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I flinch ever so slightly at his directness before responding, “No, I don’t. Not yet.” I tack on the last part out of desperation, even if I’m not sure I ever will.
He makes a humming sound low in his throat then turns to his laptop, leaving us in a tense silence for a few drawn out minutes. The fact that I’m still standing is brought to the front of my mind when my feet start to throb, signalling that I’ve been in one place for too long. Unfortunately I’m not going any closer to this guy, who by his name badge is theHeadmaster,so the chair opposite him is a no go. Plus he didn’t offer, so…
I study his features more deeply while I wait. He has sharp cheekbones, a strong jaw, and perfectly styled brown hair. If it weren’t for the beady eyes and the menace practically radiating off of him, I might even deign to call him attractive. His eyes don’t return to me as he shuffles the pages on his desk around. “If you still haven’t come into your magic, then I’m afraid the best we can offer you is a G-class education which consists of theory only. We can’t do anything more for you.” His voice is patronising and he waves a hand in my direction in dismissal.
My chest clenches and my vision swims dangerously as I try to process his words. The first response I have is to panic, and for a moment I do.What the hell am I going to do? If I’m thrown out now I’ll have to start over and all my work will be for nothing. Years of planning pushed back.If I can’t go here then I won’t be able to train here and potentially unlock my powers, then I’ll be classified as a G-class and no longer qualify for the SFBI, unless I’m aspiring for a desk job.
Despair rolls through me, but before I can reach a new level of hysteria, anger overtakes my other emotions like a match to gasoline. “I have come into some of my magic, I’m just struggling with it. I’m happy to agree to seeing a tutor until I’m back on track, but as far as that letter and all of my work states–Iama student here and you can’t throw me out unless I’ve done something wrong. Which I haven’t, beyond struggling with my magic, which is what the academy is for, no?” I say, exaggerating through my teeth about my magic, for his benefit as I glare at the Headmaster. I’ve come too fucking far to let this opportunity slide. I have access tosomeof my powers, but I have no idea if it’s because I haven’t come into my magic yet, or not.
His eyes hold mine, and after an uncomfortably long moment of him staring at me, he clears his throat. “Okay. You can keep your schedule the way it is. I’ll catch up with you in a few weeks to make sure you’re keeping up with having to balance all physical classes and no theory.” With that he looks back at his computer, effectively dismissing me.Dick.
I’d take the time to curse him out in my head for longer, except I’m happy to get out of there. I slip out the room and the building in a hurry, pausing when I find Oscar leaning casually against the wall opposite me.Hmm, he’s still here. I’m not sure what to make of that.My eyes narrow in consideration. While he’s focused on his phone I finally let myself take him in. His pink hair is messy, and though not too much taller than me, with him being around 6 foot 5, I realise how attractive he actually is to me. Shoving the thought aside for now, I shift the strap of my bag and walk past him, not acknowledging the troll. Because, yep, that’s what species he is. A troll. A minuscule smile has the corners of my lips quirking as an image of the little, magic haired, singing cartoon animated trolls flashes through my head. His hair colour is almost an identical shade of pink that Princess Poppy’s is in the movie, though his pink skin is a little paler. I cast another sly glance at the man who caught sight of me and is now walking beside me looking pretty pleased with himself. Those thick lips tug up into a grin and my gaze darts to his eyes before flicking away when I find his stare already focused on me.Caught. My cheeks flush and a soft rumbling chuckle comes from him, so I send the troll a mock scowl. Tugging my eyes away from the man beside me, I refocus on finding the coffee shop we passed where I’m supposed to meet Lexi. Except when I get outside, my fingers drum against my thigh. Yeah I have no idea where to go again. I suppose I could try my map, but my previous failed attempt has me hesitating. I’ve always been shitty at reading maps and directions in general.
Surprising me, Oscar gently grasps my elbow and leads me through the diverse crowd. Sweat gathers at the base of my neck as a person brushes against me, causing me to cringe away. It’s definitely going to take me a little while to adjust to the sheer volume of students here. I figured this school was fairly exclusive, but maybe I researched the wrong one? I know there are two in the Supernatural Realm. I’ve really got to ask Lex.
