I gulped as the stack made it to me.
"Why do you look nervous?" Loralie asked with a scowl. "You'll ace this no problem."
"We, on the other hand, will likely face whatever punishment Sampson deems necessary," Tsukiko said with a soft whine. Her ears lowered as she looked at the paper. "So doomed."
The quiz was a single page with a very faint outline of a chimera on it. At the top it said, "Label each part of the depicted monster, both internal and external."
"So, doomed," Tsukiko said and dropped her head until her forehead lightly thumped against her desk.
"You have five minutes. Begin!" Mr. Sampson yelled.
Five minutes! That wasn’t enough time.
I had done all of the reading and paid attention most of the time in class, but chimeras were one of the monsters I had the most trouble with.
With a deep breath, I focused and started by labeling all of the parts I knew for certain. Labeling those ensured that I, at the very least, got points for those ones. Next, I would turn to the ones I wasn’t certain of, but I would label them softly with my pencil so I could easily erase if I was wrong and remembered.
There was no clock or timer and yet it felt like I could hear the seconds as they ticked by.
I should have accepted that watch Dad had offered me. It had been an ugly orange color, but I would have known what time it was and how much time I had left.
Staring at the paper before me, I chewed on my bottom lip. I was missing something, something important. It was on the tip of my brain, but…
"Time!" Mr. Sampson yelled. "Pencils down. Pass the papers up."
Several kids groaned, including Tsukiko. Her ears were drooped super low and she pouted.
Across the room from me, I caught Larson glaring at me. He was a dhampir, but that was all I really knew about him. Loralie knew more about him than I did, but the way he was glaring bothered me. I averted my eyes so he wouldn’t catch me staring.
We were used to being glared at simply for being elites. The other monsters thought we had everything handed to us. They didn’t understand how much pressure the elites were constantly under or the jobs that the families provided. Tsukiko's family as well. Loralie's family ferried and watched over the souls of the dead. Tsukiko's family kept control of the shapeshifters and also had a huge company that provided protection to monsters who couldn’t protect themselves.
His glare was something else. It almost looked…pained.
"Franny," Tsukiko whispered next to my ear.
I leapt to the side, falling out of my seat into the aisle between the desk beside me.
Tsukiko's ears perked, her eyes widened, and her tail raised. "Are you okay? I didn’t mean to scare you." She bent down and held out her hand.
I took the offered hand and let her pull me up. "Sorry, was spacing off for a moment."
"What were you thinking about?" Tsukiko asked.
Loralie smirked. "Or, who?" She wiggled her eyebrows and smirked.
I sighed, gathered my notes and book, and shoved everything into my bag. "I'll tell you later."
Tsukiko growled. "Who do I need to bite?"
I rolled my eyes and scoffed. "Down, girl."
We walked towards our next class and I felt eyes on me, glancing behind me, I caught Larson behind us. Still glaring.
I jerked my head back around and swallowed hard.
"You okay?" Loralie asked. "You seem nervous."
"It's nothing," I whispered. "So, what do you think the upperclassmen are going to do for the school festival?"
The week before Samhain, the school held a festival with food booths and crafts you could buy. Only the third and fourth years were allowed to participate in the booths because the school wanted the lowerclassmen to enjoy their time and get ideas for the future when we did it. It was something students raved about even years later. Tsukiko's mom talked about it every year, and apparently came to the school to buy things.
"I hope they have stardust cookies and muffins," Tsukiko said.
Stardust was the most deliciously sweet ingredient ever. Adding it to cakes made them ten times better and muffins at least a hundred times better.
I added stardust to everything I baked. Thankfully, my parents indulged my baking habit and bought lots of stardust. It was getting harder to find, but they still kept it stocked for me.
"I heard there was a class that was going to bring some human foods for us to try," Loralie said.
"Hopefully ones that involve meat. Humans have really yummy meat recipes," Tsukiko said and licked her lips while her tail wagged behind her.
I chuckled. Meat was definitely Tsukiko's vice. She ate anything meat related, no matter what type of meat was involved.
"I'm sure there will be meat dishes," I said, smirking.
Chapter 25
LORALIE
The sun set and the wolves howled as the night of the school festival began.
"Come on!" Tsukiko growled, her tail twitching behind her as she paced in front of my door.
I smiled, brushed my hair once more to ensure the tangles were all gone, and then stood. "Okay, I'm ready."
"Finally!" Tsukiko wailed.
"We better head to the food booths first," Frances said, trying and failing to hide her smile. "Everyone have their money?"
I patted my back pocket. "Yep."
"Yes," Tsukiko said and held up a small coin purse with a strap around her wrist.
"Let's go," Frances said cheerily, pulled open the door, and took the lead.
She hadn't told us what had scared her yesterday, but it had to do with our Monsterology class, so I would pay more attention the next class to find out.
"Did you know that humans eat squid?" Tsukiko asked us.
"It's called calamari, right?" I asked. I usually knew more about humans than my friends due to my family dealing with their deaths.
