by Zoe Knights
She missed.
The spider darted to the floor, and suddenly Quinn was on Eddie’s bed with her, the two grasping each other’s arms with another scream.
“Right. Ok,” Eddie steadied herself. “Open the window,” she instructed, grabbing her journal and tearing out a page that wasn’t covered in writing.
“Oh no… no, don’t try it! It’ll crawl up your arm!”
“I’ll be quick!”
Quinn groaned but shoved open their window from Eddie’s bed while Eddie quietly stepped to the floor.
The next few seconds passed very quickly. Eddie swiftly scooped up the spider as she’d seen her brother do many times before, and spun around to the window before thrusting it outside.
The spider scuttled over the paper, and Eddie panicked and dropped the whole page letting it, and the spider, blow away. She breathed out a sigh of relief, but then her eyes caught sight of something strange in the grounds below.
A boy with dark hair and a huge black dog were walking slowly in the shade of the woods near the lake, their forms nearly entirely obscured by shadow.
Eddie squinted, looking closer, trying to work out the type of dog it was for it must have been the size of a bear, yet it was as lean as a wolf. And the boy held something in his hand that was a very bright white, so bright when it glinted in the sun it nearly blinded Eddie even from this distance.
Eddie shook her head and rubbed her eyes before peering back there again.
The dog was gone, so was the strange white object.
All that remained was the boy, and he was looking straight in her direction. Eddie realised it was the same boy from the office; Samael.
“Eddie?? Are you alright? Is it gone?”
Eddie shook her head, turning away from the window. “It’s done,” she nodded, smiling with relief and strangely a small laugh bubbled from her throat.
Quinn joined her, unable to stop her own laugh.
Several moments passed before they stopped.
“Well, I think we handled that very gracefully,” snorted Eddie.
Quinn laughed in response. “Oh yeah. Totally brave too.”
Eddie snorted again, and from then they continued unpacking while chatting comfortably.
When they finished, Quinn took Eddie for a longer tour this time, trying to give her the lay of the land before finally it was time for supper.
“So our group of friends normally sits in the left corner,” Quinn was telling her as they walked. “There’s loads of good options on the first night – they go a little overboard.”
Eddie nodded, glancing around to try and familiarise herself with the people and the building. “Does Millie sit with us? She seemed nice.”
“Oh yeah. She’s great – I mean, she talks at the speed of lightning. But I love her. Well- I mean, we all do.”
Eddie glanced at Quinn at her hasty addition but made no comment on it. “Who else is there?” she asked instead.
“Alright, so we’ve got Elliot,” Quinn was happy to give her the low down. “He’s head-boy, and he’s hilarious. Then there’s Devna – she’s a lot of fun. Her parents are from Nepal, she boards here over the holidays, except summer break.”
“That’s good,” Eddie said in relief. “I was worried I’d be the only one. Does she like it?”
“She says she loves it, but I dunno – it’s all she’s used to, I guess. I’d hate it,” Quinn shrugged bluntly. “Then there’s Kai. He’s a bit of a nerd, and he’s really nice. He and Natasha – or Tash – who sometimes hangs out with us, are a sort of item,” Quinn continued to explain. “She’s Millie’s roommate – they don’t really get along so well. Millie tries but… they’re a bit too different.”
Eddie nodded vaguely. “So um… are we allowed pets here?” she asked in a way that seemed out of the blue, but she’d been pondering it all afternoon.
“I wish,” sighed Quinn. “I’d have brought my turtle otherwise.”
“You have a turtle?” Eddie smiled.
“Billy,” nodded Quinn sadly.
Finally, they arrived at the busy dining hall. Wafts of food greeted Eddie’s nose and for the first time that day she realised she was famished.
Quinn showed her the best way to navigate the room, and what meals were the best.
When they reached the table, Eddie found they all seemed quite friendly and welcoming, though she did feel mildly like the cousin’s new girlfriend at a family Christmas. People were polite and nice, but their excitement to catch up with each other left her a little aside.
