For a moment, all I could do was stare.
“This is a dorm room?” I mumbled to myself.
I took a few steps forward and paused in front of another doorway. The light flashed on as I leaned my head inside. The same black hardwood stretched through a beautifully rustic bathroom. The walls were covered in wood, and the shower was made of dark stones. The counter was a pristine white marble. I almost cried at the sight of the bathtub. Maybe this place will be okay after all. Straight across from me was another door, which I knew connected to another dorm. Wait, are there guys in that room? My dreams of long baths would vanish if I had to share the bathroom with guys.
I turned back to the bedroom with a sigh. It was quite the vision. Right beside me was a small suede sofa with a colorful tribal print on it that was begging for me to curl up on it with a good book. Next to that and tucked in the corner was a twin-sized bed with big fluffy white blankets. It was set up a few feet off the ground on a wooden platform, and beneath it were three rows of drawers. But none of that was what took my breath away. It wasn’t even the balcony on the far wall beside my bed, even though that was ridiculously awesome.
No, the coolest part was the other half of the room. It was blatantly obvious that whoever my roommate was, he or she was not a First Year. The bed was also on a wooden platform, but it sat at least five feet in the air. On top, the bed had multicolored sheets and blankets that didn’t seem to match at all yet totally worked. A white hammock hung from under the bed, and I wanted so badly to climb in.
The ceilings were high, so there was plenty of air space, which my roommate had capitalized on to the max. Vintage lightbulbs hung from the ceiling on thin brown ropes. The lights glowed bright yellow, like pure sunshine. I didn’t understand how they were working. There were no cords or electricity. Just then, the bulbs changed from yellow to a dark emerald green. I gasped. What in the hell? Before I could even process that color change, they changed again to hot pink. A wide smile stretched across my face. I had no idea what the colors meant, but I knew the first thing I was asking this mystery roommate.
I love magic.
I glanced around the room and found myself growing more and more curious about my roommate. My first reaction was to assume it was a girl, based on the décor, but I hadn’t seen any other girls in black cloaks. The idea that they’d have co-ed dorms didn’t feel right, plus their entire side of the dorm was covered in flowers, plants, crystals, and candles. I plopped down on the couch and found it was even more comfortable than it looked. Maybe it’s just a really flamboyant guy? That would be fine.
Unfortunately, my roommate was nowhere to be seen, so the mystery would remain for now. I glanced around the room then spotted my suitcase right beside my bed, waiting for me. I cringed with the realization that I had no idea what my mother had packed for me. If they didn’t fit, or if I hated them, I wasn’t sure I had an option of buying new stuff. Especially without a job.
Crap, I better call them. I pulled my cell phone out of my jeans pocket and opened up the phone app. But then I hesitated. Why should I call them? They’d lied to me my entire life. They’d let me think I was a regular human for sixteen years. But why? It didn’t make sense. What could lying to me do to benefit them? Did they think I’d run away and would never come back?
Maybe I should.
My stomach turned. It didn’t make sense, and until I got the answers, I couldn’t walk away. It would only drive me insane. I hit the button to call my mother, except instead of ringing, I got a dial tone, then a robotic voice that said, “No phones for First Years. See the office or your Suit Major for assistance.”
“You’ve got to be bloody kidding me!”
I threw my useless phone onto my bed and leaned back. There was no going out to mingle with the other students. No one inside my dorm to talk to. No phones. And I was assuming that included internet. My mind was far too much of a mess to read a book. Was I really expected to sit here in silence and go to sleep when I had my first day at magic school tomorrow?
I gasped. My classes.
The silver paper shimmered under the light as I read my schedule:
Weapons/Combat Training: daily 8-10 a.m. & Fridays 2-3:30
Battle Strategies: daily 10:10 – noon
Lunch: 12-1
Ancient Language: daily 1-2 p.m.
Demonology: MW 2:15-3:45 p.m.
Magic Wheel: TR 2:15-3:45 p.m.
