by Kate A. Fox
“You’re welcome, roomie.” Zoe smiled back and just then it was like she had already accepted me into the fold. Even though I was the new girl in a weird new school, I was already making friends, and that was way more than could be said for my last school where I’d been pretty much a lone wolf because Peter was only ever my friend when he thought he wouldn’t be judged for it and Bobby had only been around for a couple of years.
I was suddenly startled by the door opening in front of me. It caused my heart to skip a beat as I caught sight of it out the corner of my eye.
“I think Celestria is ready for you.” Zoe whispered under her breath and my heart skipped yet another beat.
Could Celestria really have known that we were standing out here?
As if in reply to my question a voice came from inside the room, “Please enter, Brianna.”
I glanced at Zoe who gave me an encouraging smile and gestured for me to go in.
The moment I stepped into the office, the door clicked closed behind me, once more leaving no room for my companion to come in with me.
Alone, I felt my nerves hitching up. Celestria was once more sat behind her desk although this time she had a pen in her hand as though she had been marking papers or something.
“What can I help you with, Brianna?” she asked when I simply stood by the door with a plain expression on my stupid face.
“I...ummm….”
What the hell was I supposed to say? Zoe found a strange mark on the back of my neck last night and I wanted to see if you knew what it was? Am I dying? Did I have some kind of weird disease that made the Triple Goddess symbol appear on my neck?
“What is it, Brianna?” Celestria looked at me with a stern expression and I could almost imagine that she was looking at me over the rim of a pair of glasses.
I stepped forwards and took in a deep breath before turning my back to her and raising my hand to sweep my red hair away from my neck.
Although I couldn’t see her face I could definitely hear the gasp that erupted from Celestria’s lips.
“Great Goddess!” she gasped and she was instantly up from her chair, her pen forgotten.
She rounded the table and gripped hold of my shoulders, turning me so that she could get a better look at the symbol.
My entire body trembled when I felt her fingertips brush across my skin. The tingling sensation I’d felt the night before spread down my spine once more.
“Where did you get this?” she asked as if she thought I’d just gotten up one day and decided to illegally get a tattoo.
“I...I don’t know.” I stuttered, “I didn’t even realise it was there until Zoe saw it when I was getting changed last night.”
I felt Celestria pick up my hair and put into place so that the almost dried curls cascaded down my back.
Taking it as a signal that she’d gotten a good look, I turned and found that she was gazing down at me, the corners of her lips twitched upwards in a half smile.
“I knew you were special from the moment I sensed your beacon.” Celestria sighed and I was relieved when she took a step away from me, “But I had no idea you were this special.”
What did that even mean?
As though she read the huge question mark on my pale face, she said, “Selene has marked you.”
“Aren’t all the people here chosen by Selene?”
I raised an eyebrow.
“Yes but you have been marked by her.” Celestria sighed, “She has chosen you for something special. I’m afraid we are simply to wait and see what for.”
Well that made things a whole lot clearer. Not.
“Do not look so frightened, Brianna Winters.” Celestria almost chuckled and when she placed her hands on my shoulders again warmth spread through me, “The Goddess never gives us more than we can handle.”
I wasn’t entirely sure that was true. I was already struggling to handle everything that she had thrown at me so far.
***
The moment I exited Celestria's office and the door closed creepily by itself, Zoe pounced on me like a cat who'd just spotted a plump, juicy mouse.
Her eyes were practically feral as she eyed me suspiciously.
"So? What did she say?" She asked. An air of anticipation and excitement bubbled all around her and for a moment I thought I could literally see it coming off her in sparks and swirls of yellow.
When I blinked it was gone and all I could do was shake my head.
"Not much." I shrugged, "Just that Selene had marked me because she's chosen me for something but she can't be sure what that something is."
The more I spoke the rounder Zoe's almond eyes became until I was sure they couldn't become any more round.
They were basically bugging out of her head when she squealed, "This is absolutely huge!"
I couldn't help but roll my eyes at the way that she bounced up and down like a kid on Christmas day.
"Calm down. It's not that big of a deal." I said, trying to convince myself as much as her, "It's probably nothing to get excited about."
Even as I said the words I felt a small tingle of excitement in my stomach. Patting it down, trying not to let it get a hold of me, I added, "We should probably go and find the others if you don't want Keeya to get upset."
"I'm not going anywhere until you admit this is a giant deal." Zoe huffed and looked as though she was one step away from stomping her feet.
One eye roll later, I heard footsteps coming up the marble staircase, headed right for us.
The last thing I wanted was to cause a scene.
"Okay, fine it’s a big deal." I glowered at her, "Can we go now?"
Zoe nodded and turned towards the stairs.
As we walked, she glanced over her shoulder at me and said, "Don't go thinking this conversation is over."
"Can we at least forget about it until tonight?" I begged, pleading to her with my eyes not to say anything to the others.
Before she could answer we were both caught off by the drop dead gorgeous boy - no, man - who stepped off the staircase in front of us.
"Oh, hey, you must be the new girl." His voice dripped like sexy honey, washing its amber goodness all over me.
Jheez, when did I become that girl?