Perhaps sensing my anxiety creeping up, Oscar moves his hand to squeeze mine briefly and it distracts me some. Thankfully in the next moment we step out of the crowd and I suck in deep lungfuls of fresh air, not having realised that my breathing had become shallow. When I spot Lexi and the coffee shop my shoulders drop.Thank the Goddess. I peer at my new pink haired guide beside me speculatively. It’s not that I got any bad vibes from him or anything, but I just met him for Pete’s sake. I don’t tend to trust easily. So for now, I’m not going to acknowledge my attraction to him.
Naturally I throw myself into Lexi’s arms and relish in the little yelp she lets out in distress. That little tingle rises in my sternum again and I swear I can hear her heart pounding from the shock I just gave her.
“Nessa!” The stern expression she sends my way has me smothering a laugh. She’s so fun to scare. Over the past few years it’s sort of become a game between us, trying to jump out and frighten each other. Lex hates it because she’s never been able to get me to so much as flinch, but I’ve made her scream multiple times. I’m not one who scares easily.
Knowing she’s not genuinely mad at me, I knock my shoulder against hers with a grin. Her eyes drift over my shoulder and by the parting of her lips I can tell that Oscar is still behind me. With a dramatic groan I check over my shoulder, and yep, there he is. “You’re still here?” It comes out accusing and I cringe waiting for him to snap at me. I swear sometimes my absolute lack of social tact just shines through. I’m about to amend what I said when his lips quirk at my response.
“You can’t expect me to leave now, Nessa. We still haven’t had that little chat about our meeting.” My nose wrinkles and his smile grows.
“Uh-uh, we did talk about it. You helped me out… twice now, oh wait, three times, and I thank you for that, but I’m fine now and you can be on your way.” I give him a fake sugar sweet expression. When he simply quirks a brow at me I let the look drop, resisting the urge to rub my cheeks which feel odd after twisting into that awkward position. Clearly I need to practise my nice faces in the mirror more. Less scowling and more smiling. Yep.
When I focus back on my best friend I find her looking between Oscar and me with a mischievous sparkle in her eyes. “So, Oscar, how exactly did you meet Nessa?”
I let out another groan, oh great, they know each other. I stalk into the shop ahead of them as Poppy—AKA Oscar—tells Lexi all about our awkward encounter. That is totally my new nickname for him. A smirk tugs at the corner of my mouth as I scan the menu, distracting me from my thoughts. Excitement bubbles in my stomach at the wide variety of coffee options.Yeah coffee, that’s what I need right now.And maybe something caramel. Hmm, yeah that will for sure turn my day around. I continue to ignore the two people who followed me in, and step up to the counter, placing an order with the kind fae woman that works behind the counter.
Luckily it’s not too busy at the moment so I have a hot coffee and a caramel tart the size of my palm in my hands in under ten minutes.
I plop down into a comfy reading nook in the back of the shop, zoning everyone out still until I’m about halfway through my delicious treat and a voice interrupts my nummies. I toss a glare at Oscar, but both he and Lexi are unrepentant as she grins at me. “Did you really just slide up to him and pretend to be his girlfriend?”
I slowly blink at my friend, my jaw twitching. It was a necessity, it’s not like I go around and do that daily. Remembering what led to all this, an uneasy feeling slithers low in my gut and I nudge my food away, no longer hungry. I have no idea what people are capable of here, and have no powers. If, or should I saywhen, they find out that I’m basically a sitting duck, it’s going to be open season on me.
“Yes, the guy following me was a creep.” I watch as my friend's humour slowly fades.
“Who?” she demands in a low voice. Oh shit, a few of her scales start to glow and my eyes widen. I love my bestie, I really do, but she’s hella protective of me and it’s only gotten worse since we know my powers are severely limited. Which is all well and good, until you pair that with the fact that she’s already shared mating bites with her soon to be bonded and has had a major power boost. Under the eyes of the supernatural government and the heads of the academy, she’s not legally bonded or mated until they have their ceremony and sign legal documents confirming the mating, but they’ve already shared blood via their mating bites, of which the power boost is a byproduct. I really don’t want her to accidentally electrocute some poor helpless supe. Even Oscar is edging away from her. Naw,Poppyis scared. Any other time I’d probably give him shit, but instead I focus all my attention on my best friend.
