Although Victoria had made it clear that she was not interested in Gabriel, Charla had started behaving like a jealous, over-protective girlfriend. When she'd mentioned it to Gabriel, he had just told her to ignore it, but it was hard especially when Charla was with friends and wanted to put on a show. She had started walking through the library on Thursday evenings now just to make a point, and it was starting to wear on Victoria's nerves.
Glancing around to see if anyone was looking, Victoria did a quick invisibility spell as the group got closer, hoping that they wouldn't decide to sit near her. She'd left her books visible so it looked like an occupied spot. Fortunately, they walked past chatting loudly, earning them looks from the resident librarian at the entrance. Victoria glanced around again and took a deep breath making herself visible.
"Hey!" She froze and looked up to see Gabriel striding toward her. "I could have sworn I just looked here like a second ago and you weren't here. And then all of a sudden, there you were!"
"Um, I went to the bathroom, just got back."
"The bathroom on the other side of the building?"
"I literally just got back. You must be confused about how long ago you looked," she said resolutely.
Gabriel was still unconvinced, but he tossed his bag on the table and sat down on the opposite chair staring at her. His disconcerting expression was almost knowing, and it made Victoria feel paranoid. He hadn't seen her disappear and reappear, had he? He couldn't have, she had checked properly. Still, she berated herself for even doing magic in a library of all places! She was being careless and it would only get her into a lot of trouble that she didn't need.
She buried her head in a textbook and heard Gabriel chuckling loudly. She poked her head over the top of the book and gave him a black look. He laughed harder.
"You know, if you're going to pretend to read, at least have the book the right way up!"
To her chagrin, she realized that she did indeed have the book upside down, and burst out laughing at the expression on his face.
"Busted!" he laughed.
Cheeks flaming, she put the book down and decided to give him a partial truth. "Sorry, it's just that Charla and some of her friends walked by and it was really uncomfortable, so I was thinking about what I should do."
Gabriel shrugged. "Don't do anything, she'll come around. She's just being ... Charla."
"But it's uncomfortable, Gabriel, to have one of your friends think that you are after her boyfriend ... because that is what you are, isn't it?" she asked. "You need to tell her that this is nothing more than what it is—two friends studying."
"Is that all it really is?" he said, pouting. She shot him a dark look, and he put his hands in the air in surrender. "Just kidding, I know, I know ... you're 'not in a dating mode right now,'" he said, mimicking her consistent response to him on why they shouldn't date. "We're just study buddies."
"Be serious, Gabe," she said. Gabriel smiled; he loved it when she called him Gabe. She noticed him smiling and chucked a book at him, thinking he was still messing around. "Please, will you just do it?"
"Fine, I'll talk to her," he promised. "Now will you stop bugging me? I really need to study!" Victoria rolled her eyes at his dishonest comment, and turned back to her book, this time making carefully sure that it was the right side up.
They worked in quiet camaraderie for a few hours until Gabriel sat back and announced that he was hungry. They decided to head to the Black Dog to get something to eat there instead of staying on campus, and Gabriel drove. It was the first time that Victoria had been in his car and she was impressed. It was black and sporty with shiny chrome wheels and custom racing stripes. Given what she had learned over the holidays about their wealth, she wasn't surprised that Gabriel could afford such an expensive car. But rather than seeming ostentatious for a high school student, it suited him perfectly, she thought, as he got in and gunned the engine. He smiled at the sound, and she rolled her eyes.
They got to the Dog in no time at all. Gabriel drove fast, flying around corners at breakneck speed and screeching to a stop in the restaurant parking lot. She'd held on to the sides of her seat with white fingers and literally released the breath she had been holding for five solid minutes when they finally arrived in one piece at the bar.
"Well, that was the first and last time you're ever driving me anywhere!"