Spearwood Academy Volume One (The Spearwood Academy Book 1)

by A. S. Oren

  ***

  Before I can blink, a week has passed and tomorrow will be Saturday. I’ve talked to Edgar every afternoon, just before he goes out on the Orchard for the day. I guess he’s been doing good without me there. I’m getting more used to Bullock’s quirks even though he gives me the cold shoulder. I’ve also learned the perfect time for me to leave dinner so that I don’t start to change in front of the guys. It seems I’m part of their group now. They escort me practically everywhere. The only time I get to be alone is when I’m in my dorm, but it’s nice to have friends who aren’t on the internet.

  “You’ve made it a week,” Amr says as we sit at dinner. I’m having some delicious tomato bisque. “Yeah, it wasn’t as hard as I thought it would be though you guys sure do have a hard exercise regimen.”

  Suddenly, the volume in the dining hall drops to whispers. We look around. “What’s going on?” I ask.

  Dante stands and goes over to the railing. “Shit, it’s a Royal.” He comes back to the table.

  “A Royal?” I ask.

  “A direct descendent of one of the Ancients. They normally stay out of the normal area of the school.”

  “Normal area? You mean there is more to this school that I didn’t see?”

  “You barely saw the tip of the iceberg. Hush, he is coming up here,” Horace says.

  At least seventeen, the Royal steps onto the platform. Long, blond hair tied in a ponytail. Piercing sapphire eyes gaze at me, and he smiles. His school uniform, a deep forest green and tailored to have a perfect fit; nicer than the dark blue blazers and slacks the boys wear.

  He walks over to me and picks up my hand; he pulls me to my feet. He kisses the back of my hand, much to my disgust. “Hello, my love, you’re now my fiancée.”

  I pull my hand out of his grasp and wipe it on my skirt. “Excuse me?” Did he just say what I think he said?

  ENGAGMENT?

  “Excuse me?”

  “You are now my fiancée.” He says it again as if I should understand him, but I don’t. I don’t know this guy, and there is no way I would ever agree to marry anyone that I don’t know.

  “I don’t think so. I’m fifteen, I’m not going to agree to marry anyone, I’m sorry.”

  He takes a step back as if I have scorched him with the sun. “Do you know who I am?”

  I shrug. “I know you’re a Royal, but I don’t care if you are the most important person to ever grace the Earth. I’m not marrying you and I think it is very presumptuous of you to think that you can waltz in here, announce that I’m your fiancée, and expect me to accept it outright.”

  Another step back and a hand to his chest, oh boy, I’m dealing with a drama king here. A pregnant silence falls over the dining hall, worse than it was with Mirren in the courtyard.

  “The audacity!” He straightens and smiles at me. I swear my heartbeat echoes throughout the room. “I’ve never had anyone speak to me like that in my life! I like it.”

  “What?” A fly could buzz into my mouth right now and I wouldn’t even notice. He walks over to me and closes my jaw with his finger. “Je vais vous faire m'aimer, mon amour.” French, great. Only word I understand in there was love and that’s not good, what the Hell did he just say? With his finger still on my chin, he leans forward, his eyes closed and his lips puckered. Oh no! Not going to happen twice in one week. Seconds away from him connecting with my face, I side step. He stumbles forward and catches himself on the railing.

  Yes! That had to dissuade him. I smile. He turns to stare at me and my smile falls, he’s not dissuaded in the least. Seriously? If I had ever done that to a boy back home, he would have stormed off. This guy is happy? I can’t wrap my head around these Spearwood boys, most of them need an adjustment.

  “One day, you will agree to be my bride. I know this to be true.” He bows to me and I take a step back, how do I react to that? He stands straight again and smiles at me. “I will see you later, my love.”

  He walks away without another word, leaving the dining hall in the silence he helped create. I let out a sigh; can’t I catch some sort of break in the drama department? A week here, and I already have made enough scenes to fill a yearbook’s blow out section.

  I take my seat at the table my soup has gone cold. I close my eyes. Please let the volume go back to normal. Slowly people begin talking again above a whisper. I open my eyes. Thank you.