But seriously, James Booth was so hot I could almost imagine that he was licked by flame.
"That's me." I said dorkishly and my cheeks began to burn as hot as if I’d eaten a jalapeno. I really hate those things!
His eyes met mine and his lips turned up at the edges with a smoky hot smile.
"I mean, my name is Brianna but most people call me Bri."
There it was again, me giving someone else permission to use my nickname. What the hell was wrong with me?
Maybe it was the way his eyes seemed to burrow into me or even the warm scent of cinnamon that wafted off him as though he'd just devoured fresh baked goods.
I didn't see any cinnamon rolls in the dining hall.
"The name's James but most people call me by my last name…" he said.
Like an idiot I blurted out just as he finished, "Booth."
My cheeks grew totally crimson as I watched his half smile turn into an amused smirk.
"Hmm...so you know who I am." He drew the words out as though he was savouring the fact and I suddenly felt myself go weak at the knees.
"Doesn't everyone?" Zoe put in and I quickly shot her a grateful glance before my eyes were ripped back to his glance.
"I suppose that's true." He shrugged and when he ran his fingers through his glossy auburn hair, my fingers tingled with the urge to do the same.
He glanced past me then as if he was wondering where we had just come from.
"I do hope you weren't in one of the classrooms, studying on a Saturday." He said, giving Zoe a raised eyebrow, "At least let the poor girl get her bearings before you throw her in at the deep end."
Usually when someone called me 'poor girl' I felt the urge to punch them but right now I felt a thrill at the thought h
e cared one ounce what I was doing.
The truth was I really wanted to slap myself. I may as well have written, 'freak', across my forehead.
"We were just coming from Celestria's office." Zoe scowled at him and it appeared she was not nearly as affected by his charm as I was. I was pretty sure I was affected enough for us both.
"What a coincidence." Booth smiled at me once more and suddenly it felt as though we were the only two people in the world, "I was just headed there myself. Please tell me she's in a good mood?"
I couldn't rightly say whether she was or wasn't because I barely knew her, but I found myself nodding anyway.
"Good because the last thing I need is for her to be in a bad mood. It would kill my whole weekend." He sighed, "She's got me doing some stuff for an upcoming visit of the council."
"What's the council?"
There was yet another thing I didn't know about. How many more times was I going to feel like a fish out of water?
"The witch council." Zoe explained but I still couldn't take my eyes off Booth, "It’s a group of really powerful witches who make up all the rules and dole out the punishment when they are broken. They also pay the academies and decide what happens to us after we are done here."
I shivered at that. The thought that my fate was in the hands of something called, 'the witch council', made me feel funny.
"They aren't due to arrive for another couple of weeks but when they do you'll definitely know about it." Booth assured me.
"Well, Booth, it's been lovely chatting to you but we really must be going." Zoe said in a hurried tone and she grabbed my arm just as she had the night before.
I was hurried so fast towards the stairs that I was almost taken off my feet.
All I could do was pray that I wouldn't fall over in front of the hottest guy in school.
"Catch you later, new girl." Booth called after us and the way he said it made me imagine that he was literally going to grab me as I walked past him. As if he would need to. I'd probably stop dead in my tracks like a doe in headlights as soon as I saw him again.
CHAPTER 14
I WAS STILL REELING FROM THE TERRIBLE EPISODE WITH Booth when we exited the main building to find Keeya and Luci waiting for us. They were perched on the steps, sitting close together with their hands entwined.
If I hadn't been so spun up I might have thought it was cute.
"You guys are not going to believe what just happened!" Zoe exclaimed as she released me and went rushing down the steps towards them.
Keeya and Luci turned, looking startled by our sudden appearance.
"Booth! Booth happened!" Zoe gasped in excitement before either of the girls could even open their mouths to speak, "He walked right into us and spoke to Bri and he...and he…"
"Okay girl, okay, calm down and breathe." Keeya said gripping hold of Zoe's forearm to comfort her.
Zoe stopped bouncing and closed her eyes, taking a deep breath before opening them again.
"Booth spoke to us and I swear he couldn't take his eyes off Bri." She giggled.
"Couldn't take his eyes off her as in, 'wow you are a freak!', or, "my goddess you are drop dead gorgeous'?" Keeya asked, winking at me as though she already thought it was the second option.
"The...the second one." Zoe gasped as though she could barely get her breath.
"Oh my Goddess!" Luci spilled with excitement, "This is huge."
I'd been hearing that a lot lately. Maybe if Booth didn't make me feel hot all over I wouldn't have agreed.
As it was I couldn't help but think that she was right. Booth didn't seem like the kind of guy who noticed just any old stranger. He seemed like the kind of guy who only acknowledged you if you were a somebody. Maybe I was just judging him because of the fact he'd been sat with Lola's evil witch twin at breakfast.
"Well?" Keeya scowled at me as both she and Luci turned their eyes on me, "Don't just stand there. Tell us what happened!"
Urgh. I did not want to tell them that I'd just stood there like a blubbering idiot but at least what had happened seemed to have taken Zoe's mind off my meeting with Celestria. Maybe I would get away without that dreaded conversation after all.
