Page 17 of Darkened Wings
I walked into the dining hall but forgot all about the handsome asshole who had saved me once the smells of food engulfed my senses.
Nixon who?
Chapter Ten
My roommate had a lot of snacks in her drawers. Dresser drawers with more treats than clothes, and I felt like I’d struck gold. In the dining hall, I had found my way to the little table by the kitchen where we’d eaten the night before to find Astra sitting there with a bowl of beef stew and a crusty roll in front of her.
“Welcome, fellow warrior,” she quipped. “How went the battle today?”
I moved toward the chair, but despite her question, she waved me off. “Get your food first.”
I didn’t really want it, although it smelled good and looked even better. And having skipped lunch, my rumbling stomach was not about to allow me to miss dinner, too. So I moved over to the line and accepted a big bowl of fragrant beef and vegetables, along with a roll and a large, perfectly ripe golden pear. Stopping by the beverage station, I filled a glass with lavender lemonade and added it to my tray.
And then I was once again working my way through the crowd all the way to the back to join Astra. She was halfway through her stew and the roll was just crumbs and memories. “Sorry,” she muttered. “I was starving.”
“Me, too.” I sat across from her and picked up my spoon. “But my stomach is all in a roil. What a day. The teachers are, for the most part, nightmares. If I wanted an existence that put me this much on edge, I could have stayed on the street. In fact, I think it was less stressful. How do you stand it?”
She looked around and placed a finger on her lips. “Shh. We can talk about everything you want once we’re back in our room. For now, eat and tell me about your classes. Did you enjoy any of them?”
“I’m so confused.” Partly because she said don’t talk and then asked me to talk. I decided to keep it light. “But I suppose anyone is when they are new in a school.”
“What is the most confusing?”
I spooned up a bite of stew before responding, more to figure out a sensible answer than anything. But as I closed my mouth around the spoon and the flavors hit my palate, words went out the window. At least words about other things besides, “This is so good.” And I hadn’t had much that was good to eat in quite a while. Maybe I could stick around just to eat. Would anyone notice if I never went to class?
Astra was nodding, her bird earrings swinging. “The food is really good. The chef was hired from a five-star restaurant or something. Save room for dessert.”
We chatted about silly things for the rest of dinner. What people were wearing and whether the plaid skirts were as stupid as I thought.
“I really think they could have put pockets in the darned things,” I opined. “Don’t you think?”
“Hmm, maybe. But then how would they keep women in their place? You don’t see men running around looking for somewhere to stick their wallet or phone. Nope, want change? Dig in your purse. Need to make a call? Your phone is going to be at the bottom of your bag. On the plus side, I think some of us could live for a week out of their purse.”
“Yeah.” I knew because I had done it. It was a purse/backpack, but it had held everything I owned for a dark few weeks. “Do you think we could take our dessert back to the room? Is that allowed?”
She stacked her dishes in front of her, grinning. “Nope, it’s not allowed at all, so we’ll have to be sneaky. Let’s go see what they have tonight then we’ll sneak out.” We carried our trays to the bussing stations and did that then looked at the dessert table.
“Chocolate cream pie,” I breathed. “I haven’t had that in so long I might be drooling.”
She giggled. “Take two and I’ll grab something else.” Scanning the plates with cut slices of cakes and pies, she hummed softly. “Cinnamon cake?”
“Yes. I love cinnamon.”
We gathered two slices of that, as well, and set out for our room where we changed into our nightgowns before sharing the bounty. We plopped down on my bed to enjoy our snacks.
I studied my roommate for a moment before shaking my head. “I’m glad people change to more ordinary clothes for dinner, but these nightgowns are just weird. I feel like some kind of gothic heroine with this floor-to-ceiling gown.”
She shrugged. “I don’t love them, but it gets kind of cold in here when winter comes, and they are nice and warm. Especially with the robes over them.”
I ran a finger through the cream on my plate and licked it off. “I guess it’s a small price to pay. But seriously I am getting a lot of hostility from our fellow students. They all know I’m different, but I wonder if they know anything in particular. One teacher even announced I’m a legacy as if it’s some kind of crime, and they are all implying my parents were something special.”
“Weren’t they?” she asked around a mouthful of cake.
“Sure, to me. But we lived in a little house in the suburbs, and…” So I proceeded to tell my roommate all about growing up a raven without being part of anything with any other ravens.
“Sounds lonely,” she commiserated. “I didn’t have that kind of isolation, but lots of people in our conspiracy ignored me because of my parentage. At least you’re 100 percent raven. Being half parrot is rough. Someone is always asking me to squawk or offering me a cracker. What is wrong with people?”
I felt shamed at reacting the way I did to my experience here. At least nobody was being speciest to me. “That’s so unfair. Why do they behave that way?”