  Dante smiles and leans on the table. “Well, you definitely have a pair, Fire. I think you’re the only one in history to talk to a Royal like that.”

  I sit back in my chair, no longer hungry. “Yeah? Well, I don’t want to be a bride at fifteen.”

  “He wasn’t deterred in the least by your behavior,” Horace says.

  I look at them. “Do any of you know what he said in French? I only understood one of the words. I know some Korean and Japanese that’s it.”

  Amr clears his throat. “He basically said he will make you love him.”

  “Yeah? Not going to happen. Not my type at all.”

  Dante pushes his plate away; a trademark smirk crosses his lips. “And who is your type?”

  All their heads turn to gaze at me. My cheeks flush with heat. The sexy eyed servant for one, but I don’t say this. “No one you know.” The truth. I doubt he would take a second glance at Kearn.

  “You mean I’m not the object of your affections, Fire?” I can tell he is only kidding around. Amr hits him in the shoulder.

  I laugh and shake my head. “Stop being a goofball.”

  The pull of the moon gets stronger, no longer a dull ache that I can ignore. “Anyway, boys. It’s been an interesting evening, again, but I think I need to turn in for the night. Still have an essay to finish for tomorrow’s history class.” A flat out lie. I make sure to finish all my homework as soon as I can. I don’t get the luxury of having the night to do it. I wish I didn’t have to lie so much. A part of me senses that they have an idea about what happens to me at night. Everyone here seems to know more about me than I do, but I can’t seem to come out and say that I have no control over my transformation, like they do. I feel weak compared to the rest of them and I don’t want to admit to that, at least, not yet. Perhaps when I get to know them better, I will want to share more of my inner thoughts with them, like I do with Edgar.

  They all stand, prepared to walk me back to my dorm. I hold up my hand. “Finish your food. I know how to get there by now. I’m a big girl.”

  “Nonsense, we’re walking you, Fire.”

  “But—”

  “Nope, not up for discussion.”

  I don’t know how, but Dante always manages to put his foot down in some fashion, and I haven’t been able to persuade him otherwise. I roll my eyes. “Fine, Mr. Leader, lead the way.” I step aside and gesture with my arm for him to take the lead.

  He walks around the table and pulls at his dark blue blazer and tightens his once loose tie. Holding his chin up, he leads the way like some proud mother duck. I snigger at the thought. I can picture him as an orange footed, white feathered duck, with a mane of long black hair.

  Amr leans over to me. “What’s so funny?”

  I whisper back to him, “I was picturing Dante as a mother duck. Can you imagine him as a white duck with a wig of black hair on his head?”

  Amr looks at Dante’s backside for a long second, before he cracks up laughing as we exit the dining hall.

  “What’s so funny back there?” Dante asks. He turns around and walks backwards to look at us.

  “Nothing,” we say in unison, as we try to hold in the laughter.

  I like Amr. Not as in like, like. He ‘s cool, funny, and the only one of the group that doesn’t seem tense all the time. The others always feel to me like they have a metal rod stuck up their butts, which includes Dante, even for the goofball that he is.

  “Don’t make me come back there!” he practically yells, his voice echoes off the white marble walls. Joking, of course, but he prompts more laughter from Amr and me wi
th Horace and Triton joining in.

  Dante shakes his head. “You lot are nuts.”

  Soon, we make it to the door of my apartment. Just in time. The ache throbs now. That damn Royal cut the time I have to get to the dorm in half. I’m lucky I got here in time. I put my hand on the door and wait to hear the beep of it unlocking, before I open it. I glance back at the guys, I have yet to allow them in my living room. I know that they want to see my place, but tonight is not the night for them to see what it looks like. “Well, good night. I guess I’ll see you in the morning then.”

  “Of course,” they say in unison. As if I have my own Knights of the Roundtable, and they weigh in on my every word. At least one is always with me and walks me nearly everywhere. I guess it’s a good thing that I’m not a complete anti-social, or I would go insane with them always around.