First Year: MW 4-5
Coven History: TR 4-5
My stomach rolled. Everything I hadn’t eaten today threatened to come back up. I pressed my hands to my stomach and bent over. I had a suspicious feeling my nerves would have me clinging to the toilet all night. Please stay down. Please. I’ll feed you healthy things tomorrow.
The door swung open and slammed against the wall, but before I could look up I heard a female voice yell, “OH MY GODDESS!”
I jumped upright and spun in my seat. The girl who’d entered cursed then gently closed the door behind her. This first thing I noticed was her hair. It was indigo, not quite blue, not quite purple. And it was amazing. She turned and I found myself unsure of where to look first. Her skin had that nice honey tone I always wished mine had. And it looked fantastic combined with the intricate tattoos inked into her left shoulder and arm and rib cage. Her little black top was cropped and showing off her ink. She walked forward, and her silver septum hoop glistened under the lights.
For some crazy reason, this girl reminded me of Tegan.
“OH MY GOD.” She bounced toward me with a huge grin on her face. “Okay. Were you assigned this room?”
I frowned. “Um…yes. Is that a problem?”
She grinned, like the dimples and jaw cracking kind of grin. Without warning, she ran to the sofa tackled me in a big hug. When she pulled back, she laughed and waved. “I’m Lennox Ward, your roommate!”
My eyes widened. “You’re my roommate?”
Lennox squealed and clapped her hands. Her eyes were the craziest shade of yellow-green, and they were sparkling. “I am so excited! Oh my god. I have a roommate! What’s your name?”
“Bettina Blair.”
“That’s so pretty!!” She rolled onto her knees and tucked her hair behind her ears. “I’m sorry, I’m just…I can’t believe I have a roommate!”
“Is that not normal?” I gestured toward the hall. “Doesn’t everyone?”
She shook her head and her yellow-green eyes sparkled. “My roommate my First Year hated me because I asked eight hundred million questions a day. Then my second year roommate, Caroline Davenport, hated me because I studied too much. She was a monster, but her father is the Major of New York, so one phone call and I haven’t had a roommate since. That was five years ago. Wait, is this real? You’re not pranking me, right? Right?”
“This is no joke. I am really your roommate.” I chuckled and held up my registration paper. She spoke so fast, yet somehow I managed to follow. “I’m excited I’m not the only girl in Swords.”
“Oh, no, I’m not a Sword. I’m a Wand.” She pointed across the room to where a bright turquoise cloak hung from her bed. “Two years ago, I convinced Headmaster Daniel to let me live in the Sword dorm because they’re not intimidated by my weirdness. Apparently, I’m intense or something and after Caroline’s wrath no one would live with me. But whatever, I want to be Lead Page, so I need to know how to fight anyway, which is what I told Headmaster Daniel.”
I wasn’t sure how a student could sway a Headmaster’s decisions, but it made me like her. “Well, I’m glad neither of us have to live alone. I’m not a monster, I swear.”
She pulled her indigo hair up into a messy bun on top of her head, which made me think of Tegan again. “I’m kind of a weirdo.”
A burst of laughter slipped out of my lips. I covered my mouth, but that didn’t hide it. I put my hand on her forearm and squeezed. “I think we’ll get along fine. You remind me of my best friend back home, actually.”
Her yellow-green eyes
watered. “That’s the nicest compliment anyone has ever given me.”
My cheeks warmed. I supposed being told you reminded someone of their best friend was really nice, because obviously that person was very liked and important. I’d meant it when I said it.
“And I saw some of the other dorms as I walked to ours… I definitely think I won the lotto there,” I said.
She gasped, her eyes brightening. “You like? It’s not too much?”
I shook my head and pointed to my new bed. “I need to make my half of the room match. I can’t handle the plain white.”
“Oh my Goddess, yes. Yep.” She clapped her hands, then sobered. “After school tomorrow, let’s go shopping in town. I have to swing by a store anyway. Yeah?”
Just like that, some of the tension in my body loosened. Maybe making friends won’t be so hard here. I smiled and nodded. “That sounds perfect.”
