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She grabbed the tie around my neck, and I stepped back. She tugged on it, pulling me closer. “Hold still so I can tie this for you.”
I had no idea how to tie a tie. It wasn’t exactly a skill a chronically single girl working in a bar needed to learn. I’d untied my fair share from men’s necks, but I’d never bothered to pay attention to the knots.
Makayla tightened it. “There.” She took a step back. “You going to do anything about that hair?”
I frowned. I hadn’t bothered with my hair - it definitely had that just-woke-up look. “Why do you care what I look like?”
“Because it’s important to make a good impression. You must look like you belong here or the other students are going to single you out as the weakest link.”
“So what?” I wasn’t any stranger to bullying. I was the weird kid who lived with her alcoholic aunt growing up. When I said I’d been dressing myself for nearly two decades, I wasn’t exaggerating. I’d also been cooking my own meals, doing my own laundry, and cleaning up after my aunt when she went on a bender. It wasn’t a pretty way to live, and it had made me grow up fast.
“Look, I get that you’re an unusual case. That’s obvious. You were stuck down here with the riffraff instead of housed with the favored mages. That’s already a strike against you. But if you want to survive, you’ll have to fake it.”
“It’s school,” I said. “I can handle it.”
“It’s not school like you’re used to. Students graduate or they die here. There’s no in between,” she said, her expression deadly serious.
I stared at her for a moment, waiting for her to crack. Was this some kind of hazing?
“Just trust me. You’re in no position to be turning down a friend.”
“Oh, we’re friends now?” I asked.
“Until Ben gives me the order to let you figure this shit out on your own, yeah, you’re stuck with me. So you might as well make the best of it. And hurry. I’m starting to get hangry.”
“Starting to?” I grumbled as I walked back to the bathroom. There were a million unanswered questions. Did students really die here? Why the hell did they care what I wore to class? I’d gotten away with wearing pajamas half the time my last year of high school cause I’d stopped giving any fucks. Now, I was in a preppy shirt with a fucking tie and that wasn’t good enough?
I pulled open the drawers until I found a hairbrush and quickly ran it through my red hair. I looked tired. Dark circles were painted below my green eyes and my skin looked more pale than usual. I wasn’t even sure if make up would have made me look rested. Brushed hair and a clean uniform would have to do. Maybe I could actually get some sleep tonight. I held my breath as my memory drifted back to my dream. Maybe sleeping wasn’t the best way to get some rest around here.
“Hurry up,” Makayla called.
I set down the hairbrush and left the bathroom. “Let’s go.”
She led me down the hall, past the empty common room, and back up the damp stairs. It was so creepy down here. Her comment about the shifters getting treated less than the mages came back to me.
“How come shifters are down here in the dark?” I asked.
She glanced over her shoulder but kept walking up the stairs. “Used to be for vampires.”
“What happened to the vampires?” I asked.
“They formed their own academy and most of them left. The few who attend here are legacies and they have the nicer basement dorms.”
“So now shifters are stuck in the dungeon while mages are in a tower?” I asked.
“Yep,” she said. “And demons and fallen angels have the old dorms next door to the main building.”
“Demons and fallen….” I said the words quietly, more to myself than to her. It was still hard to wrap my head around all of this.
“Fallen angels.” She stopped to open the door to the main floor of the school. “There’s other academies with other creatures, but they limit it here.”
“Why did you say shifters were not treated as well?” I asked.
“Because they aren’t,” she said. “There’s a hierarchy in the supernatural world. Old alliances and ancient grudges. Shifters used to be the protectors, the workers. Some of the community isn’t happy that we want to be more than that.”
I had a lot to learn. “It doesn’t sound much different from the human world. Assholes who think they’re better than other people for superficial reasons.”
Makayla stopped outside the door as I walked through. She closed it behind me then turned to look at me. “You know, I was pissed when Ben charged me with watching after a mage. But I think you and I might get along just fine.”
