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She held out her arm, and nervously, I slipped mine through it. Patting my hand, she grinned and tucked her phone back into her pocket, then she strode off toward our room at a brisk pace that had me practically jogging to keep up.
It wasn’t until we were halfway back to the dorm when I remembered Caryn hadn’t put my fingerprint on the pad.
Chapter6
Storm
The nerve of some people!
I couldn’t believe how Caryn had talked down to Riley just because she had gotten into the academy on merit and not because of money. Disgusting. In my pocket, I could feel my phone buzzing incessantly as the family group chat popped off. I had sent a few quick texts to the group about what had happened, and they were as furious as I was.
I glanced beside me at Riley and noticed how she was almost galloping to keep up with my angry walking speed. Grimacing, I slowed down and watched her puff out a breath of relief. The poor thing. I couldn’t imagine how she must be feeling right now. I felt horrid on her behalf.
She deserved the same education as everyone else here. All omegas did. I wasn’t naïve enough to think that the other schools offered even a degree of the knowledge we got here. That was such a disproportionate state of affairs, but I couldn’t take that on today. I needed to focus on my new friend and how I could show her she belonged here.
Riley had not let go of my arm yet. I had a feeling that she was desperate for a little human contact; I certainly didn’t mind holding the adorable omega’s hand. As for why that was . . . ? Well, that was something to tackle another time.
We got back to our room and on instinct, I opened the door using my fingerprint. Riley dropped my hand so we could enter, and I felt a frown tug at my lips at the loss of contact. Then I forgot about it because someone had delivered a dresser and desk while we were out, dumping in the middle of the room. There had been no effort to put them against the wall or anywhere aesthetically pleasing.
I rolled my eyes at the obvious attempt at a slight. “At least they brought you something. Come on, we can move these around to where they fit better.”
Riley nodded, and we got to work right away. It might have seemed silly to anyone other than an omega, but there was a specific way these bits of furniture would need to be arranged. I knew that if we didn’t both find it appealing, neither of us would be comfortable in our own space.
It took us over an hour until we were happy with the new layout. Our desks were next to each other on the back wall. We lined both dressers up along the wall where the door was. When Riley moved her few belongings over to her dresser, I was shocked. I mean, I knew that she had very little, having seen her shove the small bundle into the drawer before, but I didn't know just how little she had.
She had a whole dresser and barely took up half of one drawer. I made a vow that I would take her shopping the following day. While the ORA granted their omegas an allowance for nesting things at the local mall, I wanted to treat her to some new clothing as well.
The last thing we moved was the bed. It was a huge undertaking because of how much it weighed. Somehow, we managed to tug and shove it over so that now it was right in front of the doors to the nest room. We could crawl from the bed and into the nest if we wanted.
Stepping back, I surveyed the room. From the corner of my eye, I noticed Riley doing the same. She had a small smile on her face that told me she was pleased. Taking it all in, I found I was as well. This was perfect. Everything felt right.
Just as I opened my mouth to say that to Riley, my phone went off. It had been buzzing incessantly the entire time we worked, but I’d ignored it. Now, I figured I’d better answer before they showed up at the school.
“Sorry, Riles, I gotta get this.” I grabbed my phone and hit the answer button, realizing a second too late that it was FaceTime.
“STORM! We have been trying to reach you for ages!” Papa Corey exclaimed.
I gritted my teeth in a grimace. “Sorry PC, I got busy sorting out our room.”
“Sorting it out? Did they miraculously find another room after being so callous about it?” my other father, Greg, piped up from the background.
“No, they delivered a dresser and desk for Riley, and we were moving it around. Besides, even if they somehow unearthed another room, I don’t think I’d want her to have to switch again. Besides the fact that this is a lot of upheaval to begin with, I like her here. I think it will be fun to be roomies!”
I looked over to where Riley was standing, nervously wringing her hands. I caught her eye and grinned at her. She returned it, albeit slightly less enthusiastically.
“Unless, Riley, do you want your own room?”
“What? Oh no, this is fine. I would have to share anyway because of, um . . . Anyway, no, I’m fine sharing with you.”
I knew she had cut herself off from claiming her scholarship status, probably from embarrassment. I pursed my lips. Hopefully, I could undo all the harm that this school had caused already to her fragile self-esteem. I turned my face back to my phone to see all three of my fathers trying to vie for screen space.
“See? We’re good. I just wish the school had a bed to offer her. Did I tell you what they were going to send up here?” I raged, my eyes shooting fire at the memory. “A cot. What the hell is this? Camp? There is no reason they don’t have an actual bed here for her. They are just too lazy to work out getting it to my room.”
“We can get a bed sent there, no worries. Do you think a second king will fit?” Papa Greg asked.
“Mmm, I’m not sure, to be honest. Maybe send us two fulls? I don’t mind going smaller so that we can fit it all in.”
“That might be a good idea. Better safe than sorry!” my last papa, Tony, said. “We can have it all figured out and delivered by week’s end. Make sure you take her shopping for better linens. The stuff the academy provides is much too scratchy.”
