by Lilly Wilder
“You can be gorgeous now, if you want,” there was that grin again as he spoke and he went back to just being a jock douchebag.
Of course, she recognized now who he was. The whole school knew him.
Raphael Ferranti.
With a name like that, he didn’t even have to be hot but he was. Despite her unwillingness to do so, Mina had to admit to herself that he really was the epitome of a handsome guy. A Renaissance God. It was like Da Vinci painted him and then Raphael just effortlessly walked out of his painting and into real life but she would be damned if she’d ever say such a thing to him. His head was already too high up in the clouds and he was talking like he owned the whole damn school and everyone in it. So annoying.
“What I really want now is to be gone,” she told him. “Could you please move? I’ve got places to be.”
She could see from the look on his face that he didn’t expect this. No one ever talked to the awesome Raphael Ferranti like that. Everyone melted at the very mention of his name, let alone at his actual presence. Well, she wasn’t impressed and she was about to punch him in the face for being so rude to Reeba just now. Who did this guy think he was? Asshole.
“Yeah, sure,” he moved a second later, sounding a little confused by what had just happened as if it took his brain some effort to figure it out.
“Catch ya later!” he said, a little too loudly, apparently so that those around him could hear that he was still in full control of the situation.
So pathetic. She snorted as she walked past him, pushing him to the side aggressively with her shoulder. She hated guys like that. Cocky, asshole, pretty boys who thought they owned the world. A part of her actually hoped he had something to do with Dante, just so she could kick his ass. She didn’t want to kill him. No, that’d be too harsh. She’d just like to slap him around a little, to teach him a lesson, never to treat any woman like she was a plaything.
As she walked down the hallway, she knew he was watching her. She had learned to recognize that burning sensation on the side of her head, a heatwave that arose from a simple stare that was hot enough to burn a hole in her head. It was a skill she desperately needed in her line of work: awareness of a gaze. It had saved her life more than once.
She also knew that he was still confused. Those several leftover grey cells which were still working inside of his brain were trying to make sense of the situation and what had just happened. In his universe, this was an impossibility: someone rejecting him outright, not falling for those cheesy pick up lines and his pearly whites.
She smiled to herself. If she could, she’d pat herself on the back but a smile would do. Like she would ever want anything to do with someone like that. He was more trouble than he was worth, she was sure of it.
She rushed over to the bathroom and pushed the door open. There was no one there. She was in need of some peace and quiet, even for a few seconds. She glanced at herself in the stained mirror that hung on the wall, then before she could even go in one of the stalls, she heard the door burst open and two girls entered.
They were the spitting image of each other. They wore their hair up in sleek ponytails, not a single hair out of place. Their make up was the same. Their outfits were the same because both of them were wearing the school uniform but both had added a little something to make it different from everyone else’s. In this case, it was a small shawl, which hung loosely around their necks. Even their facial expressions were the same.
It was so weird, like one of them was a real person and the other, just a reflection. The only difference between the two of them, which allowed those around them to tell them apart, was the fact that one of them had sky blue eyes and the other’s were forest green, hiding beneath those batting eyelashes.
One of them boldly approached Mina and the other placed her foot strategically behind the door, which made it impossible for anyone to push it open. Mina eyed them both suspiciously. She knew very well who they were. Just like with Raphael. Some faces were too well known in this school to ever be unfamiliar.
Madison and Morgan Avery belonged to this group more than anyone else there. Reeba had tried to warn her about them several times but Mina was sure she needed no advice when it came to bullies. She’d fought enough trash in her life to know how to handle herself.
However, Mina also knew that she needed to be careful. The time to meet up with Dante was just around the corner. She knew he hadn’t returned yet, because she had managed to sneak into the main building a few times during off hours and there was no sign of him having returned. Unless he’d returned, and didn’t want anyone to know about it - now, that would be something to worry about. Right now, however, she had to focus on these two and getting out of the bathroom without causing a commotion.
“So, you’re the new kid,” the blue-eyed one approached Mina and stopped right in front of her.
She looked at her with a disgusted look on her face. Mina felt like this was supposed to be intimidating but all she saw was a silly peacock trying to scare someone who wasn’t even slightly afraid. So, Mina decided to let them have their show, mark their territory or whatever they wanted to do and then just let her go on her way.
“And, you’re the bullies,” Mina snorted at them.
“Did you hear that, Morgan?” the blue-eyed one, who Mina now knew was Madison, commented to her sister. “We’ve got a smart ass on our hands.”
“Awesome, I love smart asses,” Morgan added, with an evil gleam in her eyes and her nostrils widened as she smiled. “They squeal the best.”
