"Impossible!" Bills snapped as he waddled toward Ava, gauze in hand.
"No, she really is," the same person said again, this time a little quieter.
The professor scrunched his brows as he approached her and dropped the gauze as he grabbed her arm and pulled it toward him. "Well, I'll be damned." He moved so close to her arm that Ava could feel his breath on her skin. "I've only known one person who could do that. As far as I know, only one species of shifter has that ability."
Again, Ava didn't bother to control her curiosity. "Who?" she probed. She was even more shocked than the rest of the class, she was sure. Here she is, harnessing her animal power in her human form for the first time, and this is what she gets.
"Purple glow… Carrington… Of course." Bills was still staring at her arm. Was he talking to her or himself?
"Yes, that's my name. Ava Carrington." She was still befuddled.
He turned her arm over again and again. Checked over, checked under—perfectly healed. "Not even a faint scar," he muttered to himself. "Just like Matthew."
"Okay, and who is Matthew?" This was getting frustrating. Sure, she was always curious about things, but he was just being downright evasive.
Finally, Bills looked up from her arm and stared into her eyes. "I should've made the connection when I saw your eyes. Carrington. Matthew Carrington. You look just like him."
Without thinking, Ava snatched her bloodstained arm back, feeling her face drain of all color. She took a wavering step back, no longer feeling steady in her boots.
Maybe she'd heard him wrong.
No, that couldn't be. He was loud as a freight train, and he didn't mince words. So that just means… "You knew my father?"
His eyes widened. "Okay, everyone, that will be all for today," he announced hastily, clapping his hands a few times and waddling as fast as he could to the door.
The students broke back into their little groups, chattering and wondering what had just been discovered. Ava was left behind, clutching her stained arm.
Elaine had already found her way back to Tarun. But Ava turned away, not wanting to watch.
She briefly wished Winta were there with her at this moment, but she knew her friend was in her own training room with the other larger shifters, and they wouldn't see each other until lunch because they had no classes together until then.
Despondent, Ava turned her attention back to Professor Bills, or at least where she assumed he was still standing, only to find that he'd also left the room.
She looked around, confused, trying to figure out if she was supposed to wait for him or not. After a few moments, she finally made her way back to her backpack behind one of the seats pushed up against the wall.
Tarun looked back over his shoulder as he exited the training room to see if Ava was okay and what the professor was saying to her. But, of course, Elaine swept her way into his line of vision. Thankfully, James was standing next to him and asked Elaine a question—he didn't hear what—and that distracted her for a moment.
He paused at the doorway and found Ava standing in the back of the room, sorting through her backpack. Now there was no sign of Professor Bills. That was odd. So that meant the professor hadn't wanted to talk to her after class then? So she was free at the moment…
He turned to tell James he would see him later, but, to his pleasant surprise, James and Elaine were now halfway down the hallway together. Thank you, James.
Gulping down a mouthful of air, he made his way toward Ava. He’d been so proud of her, watching her flounce with such power. Her partial transformation had been impressive, and he had even made mental notes to himself to try several of her moves himself. Side by side, in their human forms, utilizing those abilities, they would probably be fairly equally matched in a fight. And then he had felt his heart stop beating when that blood gushed from her. She went from looking so fierce to so fragile in just a moment. He was finding it difficult to put it out of his mind.
And then there was the matter of her healing… What had that been about?
Whatever had happened between Ava and the professor, he wanted to know.
She finished zipping up her bag, stood up from her crouching position, and threw it over her shoulder. Ava had already taken two steps forward before she looked up and noticed him standing there. She stopped and stared at him, saying nothing.
"Hi." Yeah, maybe not his best opening line.
She still didn't respond.
"Ava?"
Slowly, her expression changed from surprise to pain. He struggled to control the barrage of emotions that slammed through him when he saw that. Without invitation, he reached out and touched her arm—the wounded one.
She didn't back away from him; she just continued to stare.
"I know, you don't really know me," he blurted out. There, he was off to such a brilliant start. "And I probably have no business talking to you right now, but I just wanted you to know you can talk to me. About anything." Oh my God, why did he sound like such a loser? He normally had so much confidence. Especially with girls.
Contrary to what he was expecting—not that he really knew what he was expecting—she frowned at him. No, scratch that; she looked spitting mad, actually. "That's it? You're just here to scrounge for information? Why? Just so you can tell your asshole friends all about the tabby cat's problems?"
Tarun reared back, her words hitting him harder than a kick in the gut. "Fine. Don't tell me anything." Oh no, that came out way harsher than he intended. He softened his gaze. "Just know you have a friend if you want one." Then he turned to leave.
Ava sorely regretted her stupid outburst toward the handsome boy. She was normally more level-headed than this. But now that the words were out of her mouth, she couldn't exactly take them back. She wanted to reach out and apologize, but her pride kept her from opening her mouth. Instead, she just watched him walk away.
He took a few steps, then stiffened, and for a moment Ava thought he was about to say something else. But then his entire stance deflated, and he continued walking.
"Wait, Tarun, I'm sorry about that." The words just flew out of her mouth before she realized what she was doing. "I guess I'm just a little strung up about things right now."