She nodded. "I really want to try some."
"I heard it can be rubbery if not prepared right," I said.
Frances's nose scrunched up. "Yuck. Who would want to eat rubbery food?"
"Humans are weird," I said and shrugged.
The festival was one of the few things held completely outside since the faculty ensured it was held only once the sunlight was completely gone.
I never understood how vampires could survive at night, since the moonlight was a reflection of the sunlight, but there were many things about monsterkind that made little sense.
It took us several minutes to make it out of the dorm areas and to the field where the food booths were set up.
Immediately, we spotted Sakura, surrounded by male students as she whisked along the food booths and made purchases.
Tsukiko growled and her tail twitched behind her. "Stupid boys."
"At least we won't have to help her carry anything," I said with a smile, trying to ease her irritation.
"True," she grumbled. Instead of going to see her mother, she stopped at the very first booth and ordered one of their featured items.
Frances and I ordered different items so we could all share and try everything.
We stopped at two more booths before our arms were too full and we had to find an empty table to sit and eat at.
"There you three are," Sakura said as she sat beside me, across from Tsukiko.
Four boys carrying a ton of food set the items down on the table in front of us.
"Thank you for your help," Sakura said with a smile.
"How are you, Mother?" I asked, grabbed a round breaded piece of food smothered in sauce, and popped it in my mouth. It was a bit fishy, but was delicious.
"I'm doing well. Make sure you try a bit of everything," she instructed as she grabbed an onion ring out of one of the baskets.
To our left, huge lights turned on, revealing a stage with a band set up. The band was made up of older students I didn’t know, and they played rock music with lyrics about hunting under the full moon with a girl they liked. They were really good and I
bobbed my head along to the beat while I ate.
"I'll be leaving shortly after going through the shops," Sakura said, looking at Tsukiko. "I won't stay long or bother you."
"Mom, you're not a bother," Tsukiko said. "I do appreciate you being considerate, though. And I'm glad you didn’t bring Dad."
She laughed. "Your father hates these events. Mainly because when we were young, I forced him to participate on every event planning committee that existed."
I cringed. "Poor Dad."
Sakura shrugged. "It allowed him to spend time with me and that was what was most important to him."
"Mrs. Wolf," Headmistress Gonzalez greeted as she walked to our table. "I'm so glad you could once again join us."
Sakura stood and shook hands with her. "The students always put on the best events and I love supporting them."
"Let's sneak away while she's distracted," Tsukiko whispered before shoving another piece of food I didn’t recognize into her mouth.
Most of the food was gone, and we still had a lot to see.
Frances and I nodded our agreement, stood, quickly kissed Sakura on the cheek, and then jogged across the field. We jogged past the stage where a huge crowd had gathered, waved to Ainsley who was talking to a small group of harpies, and finally made it to the shopping booths.
There was a lot more magical items than I expected, including a potion booth.
"Don't get any ideas," Frances said with a scowl as she caught me reading the description on a sleeping potion.
"I was just looking," I lied.
She grabbed my hand and pulled me away from the booth.
I bought some trinkets to give to Frances and Tsukiko, as well as some for my parents and siblings. I would send my families' items by delivery service.
Hours later, exhausted from eating, buying, and partying, we stumbled to our rooms and crashed.
I had always thought I would hate events like this, but I was beginning to learn that some school events weren't so bad. As long as I had my friends with me, anyway.
"Love you," I called through the wall.
"Love you, too," they called back from either side of me.
Chapter 26
FRANCES
The festival was even more fun than I had imagined.
Before I knew it, Samhain was upon us.
Normally, Samhain was a time of celebration and joy. We would exchange gifts with the creature we had a crush on and have parties three nights in a row. It was similar to the human's Valentine's Day.
For Tsukiko, Loralie, and I, it was a time of sadness and irritation.
We had no one to give gifts to.
We had no desire to party.
We just wanted to finish our school year and go about our lives.
The pain of Takumi’s loss hadn’t dulled, even for me.
It felt too soon.
Too recent.
As classes ended the night before Samhain, students chatted excitedly about tomorrow. They discussed the huge party that was going to happen and the rumors of who was going to give who a gift.
We had decided to give no one a gift, not even each other.
“So, who are you three giving gifts to?” Ainsley asked as she walked beside us towards the dorms.
“No one,” I answered.
She chuckled. “Oh, you want to keep it a secret. I get it.”
“No, we aren’t—” I started to explain, but she flew off.
Loralie sighed. “Whatever. Let them think what they want. Hopefully, it will keep them away from us.”
“Let’s get some food and take it back to the room,” Tsukiko said.
“That sounds like an amazing idea,” I said and smiled.
The dining hall was surprisingly packed. I hadn’t seen so many students in there at one time aside from dinner before.
“What’s going on?” I asked a nearby gorgon.
She turned, her snakes lifting above her head to gaze at me. Strangely, she and her snakes had half-closed eyes and looked about to fall asleep. “Everyone is getting snacks so they can stay up and make their gifts for Samhain,” she said. She looked us over. “Isn’t that why you’re here, too?”
