Page 11 of The First Year

My new friend nodded. She was in the same year as me and on the same floor of the dorms. I was the first person ever to be assigned to her meal table. She’d been sitting alone for a long time. That had to be awful for her. It was bad enough we were isolated from the world, but they also had to segregate us from each other. Even if we hadn’t been bitten by vampires, we wouldn’t come out of this place unscarred. They were making sure of that.

If not on the outside, then on the inside.

“I usually visit the library after dinner. It’s really the only place we can go. Do you want to come with?”

“That wasn’t on the tour.” As the words left my mouth, Odin’s head rose. The back of his neck reddened. Goddess, had he heard me? It wasn’t like I’d lied about him. He didn’t take me to me the library.

“Then I get to show you something new. You in?”

“Sure. Where do I put my tray, please? All of this is new to me.”

Desi was patient, and before we left the dining hall, I looked back one more time to the table where Odin sat. All three of them were looking at me. Odin with his ever-present blush, the lean and tall one with jet-black hair like mine, and the one whose voice had a soothing quality to it. I thought I’d heard the others call him Sol.

“Act like you don’t care,” Desi whispered in my ear as she threaded her arm through mine.

“What?” I asked.

“They were staring at you the whole time. I’ve never seen them pay attention to anyone.”

“Oh. I’m sure it’s just because I’m new. What are their names?”

She giggled. “Well, you know Odin. Evander is the one with the black hair, and the platinum prince is Sol.”

We walked through the common area, which I recognized from the tour. But beyond the dorm room buildings was a cathedral. Or it looked like one. Points and arches all around, more like a medieval church than anything, but that made it all the more interesting.

Our conversation soon turned to the library. “I come here to get away. It’s my own little vacation. Sometimes I study, but mostly I entertain myself with romance novels, daydreaming, and dissociation.”

I snorted. “Sounds like a good time.”

“Anything is compared to this hellhole. Let’s go find ourselves a seat. I’m sure you have some questions before class tomorrow.”

I definitely did.

We found a worn couch in a corner that had a lamp next to it. There was soft lighting and the musty smell of the books gave me an instant calm.

“The uniforms. Please tell me those are a joke.”

Desi laughed. I’d missed the punchline.

“They aren’t. It’s kind of disgusting once you think about it. Like in case we bleed, it blends in? Because we are nothing more than the bites on our bodies now? It’s like the puncture wounds define us as people and shifters now. They see nothing but the bites, I swear. Their prejudice bleeds into everything, and they’re not subtle about it.”

“So I do have to wear them,” I groaned, tipping my head back.

“Yeah. I wear shorts under the skirt if that helps. And a shirt under the jacket. They keep the classrooms like a deep freezer, so it will help as well.”

I sighed. “What happens after we graduate?”

Desi shrugged. “A part of me thinks the shifter council will monitor us forever. I hope they don’t because that’s no kind of life, but they hate not knowing.”

“Yeah. I think you’re right.”

We sat in a comfortable silence for a while until a huge gong made me slap my hands over my ears.

“We have to go. That’s the bell. They lock the dorms in a few minutes.”

We sprinted up the stairs of the dorm building. Somewhere along the run, I lost track of Desi and ended up in between buildings.

I stopped and frantically looked up and down, trying to get my bearings.

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