"We met him outside Celestria's office and he introduced himself and told us that he was doing some stuff for her. Then Zoe practically dragged me out of there like her ass was on fire."
"Don't forget the part where he said 'catch you later'!" Zoe insisted and both of the other girls' eyes grew wide again.
"He really said that?" Keeya gaped at me, "He actually said, 'catch you later'?"
They were acting like he had asked me to go out with him or something. Even that wouldn't be any need for them to look as though their eyes were going to pop right out of their heads. They looked just like Zoe had when I'd told her what Celestria had said. I could only wonder how they'd react to that.
I knew now wasn't the time because they would probably explode. Way, way more than they were already.
"They were only parting words." I pointed out with a shrug.
"No, they were the parting words." Luci exclaimed.
"The words someone uses when they hope to bump into you again!" Keeya giggled and for a moment I thought they were all going to burst into song.
"Are we going to this river or what?" I said in an attempt to change the subject. I was blushing again and I hated it. In the sun, I could guess my face looked like a ripened tomato.
"Okay, okay, we get it. We're embarrassing you." Keeya rolled her eyes, annoyed at my response, "But you haven't heard the last of this."
"What happened to, 'Rhea will kill you if you even look at him'?" I furrowed my brow at all of them.
"That was before he looked at you." Zoe pointed out, seemingly recovered from her breathless excitement, "This is epic! Booth never shows interest in anyone."
"That's because he's too good for any of us, especially us first years." Luci sighed and I had to force myself to remember that she was gay just to stop myself from feeling jealous.
Why the hell should I feel jealous that someone else thought Booth was hot? Come on. It's a free country and he is on fire.
Just then I was saved from any more embarrassment by the doors at the top of the stairs opening.
A couple of kids appeared and hurried down the steps past us.
"We should probably continue this conversation at the river where we won't be disturbed." Keeya said, glancing over her shoulder as a larger group exited the main building.
I was relieved that, at least for now, the conversation appeared to be over.
***
We walked between the main building and the girls dorm to a terrace that seemed to make its way around all three buildings. Separate stone statues, much like the ones in the fountain were set on either side of a cobblestone path that led to what could only be described as a Chapel.
It was a circular building with a tall roof made of coloured glass that sparkled in the mid-morning sun and reflected its colourful rainbow.
As we walked beneath the stone statues I couldn't help but look at each one of them. Powerful looking men and women stood in various positions giving off a kind of godly presence and the further I drew the more alive they seemed to become.
"What do you think to our Gods and Goddesses?" Luci asked as she came up to walk beside me.
"Who are they?" I asked my millionth question since arriving at the academy.
"Can't you tell?" Luci didn't look frustrated with me. Actually, she looked sympathetic as though I was missing out on something.
"That's Athena, Goddess of reason, wisdom and war." She pointed at a stone woman who held two scrolls in her hands, one in front of her stomach and a second held aloft beside her head.
"And that's Artemis, Goddess of the hunt." She added, pointing at another woman who stood beside a small deer with its antlers gripped firmly in one hand. Upon her back was a quiver filled with arrows.
She then pointed at the statue beside Artemis and added, "And th
at's her twin brother, Apollo."
Apollo was a strong man leaning against what looked like a tree stump. In his free hand he held a scroll just like Artemis had although this one was held out to his left.
Before I could ask what he was God of, Zoe spoke up.
"And that's my favourite. Hera, Goddess of women, marriage, family and childbirth."
Who knew my roommate was such a femininist?
"And the one who looks like he's strangling a baby between his calves is Ares." Keeya shivered as she said the words.
Sure enough my eyes were drawn to a man sat upon a stone seat with a shield perched beside him and a baby clasped between his legs.
"He's the God of Bloodlust." Luci added quickly before she pointed at the simplest statue of a woman stood with her arms outstretched, "She's my favourite. Demeter is the Goddess of agriculture."
"There's also Zeus with his lightning bolt. Poseidon with his pitchfork thingy…" Keeya pointed at two more statutes.
"It’s a trident." Luci rolled her eyes.
"...And my favourite, Aphrodite, Goddess of love." Keeya finished.
Okay, so I'd definitely heard of those last three. And I had to admit that Aphrodite's statue was the most beautiful. She stood within a large open clam shell, her hair floating up around her head like ocean waves before coming down to hide her otherwise naked body. I could just see one stone nipple peeking out from the thick locks.
I could definitely see why she was Keeya's favourite.
"There's also Dionysus who was a mortal before his father took him into his thigh and aged him into a God." Keeya cringed at that.
"Then you have Selene and Helios, our main God and Goddess." Zoe put in and I noticed that the statues of Selene and Helios were slightly larger than the rest, sitting on opposite sides of the doorway to the chapel.
As if Zoe caught me looking at the building she said, "That's the temple of the Moon and Sun where we go to worship our Gods and Goddesses. You can do it any time but the main rituals are held upon a full moon or on one of the eight sabbats."
"Sabbats are like holidays, aren't they?" I asked. I'd heard that word somewhere before but I couldn't quite be sure where.