“Is that true, smart ass?” Madison took one step closer to Mina and, now, she was almost breathing right in her face, menacingly.
Mina hated this breach of her own personal space but it was all just a game to these girls. They were out to frighten her, to break her. That was how they were running this place, with fear. Well, unfortunately for them, Mina knew how to defend herself better than most other students here.
“Listen, I really don’t want any trouble,” Mina tried the easy way out.
She could just pretend to be a timid little thing and they might leave her alone. In theory, it sounded plausible. Some bullies don’t consider that a challenge, trying to break someone who was already broken.
“Oh, boo-hoo,” Madison cackled. “Are we supposed to feel bad for you now and just leave you alone?”
“Yes, that’s actually what I was hoping you would do,” Mina replied, as nicely as she could. However, she realized that even though she was speaking calmly, she did come across as questioning their authority, which was never a good thing to do when talking to a bully.
She should have just nodded shyly but that was so out of character that she had no time to do it intentionally. She felt like that would cost her, the only question was how much.
“Yeah, unfortunately for you, smart ass, we can’t. We’ve got a bone to pick with you and since it’s what we do, you kinda have to go along with it.”
The girls laughed together.
“What did I do?” Mina wondered, honestly not knowing.
She actually thought that she was being all nice and invisible, not making any waves. Apparently not.
“You talked to my sister’s boyfriend,” Madison informed her importantly.
“Your boyfriend?” Mina looked over at Morgan, who just nodded quickly. “Who’s your boyfriend?”
“Raphael!” Morgan shouted. “Like, duh!”
They both laughed again, as if Mina not knowing this was the stupidest mistake anyone could have made. Mina sighed heavily. Not only was she not interested in that jerk but now she’d gotten into unnecessary trouble because of him. Right now, she disliked him even more and she didn’t even think that was possible.
“Listen, I didn’t talk to him, he approached me…” Mina started but Morgan interrupted her.
“What?” she screamed. “Ew! Like either of us would ever believe that Raphael approached you and actually wanted to talk
to you! Liar!”
“I’m serious,” Mina nodded, frowning. “He approached me but, trust me, I want nothing to do with him. You shouldn’t worry about me.”
“Like he’d want anything to do with you,” Morgan was disgusted by the mere thought.
“Just stay away from us,” Madison added.
Mina frowned again. These girls were making no sense, telling her to stay away from them and they were the ones approaching her.
“Seriously…” Mina sighed. “I have nothing to say to him or you guys. I just want to be left alone.”
“Then you’d best stay in your place and don’t mingle with people who are obviously above you,” Morgan snorted.
“Obviously…” Mina nodded quickly, rolling her eyes, but the girls were too busy laughing to notice it. “Do you mind if I go do my business now?”
“Why would we care what you do? We just wanted to warn you, so something doesn’t happen to you.”
“Is that a threat?” Mina asked, eyeing Madison defiantly.
“Take it as you want, just stay away from Raphael.”
“And Renwick!” Morgan added quickly.
The name made Madison’s face muscles tense. Blood flushed her cheeks. So, that Renwick guy was apparently Madison’s guy. Not that Mina cared about any of them. She wasn’t here to make friends or find lovers. She had more important business to attend to and she needed Dante for it.
“Stay away from Raphael and Renwick, you hear?” Madison hissed.
“Fine, fine,” Mina took a step back.
This was all so stupid. Girls fighting other girls over a guy. Mina couldn’t imagine any guy being worth such a fuss.
“You’ve been warned, smart ass.”
The girls walked out of the bathroom, leaving Mina alone. She was glad they were gone, not because she was scared or anything. They were mostly annoying. However, Mina knew well that these girls could mean trouble if they thought that Mina was after one of those two guys. She wasn’t, of course. She had no intention of even talking to them, but it was difficult explaining it to someone who didn’t have a habit of listening to others, or to reason.
Mina sighed. She went inside and did her business. She quickly washed her hands and rushed out of the bathroom. As she did so, she bumped right into Raphael. It was almost as if he was waiting for her just outside, it all happened a little too conveniently.
“Ouch!” Mina shouted, as he pushed her back, right into the door, hitting her shoulder.
“Hey, watch where you’re…” he started, but as soon as he saw it was her, he immediately changed his tune. “Funny running into you again, gorgeous.”
Mina eyed him suspiciously, rubbing her shoulder. She’d been hurt worse than this but it was still unpleasant and, worse yet, he obviously wasn’t even planning on apologizing. She seriously hated him. If he’d just go away, he’d make her life so much easier.
“You’re the last person I want to see right now,” she told him and was about to leave, when he pulled her back by the elbow.
