by Wendy Knight
****
Ari stayed in the infirmary the rest of Friday night, and all of Saturday, drifting in and out throughout the day. She suspected it was dinner time because she could just detect the smell of food. Her stomach churned. Food and her headache did not mix. Ms. Neemer kept asking if her head was getting worse and Ari dutifully told her no every time, but it was and all she wanted to do was sleep.
She leaned her head back and stared at the ceiling, trying to count tiles, when she heard the rumble of a male voice in Ms. Neemer’s office. Her ears perked up, straining to make out words. “Is Ari doing any better?” the voice asked. Even from clear in the other room, she could hear honest worry in the voice. Odd.
“She’s sleeping. That’s the best thing for her now,” Ms. Neemer’s no-nonsense voice answered. Ari smiled. She liked that woman.
“Can I see her? I was the one that brought her in. I have a right to see how my damsel in distress is doing, right?” Ari raised an eyebrow. Damsel in distress? Really?
“I’m sorry, Mr. Delyle. As I’ve told you the last hundred times you’ve come in, what she needs is rest, and trust me, of all her visitors you would be first on my list to let in, but I don’t think that’s in her best interest. She’ll be in class on Monday. You can check on her then.”
“But—”
“No, Mr. Delyle. I’ll tell her you stopped by.” Ms. Neemer’s voice was firm, and Ari could hear the gentle click of the outer office door shutting as the boy left.
Ari settled back in the pillows, trying to resume her counting. There was something about that boy’s voice… But she was sleepy and her thoughts wouldn’t connect the way they were supposed to. Before she could finish her thought, she was out cold.
She stayed in the infirmary until Sunday night after all the other students had already gone to bed, when Ms. Neemer escorted her back to her dorm. It wasn’t because she was that injured that she warranted a weekend stay, but because dorms were noisy and she needed rest or so Ms. Neemer told her. She had also told her that several visitors had come by, but Ari didn’t ask who — she didn’t care, or at least that’s what she wanted Ms. Neemer and the rest of the world to believe. Honestly, she was just glad to be away from people, and glad to have a legitimate excuse to be away from her cell phone and out of easy reach of her grandfather. She worried about her family most of the weekend, because they did tend to get into a lot of trouble. But she couldn’t muster the energy to ask someone to retrieve her phone. Secretly, she was glad that they couldn’t get a hold of her. It was nice that they weren’t her problem for just a little while.
“Thank you for helping me get back to my room. Without, you know, letting any more ladders fall on me.”
Ms. Neemer smirked but said nothing. Ari smiled at the ground.
The night air was cool as she shuffled from the main building to the dorms. She tipped her head back, finally getting a chance to take in the scenery. The school was a few miles out of town, set back away from the road several hundred yards, hidden by lots and lots of trees. There were hiking trails branching out from the huge expanses of lawn between the dorms and the main building. The headmistress had even mentioned something about a pond up one of those trails, if Ari remembered right.
She left Ms. Neemer in the hallway, letting herself into her room, sparing a brief glance at her snoring roommate. She dug in her bag and found her phone. The battery was dead. She found her charger and plugged it into the wall but paused as she turned on her phone, biting her lip. Taking a deep breath, she decided with giddy guilt that she wasn’t going to check her cell phone or her email. She put her phone away. For tonight, she wasn’t going to hunt for traces of blue magic or analyze how best to terminate any student who was unfortunate enough to be on the wrong side of the war. She wasn’t going to be a weapon or a soldier or a hunter.
She was just going to be a new senior about to start her last year of high school. And if it got her killed, so be it.
Chapter Three
“Oh. You’re back. I didn’t hear you come in last night.” Brittany breezed in the next morning on a wake of flowery perfume. Ari glanced at her in the mirror, but didn’t turn around and didn’t bother to respond. Brittany didn’t notice. “You missed the best dance this school has ever had. It’s too bad. Sorry,” she said but there was no apology in it, and Ari hadn’t expected one. “I danced with Shane twice. He wanted to several other times, I’m sure, but I didn’t want him to think I was just sitting there waiting for him! I did have all those other guys waiting for… Hello? Where are you going? I was talking to you!” she shrieked as she noticed Ari had gotten up and walked out.
“Oh, were you talking to me? I didn’t realize. Please, continue,” Ari called over her shoulder as she wound her way down the crowded dorm hall toward the stairs. She allowed herself a wicked grin as she heard the angry slam of the door.
