Tales & Time (Lost Time Academy Book 1)

by G. Bailey

  “I’m Roger. Don’t worry, I will go easy on you,” he says, but I still gulp down a ball of fear in my throat as I nod at him, speechless. He only seems amused as he looks back at the teacher. I look to the brothers for comfort, but their angry expressions only make me more nervous.

  "Everyone else, you can randomly choose your opponents today," she says, and everyone quickly walks off as Tavvy whispers to me while tugging my arm.

  "Roger is Jack and the Beanstalk’s descendant. He grows vines from his body, but he can feel them. Hurt the vines to win." I nod at her advice, watching her walk away before Miss Aquana waves a hand in front of her for us to join her. As Roger and I are walking over, I notice Knox and Oisin have teamed up nearby, and so have Noah and Tobias. Each one them is looking at me like I’m about to enter a death sentence.

  "I will stay close and watch the fight as it is your first time," she explains to me. I glance around the massive gym room, which has large white rectangles drawn on the floor. There are three rows of them, and the students seem to stand at either end of the rectangles. We get an empty one in the middle of the room, and I move to stand at the opposite side of Roger.

  "In three, two, one..." At the end of Miss Aquana's warning, she blows her whistle, and a ball of water covers all of her body until she looks like she is floating inside it, perfectly happy as she smiles at me. I'm so distracted by Miss Aquana that I don’t see a massive, green, leaf-covered vine heading straight for my chest. It hits me hard, knocking the air out of me, and I go flying straight across the floor, my side taking most of the hit. I look up just as vines slide tightly around my waist and lift me into the air. I pull at the tight vines that start spreading around my body, and then I hear someone laughing. As I’m pulling, I look down to see Roger holding his hands out, the vines coming from them, and he is the one laughing.

  “Stop, that’s enough!” I hear someone shouting, but I ignore everything as I keep trying to hurt the vines with my nails and pull them off me. I try to do anything, even leaning down to bite them, but I can’t reach. Nothing seems to work as they continue to crawl up my body, and I glance around the room to see the brothers being slammed with a wall of water from Miss Aquana. As the vines get so tight that they hurt, I grab at the ones that tighten around my neck as I completely start to panic. I scream as I try to pull them away, only hearing the sound of Roger's laughing in the background as black spots appear in my vision. Just as the black spots look like they are about to take me under, a cold feeling appears in my hands, spreading all over my body. Like an instinct, I move my hands away from the vines on my neck and stretch them out at my side. Suddenly, one word seems to be whispered into my mind. A word I struggle to say because the vines are so tight now.

  "D-Dor-Dormiens!" I scream out, feeling a power like nothing I’ve ever felt before blasting out my hands, and the world seems to freeze for a moment. Then I’m suddenly falling to the floor at full speed. I hit the floor with a smack, the blast hurting my cheek, and I instantly place my hand against it, coughing from the impact. For a few moments, I can do nothing but breathe through the pain and try to concentrate on whatever the hell just happened. I pull the vines from my neck, and they easily fall away, the strength they had before is totally gone now. I suddenly wonder why it’s so quiet. Seriously, what the hell just happened? I look down at my hands, seeing white glittering dust all over my hands, and the same dust is covering my body and the vines.

  I stand up slowly, gaping at the room of students sleeping on the floor. Roger is at my feet, completely knocked out for the count, with white glittering dust all over his body. The brothers are passed out in a row not far away, and I can’t see Tavvy through the mass amount of bodies. Only their moving chests and even snoring from a few tell me they are sleeping and that I didn’t kill them.

  When I hear clapping, I glance behind me to see a man I don't know, walking through all the students, stepping over a few like they aren’t here. The man looks about my dad’s age, but he has more grey in his blond hair and a few wrinkles that no doubt come from stress. The man has a full suit on, and I figure he must be another teacher. Remembering teachers, I look over at Miss Aquana passed out near me as well and assume I am going to be in trouble for knocking out the class. Somehow, I must have made that dust and knocked out the entire class, including the teacher. I don't think beating the teacher was part of the class. Whoops.

