How Not To Fall For A Dragon (Lexi and Blake) novel Chapter 143

Chapter 143 143- Never Forget Fireproofing Is A Love Language

LEXI

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The next few days are… strange. Everything feels slightly off, like the Academy is still trying to settle back into place after something it

can’t quite fix. Half my classes are cancelled. Basic Spellcasting is completely gone without Professor Farrow, and Potions is paused until

Professor Matthews recovers fully, so I’m left with these weird half-days where I have far too much time to think and nowhere near

enough to distract me. And thinking is… not going well. The classes I do have are tense, quieter than they used to be, like everyone is

waiting for something else to happen. People whisper more, watch more, and they definitely keep their distance, especially from Blake.

It’s worse now. Before, people were wary of him. Intimidated. Now they’re scared. No one says anything to his face, but the looks, the way

conversations drop when he walks past, the way people physically move out of his way… it’s obvious. Everyone knows what he did. What’s

not obvious, what somehow never made it out, is that I killed someone too, and that feels… weirdly unfair. To him. And maybe to me.

Because if people knew, if they knew what I was capable of when pushed, would they still look at me the same way? Would they still think

I’m easy to target? I don’t like the idea of people being afraid of me, and I’m not proud of what I did, but… if people thinking I might

fight back means fewer people actually try to hurt me, then that’s a good thing, right? Twisted, but logical. Still, it doesn’t matter. No one

knows. And Blake is carrying all of that weight on his own. At least there haven’t been any more attacks. No one has tried to break into

the Academy or come after me again, which is… something. What isn’t something is the nightmares. Every single night. They’re not even

just nightmares, they’re memories, replaying over and over, only worse each time. Sharper. Louder. More detailed. My brain fills in the

gaps and stretches everything out until it’s unbearable. I wake up exhausted every morning, like I haven’t slept at all. I’ve thought about

going to Blake, more than once actually, but he’s been… off. Not distant in the sense that he’s avoiding me or anything. He’s still there,

still with me most of the time, but SOMETHING has definitely changed. He’s quieter. Less affectionate. Like he’s holding himself back, like

he’s trying to give me space. Which would make sense… if we hadn’t already talked things out. We did talk, right? We said we wanted to

be together. That we’d work through it. So why does it feel like I’m still waiting for something? Like there’s another conversation we’re

supposed to have, but neither of us knows how to start it? There’s this awful, creeping feeling that he’s upset with me, mad, or

disappointed, or SOMETHING! And I keep coming back to that moment. Everything was fine. We were fine. Right up until the moment he

saved me and… everything that came with that. So it has to be related. It has to be. I just don’t know how, and that’s the problem.

Because if I ask, if I say the wrong thing, I could make it worse. So instead… I say nothing. And wait.

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Blake, Ellorie, and I are sitting in the library. We would ordinarily have Basic Spellcasting right now, but with Professor Farrow gone, that

class doesn’t exactly exist anymore, at least not until they find a ner professor. So instead, I’ve got the textbook open in front of me, and

Ellorie is walking me through the practical side of things since she’s in the advanced class. Blake isn’t technically involved. But he’s here.

Which means he’s definitely listening. He claims he just wants Ellorie to focus on helping me, but I know him well enough by now to

recognise what’s actually happening. He’s paying attention without participating, storing everything away to work on later when no one is

watching. He’s a little too proud to accept help from Ellorie directly, especially with her being so openly confident about it. But I’ve seen

him. More than once. With our rooms linked the way they are now, I’ve caught him studying. Practicing. Repeating spells under his breath

like he’s trying to master them through sheer stubbornness alone. So yeah. He’s learning. Just… privately. Right now, he’s off to the side,

wandering the library doing his own thing, close enough to keep an eye on us but far enough that he’s not hovering. It’s actually a nice

balance. Ellorie, on the other hand, is very involved.

“Okay, again. Focus. Don’t force it. Let it build.” she says, tapping the table lightly in front of me. We’re working on fire. Which feels like

a terrible idea in a library. But apparently it’s not. Ellorie insists the Academy won’t let anything happen to the books There’s enough

magic in this place to protect them from basically anything, which means it’s actually one of the safest places to practice. That still feels

questionable But I trust her.

“Why fire again?” I ask, even though I already know the answer

1:3

20:08 Mon, Apr 27

Chapter 143 143- Never Forget Fireproofing Is A Love Language

“Because fire is fun,” she says immediately, grinning. Of course.

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“And it’s practical. You don’t need to set someone completely on fire. Just a sleeve, a cuff, a distraction. People panic. They let go. That’s all you need sometimes.” she adds, more seriously. I nod slowly. That… makes sense.

“Plus, once you get good at it, you can control bigger flames. Shape them. Throw them. It’s versatile.” she continues, wiggling her fingers like she’s already imagining it. Right. No pressure. Right now, I’m just trying to light a candle. A single candle. Then I’m supposed to just lift the fire off the wick a tiny bit. And even that is proving… difficult. I focus, narrowing my attention on the wick, trying to gather the magic the way she showed me. I can feel it there, warm, flickering just under the surface, but getting it to actually do what I want? That’s the tricky part. A faint spark. A flicker. Then nothing. I sigh.

“Again,” Ellorie says patiently.

“I am trying,” I mutter.

“I know. Try differently.” She suggests. Helpful. I try again. This time the flame lasts half a second before sputtering out. Better. Still

annoying. And then… Snickering. My focus snaps. A couple of wolf shifters are walking past, and they don’t even try to hide it. One of

them nudges the other, both of them glancing over at me with poorly concealed amusement. Seriously? They aren’t even in the

spellcasting class. I’m fairly sure they can’t cast spells. And they’re mocking me for learning? We’re in a LIBRARY. At the Academy, a

university MEANT for learning these things. I feel my irritation spike immediately. Ugh. They don’t say anything outright, but they don’t

need to. The whispering, the pointing, the looks, it’s more than enough. Like it’s so funny that someone is sitting in a library… trying to

learn. What a concept. Assholes. Ellorie notices too. Her expression sharpens instantly, and she shoots them a glare that could probably

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