Something flared up inside of her and she was on the verge of kicking his ass all the way back to the Stone Age, which was obviously where he came from but that would mean getting into trouble. She eyed him, sure she could take him on. He was all bark and no bite. She knew the type well. He was definitely not worth getting into any trouble over, either with the Headmaster or with those two.
“I’d appreciate it if you didn’t touch me again,” she hissed at him, pulling her elbow back.
“You really have a bad temper, don’t you?” he asked, letting go.
The strangest part was that this was actually the most normal sounding thing he had said to her. He even sounded nice. There was no trace of that cockiness, only general curiosity mixed with a little bit of nicety. Obviously, he could be a regular, nice guy, when he wanted to. It’s just that he didn’t want to, often.
“Only when I’m forced to talk to guys like you.”
“Guys like me?” he wondered, as if he didn’t know what she meant.
“Seriously, just get away,” she told him, almost pushing him physically away from her, “I don’t want any more trouble with your girlfriend and her freak sister.”
“My girlfriend?” he asked aloud. It looked like he had no idea who she was referring to.
“Morgan?” she refreshed his memory.
“Morgan?” he laughed out loud.
She eyed him weirdly. Now, she was really sure that most of the students in this school had gone totally bonkers. Did she say something funny? She was sure she hadn’t.
She couldn’t wait to get the hell out of this place.
“She’s not my girlfriend,” he said, with a frown.
“Try telling her that, lover boy.”
“Ask anyone,” he continued. “We used to date, but that’s all over, ancient history. I’m free to date anyone I please.”
“Listen,” she sighed, already having had enough of this, “I don’t wanna get involved in any crazy love triangle with you and your psycho ex. I couldn’t care less about either of you.”
“Oh, come on,” he winked. “What’s not to like here?”
He flexed his muscles, raising his eyebrows as he did so. It was like a cartoon caricature and she almost burst out laughing at him but she was taught better than that.
“Exactly that,” she nodded, rolling her eyes at him. “I gotta go.”
She rushed down the hallway, Raphael already gone out of her mind. She was eager to go to back to her room and get some writing done.
Chapter 9
Mina was sitting at her desk. The blinds weren’t drawn yet and she could see that it was slowly getting dark. The light was disappearing, slowly dying out, as lamp lights took over. She was still weighing whether or not she’d go to the library, which was open until midnight anyway, allowing students a place of peace and quiet for studying or just casual reading. Mina had a few assignments to finish, as they were all due in the next two weeks. However, at the same time, she knew she had to do her own research.
Right now, she felt like there were too many distractions. She kept meeting new people, new faces, who prevented her from focusing on what mattered the most: researching the resources she had here on campus, so she knew what she could rely on if the meeting with Dante went wrong. What bothered her the most, was the fact that she had no idea what to expect of it. She didn’t know if he knew who she was. Of course, he had probably heard of Mina Peyton, but she was here under a pseudonym. Also, she had slightly changed her physical appearance. She’d cut her hair and died it black, which was a big change from her blonde curls but apart from that, there was little else she could do or change. She couldn’t change her height or body constitution. So, she knew that when the time came, she had to be prepared for the worst.
At that moment, someone knocked on the door. Mina turned to it, then shouted.
“Come in, it’s open!”
Reeba pushed the door open, grinned at Mina, then entered. She approached the desk and offered her what appeared to be a plain white envelope.
“Here.”
“What’s this?” Mina asked, accepting it.
She turned it over in her hands, then back again. There was nothing on it. No name, no sender, no recipient. It was just a regular white envelope, like any other, with no indication that it was meant for Mina.
“I don’t know,” Reeba shrugged her shoulders. “It was on the floor in front of your door. I’m assuming it’s for you.”
“Maybe someone dropped it,” Mina wondered.
“Right in front of your door?” Reeba asked. “It was almost pushed underneath. To me, it looked like someone placed it there carefully.”
Without answering, Mina tore it open. At least this way, they could see who it was addressed to and if it wasn’t for her, she could just give it to the rightful owner who might have lost it. She extracted a folded piece of paper.
Be careful. T
hey’re watching.
Mina read it again. Was it a threat? A warning? A friendly piece of advice?
“What is it?” Reeba inquired.
Mina thought about it for a second. She wasn’t sure if she should show it to her. After all, Mina was a slayer in a place packed with vampires. None of these people could ever be her friends, fighting on the same side. Or could they?
Her fingers started to shake. Her mind was racing. This was the determining moment which would either make Reeba her friend or it would forever seal their relationship as that of mere acquaintances or even enemies. Reeba would probably take it personally if Mina chose not to share the contents of the letter.