She was taller than most everybody in both the girls’ dorm buildings, so it was impossible to blend in. But thanks to the excitement of her ladder incident, she could say it was the first school where everyone had heard of her before her height or her vibrant hair drew their attention. The halls were packed and noisy with senior girls preparing for their first day of school, and there was a visible mist of hairspray and perfume clinging to the walls. Ari was expecting stares and whispers, and she got them. With a resigned sigh, she drew herself up to her full height and prepared to ignore it all. It was as ingrained as brushing her teeth, which she did twice a day. Sometimes three times. But she refused to go to the dentist. That was just scary.
What she wasn’t expecting was a tiny, squealing brunette, and a beautiful black girl to come barreling down the stairs after her. “Ari! They let you out!” Livi bounced next to her. Ari stopped, startled and slightly confused as she looked from one to the other.
“Oh girl! We were worried they’d make you miss the first day of school. We came to check on you a thousand times but Neemer wouldn’t let us in.” Nevaeh fell into step on Ari’s other side. Ari was surrounded. With a quick grin, Livi grabbed her arm and started dragging her forward, since she still stood in the middle of the staircase, blocking the flow of traffic. It was not what Ari had been prepared for and she wasn’t entirely positive she knew how to handle kindness.
“Come on. If we hurry just a little we can show you where a few of your classes are before we have to go to ours,” Livi said. Ari, not sure what else to do, followed her.
Once they were outside Livi let go of her arm and stopped. “Let’s see that schedule.” Nevaeh took the paper out of Ari’s unresponsive hand. The air was crisp and cool and Ari sucked in a head-clearing lungful, tasting it at the back of her throat.
Livi scurried to Nevaeh’s side and peeked at the schedule. “Oooh! We’ve got Chemistry together! I’ve had Mr. Bell before. He’s great.” Livi was bouncing again as she looked up with an excited grin.
“Me too! We’re gonna rock that class.” Nevaeh started dancing toward the main building. Ari tried not to smile.
She glanced over her shoulder, taking in the plain brick dorms behind her that she hadn’t even had a chance to get bored in yet. Just rectangular, two-story buildings, surrounded by bushes that no doubt had a ton of spiders. Ari shook her head. She hated spiders.
The lawns between the dorms and the main building were beautiful though, with lots of flowers and trees and pathways.
“And I’ve got… Hey! Whatcha lookin’ at? Ya’ll never seen a supermodel before?” Nev snapped at a bunch of sophomores who had stopped nearby and were staring. Ari hadn’t even noticed them. They broke up with guilty glances and scampered away, whispering. Nevaeh cast Ari an impish smile as Ari threw her an incredulous stare. She was about to point out that they were no doubt staring at the whole side of her face, which was still black and blue and slightly puffy, but Nevaeh spoke first, drawing her arm through the crook of Ari’s elbow. “Come on. I’ve got Calculus with you, too. First period. Who in their right mind schedules math first thing in
the morning?” Nevaeh shook her head in disbelief.
“I’ve got Art. About as far away from your room as you can get.” Livi sighed. Frowning at the ground, she looped her arm through Ari’s other elbow. If Ari didn’t know better, she would think they were making sure she didn’t make a run for it. Not that the thought hadn’t crossed her mind, but Ari didn’t run from anything.
“I’ve got Art second period. Whatchya got?” Nevaeh said, but since she still had Ari’s schedule, she checked for herself. Ari hadn’t gotten a word in edgewise since they’d caught her, but that was okay. She wasn’t sure what she would say anyway. A field full of angry Carules all trying to kill her she understood. Friendly high school girls? Not so much. Instead she allowed herself to be led across the courtyard toward the imposing main building, listening in amusement as they debated which of her classes would be worst. “I hate to tell you this, Ari girl, but History is gonna bite big time,” Nevaeh declared sympathetically. “Mr. Greene is old, ornery, and tough. He used to be a marine. I had him freshman year.”
“Me too! Oh no, wait, I had him sophomore year. With Blair. He’s so adorable,” Livi said, batting her eyes with a dreamy expression.
“Yeah he is. What happened to him? I haven’t seen him around.” Nevaeh glanced at Livi as she led them across the lawn, confident and sure.
The grass was still damp with dew and Ari could feel it soaking through her sandals. “He does work study. He’s only got like two classes on campus.” Nevaeh said.
With a start, Ari realized that she had to remind herself that people were staring and whispering. These two had distracted her. She scanned the sea of students for traces of Carules’ magic and gave a sigh of relief when she saw none. So far, so good.