He stopped and turned, not looking at all upset. He was even smiling slightly. Then the laughter tinkled out. "A little?"
Ava couldn't help but chuckle. "Okay, maybe a lot. But Professor Bills just reminded me of someone I’d rather forget."
He flashed his teeth at her in a kind smile. His eyes twinkling compellingly. "We don't have to talk about it. I just thought you might want to."
She relaxed her shoulders and flipped her hair backward. Trying to look and sound nonchalant, she said, "It's really no big deal. He mentioned my father."
His confusion was obvious. Ringing her slender fingers, she continued, "My father, well... He left...you see, when—no—before I was born."
He remained quiet, but continued to stare at her with his steady gold-flecked eyes urging her to go on.
"You know, my time here at the academy is probably the most I've talked about my dad. I'm not even sure if he’s still alive. But then today, out of the blue, Bills straight-up says his name to me like it's nothing."
Tarun simply nodded and whispered, "Uh, wow."
She got a little more animated. "Not a letter, not a word, nothing from him for my entire life! We just pretended he didn't exist. And sometimes I feel so stupid because I still want to know him, and I want to know why he left us like that…" She allowed herself to trail off as she realized she was telling way too much of her personal story to a practical stranger. What had possessed her to tell him all that?
The only person here who really knew anything was Winta, and even she only knew bits and pieces.
"Hey, Ava, it's okay, and I don't think you're crazy or stupid." He squeezed her bicep a little as he spoke. How had she not noticed when he put his hand there? Now she was more than aware of his touch.
"I think, if I were in your situation, I would want to know him, too." But then he shrugged. "Although I'm not in your situation, so I can only speculate. Sorry."
"Where are your parents now?" She angled her head back to look at his eyes.
"They’re in England." He lowered his hand away from her arm. She now felt its absence.
"They moved me there from India when I was eleven."
"I see." She tapped her bottom lip with her finger. "So that's how you know James then. And Deacon and Colin and the others?"
"Yeah, as I mentioned on the boat, there were a lot of shifters in that area. And a lot of them are still there now, because they didn't come to the academy."
"And both your parents were tigers, too, I assume?"
Tarun nodded. "Yes, and they are both white tigers. Very unusual that they were both the only white tigers of their litter. So of course, their marriage was arranged to produce me. And I'm the only child they were able to have, so they want the best for me, but they also keep me on a short leash."
"I suppose I can understand that." She was beginning to feel more relaxed about him. He seemed more authentic as she got to know him.
He leaned in closer to her and lowered his voice, even though there was no one else in the training room with them anymore. "Don't you ever get curious about him? Your father, I mean?"
"Of course!" she answered quickly. "I literally just told you that."
He smiled sheepishly, obviously feeling a little stupid for what he just said. "I mean, now that you're here, aren't you curious to find out more? Because I'm sure we can find a picture of him."
Ava didn't answer right away. It was finally dawning on her that her father had probably attended the school. She should have realized that the very second Professor Bills used his name. And now that she thought about it, it made something Sir Waters had said on the first day of class make more sense as well: “Ava Carrington, we finally meet.” She had forgotten about that. "My father was a student here." She whispered the statement. It wasn't even a question anymore.
"I'm sure he must have been," Tarun agreed. "And I can help you find him."
On the other side of the door to the training room, Elaine shifted her weight uncomfortably in her Barbie heels. Utilizing her bird hearing, she could eavesdrop on the entire conversation.
That stupid little kitty, with her wide gullible eyes, painting herself to Tarun like an innocent victim. But Elaine knew there was something deeper, dirtier, about her idiotic roommate.
She just had to find out what.
Elaine snuck a peek at them, and then she rolled her eyes at the sight. The nerve of that stupid cat! Seriously? She thought she could get that close to Tarun? As if she even deserved to breathe the same air as him. Oh, she was going to show her.
Whoever her father was, he certainly couldn't have been anyone important. And Elaine was going to see to it that Ava's embarrassing secret about her deadbeat father got out.
14
Lunchtime came, but Ava skipped it.
Out here in the courtyard she felt a little more at home. The fresh air drifting in from the ocean, the scintillating, enchanting scents coming from the plants. Hundreds of them—lilies, roses, chrysanthemums, irises...everywhere she looked there was a new flower to see. Bursting with colors, most clustered and climbed over the brick walls, lined the walkways. She plucked three white roses, red ones, too.
“So no one told you life was gonna be this waaayyyy…” she sang the Friends theme song, sticking the roses in the sides of her hair.
“Your job’s a joke, you’re broke, your love life’s DOAaaa….” she sang again, smiling, already feeling the calm that came from watching her favorite show back home, take over. At first, when her mother binge-watched it, Ava wanted to hurl the TV at the nearest wall; then one day, there was nothing to do but watch it.
So, she pressed play and became addicted to their simple lives. She loved Chandler the most; he was funny and sarcastic. Rachel was a spoiled brat, and Monica a clean freak. She spent hours arguing with her mother about Ross and Rachel. On a break? Not on a break?