  “Good night,” Triton says.

  The others follow his example and I nod my head. “Night.”

  Once inside the confine of my bedroom, I breathe a sigh of relief. I have once again escaped having to turn in front of them; something I never want them to see. My skin falling off, and my bones cracking . . . not at all elegant, compared to how they transform with ease and grace.

  THE GRINCH TUTOR

  I sigh as I walk into the Backwaters; time for my magic tutoring session with Mr. Bullock. I just call him the Grinch. If he had been alive during the time of Dr. Seuss, I think he would have based the Grinch on him. His heart has to be three sizes too small. He makes the Dalek from Doctor Who seem warm and cuddly.

  I open the door and peek inside, hoping that I might have beat him here for the first time. I’m not in luck, this time. Grinch stands next to the desk, his hands behind his straight back. I think his injuries have finally started to lessen with their pain; doesn’t make him any less of a grump though.

  “Let’s get this over with I would like to enjoy my weekend.”

  “Yeah? So would I.”

  He gives me a sneer and turns to face the desk. He waves his hand and a simple, white feather materializes on the desk. It may appear innocent, but that damned little thing is the current bane of my existence.

  “You know what to do.”

  “Yeah, yeah, make the darn thing float above a foot.”

  I move to stand in front of the desk and stare at the feather. I put my hand out, pointing my palm at it. I think about the fact that I want it to move under my control. It wiggles, but doesn’t even get a half an inch into the air.

  I hold my breath and try harder, imagining it move into the air, again, just a wiggle. This goes on for at least ten minutes before I let a heavy breath out, walk over to the student desk, and take a seat. “That is impossible.”

  He lets out a sigh. “No, it’s not. You’re just not doing it right.”

  “Whose fault is that? You’re my tutor, tutor me.”

  His cheeks flush with pink and I roll my eyes. Boys, their minds always in the gutter, I swear. “I can’t get better until I know what I am doing wrong.”

  He pinches the bridge of his nose. “Fine, fine. Come here.” I stand again, with sluggish feet I walk over to him. I put my hand out. He sighs and walks over to me. Grabbing my arm, he rubs the muscle on the underside of my wrist with two of his fingers. I desperately want to pull my arm out of his grasp, but I know he is doing it for a reason, at least I hope he is.

  “Relax your muscles in your wrist and hand, you have them too tight. The air element is meant to be calm with things like this. If you are trying to cause a tornado, then you can be as tense as you want.”

  I let the muscles in my body relax. “Now, don’t just picture the feather floating through the air. Picture the air currents moving under it. After all, it is the element we are working with right now.”

  “How am I supposed to picture air currents?”

  “However you want to, there is no rule. If air was visible, how do you think it would look?”

  I guess clouds. With my eyes open, I try to picture fluffy, white clouds acting like a pillow and lifting up the feather high into the air. It moves, until it’s at least three feet in the air. I smile, I’ve done it! With my happiness distracting me, I lose the visual and the feather floats down to the floor.

  I look to Bullock. Nothing, Not even a good job. I wonder what crawled up his butt and killed his happiness. “Now, try to move it around the room.”

  “Don’t go getting too excited now,” I mumble as I stare down at the feather.

  “I’ll be excited when I don’t have to spend my free time teaching you kid stuff.”

  “Then quit. My heart won’t bleed if you can’t teach me anymore.”

  “I can’t do that, so we’ll just have to stand each other until you can do magic on your own.”

  “What is Perlow offering you anyway? Can’t be money, or objects, can it?”

  He’s eyes narrow at me. “We aren’t all as cookie cutter as you seem to believe we are.” He goes silent for a moment; his lips push out with frustration. “You know what; I’m ending our session early today. You can keep practicing this on your own until Monday.” Without waiting for me to say anything, he goes to the door and slams it open. His school dress shoes click louder than normal as he stomps down the hall.

  “Well, I guess I hit a sore spot,” I mumble and fold my arms over my chest.

  “Hey, what crawled up your tutor’s butt?” Amr asks from the hall.

