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“There are a few rules we should all be aware of, and they are written in your orientation packets that I will hand out after I’m finished. I’m sure I don’t have to worry about any of you not following the rules, but just know that I expect you to read and adhere to the guidelines of this prestigious academy.”
I tried to pay attention to her overview of the rules, I swear I did, but the fact was, I was completely enamored by this place. Light from an unknown source seemed to stream in and cause the dust in the air to dance and shimmer like a thousand tiny fairies caught in their own rendition ofThe Nutcracker,except there was no music and I seemed to be the only audience.
The headmistress, Titania, spoke on, her skin scintillated with a rainbow of hues, depending on the way she turned her head or moved her mouth. Her lips were thin, and yet, there was a grace about the motions of them, as though they were meant to speak words and have them heard.
“Crystalline?” The butler bent slightly in front of me, offering me more of that bubbly pink liquid, but I declined. I was already seeing rainbows in people’s skin and fairies dancing in the air. The last thing I needed was anything close to alcohol. He winked at me and smiled, moving onto the next person.
The rest of the girls took glasses from the silver tray he offered without even making eye contact.
“Well, that concludes the boring part of my job today. Are there any questions?”
Every eye turned to look at me, and I froze. Sure, I had questions, but no way in heck I would let these girls know. Asking a question seemed like a good way to put a bullseye right on my forehead.
“No,” I muttered with a shaky voice.
Titania paused for a few moments, her swishy skirt the object of the ghost light’s worship now making the ceiling and the walls look like a disco ball. What was it with these people and glittery, shiny things?
“In that case.” The headmistress walked over to a table and pulled out several notecards with a seal on the bottom of each one. They looked to be the old wax seals and were pressed with a crest of some sort. “Here are your room assignments. Open them here, and let me know if there are any objections, which there should not be.”
The rest of the girls pulled theirs open with unabashed excitement, and several squealed as they read their assignments out loud. I put my finger into the opening at the bottom of the card when something outside the doors caught my eye. Between the opening of the sliding doors was a figure, a man. From the light that filtered in behind him, I could see black hair, black as midnight dreamed of being. Skin the color of caramel juxtaposed with ice-blue eyes, eyes a girl could get lost in and never want to be found.
A drum began to beat between my temples, and I held my breath for something, anything to happen. Goose bumps broke out along my skin. A wave of intrigue and want weaved down my being from head to toe, igniting and alighting all of me in a dangerous tsunami that had my body swaying toward him.
Like he’d put me under a spell.
“Who is that?” I asked without thinking.
I looked to the headmistress for an answer, but her brow dipped in confusion. “What are you talking about, Endymion? There’s no one there.”
Whipping my head back in the direction of the door, I gasped as she was right. No longer were we visited or haunted by those pale eyes and gorgeous eyelashes. In its absence was nothing, not even the light.
“Oh, I must just be tired. My apologies.”
The blonde ringlets girl stood and tapped her heel on the floors. “Are you going to open your room assignment so we can move on, or did you need a nap before we do that, too?”
The others giggled, but from the looks on their faces, the gesture was forced.
“Of course.” I slid my finger under the opening and revealed a letter D, that was all. Didn’t know what D meant, but I stood as though I knew.
“Finally.” Ringlets tossed her hair a bit and jutted her chin in the air. “Now we can get on with this.”
As we left the room, I scanned left and right, tingles spindling down my spine. I stood in the palace where he was for a few seconds, somehow hoping to capture that spell again, feel it just for a moment.
To my disappointment, there wasn’t a trace of him nor the splash of passion he’d doused me with.
“D dorm, here we come.”
Chapter Six
I knew what a suite was, but this was like three suites crammed together in the fanciest hotel possible. The main part of the school, where I’d met Titania, made it seem like this place was lavish but contained.
These suites blew that all out of the water. The floors beneath me were white marble, polished to a sheen that would give the sun itself a run for its money. The walls and ceilings, just like the main entrance room, were covered in deep, rich wood that was carved into designs at the different breaks and corners, giving a whimsical note to an otherwise showy feel. The shared bathroom was in front of me and this suite had four rooms, two to each room. Mine was on the far left.
“Oh, let me see!” A girl with wildly curly hair bounced over and snatched my notecard out of my hands before I could protest or even manage the next breath. “Ah! You’re my roomie! Come on, your bags are already in here.”
She grabbed my hand and dragged me into the room. She splayed out her arms and legs as though she were about to do a cartwheel. “Here we are! D dorm, suite 1! I’m Alara and everyone knows who you are. So, I put my bags on this bed and yours on the other, but it totally doesn’t matter. We can switch if you’d like. I don’t snore or anything, and I’m like the soundest sleeper on the face of the fucking planet. But I really don’t care, and I’m blabbering again. My mom says I blabber a lot, just to hear my own head rattle, but I swear I don’t…okay…maybe she has a point. I’m going to shut up now.”
She perched on the edge of the desk nearest her as though her tirade had wiped her out of all energy.
