Chapter 266 Frenemy


    Early one morning, a knock sounded on Melina''s door. She jolted awake, looking at the door with wide eyes before checking her phone for the time. It wasn''t even seven in the morning yet.


    Who could possibly be knocking on her door? Thinking it was probably someone from the school, she hurriedly hopped out of bed and opened the door.


    "ir?" Melina said with a surprised look on her face. She didn''t even know that ir got up this early.


    ir smiled sweetly at Melina.


    "Hey, want to go foraging with me? Final exams will be here before we know it. We should stock up our ingredient supplies," she said as she held up two cloth bags.


    Melina gave ir a surprised look.


    "Oh, you want to go with me? Don''t you usually go with your other friends?" she asked out of pure curiosity.


    She was used to foraging in the nearby forest alone because ir and her popr group of friends usually made a girls'' day out of it.


    ir waved her hand dismissively.


    "Ah, forget them. I want to go with you," she replied as she motioned for Melina toe with her.


    Melina didn''t have ns with Tyler today because he had physical tests today. He would be too tired to even eat dinner tonight, much less hang out with anyone. She wanted him to rest anyway.


    "Sure. Let me get dressed," she told ir with a smile. It would be nice to get some fresh air and take a walk too.


    She hadn''t caught up with ir in a while too. Maybe it was time to tell her the truth about her and Tyler. She didn''t want to have to keep hiding any longer.


    Melina pulled on a pair of pants and a t-shirt with a jacket, wanting to keep her skin covered in case she touched a nt she wasn''t supposed to.


    She often returned from foraging days with bites and rashes. She wanted to try to avoid that this time at all costs.


    "Let''s go," she told ir with a nod.


    They ventured out of the building and past campus grounds to the nearby forest. There was a path in the forest that students were allowed to take, but they were forbidden from going off the path in case of any dangers lurking around.


    The forest was vast too. It would be hard for anyone to find their way out if they got lost.


    "How have you been? It''s been a minute since west hung out," Melina asked as they walked down the path side-by-side with their bags in their hands.


    "Good. How are you? Up to anything interesting?" ir replied, lifting an eyebrow at Melina.


    Melina smiled stiffly and shrugged.


    "Studying a lot, trying to prepare for finals. I can''t believe we''ll graduate soon," she said. It would be here before they knew it. She would get to see her dad at the ceremony too after not seeing him for a while.


    ir merely hummed, not actively replying.


    Melina scratched the back of her neck as silence surrounded them. It was rare for ir to be so quiet. She nced around and spotted some yarrow, stopping to pick some off the ground.


    "Want some?" she asked ir.


    ir shook her head, continuing to stand on the path. She nced around quietly.


    Melina gave her a confused look before adding a few more yarrow leaves to her bag. She then stood and joined ir on the path.


    "Okay," she said with a nod.


    ir led Melina down the path, going farther and farther into the forest and passing right by important herbs.


    "Are you looking for a certain herb?" Melina asked her, speeding up her pace to catch up to ir.


    "Yeah, I think it''s out there," ir replied as she motioned to an area of forest off the path. She walked off the path and went through the trees.


    "ir, wait! We''re not supposed to go off the path," Melina called to ir, hurrying to catch up with her. She slipped through the tall trees and thick bushes, hearing crunching and crackling from up ahead as ir kept walking.


    Melina had no idea what ir''s deal was, but she didn''t want to get in trouble because ir wanted to y around.


    Before Melina could shout for ir again, she stepped out of the trees and into a small clearing where ir was standing at. She caught her breath and shook her head, feeling annoyed.


    "What are you doing? We have to stay on the path," Melina said as she gave ir a confused look.


    ir stared at Melina with hard eyes.


    "I know about you and Tyler," she said.


    Melina''s eyes grew big as she stood across the clearing from Melina. She figured that ir would know about them eventually, but she had hoped to be the one to tell ir.


    "I was going to tell you today. We talked, and I know he''s not the one who tried to hurt me," she exined, not wanting ir to be upset.


    "Of course, he isn''t. He doesn''t have the skill to create a spell bag," ir said as a smirk steadily crossed her face.


    Melina narrowed her eyes, feeling her heart jolt.


    "I never told you about the spell bag," she said quietly.


    ir rolled her eyes at Melina.


    "I told you not to get close to that vampire, Melina. He''s bad news," she said as she took a step closer to Melina.


    Melina matched her by taking a step back. Panic started to seep into her very bones, but she tried to keep herself together. She had to focus because she had a feeling that she was in danger.


    "Bad news for you, not for me," she murmured. She couldn''t believe that ir tried to hurt her. But why?


    "Precisely. I have a job to do, and he''s making it hard," ir spat, looking as upset as she sounded.


    "What job? Why did you try to hurt me?" Melina asked.


    "Hurt you? I tried to kill you! Twice," ir scoffed as she crossed her arms over her chest. "I sent you to the cafeteria to get yourself torn apart, and you had to take the long way."