Page 57 of The Blackened Blade

The boy pushes his hair back as a slow smile spreads across his full lips. It pulls at his almost golden skin and perfectly sculpted features, making him look even more breath-taking.

A navy tie hangs loosely around his neck as he casts me a knowing look. He gives me a quick wink before turning and taking the seat to the front of me.

Did he not know who I was? Or not hear the crap they all spread about me?

My brows pinch together.A Navy tie.

Or was it because he was a fourth year? I didn’t have many interactions with the years above me. I had hardly even seen any of the fifth or sixth years since I came back either. Maybe they hadn’t heard? Or just didn’t care?

A small group of girls across the room squeal, pulling me from my thoughts. Their eyes are glued to the boy in front of me and almost in a daze as he gives them a small smile and wave. Their cheeks flush bright red as they giggle, their voices becoming louder and more shrill with the small piece of attention.

“Ezra.” Calls a raven-haired girl from the back of the second year seats. Her voice sounds cold and discontent. She sits between two tall boys; one gives her a small chuckle while the other raises a brow.

“Yes, Morgan?” The boy,Ezra, gives her a playful smile, eliciting more noise from the girls in the front seats of the second year area.

Morgan rolls her eyes, before narrowing them at Ezra.

“Don’t make them louder than they already are.” She glares toward the small group of girls, a couple of them flinching with the cold look. “It'sannoying.”

One of the girls steps forward, a petite blonde I’ve seen with Ivy's group before.

“Annoying?” She scoffs, her small freckled nose scrunching upward. “Why are you even talking? Nobody asked for your opinion,or wants it.”

Morgan chuckles, but there's no humour in it, only an icy bite that sends a chill down my back as the room's atmosphere turns cold.

Her laugh fades as she tilts back in her chair, a calm grin stretching her lips.

“It'spatheticwatching you all cling to some false hope, and think you’ve got a chance...” Morgan looks the blonde up and down, her grin quickly disappearing. “When you don’t.”

The blonde's eyes widen before she quickly schools it, but the blush reddening her cheeks remain. “Who do you think you are? You’re not even–”

“I’m not what?” Morgan flicks her raven hair off her shoulder, revealing her smooth porcelain skin, bright amber eyes and sculpted features. She had the face of a model, but with the poise of a viper.

The blonde furrows her brows, her frustration boiling over as she opens her mouth to speak again.

“Be careful,” Warns Morgan, cutting her off before she can talk, “Don’t say something you’ll regret…or I’llmakeyou regret saying it.”

Jake Andrews steps forward and places himself in front of the blonde.

“Tandy’s right, no one asked.” The asshole shifter snarks with a cold glare set towards Morgan. “Why even get involved? Just stay in your own corner. And stay quiet.”

The room falls silent as the two boys beside Morgan stand up, their glares focused fully on Jake and the small group now forming around him.

A mocking chuckle falls from the tall brown-haired boy to the other side of Morgan.

“No one asked for a headache from all the noise either, or to be surrounded by annoying flies, but unfortunately we share a class.” He shrugs, a nonchalant look on his face as he grins.“And as for stayingquiet,” his grin grows dark and menacing, “If you want peace, I’ll happily send you somewhere you can permanently get some.”

Both groups look at the other like they're going to shift any minute. Tandy and the girls beside her take a couple of steps back, in anticipation of some kind of clash.

Morgan looks eerily calm during all of this, her eyes roving over the group a few feet away from her before they take on a strange shimmering hue.

“Hey, hey. Let's calm down here guys.” Ezra steps forward, looking between the two groups. His hands are up in the air in a pacifying manner as he takes another couple of slow steps toward them.

He smiles, trying to pull all the attention in the room back to him.

“There’s no need for anything to break out, let's keep it peaceful. I’m sure no-one wants to do anything messy like fighting. Right?” He looks between the two groups of boys and then toward the small blonde. She blushes as soon as their eyes meet, a small giggle falling from her lips before she turns toward her friends again.

There's a slight tick in his jaw as he smiles and a stiffness to his posture as he watches the other girls talk and giggle in hushed tones. Completely uncaring of the conflict around them anymore.

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