“We’re here for snacks,” I agreed with a nod. She didn’t need to know we weren’t participating in Samhain.
She turned back around and her snakes lay back on her shoulders, their eyes closing fully.
Was she sick? Most creatures didn’t get sick, but maybe she was one of the few who did.
The line moved extra slow due to students taking longer than usual to choose the items they wanted. The staff was calm and collected as they took our orders and I made a mental note to tell Sakura that they should give them a raise for putting up with us.
Once we had our food, we went to Tsukiko’s room, turned on mind-numbing television, and pigged out.
All I needed to get through life was delicious food and these two girls.
“I love you two,” I whispered.
They looked at me and said, “Love you, too.”
The evening of Samhain, we sat in Tsukiko’s room, dreading going to classes. We could hear the squealing and feel the excitement from here.
“We could skip classes,” Loralie offered.
“They’d report us missing to our parents right away,” I argued. “Our parents won't believe any lie we come up with.”
Tsukiko growled. “Hopefully, no males will bother us.”
“Hopefully,” Loralie whispered.
I had little hope of that. The school was big and there was likely at least a lower classman who would give us a gift.
“Let’s just go,” I said with a sigh.
We were all wearing black pants, a black shirt, and black shoes. Tsukiko had even put black bands to hold her hair back.
“Deep breaths. We can do this,” Loralie whispered.
I wasn’t sure if she was trying to encourage Tsukiko and me, or herself.
Probably herself.
I opened the door and, on the ground, sat six gifts.
Loralie groaned, grabbed them, and tossed them in the room without even looking to see who they were for or who had left them.
“Happy Samhain!” Ainsley yelled as she flapped past us, down the hallway.
“Happy Samhain,” we grumbled beneath our breaths.
We walked out of the dormitory and into a mass of excited creatures.
“This...was a mistake,” I whispered.
It was too late, we’d been spotted and several people came up to us, wishing us well and some giving us gifts.
By the time we reached our first classroom, we were irritated and ready to flee.
“This sucks,” Loralie whispered and let her head drop to her desk.
“Yeah, it totally does,” I agreed.
“Why do you three look so glum? Not get any presents?” Norma asked as she slid into her seat across the room.
“Don’t even acknowledge her,” I whispered.
“Doesn’t surprise me that no one wanted to give you a gift after the way you treated the Evil Three,” she added.
I didn’t even need to ask who the Evil Three were. It was obviously the guys. The girls liked to give them ridiculous names as they claimed to be their fan club or something else idiotic.
“I’m glad you showed your true colors. Now someone actually deserving of them can get them. Your spell is gone and we can finally make our move,” Norma purred.
“Have fun,” I said. “Just leave us alone.”
Dante came into the classroom, and I immediately dropped my eyes to look at the desk.
“Hey, Dante,” Norma crooned. “You look hot today.”
“Norma,” he greeted.
“I made you this,” she said.
I lifted my eyes, but kept my head still, so I could use my hair as a shield to watch them.
She held out a red wrapped box to Dante.
He glanced at me, our eyes meeting even through my veil of hair, and he took the box from her. “Tha
nks.”
I dropped my eyes again, tears burning them.
No. I would not cry.
I had no reason to cry.
“You sure I can’t just tear one of her arms off?” Loralie whispered. "She doesn’t need both of them."
I sighed. “It would make me feel better.”
“Not today,” Tsukiko said. “Maybe some day, but you can’t tear an arm off today.”
“Spoilsport,” Loralie muttered.
I let out a short, soft laugh, but it was cut short when Norma laughed at something Dante said.
“Just a few hours left,” Tsukiko whispered.
Hopefully, I could make it that long.
Chapter 27
LORALIE
Norma’s followers were really making me mad. If they said one more thing, I was going to lose my crap and tear one of their arms off to beat them all with it.
Tsukiko was holding it together well, which honestly surprised me. I’d assumed she would have given up by third period.
Frances was dealing with more than Tsukiko or I, though, since Dante kept showing up near her.
I wanted to tell him to back off, but I wasn’t sure if that would upset Frances or not.
“What’s got you scowling so much on a day that is supposed to be happy?” Bogden asked from beside me.
Phantom goop!
I hadn’t heard him approaching. Plus, I’d sat in a different seat than normal to try to avoid him.
“Nothing,” I said and started to stand.
He grabbed my wrist and stopped me. “Hey, what’s going on? You haven’t talked to me in weeks and won’t even look at me. What did I do?”
“You didn’t do anything,” I whispered. “You’re better off without me bothering you anyway.”
“Bothering me? What are you talking about?” he asked.
I jerked my arm free. “I’ve got to go.” Grabbing my bag, I headed out of the classroom and down the hallway.
“Loralie,” Bogden called after me. “Wait.”
I wasn’t supposed to use my powers during school hours except for emergencies. Well, this was an emergency. An emotional emergency.
Monster Academy Page 12