Chapter Thirteen
BETTINA
I slid to a stop outside the door to my Weapons and Combat training class. My stomach turned, and I sent a little prayer to whoever was up top to please, please let the remaining contents in my stomach stay in my stomach. In my sleep-deprived, been-puking-all-night mind, I’d somehow been looking at the map upside down. As if my nerves weren’t shot enough already.
Sweat dripped down my spine. My hands were shaky and sweaty. My heart was pounding so hard I couldn’t hear myself think. I looked down at my outfit and prayed I was dressed appropriately. I’d worn a tank top, workout leggings, and my Converses. No one had told me what I was supposed to wear, and it wasn’t on the schedule. But it was combat training, so I figured it had to be like karate—not that I’d ever taken karate before. Ever.
Quit stalling!
I took a deep breath then pulled the door open. The classroom was massive. I’d been picturing something like a school gymnasium, but this was fancy. Hardwood floors as far as I could see. The far wall—well, it wasn’t actually a wall, or maybe it was a door that was just open, but the entire back side of the room was open to the outside. Long tree branches with vibrant green leaves swayed in the breeze. Between me and the opening had to be ten rubber mats, which was the only part of the room I’d expected correctly. Up by the door, directly in front of me, there were a few rows of benches, stadium-seating style.
And they were full of students.
All of whom had spun in their seats to stare at me.
I gulped and pushed my shoulders back as I walked forward. Turned out my new life motto was fake it till you make it. The other students whispered, and my heart sank as I realized they were all guys.
“You’re late,” that all-too-familiar British accent snapped.
Don’t let him get to you. I strapped on my game face. But then I met his stare, and my heart did that weird little flutter again.
All of the fire I’d just been riding cooled, but heat still rushed to my cheeks. “I got lost.”
Jackson narrowed those beautiful aquamarine eyes and watched me for a long time. It was probably only a second or two, but under his sharp gaze, it felt like forever. I forced my eyes away from his and found that to be a terrible decision. He was dressed in all gray, and somehow it made him looker tanner. His tank top fit tightly to his body, doing nothing to hide the ripple of ab muscles beneath. He balled his hands into fists at his sides, and it made the muscles in his arms flex. For a second, my mind went blank.
“You have a map.” Jackson cocked his head to the side and narrowed his eyes. “Or perhaps we should tattoo it on your arm with a You Are Here sign so it doesn’t happen again?”
Rage exploded inside me. How dare he talk to me like that. He had no idea who I was or what I’d been through in the last few days. All of the warm fuzzies I’d just been feeling vanished, leaving a cold fury in its place.
I narrowed my eyes at him. “Only if it comes in pink.”
Jackson opened his mouth to snap back at me but was cut off by the side door flying open. A tall man with beautiful dark brown skin and piercing orange eyes strolled into the room. Jackson shook his head and spun away, breaking the hypnotic hold he had on me.
“All right, good morning, everyone!” the man said in a deep voice. He was all big muscles and intimidation. “Welcome, First Years. I’m Hewitt, your combat professor. It’s my job to make sure you are trained for both weapons and hand-to-hand fighting to the best of your ability so that upon graduation, you can join the Knights in the war. Now, in order to do that, I have to know where each of you are starting from.”
“A test?” a younger boy in front of me squealed.
“No.” Hewitt shook his head. “I just need to see what you know how to do already. It’s not a test, nor is it graded. I won’t be judging you. In fact, I’m expecting you to not know how to throw a punch correctly. Anything more than that is a bonus. First Years, stay here. Everyone else, outside.”
Hewitt waited for the rest of the Swords students to move over by the big door that led to the outdoors. My jaw dropped. There had to be a hundred of them. I noticed with relief that they were all dressed pretty similarly to me. They either had on leggings or loose gym pants, and not one wore shorts. All wore cotton shirts, in varying shirt lengths. I gave myself a little pat on the back for getting something right. Then again, they all had some kind of boots on.
I frowned and turned to look at all the First Years. We all had sneakers on. Half of us had on jeans—which seemed counterintuitive. But hey, I was in no place to judge.