  "You're simply amazing, Madi. I don't know any student that knocked out every single one of their classmates on their first day," he states, seeming proud as he finally gets to me. "I'm the supervisor here at Lost Time Academy, and I came to see if Miss Aquana needed any help. It seems she might, just not in the way I expected. I always assumed Sleeping Beauty’s descendant would have premonition dreams and no outward powers. I am happy to be wrong." The supervisor stops rambling and laughs to himself.

  I look around the sea of passed out students. "It was an accident...but do I win?" I ask. "I mean, everyone is technically passed out, and that was the goal. I am the last one standing." It's worth a shot.

  "Well, there are no rules against using sleeping dust to make the class pass out. I guess you have won," he says with a smile, clapping his hands. "Oh, and by the way, my name is Mr. Newman. It is lovely to meet you, Miss Dormiens. I once knew your father when we were children, and I was so very sorry he didn’t get powers. I know he will be extremely proud of you."

  "I can't believe I could do that. I make sleeping dust, that is pretty cool," I admit to him, looking at my hands and wiping the dust off. Mr. Newman steps back, pulling a hanky out of his pocket and covering his mouth before speaking through it.

  "I am going to get some help to wake everyone up. As you are clearly immune to your own powers, why don't you try waking some of them up while you wait?" he suggests.

  "Okay, I can do that," I say, trying not to smile.

  "Right then. I will be right back," he says and walks a little before looking back at me, his eyes seem calculating. "Congratulations on such useful and powerful defensive powers, Madilynn."

  "Thanks," I reply quietly, but he is already walking away, and for some reason, I don’t trust him. I just don’t know why.

  Chapter 14

  "Wakey, wakey, Knox," I gently shake his shoulder as most of the class are waking up now after the teachers decided the best way was to wake Miss Aquana up and have her wash the class with water to get rid of the dust. Now, all of the class are soaking wet and looking at me like I’m their worst enemy as they try to stay awake. The class has been cancelled for the day, and most of them are walking back to their rooms to sleep it off.

  "I wouldn’t do that if I were you," Tobias goes to warn me as he sits up, and I frown at him. I go to move my hand away from Knox’s shoulder, but then Knox suddenly grabs my arms, slamming me onto the floor and covering my body with his in a swift motion that makes my head spin. He grabs my arms, holding me tightly, and he doesn’t even seem to be awake as I stare up at his narrowed, dazed eyes.

  “Knox, wake the fuck up, man. It’s Sleepy,” Tobias says, moving closer.

  "Knox, it’s me," I lightly whisper to him, and he blinks his eyes, looking down at me in shock as he finally seems to wake up.

  "Madi? What the fuck happened?" he asks me in a grumbly voice as he moves his hands near my head and leans his weight off me a little. “I was going to knock Roger the fuck out for taking it too far with you, and then everything is a haze.”

  "Err, well, I kind of put you and the rest of the class to sleep, accidently. Small bonus though, I won the prize!" I say, trying to not act nervous about or affected by all of Knox's hard, wet body pressed into mine. I can’t do anything but stare up into his dark silver, almost swirling eyes that seem to burn with what I think is protectiveness mixed with an anger I don’t understand.

  "You put me to sleep?" he questions. “And the entire class while you were at it?”

  "Yeah," I reply, and he quickly gets up off me, standing up and storming out
of the room as I take a deep breath before sitting up.

  "Knox never sleeps well, and waking up is usually much worse for him. He once knocked Oisin out, so don’t take it personally," Tobias tells me, offering me a hand to stand up as I finally look away from Knox’s tense back as he disappears from sight. I slide my hand into Tobias’s and let him lift me up. Oisin and Noah are talking to the teacher nearby, occasionally glancing at me as I search for them.

  "Knox never had that trouble sleeping before," I reply, wondering what happened to him over the years.

