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This was a third speaker, a girl who was as pale as snow. Her skin didn’t have one freckle, her hair and eyelashes were white.
Heck, even her pupils were white, surrounded by irises that were pale and swirled with a shade of gray. Only her mouth was a different color, a red so dark it was nearly purple.
“You must be Bianca?” I guessed.
“Yes.” She cocked her head, birdlike, as she studied me. Then she slid into the booth across from me and picked up my notes. “Let’s take a look at these.”
“I’m Jenny,” said the aqua-haired girl, sticking out a perfectly manicured hand as she scooted into the bench on the other side of Ezric. “You should try the saltwater bash. It’s lovely.”
I was there to study, not to eat.
“I’m not hungry.” I tugged on my hair, watching Bianca as she turned a page.
We were joined by three more girls and one more guy. They all squeezed in at the table, shoving me into the corner, loudly discussing fries and chicken tenders and which flavor milkshake was best.
The group introduced themselves in a blur of names; Numina, Silvia, Tatiana and Moirus. Tatiana and Moirus kept shooting shy glances at each other, and their arms were pressed together in the booth.
“Where’s Deus?” I asked, trying to make myself as small as possible to avoid being squished by the group.
Where would he sit when he did get here? We were already packed into the booth as it was.
Which was a shame since I’d worn my green skirt without tights in the hopes of feeling his hand on my thigh.
“He’s in class ‘til three.” Jenny gave me a sly, sidelong look. “Missing him, are you?”
“No!” Heat flooded my cheeks, definitely making me look guilty. “I just— I mean—”
“Leave her be. She doesn’t know any of us well enough for us to start teasing her,” Numina scolded.
“Seta knows me.” Ezric leaned forward and winked at me.
My skin crawled, and even in my human form, I could feel my tentacles curling. He was probably the only person on the planet who could make a wink seem unfriendly.
“So she doesn’t know anyone decent at this table,” Numina corrected flawlessly, and I found myself liking her a little bit more.
She had the red-orange hair of a demoness, and I caught the nub of a wing poking out from her shoulder. “Deus has class until three, and he always comes over after. Though he’s usually late, probably from helping snails cross the road or repairing some girl’s broken nail.”
“Do you remember that time he was forty-five minutes late?” Silvia snickered. Her skin had a silvery, shifting sheen, and I was pretty sure she was some sort of nymph. “He’d stopped to move tables out of the Forestry dining hall.”
“He’s forgiven for that one. That was the most epic party, and he only scored an invite because he helped. Ooh!” Numina clapped her hands as the waitress set her milkshake down. “Yum!”
The next few minutes were filled with the rustling of papers and the crunch of fries. I pressed my teeth together. We were supposed to be studying, but we were wasting so much time!
At least Bianca was ignoring them all and focusing on my notes.
I leaned toward her. “So, is there anything—”
She put up a hand to stop me. “I’ll tell you in a moment.”
Biting my lip, I managed to stifle my sigh. I was definitely going to get a C tomorrow.Maybe I should just give up?
I imagined Professor Mackenzie, two years from now, as I tearfully begged him to take me under his wing for the master’s program.‘I’m sorry, Seta, but your incompetence in alchemy just isn’t what we’re looking for in the perfect candidate…’
Rubbing my temples, I tried to ease the building migraine.
“I think it’s sweet,” Tatiana gushed. I hadn’t figured out what her magical deal was yet. “Deus is so nice. You know you can rely on him to help with anything.”
“Yeah.” Ezric rolled his eyes and stuffed three fries into his mouth.
