Zodiac Academy: The Awakening (Supernatural Beasts and Bullies #1)(78)

“This way,” the waitress said brightly and we followed her to a table with a perfect view of Orion. It was as if the damn waitress wanted me to stare at him all night. I was too slow to grab a seat facing away from him and couldn't voice my complaints to the others in case they questioned me on it.

I sank into the seat beside Diego and took a breath.

He's just a teacher, who cares if he's here?

You apparently.

I picked up my menu, determinedly eyeing the list of sodas on offer.

“Rum and coke,” Diego ordered from the hovering waitress and she nodded as if that was completely okay.

Didn't she realise we were freshmen?

“I'll have the same,” Sofia said brightly, a daring look in her eye. Sofia looked the youngest of us all. Even with the makeup we'd painted on her, she still barely passed for a day over sixteen.

“And for you girls?”

Tory gave me an excited look. “Tequila sunrise?” she asked, seeming to expect the waitress to refuse but she jotted it down without a word, looking to me.

A thrill hummed through me. Tory and I had had fake I.Ds back in Chicago, but even they had failed us occasionally. “Whiskey and coke?”

She smiled and walked away to the bar.

I glanced at the others. “How did we just get away with that?”

“Get away with what?” Sofia asked casually as she perused the food items on the menu.

“Err, the alcohol?” Tory supplied. “We're only eighteen.”

“And your point being?” Diego asked, looking between us in confusion.

“Don't you have like...legal drinking ages in Solaria?” I asked with a frown.

“There's no laws against drinking here,” Diego said with a laugh, lifting a hand to tug on one side of his beanie. “You just have to have the gold to buy it. Which kids tend not to.”

“That's crazy,” I said as the waitress arrived with our drinks.

“My kind of crazy,” Tory said brightly, taking her cocktail.

I sipped my whiskey and coke and had the prickling feeling that I was being watched. My eyes snagged on Orion and I found he was looking right at me; it felt a lot like looking down the barrel of a gun. My throat constricted and I choked on my drink, placing it down as I tried to rein in my coughing. With a noise like a dying goat, I managed to gain my breath and Tory shook her head at me with an amused smile.

Well that's just great.

Diego patted my back. “Are you alright?”

“I'm fine,” I said airily, glancing over at Orion and finding he'd returned to talking with his date anyway. Hopefully that meant he hadn’t just witnessed my choke attack.

What had my horoscope said this morning? Oh yeah, the universe is out of sync with you today. Be prepared to ride out the storm.

I’d ridden the storm all week, so how much worse could it really get?

The waitress returned to take our food orders and I jumped on the opportunity of a distraction, ordering a pizza from the menu.

When she walked away, I took a slower sip of my drink and decided to pointedly ignore Professor Jerk-Face’s presence. But it was pretty difficult considering Tory and I were fairly convinced he wanted us dead.

A group of professors walked in the door and Diego scowled. “Is this the teachers' hang out or something, Sofia?”

“Er...maybe. I didn't realise,” she said, her cheeks lining with colour.

Our water Element teacher, Professor Washer was wearing a tight-fitting flowery shirt with way too many buttons undone and a roguish smile. He cast his eyes our way and shot us a wink. I would have guessed he was about forty and looked like he’d spent way too much time crisping himself up under the sun.

“Ew,” Tory hissed and I shuddered.

Our Tarot teacher, Professor Astrum, led him away by the arm firmly and his lips pinched tightly together in disappointment.

“Washer is a total perve,” Sofia whispered then giggled as if she shouldn't have said it.

“Is that why we have to wear bathing suits that barely cover our asses in his class?” I asked, my nose wrinkling.

“I'd bet on it, chica,” Diego laughed, nudging me in the ribs.

Our food soon arrived and we ate every last bite as we ordered more and more drinks. By the time the waitress cleared our plates, my head was a little swimmy and I'd forgotten all about Orion and hadn't at all noticed that his hand was currently placed on his date's knee.

“Shots!” Diego announced, rising from his seat.

“Yes!” Sofia hooted, her hair dancing around her shoulders as she swayed in her chair.

Tory and I laughed as Diego strode away to the bar.

“Oh no,” Tory said suddenly, sinking low in her seat.

“What is it?” I followed her line of sight to the window behind me.

Geraldine was crossing the street with a paper bag in her grip.

“Hide,” Tory begged, grabbing up a menu and burying her face in it.

I pulled my hair over my shoulders, knowing the blue ends were a giveaway but a loud knocking on the window said I'd reacted too late.

“Just ignore her,” Tory hissed as I fought the urge to turn around. Sofia raised a hand to wave and Tory took a swat at her with her menu.

“We can't,” I said, a pang of sympathy rolling through me.