  "I thought you would have guessed that things have changed by now," he says and suddenly frowns at me, stepping closer. I freeze when he grabs my chin lightly, turning my head to the side. “Your cheek is bad, and it will bruise. Come with me.” After he finishes his assessment, he walks off like he expects me to follow. I stare at him in confusion for a moment, wondering why he seemed to care about my face all of a sudden. He hasn’t talked to me at all since I got here, and I’ve barely seen him since he sent Noah flying through the door on my first day. I decide to follow him though, even if he is confusing. Tobias walks to the other side of the room where there are two doors. He holds the one open for me, and I go to walk in just as someone catches my arm gently, causing me to look back.

  “I have the best and coolest roommate ever, that is all. See you back in our room,” Tavvy tells me before letting go as I laugh and then spot Ella not far behind her as she walks past Tavvy to get to me.

  “I have to admit, I am impressed,” Ella tells me, yawning, “even if I don’t like you, new girl.”

  “It kinda seems like you like me, Ella,” I say, and she only laughs as I walk to Tobias and through the door he holds open. I enter a small room with two cabinets and a medical bed pushed against the white walls.

  “Sit on the bed,” he demands.

  “Yes, sir,” I jokingly reply, and he shakes his head at me as I walk in and sit on the edge of the bed. My cheek does ache, now the buzz of the action in there has worn off. I no doubt will be left with bruises after all of this. I watch Tobias as he opens the cupboards and pulls out a green, small box before closing the doors and coming over to me. Tobias moves right in front of me, so my knees press against his thighs as he focuses on opening the tin. When he opens it, there is light blue shiny gel inside, and Tobias rubs some onto one of his fingers before reaching to spread it on my cheek no doubt, but I back away.

  “I can put whatever that is on myself,” I suggest. “I don’t need your help or pity, Tobias. You’ve made it clear I mean nothing to you despite our past.” My harsh words make him look up and meet my eyes, showing me some of the guilt I can see hidden in them.

  “Just let me, Sleepy,” he asks carefully, still keeping his eyes locked with mine. I find myself nodding in agreement, holding my breath as he gently rubs the gel into my sore cheek.

  “Why didn’t you come and see me?” I gently ask him, wanting to know. “Did you never think of me at all? I thought about you a lot, and even though you were so angry when I saw you first, I was happy to see you.” My whole body lightly shakes from admitting any kind of feelings to a guy who doesn’t seem to even care about me at all.

  “You don’t need to be nervous around me. I make everyone nervous,” he replies, the movement of fingers on my cheek is so relaxing I could almost close my eyes if I didn’t want to keep them on Tobias as I try to understand him.

  “I’m not nervous around you, Tobias,” I reply truthfully. “Why would you think that?”

  “Everyone is,” he replies. “You should be.”

  “I’m not everyone. I never was to you and the others. Or have things changed that much?” I ask, my heart beating in my chest at even saying it out loud. I almost feel like I don’t know this Tobias at all. That I don’t know the Tale brothers like I thought I did, because they have changed so much.

  “You’ve changed, Madi. We’ve changed, but I thought after you saw how I was on your first day that you wouldn’t want to know me,” he admits. “I was angry at Noah over something, and you got in the way.”

  “Everyone gets angry, even me. I was angry at you once, remember? I threw my shoe at you, but you were still my friend,” I reply, and he smirks at me for a second. “What happened with you two?” I ask quietly.

  “Noah is a tool who thinks he knows everything. Simple as that,” Tobias says, making me laugh, and even serious boy’s lips turn up a little at the edges.

  “I’m sure it is more than that,” I say and flinch as Tobias’s finger goes over my cheekbone where it is sorer. “Noah said you have been getting into things that aren’t good for you.”

  “Noah still tells you everything, huh?”

  “Not exactly. He didn’t tell me what you are doing like I wanted,” I reply, flinching again as he runs a finger over another sore point of my cheek. Tobias grumbles something and moves his hand away.

  “I can help with the pain, soothe it for a little bit, but you have to stay still. No talking,” he warns me.

  “Yes, sir,” I reply, and he shakes his head but with a smile this time.

  “Don’t call me that, and stop being a cheeky little madam. Now hold still,” he says and places his whole hand against my cheek. It hurts for a second before I feel a coolness spreading from Tobias’s hand, making any pain fade away.