Quinn was right; Elliot was very funny. He had a loud, contagious laugh along with a thick Boston accent, fluffy black hair and dark skin. He was particularly kind to Eddie, asking her questions and offering advice about boarding school.
“You want to hide your tuck,” he told her seriously. “People will steal it.”
“Tuck?” Eddie frowned in confusion.
Everyone laughed.
“Your snacks,” Kai pitched in. He was short with light blonde hair, broad swimmers shoulders and pasty skin. “You know, chocolate, crisps. Shit like that.”
“Oh right,” Eddie smiled. “Really? So like… what, under the floorboards or something?”
“Well not now!” Devna giggled. She had very short dark hair that reminded Eddie of Audrey Hepburn and a small, pretty nose piercing which Eddie was surprised she was allowed to wear, she could even see the edge of a dark purple tattoo peeking out from her jumper on the edge of her shoulder. “Quinn is a fiend. And she cannot resist chocolate. You’ll have to be more creative.”
Eddie snorted a slight laugh at the same moment that a girl with brownish red dyed hair and large fake eyelashes joined their table.
She sat very close to Kai and looked at the others at the table. Eddie assumed she was Natasha. “So. I made a deal with Sam. He’s got us the boathouse for the fresher’s,” she spoke with a monotone, but Eddie could tell this was her being enthusiastic. “With Mr Omera, of course.”
“Oh no, Tash – don’t go making deals with him. Are you mad?” Kai sighed, looking at her in disbelief.
“Mad for his attention,” chuckled Devna with a sly smile. “He won’t show to the party, Tash. Don’t get your hopes up.”
“You don’t know that,” Tash snapped back.
“Sam?” Eddie queried. “Is that… Samael?”
Both Devna and Tash giggled oddly, and Eddie stared.
Quinn rolled her eyes. “Yeah. Have you met him?”
“Not really. I just… saw him,” Eddie said quickly.
“Gorgeous, isn’t he?” Devna sighed.
Kai scoffed. “Weird more like. I get a super creepy vibe from him.”
Elliot nodded. “Yeah, he… is strange,” he said oddly. “And seriously causes me the most headaches of anyone I think this school would have ever seen.”
Eddie quirked an eyebrow. “And what’s the fresher’s thing that he got a boathouse for?” she asked, not understanding that sentence at all.
“Oh, the fresher’s party!” Millie exclaimed exuberantly. “It’s on Friday. You can’t miss it. If you can get Sam on board… he throws the best parties because the teachers let him do whatever he wants.”
Eddie stared. “What?” She frowned. “Why? How?”
“He’s eerily charming,” Quinn said with an odd smile, but she sounded a little exasperated. “You’ll have to be ready,” she told Eddie. “You’ll absolutely be on his agenda.”
Eddie frowned, “What do you mean? Why?”
“Because you’re pretty and you’re new,” Devna pitched in, waggling her eyebrows. “He won’t be able to resist. I think he’s getting a bit bored of his options recently. He doesn’t like to double dip.”
Eddie choked on a mouthful of food.
But, the others were nodding. “Oh it’s true,” Millie said seriously. “Any girl or guy he deems pretty enough he’ll shag. But, if you’re not interested, then he has no time for you.”
“And I seri
ously think he has the teachers on his payroll,” Quinn added in.
“Something like that,” agreed Elliot. “He gets Mr Omera drunk and makes sure he’s the only teacher supervising and he always spikes the drinks.”
Eddie looked between them. “Seriously?” she said with a slightly disbelieving laugh. “That’s nuts. Well… why don’t you think he’ll go to the party if he is willing to organise it?”
“Apparently they’re too tedious for him,” Tash said waspishly.
“More like he’s just taking advantage of the nearly empty dorm houses to shag whoever his new desire is,” Kai pitched in grumpily. “I don’t know what anyone sees in him.”
Elliot snorted. “Come on, Kai – even I can say he’s stupidly good looking. No point denying it.”
“Good looking doesn’t cover it,” Tash almost crooned. “He’s angelic.”
“Whatever…” Kai growled grumpily.
“Anyway,” Quinn interlude with a bored roll of her eyes. “I think Eddie’s heard enough about the school player.”