Hewitt cleared his throat, bringing my eyes back up to where he stood. My scowl deepened. Jackson stood beside him, looking like he wasn’t going anywhere. My stomach turned.
“For the first semester, you First Years will be trained separately from the others, to make sure you’re getting enough individual coaching. These five students”—Hewitt gestured off to the side to where I couldn’t see—“are the top of this Suit. The best we’ve got. They’re going to start your training today.”
Oh, great. Fantastic news. Embarrassing myself in front of a teacher was one thing, but in front of student-teachers? A nightmare.
“You’ve all met your Sword Major, Jackson Lancaster.” Hewitt squeezed Jackson’s shoulder. “He’s in charge if a professor isn’t nearby. Anything you need, talk to him.”
“Unless you need tea,” that other guy from Dean’s party said. The one with the cool tattoos and pretty hazel eyes. He grinned. “Jackson doesn’t share tea. He’s a damn British stereotype. You’ve been warned.”
Jackson glared at him for a second then shrugged. “He’s not wrong.”
Hewitt chuckled and shook his head. He pointed to the guy with tatts. “This is Warner. There’s a reason his name is similar to warned. He’s one of your trainers. Along with Trey…”
“That’s me,” Trey said with a small smile. I recognized him from the party, too, the one with shaggy brown hair and matching eyes.
A girl with long orange-ish-red hair walked over to stand beside Jackson. She had pale skin buried under a sea of dark red freckles, though I thought it was rather pretty. “I’m Erin Ford.” Her light brown eyes were sharp and calculating.
Another guy walked up from the benches. He was a couple inches shorter than me and lean, but his arms were chiseled with muscles. Even his legs— Wait. That…is not a guy? The person had dark brown hair buzzed short, but I realized a second later than I was proud to admit that it was definitely not a guy.
Sure enough, she turned, and I almost gasped. She was beautiful. Her eyebrows were dark and manicured, though something told me the arch in them was natural. She didn’t have on any makeup, but she was definitely one of those lucky girls who didn’t need it. Her thick black eyelashes and full lips stood on their own.
She didn’t smile at all. In fact, she openly glared at all of us. “I’m Genevieve Louis.”
My eyebrows rose, and a smile tugged at my lips. There were girls in my Suit after all. I wasn’t the only one. Girl power, yessss. Maybe I’d be able to get their
help. But then they both turned toward me and glared like I’d set their house on fire. Okay…maybe not.
“Jackson will get you guys started, then I’ll be back.” Hewitt nodded then turned and marched toward the other students.
“We’re going to section off based on your experience in combat.” Jackson’s sharp gaze swept over the group of us, practically skipping me altogether. “Raise your hand if you’ve trained in any kind of combat before regularly, meaning any type of martial arts.”
When half of the group raised their hands, my heart sank. What am I doing here?
To my surprise, Genevieve smiled. “Fantastic. Come with me.” She waved her hand for them to follow her to a mat about halfway down the room.
Jackson waited until they were gone, then nodded. “Now raise your hand if you’ve done some training, but not a lot.”
About a dozen people raised their hands.
“Cool. You’re with me,” Erin said and waved them to follow her.
That left about a dozen of us standing here. I wasn’t the only one shifting my weight around and gnawing on my lip. But I was the only one who didn’t have a single arm muscle. That didn’t bode well.
“All right, what do the rest of you know about it?” Jackson turned to the young kid at the far side of the group. “Starting with you.”
The kid, who had to be ten at most, paled. “Um…I took a class last year?”
Jackson nodded, then moved to the next. “You?”
This guy looked my age. He grimaced. “When I was seven, but I don’t remember much. If I’m being honest.”
Jackson didn’t react other than a nod. He turned to the next guy. He went down the line like this, asking each of us inexperienced First Years. In the back of my mind, I knew he wasn’t trying to embarrass us, but I couldn’t quite get that thought to stick. I reached back into my memories, scanning for any kind of karate type of thing, but I was coming up blank. My nerves weren’t helping me think straight.
The Coven - Academy Magic Complete Series Page 8