Light Fae Academy: Year One

by Nala Kingsley

  “But—”

  “In fact, I’m going to the office now to let them know.”

  With that, Wren rushes over to the window, opens it, and flies out.

  Delia follows immediately. A half beat later, Orchid is hovering in the room.

  “Let’s go after them,” she says.

  “Why not?” I shrug, and we follow.

  Wren glances back at us, and I see the ghost of a smile. I hate to have made friends under such dire circumstances, but we're here for Wren and Delia, even if they do opt to commute. Or maybe Delia can still move in with us.

  We aren’t the only students who are in the office, and all of us are turned away.

  Wren, being Wren, won't have that. She might not be feeling well, but she still has a light burning within her. I wouldn't be surprised if she could use the harp to make an entire city march behind her with all of that light.

  “I want to commute next semester,” she says. “Maybe even the rest of this semester. I don’t know how much longer I want to attend—”

  “I’m sorry, but we cannot allow a switch from housing to commuting right now,” the receptionist says.

  “Why not?” Wren demands. “You can’t keep me here—”

  “Actually, we can.” A fairy member of the security forces steps forward. “Because of the fire, the entire academy is under lockdown.”

  “What about the commuters?” I ask.

  “No one is allowed to leave the academy grounds,” he says firmly.

  “For how long?” Wren asks curtly.

  “That has yet to be determined.”

  “And the commuters? Where will they live?” I ask.

  "Temporary housing is being constructed as we speak," he says. "Now, return to your rooms."

  “My room is a pile of ash,” Wren says curtly.

  The fairy has the decency to wince. “I am sorry about that, but there is nothing I can do.”

  "Nothing anyone can do. It seems like a recurring theme here." Wren shakes her head bitterly.

  “Lockdown. Locking us in the academy with thieves and an arsonist. That’s just amazing,” I say. “What I always dreamed of.”

  Wren glowers at the fairy security guard.

  “Come on,” Delia says. “Let’s go.”

  She wraps her arm around Wren’s shoulders. Silently, we make our way back to the dorm.

  “I wonder if lockdown means no classes,” Orchid says.

  "That would be terrible," Wren says. "I need a distraction."

  “I almost thought you would boycott classes,” Delia says dryly.

  “The thought did cross my mind.”

  “If there are no classes, maybe we can do some snooping around,” I point out.

  “Or we can do that even if there are classes.” Wren grins. “What are they going to do to me? If I’m caught, I’ll just blame it on the trauma of waking up to my dorm being on fire all around me.”

  “This is crazy,” Delia murmurs. “All of it.”

  “I just hope my dad doesn’t hear about this,” I say. “If he does, he’s going to want to pull my sister and me out of the school.”

  “It doesn’t seem like that’s an option,” Wren says, but she doesn’t sound bitter anymore. “They’re going to regret forcing me to stay on campus.”

  Her eyes flash, but this time, it’s not with light. It’s darkness. Uh oh. Things are really not shaping up that well at all at Light Fae Academy.

  Chapter 16

  Two weeks have passed. For being under lockdown, things haven’t changed too much. We go to classes, and we eat our meals. The library is overrun all the time, but most of the commuters have been added to rooms. There aren’t enough beds for all of the students, but the office assures us that they’re trying to get their hands on more.

  Curiously, even the staff doesn’t seem to be leaving the grounds. I still haven’t figured out what exactly that means yet.

  Wren and Delia do move in with us. When we can get Wren’s mind off the fire, she’s amazing. She’s smart and hilarious. Her sarcasm rivals Bay’s.

  As for Delia, she’s sweet, pure and simple, and her affinity toward using magic with baking means we get to eat all of the cookies and tarts and other goodies. She tries to infuse happiness into the desserts more than anything else, which is hard. Happiness is one of the ficklest emotions there is. Happiness and love.

  Love.

  Sage.