“Lexi,” I say loudly to grab her focus. “I did what I needed to do. He didn’t lay a hand on me. I’m fine, see?” I stand up and hold my arms out, doing a slow spin. Ignoring the other patrons and what they might think of me, I’m more focused on ensuring that Lexi doesn’t lose control. That could result in a body, or multiple, and we’ve already been through that. It’s not something I want to repeat if I can help it. Do you know how hard it is to move a dead weight like that? And not to mention the rigour mortis that sets if you wait too long. Though she relaxes a minuscule amount, I don’t let up. “I can point him out to you if we see him again, but I don’t know his name, and he’s not here, Lex.”
Reading between the lines, she snaps out of it and glances around at all the innocent people in here. She pales, and the glow to her scales disappear. I gather my stuff quickly and say bye to Oscar as I grip my usually bubbly friend's shoulder and guide her from the shop. I manage to find our dorm and hurry Lexi up to our room, barely taking in the luxury around us. I push her down gently on the couch and crouch by her knees, clutching them comfortingly. By the faraway look to her eyes she’s having an internal freakout, and now that we’re alone, tears slip from her eyes.
I hold her through it; since the upgrade with her powers she’s been terrified of losing control of them and whenever her emotions influence them it usually scares her. I rub circles on her back, letting her cry and come down from the incident that almost happened. I know that the situation that happened when she first came into power affected her a lot more than me, and that’s part of this. She accidentally fried her childhood bully. Of course my warm hearted bestie was horrified, and naturally I helped her dispose of the body and comforted her. Yeah… I’m not quite normal. I never have been, but the utter lack of fear that I had when I witnessed that and in the hours afterward really solidified that assumption. I can’t even blame the complete and utter lack of fear with being a monster because others never seem to have this problem. I mean, it’s not like I’m a sociopath, I experience other emotions, plenty. Just not normal fear. Love, anger, sadness, guilt—though not a lot—and all the others.
And it’s not like adrenaline wasn’t pumping through my veins at the time, it was. So much so, that I was lightheaded and could hear my heart pounding in my head, but that sickening drop that usually happens in your stomach when something scary happens, never actually hit me. I’ve never admitted it to anyone, but I’m sure my immediate family suspects it though. I shake off my thoughts and hum to myself, brushing Lex’s hair back and winding it into an intricate braid as her sobs turn to hiccups, before stopping completely.
“Thank you, Ness.”
“Of course, that’s what besties are for.”
I place a sloppy kiss on her cheek and grin when she makes a grossed out noise and uses her shirt to wipe at the spot. But satisfaction glows in my chest when a smile quirks her lips. “Come on, what do you think about having some lunch?” I make puppy dog eyes at her as I ask, and she relents easily. We scrummage some stuff up and I cackle when she mutters under her breath about me being a bottomless pit. Yes, yes, I am. I’m proud to admit that I can out eat my dads combined weight in food some nights. I’m a growing girl, wink, wink.
Now that everythings calmed down, I take a moment to look around our dorm. My eyebrows raise in surprise at the luxury. The main area is a decent sized space with a small kitchen that has a stocked fridge and all the basics we could need. It’s set out in an open plan design, so across from the kitchen is a lounge area and a single four seater couch set in front of a small TV. The rest of the space is rather plain and generic. I duck into the closest bedroom and find Lexi’s suitcase already on the bed so I head to the other one. The rooms are set up so the main area is between them. In the other room I find my stuff placed neatly just inside the door and I take in the queen bed, side tables and wooden hutch style desk shoved against a wall. “What a pleasant surprise,” I hum under my breath as my eyes linger on my new bed and bookshelf section of the desk. I wasn’t expecting our dorm to be this luxurious.I thought for sure I’d have to buy a bookshelf, so having one already here is handy. There is a single window and I tug back the curtain to peer out of it, only to find that my potential view is obscured by a large tree, so I let the curtain fall back into place and go back to the lounge room with Lex.
We settle in and talk about mundane things for a while, but my nerves silently grow. I know I said I didn’t feel normal fear, and that’s true, but I definitely feelsomefears. It’s only my internal alarm system for stuff that I should innately be scared of that seems to be skewed. My first class is this afternoon and I’m dreading it. My delicate black claws click against the dark marble breakfast bar, and Lexi slides me a look. “You’re going to be fine!”