Personally, she believed they were on a break, Ross was heartbroken that night and Chloe was available.
Her favorite show wasn’t enough to distract her from the fact she was hiding behind the Sacred Tree, peeking out at the sharks, birds and other predators. Like Ava, they had come out to play in the fresh air.
Watching them frolic in the water and fly off in the air filled her with untold sadness. Ava was fine on her own, but sometimes she wished she could be like them—wished she was bigger, like the dragon shifters, sharks, kangaroos, and the graceful, playful dolphins.
Now, even from her position behind the tree, she could hear Elaine and her flock laughing with the bigger cats. Of course Tarun was there, too. She told herself all she felt for Tarun was purely platonic and left it at that. He was just friendly.
Where was Winta anyway? They were supposed to meet here…. Ava reached for her uniform pocket to check her cell phone. Then she remembered she didn't have her cell phone. Even after more than a month without it, she still unconsciously reached for it. She had no idea what time it was, but she could only guess Winta was at least fifteen minutes late.
Looking across the walkway, she forced her eyes away from Elaine's simpering adoration of Tarun. Good Lord, her roommate was truly insufferable.
She then made a concerted effort to keep her attention on two sharks splashing through the water, shifting back to human as they leaped through the air and then returning to shark form as they splashed into the water. They must be third- or fourth-years because that was a pretty cool trick. It definitely took some skilled shifting.
She was pretty sure they were dating. And yes, she knew that was the type of relationship pretty much all the students preferred. And not even just the students, but most shifters worldwide. Shifters frowned upon mixing species.
Keep it simple. Avoid complications. Same species, same country, same groups of friends. She couldn't blame them, not really. Watching the two sharks swim around each other made her realize how easy it was. She'd heard that old saying many times: "A bird may love a fish, but where would they live?" Ava wondered if the person who said that originally was actually a shifter. She closed her eyes for a moment and envisioned one of the dolphins in love with one of the birds of prey. Sure, those particular cliques got along well enough, but she never heard of them dating each other. And they usually went at each other's throats hard-core in the competitions, from what she’d heard.
But, said a voice in the back of her head, you and Tarun actually makes sense. You’re both in the cat family.
Ava shook the thought away.
Then she thought about Winta and her attraction to James. It was a fair point. How would that relationship ever work? Would he move back to Africa with her to live with the other elephants? African shifters were known to be big and powerful, after all, as most of them were very impressive animals. Elephants, lions, tigers, leopards, gorillas. Sure, there was a baboon, or meerkat here and there, but one never heard much about them. Or would James try to bring his beautiful girlfriend, who was a solid five inches taller than him anyway, back to England with him to meet his hummingbird family?
Ava smiled sadly at the thought.
Anyway, it was nothing to worry over. It didn't matter. Winta had decided not to pursue James, and Ava knew, sure as hell, she wouldn't end up with Tarun.
"I found it," Winta called out excitedly.
Ava turned as her friend came to stand beside her.
Winta had released her curls today, and they bounced around her face as she jumped from one foot to the other, practically bubbling with the news of what she discovered.
"What? So fast?" Ava was genuinely surprised. It was only the previous evening she had told Winta about what Professor Bills had said about her father. She certainly hadn't expected news so soon.
"Yeah, of course. I am Researcher Extraordinaire!" Win
ta took a little bow. "Come on, I'll show you. It wasn't easy though, so I'm pretty sure you owe me lunch now." She shot her friend a sassy wink.
Ava chuckled, linking her arm through Winta’s. "Sure do. Just add it to my tab."
They turned and headed back toward the school. Ava didn't see or hear him sneak up, but she jumped and let out a startled hiss when Tarun landed behind her and grabbed her shoulders.
She glared at him, fully aware she had hissed at him like a cat and that her hair was a little puffier at the moment because she raised her hackles.
Tarun just chuckled at her. "You weren't going somewhere without me, right?"
"Tarun! You scared the bejeezus out of me!" Ava wailed, although her smile said otherwise. And curse those silly grins she was finding it harder and harder to suppress every time he got near her.
His smile was unrepentant, “Am I that scary?” Then he looked over his shoulder. “James, am I that scary?”
James, who was currently picking flowers from the bushes, looked up so suddenly he stumbled into the bush. “Hmmm? What did you say?” Then he detached himself from the bush and trundled over to them.
Winta couldn’t take the wait much longer and yanked on Ava’s arm. “You told him? Before me? Seriously?” she asked, dragging Ava along. The boys followed behind.
“He was there when it happened! Not my fault!” Ava defended. “And he suggested this, by the way.”
They were at the double-door entrance when Ava looked back to see if Tarun and James followed. They had, but she also saw Elaine. Ugh.
Elaine had started to follow Tarun, jabbering away, as usual, but then stopped talking mid-sentence, her mouth open and hand in the air, when she saw where he was going...and with whom. Her chest rose and fell noticeably, and she narrowed her eyes—her hot-pink lips in a thin line. Ava didn't have to speculate much to know Elaine was furious that Tarun was having anything to do with the tabby cat.
Animage Academy: The Shifter School Down Under Year One Page 10