  I can’t say that I love him, especially since we haven’t spoken a lot since our date. I’m not avoiding him, but things have been so hectic between the fire, the lockdown, and the fairies moving into our room that I haven’t had time for much of anything outside of classes and assignments. Honestly, I miss him. The dream I had last night proves that, and what a dream it had been…

  So when lunch rolls around, I hover high up in the air, doing my best to locate him and growing more and more frustrated with every passing second that I don’t see him.

  “There you are, Daredevil.”

  I whirl around and smile warmly. “Sage.”

  He parts his lips, but before he can say Bay, I reach out and grab his hand.

  “You act as if you haven’t been avoiding me,” I say lightly.

  Sage smirks. “If anyone’s avoiding anyone, it’s you, Daredevil, not me.”

  “Is that so?” I tilt my head to the side and tap a finger to my cheek.

  “You know it is. You’re the one who left me to sleep alone. Why? Sleeping under the stars is magical.”

  Especially since it would’ve been in your arms, I think but don’t dare voice aloud.

  “There’s a lot of magic in nature,” I say, “and not just at night.”

  "True. And you did clean up, so I suppose that lessens the sting."

  “So what am I now, a bee?” I ask.

  “A Killer Bee.” He winks. “My Queen Bee.”

  My heart skips a beat at his calling me his. I do like the sound of that, but it’s another nickname. It’s almost as if the nicknames are barriers that prevent him from seeing and knowing the real me.

  “This lockdown is terrible,” he says.

  “It could be worse.”

  “Not really.” He grimaces. “I would have loved to take you to a restaurant and actually eat there instead of a picnic, but they haven’t given any timeline for when the lockdown might be lifted.”

  “The world is crazy.”

  “Crazy isn’t always good.”

  “When is it good?” I ask.

  “You’re crazy.”

  “I am?”

  “You picked me.”

  “I didn’t pick you,” I protest.

  “You did,” he says simply, leaving me to wonder what exactly he means by that, but he’s already talking again. “Will you?”

  “Will I what?”

  “Go out with me again?”

  “That’s typically how a relationship goes. Dates.”

  “Yes, but our relationship seems to be moving rather slowly.”

  I lift my eyebrows. “I don’t know if your definition of slow is accurate.”

  He chuckles. “Slow as in far too few dates in too long of a period.”

  “Ah, yes, that is true,” I admit. “Yes, I’ll go out with you.”

  “Good. I would’ve thought myself crazy if I was wrong.”

  “Wrong about what?”

  “Wrong about you being my girlfriend.”

  I beam. “You’re ridiculous, you know that?”

  "

  Is that so?"

  "Yes. You're ridiculously cute." I give him a quick peck on the lips. "When and where?"

  Sage's idea of a date on the campus grounds, which is the very next night, is another picnic, one in the far back corner of the grounds, a grassy flat field that is used for… I'm not sure what exactly. A similar field is used for flutterball more toward the middle of the campus, but this area has no bleachers, no painted lines on the grass.

  “I hate to be repetitive, but this is th
e best I can do,” Sage murmurs as he starts to remove the items from his basket.

  “You don’t have to worry about impressing me.”

  “Don’t I?”

  I lift my eyebrows. “No,” I assure him, wondering and worrying about his sudden uneasiness around me. Is it because of the time spent apart?

  “Things have been so crazy lately,” he says.

  “Believe me, I know,” I groan. “The lockdown is horrible, but that fire… I have two new roommates because of it, and one has nightmares about it.”

  “Wren, right?”

  “Yes. You know her?”

  “We live in the same village.”

  “I didn’t realize,” I murmur and wait to feel jealous. I don’t. Not at all. Which only reinforces the notion that my only threat is Bay.

  My twin.

  Who Sage still thinks I am.

  “I just wish we didn’t have to worry about any of that. I mean, we hear about pipe bombs and school shootings with the humans. Why do we have to have issues like thefts and arson?”

  “You’re certain it’s arson?” I ask and sip some of the honey mead.