  I walk to the door. The guys sit in a circle on the floor, their black P.A. laptops in their laps. “What are you guys doing out here? You should be having fun, it’s the weekend.”

  “We plan too; we were just waiting for you to get out of your session.”

  “So you were waiting to hang out with me?” I’m still trying to get used to the fact that a group of boys, around my age for that matter, want to hang out with me with no ulterior motive.

  Dante stands and walks over to me. He throws a lazy arm around my shoulder; over the week, I have stopped trying evade him. Me side stepping him each time does nothing to deter him in the least. “Of course, Fire. You’re one of the gang now.”

  “We should get moving, if we want to be back before dinner,” Horace says.

  “Wait, we’re going to be gone all day? But I need to make a call; I call my father every day at noon.”

  “Well, can’t you call him later today?” Amr asks.

  I shrug. “I guess I could, later.” I know I won’t be able to. If I don’t get back before dinner, then I won’t have time before I change to call him. I can’t talk in my changed formed. I don’t have the vocal cords. I’m sure he’ll understand when I talk to him tomorrow. The calls are more for my benefit than his anyway.

  “Great, first we need to make a stop to the library,” Horace says. The rest of them stand and hold out their hands, the laptops fly and fold into their card state.

  “The library?”

  “You’ll see, Fire. You’re in for an adventure.”

  “I’ve never been on a real adventure before.”

  “Well, then, this will be your first and I bet you’ll love it,” Triton says as he pats me on the shoulder.

  I follow them to the room with the six doors, leading to the recreational areas and the dorms. So far this week, I have only seen the non-fiction area of the library. Between the homework they give out here and keeping up with the guys and their workouts, I haven’t had much time to explore.

  I follow them into the library door and into another circular room with two doors, one leads to fiction and the other to non-fiction. Dante goes through the non-fiction door. He holds his finger to his mouth, shushing us. We move through the expansive library, walking by other students with fists full of hair, as they read a book for an essay they need to write; Their P.A. laptops sit on the word processor, the tiny cursor blinking at them.

  They lead me to the back of the library to a far corner table that looks like it hasn’t been used in a while. A fine layer of dust, scratches and dents make up the
surface. What are we doing here? I can’t figure out their plan. Dante looks around us for a second, before he kneels down and reaches for something under the top of the desk. He pulls something out from the wood. He comes up with a small, square wood box.

  “Get out your P.A. card and put it in here,” he says. The others take their cards out and don’t question it at all. I hesitate, but eventually put Enid into the box. I figure they will tell me what we are up to in a second.

  Dante puts the box back under the table’s top and into the place where it had been before. We move back toward the entrance. Once outside of the room, I can’t hold it in any longer, I need to know. “Why did we just do that?” I ask.

  Dante holds his finger to his lips again. “I’ll tell you, once we are on horseback.”

  THE WHO CABIN

  We walk all the way out to the horses. It’s a good thing their workouts have put me in shape, or else my legs would be killing me at this point.

  The mares and their babies once again graze in the field out in front of the stables. I can't help but feel all warm and fuzzy. Most baby animals are adorable to me, but I manage to keep my ooo's and awe's to myself this time. I don't need any more comments from the peanut gallery when it comes to me actually acting like a girl and not one of the guys. I sometimes wonder if they don't think I am a guy.

  We go inside and sit down on the plush, forest green loveseats. We wait for one of the servants to saddle up the horses. I want to go watch and perhaps even help and do my own, but I know that idea will get shot down right away. I can hear Horace say, 'that is work for the servants to do, let them do their jobs.' It doesn't matter if I hate being waited on nearly every hour of every day. Trying to get away from these guys to do my own thing is like a fly trying to get off sticky tape; it's just not going to happen, at least, not any time soon. Once I get more comfortable with them, I will tell them to back off a little. I would actually like them to stay my friends. I don't want to be a loner again like I was back in Bellingham. Here, in their eyes, I'm not a freak of nature for being smart, or for turning into a dragon at night. Here, I am able to get along with my peers and I like it.