Page 7 of Darkened Wings
“Is it necessary that she stare at everyone?” One of the blonde, popular girls asked a teacher who was minding her own business, one hand on a fork and the other distended, holding a paperback open.
The teacher put the book down, and Astra groaned. “Stop looking at them. I told you not to look at them. It’s just inviting trouble.”
I moved my gaze but the jeering didn’t stop. It only ramped up. The girl tore into the teacher, going so far as to stand up and ask if there was some hole or cave where I could eat without bothering everyone.
There was simply no place I belonged, not even with my own kind. I blew out a few breaths while tuning the girl out, but what she was saying wasn’t anything I hadn’t expected.
My parents might’ve been right about keeping me from here, but I doubted life had dealt them anything they expected.
Just as the girl took a seat, or was told to, I didn’t know which, the door to the kitchen slammed open, hitting our table with great force. The woman was holding a tray and some of the contents splattered all over our table, causing the dining hall to burst into laughter, pointing at us and cackling like crows instead of ravens.
Ravens liked fun, but crows laughed at the expense of others.
Someone needed to remind these bastards of that.
My heart slid down to my gut.
“Sorry, Astra,” I whispered, seeing my new friend blush and lower herself in her chair, trying to appear smaller. “Won’t happen again. I thought I was among my kind.”
She shrugged. “It’s going to happen one way or the other. Let’s go.”
Chapter Five
After a very strange but delicious dinner, I was glad to leave the dining room. I still hadn’t had a shower, somehow, but I needed one desperately. Astra didn’t deserve to spend the night with someone who stank up the place. Not that I did. I’d actually swiped some deodorant on before we went to dinner, to be safe.
“I don’t know if you have plans, Astra,” I said after covering my third big yawn. “But I think I’d like to clean up and get into bed. It’s been a long day.”
“And classes start in the morning, too,” she reminded me, as if I could have forgotten. “Usually I am not an early-to-bed type, but I think tonight I’ll get between the sheets at a decent hour. If we’re groggy, we will hear about it in class.”
“Really?” Someone would notice? “In my high school classes, if you had your butt in the seat, the teachers were satisfied.”
“Human school?”
I nodded.
She snorted. “Come on, let’s get out of here and go get ready for bed. We can curl up and talk some more. I’m fascinated to hear about what your educational experience was like surrounded by the non-shifter crowd.” She carried her dishes to a plastic bin and set them in then waited while I did the same. “I don’t mean to sound snobby. It’s not like everyone is so perfect here after all.”
We moved out into the hallways, which were not exactly full but not empty anymore, either. Most of the students were still in the dining hall, but some were walking around, talking in pairs or small groups, and tied together by the fact they were all ignoring us. Which I could live with. I wasn’t here to make friends but to get off the street and learn something about where my people came from. Maybe even pick up something I could use to make a living, although what that might be remained to be seen.
This time, I tried to remember where our room was in relation to the dining hall, and since we were strolling instead of rushing as we had been earlier, I thought I might stand a chance. I made a mental note of what paintings were hung near the corners we turned at and other fancy decor items, like an actual suit of armor near the stairs. It wasn’t that far away, but everything about the place made me feel out of my depth.
I’d lived with my parents in a little rental house, nothing fancy, and just trying to picture them here and then making that change blew my mind. Had their homes been like this? They’d never told me what made them give it up, just that they wanted a different kind of life for our family.
“Gwen?” Astra stood in our open doorway. “You coming in?”
“What? Oh, sure.” I followed her in and closed the door behind us. “I’m sorry, it’s just been such a long day and I’m really tired. I keep spacing out.”
She lifted the heap of clothes off her bed onto a chair and then did the same with mine. “I’m so sorry, you poor thing. You must be totally exhausted. And in a strange place. Did I tell you how happy I am that you are rooming with me?” She dug through my new clothes and pulled out a long white nightgown and floor-length fluffy bathrobe. “Here. Wait, there should be slippers. Yes, here they are.” She piled them on top of the nightwear.
“I just sleep in a long T-shirt or something,” I protested. “This looks like something from one of those books where a girl is standing on a cliff in a storm, deciding whether her faithless boyfriend was worth plunging off over. Onto the sharp rocks and crashing waves.”
“Emo much?” She snorted. “It’s just a nightgown. Doesn’t come with a cliff.”
“And what…it’s part of the uniform?”
“Exactly.” She nodded, sending those earrings swinging again. “We have uniform nightwear. They miss nothing here.”
“I guess not.” Part of me wanted to go find someone to argue with about this, but the rest of me was far too tired and still feared I could be sent away. “How do they know if we wear it?” Because of course I had to ask. “Do they do bed checks?” I was half kidding, but her reply was quick.