  “It has to be. I just wish the administration wouldn’t lie about it. I mean, if it wasn’t the act of arson, why are we under lockdown?”

  “I’m surprised more parents aren’t pulling out their wings considering the lockdown. I mean, my parents are less than pleased, but there’s nothing we can do about it.”

  “Exactly. Our parents can’t do anything either, and it’s not as if we won’t have to face adversity ever in our lives without them one day.” He rolls his eyes.

  I laugh. “They do act like we’re helpless.”

  “And hapless.” He tosses a blueberry into his mouth.

  "Our species has how long of a lifespan? We've dominated this Earth for how long?"

  “Yet we live in secret,” he points out.

  I shrug, not bothered in the least. “Humans are interesting, yes, but it’s so much better to be among our own kind, don’t you agree?”

  “Considering no human could ever hold a candle to your great beauty, why would I even want to lay eyes upon them?”

  It’s such a sweet sentiment, but I giggle. “Sage, come now.”

  “It’s true,” he protests.

  “There’s more to a person than their looks.” I swallow hard.

  “Yes, and you’re funny and witty and—”

  “Sage.”

  “I really have missed you. I wasn’t sure what to think after I woke up alone.”

  “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have left you like that.”

  "It's all right. I didn't want to scare you off. I was afraid I had pushed you too far too fast. I was worried you were purposely staying away from me, so I gave you space until I couldn't anymore."

  “I was looking for you yesterday at lunch,” I admit.

  His grin is wide and infectious. “Good.”

  I inhale deeply. Now or never. “Sage, there’s something you need to know. I should’ve told you before, and I can’t believe I never actually did get around to it, but…”

  “What is it?” He eyes me curiously before his eyes widen, and he winces. “You’re breaking up with me. You used me, and now you want to drop me. I know you’re gorgeous and that any guy would love the chance to be with you—”

  “That’s just it,” I say in a rush. “That’s not me.”

  He narrows his eyes. “I don’t understand. You are gorgeous and—”

  “Thank you.” I try to smile but can’t. “But I’m not the one that guys flock to.”

  He furrows his brow. “I’m still confused.”

  “That’s my twin,” I blurt out. “Guys flock to Bay.”

  “You aren’t Bay,” he says slowly.

  “No. Bay’s my twin.” I wince. I already said that. “I’m Rosemary. I don’t even know how it happened that I never introduced myself or that you never said my name, always calling me ‘Daredevil,’ and I love the nickname so I—”

  “There are two of you?” he says in that same slow tone. There’s horror in his tone and in his eyes.

  “Yes,” I confirm, my heart sinking. “Yes, I’m just Rosemary. You’ve been with Rosemary all along. I never… I don’t know how this happened.”

  He says nothing, but his body language is clear enough. From his rigid, squared shoulders, stiff upper lip, and standoffish air, it’s more than abundantly clear that he wants nothing to do with me.

  And I have no one to blame but myself.

  Chapter 17

  Two long minutes pass. Two long minutes of silence. Two long minutes of agony.

  Finally, Sage glances over at me. “Why didn’t you tell me sooner?”

  “It wasn’t… It wasn’t until you called me…” I gulp. “I didn’t know that you didn’t know. I thought… I thought wrong.”

  “I feel like such a moron. You might as well have ripped off one of my wings,” he says. He shakes his head. “I can’t believe this.”

  I have nothing to say, no excuses. I alone know the extent of the ramifications of all of this because I haven’t mentioned that I acted like Bay around him instead of myself. Who knows if he would even like the real Rosemary? By the look of things, he might not even give Rosemary a chance.

  I might’ve blown my shot.

  The perfect fairy for me might only have been perfect for my sister instead or at least me masquerading as her. Don’t the humans have an expression for the worst thing possible happening? Murphy’s Law or something like that. It’s Murphy’s Law that he would think my name was Bay considering I acted like her. Back when we were five or so, Bay and I decided to try to play a joke on our friends and swapped them for the day, Bay hanging out with my friends, me flying with hers.