“Hm, true,” agreed Devna lightly. “I want to know more about our new girl. What do your parents do, Eddie?”
Eddie’s stomach jolted uncomfortably. “Oh um…” she chewed her lip. “Mum’s an artist,” she mumbled quickly. It wasn’t a lie, exactly. Her mother did love to paint. And that sounded much better than saying she’s unemployed due to her constant battle with her mental health. “And er… Dad’s… a teacher,” she added, forcing a smile. That wasn’t a lie either, not really. He was a teacher. When he could hold down a job outside of his alcoholism and anger issues.
“And what made you want to come all the way over here?” Devna probed further, her pretty eyes making Eddie feel intimidated by her, and she shifted uncomfortably in her seat.
“Oh you know, change of scenery,” she said as casually as she could muster. Truth be told, it was never her idea in the first place. Her older brother had pushed the scholarship on her, insisting this was the school she needed to go to. The urgency of his desire for her to attend had seemed rather out of the blue to her, but she did not question it. Her brother had taken care of her more than her actual parents. She’d do anything to make him happy and proud – though the pressure of measuring up to his absurdly high opinion of her had a constant knot of anxiety in the pit of her stomach.
Thankfully, Tash took that moment to start a loud fight with Kai over his apparent summer fling that he insisted never happened.
Eddie shrank in her seat, grateful to have the spotlight off her.
Kai and Tash left in a dramatic kafuffle and the others at the table merely continued chatting as though that were a normal evening occurrence.
The conversation then took a turn for topics that Eddie felt out of the loop for. So she sat quietly and listened. A feeling of loneliness crept over her, and her new classmate’s voices began to blur together as she stopped paying attention. She wasn’t unaccustomed to such a feeling. Back home she’d only had a few friends and was often left out of conversation as she missed more school than she attended. Though, she was acutely aware that would not be possible here.
She allowed herself to drift off into a daydream, conjuring up her newest story idea in her mind so that she could write about it later.
But, after a while of dragons flying through her mind’s eye, Eddie found herself getting restless and she wondered if she could leave without seeming rude. Her opportunity came when Millie excused herself, and Quinn turned to her.
“I think I’m going to head back to our room. Did you want to come?” Quinn asked.
Eddie grinned with relief. “Yeah, I was thinking the same.”
Quinn smiled too, “Are there any shows you like?” she asked her as they made their escape from the noisy dining chamber. “We could watch something off my laptop if you want. I have a lot on there.”
“Ah yeah, I like plenty of things though. I’m keen to see what you like,” Eddie said evasively.
Quinn laughed. “Oh, go on. No point being coy in boarding school. What’s your favourite show then? Start with that.”
Eddie smiled wryly. “Fine. Doctor Who.”
“Well, that’s brilliant!” Quinn said enthusiastically. “I got the new season. See? Put it out in the world, and good things will happen.”
Eddie laughed slightly. “Well, Doctor Who seems a reasonably safe bet in England.”
Quinn snorted. “You’d be surprised,” she told her. “Anyway – your gamble paid off. I think this is going to work.”
Eddie chuckled again, and the two found their way to their room, Eddie feeling quite content that at the very least; she’d have a friend with her roommate.
Rumours and Reputations
2
Eddie’s bed was quite comfortable; that was a relief. Not too hard, but not too soft. Easy to curl into a ball and drift off into realms far more enjoyable than her reality. And easy to snooze several alarms on her phone the next morning.
She woke with a start when Quinn was forced to shake her from her sleep.
“Waz goin on?!” Eddie muttered, her eyes blurry.
“You slept in!” Quinn cried. “I’m so sorry, I went down to breakfast. I didn’t want to wake you – then I had a shower, but you still weren’t up! I mean bloody hell, your alarm is so loud I can’t believe you can sleep through it!”
Eddie sat up quickly. “What time is it?!”
“Ten to eight!”
“Shit…” hissed Eddie, now scrambling out of bed. “I always do this!” She rushed around the room, grabbing her uniform and her toiletries bag before racing for the door. “Don’t wait for me! I’ll only hold you up!” she cried as she pelted for the bathroom.