  “The healing gel will kick in soon, but I can take away the pain for now,” he tells me, and I automatically go to reply when he places a finger against my lip. “Shh, remember.” I don’t say anything or move at all as Tobias runs a finger across my bottom lip before moving his hand away suddenly. The door opens to the room, and Oisin walks in, staring at us both.

  “I was going to see if you need any help, but clearly you are busy,” he says and walks out before either of us can say a word.

  “Oisin was always the jealous type. Everything from toys to food, he would never share. Yet the fact he didn’t punch the shit out of me for being this close to you means he might have finally learned how to share for the right person. Funny that.”

  Chapter 15

  “You can’t wear that to the party tonight,” Tavvy protests as I pull my hoodie over my leggings and shrug at her as she stares at me with her hands on her hips, a disgusted expression on her face.

  “Why not?” I ask. This is what I would wear to parties back home. I don’t think I even have a dress in my stuff I brought from home anyway. Tavvy tuts as I look at her green dress that compliments her blonde curly hair up in a messy bun and the light make-up she has put on. I’ve been too busy reading all the books the teachers have given me this week to even notice how Tavvy started getting ready the moment we came back from lunch. On Saturdays, thankfully, there are no classes, and we can do what we like. Tobias actually spoke to me at breakfast today with Oisin and Noah, but I haven’t seen Knox at all, which is odd. I don’t know if he is still mad at me for putting him to sleep. Everyone else seems to think I’m the coolest thing since sliced bread, and I don’t know how to feel about that. I usually like to stay in the shadows rather than the spotlight, like at the moment, though I’m happy I won the prize, which turned out that the best one on offer was a phone call to my parents tomorrow.

  “Madi, darling friend who is badass and beautiful. Please let me dress you for tonight. Like PLEASE,” she asks in an overly dramatic way that makes me laugh. You can’t help but love this girl.

  “Alright, nothing too slutty though,” I warn her, and she grins at me. I have the feeling she didn’t hear a word of what I said past the part when I agreed to let her dress me.

  “Put on those tight, black, high-waisted skinny jeans you have,” Tavvy tells me as she goes through a box of clothes she had hidden under the bed.

  “How do you know what clothes I have?” I ask her.

  “I love fashion. I looked through your clothes on the first day to check there wasn’t anything worse than that grease-stained hoodie,” she says, not exactly apologising, but I don’t really mind, if I’m hon
est with myself.

  “My mum gave up years ago trying to help me understand fashion or what to wear. I’m happy in that hoodie,” I tell her as I strip out of my clothes, leaving just my underwear on and pulling out the skinny jeans from the drawer under the wardrobe. I hate these ones, they are so tight, but they were Quinton's favourite, if I remember right. Not that I have anyone to impress, so...

  “Your poor mum. Don’t worry, I will not give up on you just yet,” Tavvy says and then holds up a tiny little lacy top in the air for me to see. There is no back to the top, only the front which looks tight and like it will show off everything that my jeans don’t cover up. I glare at her and shake my head as I take the top from her and pull it over my head, thinking this is better than a dress. Tavvy steps behind me as I look in the mirror, deciding that it doesn't actually look that bad. Tavvy undoes my hair from the plait and helps me shake it out, so it flows in curly waves all over my shoulders and down to my waist. I slide my flat shoes on, ignoring the little eye roll from Tavvy before she looks at the high heels of hers next to me, and I know she would prefer I try those on, considering we are the same size. That is not happening. I would break my neck or worse with my luck.

  "Damn, you look awesome! I'm so good!" Tavvy says. "I would suggest a little make-up, but you know what, you have naturally long eyelashes and perfect skin anyway. So, no need."

  "I don’t know, it is a little revealing..." I drift off as someone knocks on the door, and I sigh as Tavvy opens the door. Ella is stood just outside in a black dress that is far more revealing than anything I could wear, and suddenly I feel a lot better. "Never mind."

  "What are you doing here?" Tavvy asks, crossing her arms.

  "We should walk together to the party," Ella suggests, and Tavvy laughs like Ella is crazy.