Page 34 of Veiled

HUNTER- Jensi Grey and Luca Adams, seniors, 4.0 students, competitive swimmers. Grew up together, mom and dad all work with the council. They are pretty well off and Luca drives an all-black Maserati and Jensi drives a deep green Aston Martin. Luca was potty trained at two and Jensi at three. They both have sisters and brothers that graduated from the school, and they live over in the west side dorms.

GRAYSON- ??

RYDER- You know, I was joking when I said you should find out when they were potty trained. ????‍??

HUNTER- I don’t see Hudson until lunch and until class, I had to let her know about her two walking corpses. ????

GRAYSON- I see her in a few minutes, looks like they are all in my class.

RYDER- Smh, fucking weird, Hunt, just fucking strange. They are in my class too.

ZANE- Mine too

HUDSON- You guys are ridiculous ??. Zane, that bitch started it, she had to die. Well, she got her head slammed into the table, but same difference. Hunter, you’re such a creep, they are nice and respectful, so leave them alone. They haven’t even flirted like the other guys who were at the table. Ryder, to be fair, no one knows if you're joking or ever being serious.

HUNTER- Who the fuck was flirting?

GRAYSON- We are talking after class.

ZANE- Who? Answer the question.

RYDER- Ah, fuck. Sorry babe, they are crazy. ??

HUDSON-Bye, see you later. Xoxo. Love you. ????

I laughed as I put my phone back in my pocket and I couldn’t help the smile on my lips, despite the whispers of the new girl hitting a senior filling the hallways. It’s good to have a few friends and it felt good to have the guys just a text away. I don’t think I have ever had a moment where I wasn’t ridiculously lonely.

Walking into class was like walking into a different time zone. No, seriously. The room was dark with huge stained-glass windows, an arched ceiling, with just enough light to see clearly, and the desks looked worn. Not at all like HGTV artistic worn furniture either. More like if I sit here, I either may get a splinter or impregnated by wood. I didn't like either option. The desks were set up in a semi-circle formation, I’m assuming for the practice portion of the class, so, naturally, Remi and I settled in dead center, making sure I had the perfect view of the class, not Grayson or anything. In all honesty I was a great student, so I had no qualms about being in an advanced program. I don't expect to really break a sweat. Jensi and Luca settled down on either side of us and we fell into an easy conversation.

The other students were starting to file in and of course, the cluster fuck of the seniors, AKA the merry band of cunts, from breakfast walk in. Trish sneered when she saw me, and I gave a little wave and blew her a kiss.

“She can blow me, not a kiss though; she's hot as hell,” a random boy whisper shouted to his friends and they snickered.

“Shut your fucking mouth dickhead and show a lady some fucking respect before I shut your mouth for you,” snarled Luca.

“We were just joking, Luca, calm down. You and Jensi can piss on her all you want…” He didn’t finish his statement before Jensi was up and out of his chair, punching the kid in the mouth. I laughed, shaking my head. Yeah, it was good to have friends. I’m not sure what inspired this amount of loyalty so quickly, but I wasn’t going to make them feel bad about wanting to. I did, however, ask them to calm down, assuring them that I’m more than capable of defending myself.

Noticing Trish still staring at me, I flipped her the middle finger and she turned red, flipped her bottled red hair and stomped to one of the seats, dragging Malfoy’s doppelganger and her flock behind her. I rolled my eyes and caught Remi’s smirk as she opened up her book and notebook. I followed suit, ignoring the fact that the senior boys were making lewd comments and the girls were throwing the evil eye. I sighed. I’m twenty, why was this still an issue? Xena walked around the room, walking close to everyone’s desk, making them cringe, until she walked to the front of the room and sat down, staring everyone down.

Grayson stood in the middle with his arms crossed, now flanked by Xena, eyeing Jensi and Luca with a grudging respect in his eyes and I smiled behind my hand. My gentle giant may have been a little jealous, but I think he feels a little better seeing how quickly the boys defended me rather than being just as crude. He was dressed in grey slacks and a dark black button down, sleeves rolled up to show off his tattoos, paired with an expensive pair of Italian loafers. Basically, he looked like pure sex and an unexpected wave heat and possessiveness hit me so hard, I had to clench my desk until my knuckles turned white. I took a few deep breaths giving Remi a reassuring smile as she threw me a concerned look. I had no answer for her, it freaked me out a little too. I shrugged it off and focused as much as I could.

Grayson gave off an air of power as he looked at the students and gave them what was supposed to be a welcoming smile, before his smooth voice filled the room without him having to raise his voice. “Welcome to Magical Theory and Practice. Some of you are here for the first time,” he nodded to me and Remi, “and some of you I’ve had as my students for years. We will not be slowing down, and we will be jumping right into where we left off.” I shuddered as he finished, his voice affecting me on a cellular level. What the fuck was going on? Trish, of course, noticed my small movement and smiled.

“Professor Grayson.” her voice grated my nerves. “It looks like one of our new students may be a little nervous, maybe we should provide her with extra time before she is in this class?” Trish came off as sweet as a candy covered in ants and I rolled my eyes. Bitch.

Grayson looked at her with an eyebrow raised. “Really? That is unfortunate, like I said full speed again,” he responded darkly, his voice and gaze pinning her to her seat. He moved to the center of the room and started his lesson. “So, as we all know, magic can take many forms when you are practicing; think of our usage of elements, for example. Logically, it stands to reason that you can control that form, like using those elements to create fire and then using it to attack. When considering ‘form’, you have to decide if you want a flame shaped into a ball, a blade, or even a throwing star; whatever you need to maximize your attack.” He held his up and controlled fire in the palm of his hand, willing it to change shape as he spoke. Impressive.

“Keep in mind, you need a proper form to navigate that attack. Why?”

I raised my hand. “Otherwise, you lose control.”

“Yes, you can lose control. So, what are some versions of proper form? Can anyone demonstrate?”

Derrick stood up and walked into the center of the room, bending his knees, one leg slightly back for balance, his arms above waist level. Grayson nodded. “Stay there, Mr. Derrick. Yes, that is one of the proper forms for controlling your magic, what else?”

I raised my hand again. “Mental form. You need to be able to clear your mind. Of course, it cannot be seen, but it is rather easy to tell if you have proper form as your attacks would be weak and you’ll be harmed.” Grayson, nodded.

“Hudson, front and center. Let’s see if you have proper mental form by attacking Derrick.”

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