She managed to get ready in about eight minutes. She forwent a shower, and brushed her teeth and hair in a mad rush, throwing her hair back into a hurried plait as it was too haywire for a ponytail. Loose, curly strands fell about her face, but it was going to have to do.
She grabbed her books, threw them in her backpack, and was bolting to her first class without another breath.
She had not studied the castle’s layout as well as she had imagined. Stressed and panicking, Eddie sped through the corridors, her old Clarke shoes slipping on the polished wood floor before she finally came to a halt and frowned at her timetable with confusion. Building two, block A, room thirty-two. Should be simple enough. But, she wasn’t sure if she was even in the right building!
“Hello,” a smooth and amused voice sounded from somewhere above her.
Eddie looked up, her eye’s falling on the dark-haired boy Samael who was sitting on the staircase banister one story up. “Er… hi,” she said back almost impatiently as she was feeling far too stressed right now for small talk.
Sam smiled charmingly, and though the smile was playful, it did not quite reach his eyes. “You look lost,” he quipped curiously.
Eddie huffed, her eyes flickering from her timetable and back to his face. “Yeah well…” she sighed. “I am…” she finished lamely.
Sam’s smile grew slightly, and suddenly he pushed off, sliding down the railing before jumping off three stairs high and landing in front of her lithely.
Eddie stared at him, disarmed, yet she found his handsome smile somehow unnerving. Quinn was right. Eerily charming.
“Allow me to help you,” he said smoothly, putting his hand out for her timetable.
She gave it to him, watching his eyes flicker down to the paper, dark lashes shielding her from his gaze.
“English with Miss Reed,” he crooned simply. “That’s my class. I’ll walk you.”
Eddie looked at him in surprise. “Oh thank God,” she muttered. “I thought I was really late.”
Sam chuckled lowly. “Oh, you are,” he told her as they walked on. “But you won’t be in any trouble if you’re with me, don’t worry.”
Eddie glanced at him surreptitiously, but she kept her silence, thinking back to the words her new friends had spoken last night at di
nner regarding this handsome boy.
“So…” Sam caught her glancing at him and their eyes locked. “You’re the new girl, then.”
“Eden,” she offered him a small, polite smile. “But, everyone calls me Eddie.”
“Eden?” another smile touched his lips while he seemed quite amused by her name. “Interesting name…” he mused. “I’m Sam,” he continued smoothly, his eyes dipping over her curiously while lingering just a little too long.
Eddie stiffened, ignoring his gaze and facing her eyes forward. “Nice to meet you,” she said formally, not wanting him to get the wrong idea.
“They only offer one scholarship per year…” Sam pondered lightly, and Eddie could still feel his eyes on her.
Her stomach flipped, and she glanced at him quickly without responding.
“And they’re incredibly difficult to attain…” he was still talking. “Congratulations,” he told her suddenly. “You must be very clever.”
Eddie finally looked at him again, if only to stare at him with disbelief. “How…?” she began in both complete confusion and slight irritation.
Sam was more than ready to explain. “The tatty state of your books? Your very used, faded uniform?” he used this as an excuse to let his eyes travel over her again, and she frowned. “They’re second-hand. You can’t afford this place,” he shrugged.
Eddie found her tongue. “Maybe I just have wealthy grandparents,” she hissed at him, feeling quite irked.
Sam shrugged, “Who don’t buy you your uniform?” he smiled at her again. “Regardless, you’ve already admitted to the scholarship, bit stiff that they don’t cover more than tuition nowadays. Though, I can’t personally complain. Your frayed little skirt is a touch too short – I can see your knees. How scandalous.”
Eddie almost choked on a strange snort of laughter, quite taken aback by his comment. “Right,” she said wryly. “Good to know people will be eyeing up my knees all year.”
Sam chuckled. “Anyway, don’t worry. I won’t tell anyone about your little secret,” he smirked. “Though I can’t imagine others won’t figure it out, word really travels around this place. And there’s been quite a bit of talk about you already.”