray color of the skies made it look magical. Then again, how could it not?

After all, who would have thought that there would be such a big splendid castle in a city like Piedmont, just on the outskirts of Seattle?

Thinking of the city, maybe shopping wasn’t such a bad idea. I straightened on the bench. My face suddenly brightened up again with excitement. Yes, maybe, shopping was not a bad idea, after all. I had school on Monday, and the weekend provided a great time to get up and ready for that.

With my mind made up and a smile gracing my lips unconsciously, I closed the window shut. After opening the other window near the couch, I paced to the bathroom. I had checked the bathroom out earlier. It was more than enough compared to what I had in my previous home. Everything looked great and new.

Moving towards the shower, I realized I had left my essentials behind. Shaking my head as a chuckle passed my lips, I slowly walked out into my bedroom once again, but stopped when I noticed the curtains from the window were flying in one direction very strangely.

I stopped in my steps. The image of the curtains flowing in one direction shot up in my mind again. They were flowing in one direction as if something had just rushed past them.

My eyes widened, and I looked around my empty room. Suddenly feeling stupid I dismissed the idea in my head.

“Theia, you’re an idiot,” I muttered under my breath while I went over to my untouched suitcases. I hadn’t let Blond touch any of the suitcases that contained my clothes and showering essentials. That boy was too naughty for his own good.

Grabbing onto the bag with my body washes: shampoos, conditioners, and scrubs, I walked into the bathroom and set everything up.

I walked back out once done and grabbed the creams and body lotions I knew I would most probably use after showers, moved them into the bathroom, and placed them in front of the mirror. Finally done, I dumped my night clothes onto the bed before shutting the suitcase and placing it beside the ones packed with clothes.

Feeling my muscles ache with the day’s work and travel, I groaned as I turned the main lights off and turned on the string lights around the room before grabbing the clothes and marching into the bathroom. A bubble bath was very much in order.

Food. The only thing I could think of as I made my way out of the bathroom, all scrubbed and brushed, clad in tiny boxer shorts and a tank top.

Unwrapping the towel from my wet hair, I gave my hair a final rub and hung the towel on the towel hanger before padding my way towards my backpack.

The sooner I plug both my iPod and phone into the charging dock, the faster I can get to the food. The hunger was hazing my senses so much that I didn’t even notice the man standing by my window, wearing a black shirt and gray trousers, never moving his gaze from me.

And I surely didn’t notice the faint whisper when he simply frowned and said, “Mine.”