  Only, the friends realized within minutes what we had done. We couldn’t fool five-year-olds.

  But I fooled Sage. I hadn’t meant to hurt him by any of this.

  But I had.

  “I’m sorry,” I say miserably. “I…”

  “You let me think—”

  “I didn’t realize you thought I was her until you called me her name.”

  “After we had sex,” he says flatly.

  I wince. The last thing I want is for that precious memory to be tarnished. Then again, it had been tarnished immediately with his calling me Bay. My virginity… Would I still be a virgin if I told Sage my name from the very beginning? Maybe he still would have wanted me considering I still would've acted like Bay.

  But did I really act like Bay? I did try to be more seductive, but more than anything, I tried to emulate her self-confidence, so I could have self-confidence myself. Or maybe I’m just making excuses to try to act as if I hadn’t been entirely an ogre in all of this.

  “I’m still me,” I say, but he won’t even look at me. He’s so disgusted that he wants nothing to do with me.

  I had been a coward in leaving after we had sex, and I had been a coward every day after I hadn't come forward and confessed. Now, I was paying for that cowardice, and I didn't think I had it in me to pay that price.

  “You’re still you,” he repeats flatly. “Who even are you? If you lied about your name—”

  “Excuse me? I never told you my name was Bay! I never lied to you!”

  A muscle in his jaw jumps. “You’re going to try and twist this around to be my fault?”

  “No!” I inhale and exhale, trying to calm down, which, of course, is an impossible feat. “It’s not your fault, and it’s not mine.”

  “It’s not yours?”

  “I didn’t ever do anything to make you think I was Bay.”

  “I didn’t even realize there were two of you!” he exclaims.

  “Of course not because I’m invisible to most everyone when Bay is around,” I mutter to myself.

  “What did you say?” Sage asks.

  It’s wrong of me, so very wrong, but I’m starting to get angry. I never lied to him, and I never meant for him to think I was Bay.
That he thinks I’m the only one in the wrong here infuriates me.

  “You assumed I was Bay,” I say slowly.

  “Yes.”

  “How is that fair?” I explode.

  Sage’s nostrils flare. “You really are trying to blame this all on me, aren’t you?”

  “Not at all. I assure you that I wouldn’t do that, but I think we’re both partially to blame.”

  “Don’t,” he snaps. “I don’t want to hear it.”

  Frustration has me gripping my hair. It's not fair for me to try to shift the blame, but I honestly don't know how this entire mess started in the first place. My trying to have more self-confidence is not a sin, and it's not a lie. He didn't realize Bay had a twin, but he still knows me. He just knows a version of me that I want to become. Is that really such a terrible thing? I never actively lied to him. I can’t. He knows that.

  But it doesn’t matter. He feels betrayed.

  In a way, I share that sentiment. Now that he knows my name, he’s thinking all of these terribly dark things about me that just plain aren’t true. If he knew me at all, he should realize that.

  But he doesn’t.

  Sage doesn’t know me at all.

  Honestly, I’m not sure that I know who I am at this point.

  “I never tried to deceive you. I never lied. Not once. You know—”

  “I know that some fairies are capable of lies,” he spits out through gritted teeth. “My mom lied to me. She told me repeatedly that she would always be there for me. Guess who isn’t?”

  I swallow hard and don’t respond.

  “I opened up to you right from the start,” he continues. “I trusted you.”

  “Why?” I ask. “Is it because you felt a connection to me?”

  “Because there was something about you that screamed that I could trust you. That something? I don’t sense it anymore.”

  I swallow hard and blink back tears. In an effort to compose myself, I look up at the sky.

  To my horror, Bay’s approaching. What in the world? We’re out in the far reaches of the academy. No one else has come anywhere near us this entire time. Why is she of all people here?

  Her gaze meets mine. I shake my head hardly at all, and she nods and starts to turn around, but it’s too late. Sage is following my gaze, and he sees Bay.