Whenever a spell was thrown, it put off a magic mist that worked kind of like when throwing a rock in a still pond. The ripples flowed out away from where the spell was thrown, getting more and more faint. The more powerful the spell, the more powerful the ripples, and the longer the trace would last. So one of the first clues that there were enemy Carules were spell traces. It was helpful that only she could see them. And the Carules Prodigy, she assumed. Ari always watched for magic traces, or at least she was supposed to.
“This way, Ari girl. See ya Liv!”
The petite brunette bounced away as she called an enthusiastic “See ya!” over her shoulder.
Nevaeh’s dark eyes with their sparkly silver eye shadow crinkled in amusement as she looked up at Ari. “Yes, she always bounces.” Ari opened her mouth to respond but Nevaeh was already weaving through the crowd, chattering over her shoulder. “I hope your ribs are all healed up. We’ve got a nice three-story hike ahead of us. This is why we don’t have an obesity problem at this school,” she joked as they started up the winding staircase.
Ari put in a half-hearted effort to watch for Carules magic while she tried to follow Nevaeh’s spontaneous tour of the building.
“Cafeteria’s here. Gym’s down there. Infirmary is down there. Oh, you knew that already,” Nevaeh said with a chuckle as she continued, “You’re history class is on the second floor, down that hall, around the corner.”
Ari was completely turned around when they arrived in their class.
The buzz of excited voices died instantly as she walked through the door and Ari raised her chin, heading for an empty seat, defiance in her eyes as she caught the curious gazes of the other people in the class.
“Hey Hunter! You saved us a seat. I knew I loved you. Ari! Where ya goin? Over here!” Nevaeh called without pausing for a breath as she settled into a seat in the back near a large boy.
Ari looked over, surprised. This was new, someone asking her to sit by them on her first day.
“Oh come on people. She’s new. She’s gorgeous. Get over it,” Nevaeh said to the room in general.
Ari felt herself blush, an occurrence so unusual she wasn’t sure it had ever happened before. “Will you stop doing that?” she said through clenched teeth as she sank into the seat next to Nevaeh.
“Doing what?” Nevaeh asked innocently.
“Telling everyone I’m… pretty.”
“Why? You are. Beautiful girls should not have to pretend they aren’t just for modesty’s sake. I sure don’t.” Nevaeh threw her that big infectious grin.
Ari couldn’t help but smile back, although she tried a little not to. The noise in the room started up again, gaining in pitch as everyone forgot about her. That was new, too.
“Ari, this is Hunter Millen. One of your knights in shining armor,” Nevaeh said as she leaned back in her seat, balancing on two chair legs so Ari could see around her to the boy on Nevaeh’s left. He had dark brown hair cropped close, golden brown eyes, a square jaw, and he was huge. He looked more like a football linebacker with his wide shoulders and broad chest.
“Hi,” Ari said.
“So you’re Ari?” Hunter leaned forward to study her with intense gold eyes.
Ari frowned. “Last time I checked.”
“Where ya from?” Hunter had a drawl that Ari would guess meant he was from Texas. She’d gone to school there once, in Houston, for six months. Her grandfather had pulled her out when Ari had discovered it was a Mecca of some sort for young Carules. Then her grandfather had sent in a team to ‘take care’ of them all. Ari had refused to go.
Realizing that the whole room was waiting for her to answer, she blinked and focused on Hunter again. “Pennsylvania.”
“What part?”
“Pittsburg.”
“Pittsburg? Why there?”
Ari was annoyed. “Because that’s where my parents lived when I was born.”
“Good grief, Hunter, are you interviewing her for the school newspaper or what?” Nevaeh answered with an embarrassed laugh, giving him an odd look. Maybe it’s a secret code for ‘chill out, you freak’, Ari mused.
A girl sitting in front of Nevaeh leaned toward Ari. “I love your highlights. Where do you get them?”
Ari tipped her head sideways, fingering a bright red strand absently. “My mom.”
“Your mom did them?! That’s amazing! What is she, like a hairstylist or something? Do you think she could do mine?” the girl asked, pulling her blonde hair forward as if Ari could make highlights magically appear.
Ari raised her eyebrows. “Yeah, umm… she doesn’t take new clients. Sorry.” The girl’s face fell and Ari felt like she should say something to make her feel better, but was lost as to what. Honesty and sarcasm were her specialties. Being nice was not.
“Oh but Emma, your hair is gorgeous enough already. Sometimes you can ruin it with all that goin’ on.” Nevaeh said, rescuing the situation. Ari threw her a grateful smile.
“Where is your mom? Still in Pittsburg?” Hunter interrupted.
“New York. And yours? I’m assuming you know where your mother is at all times whether you live in the same state or not, since you obviously expect me to,” Ari snapped.
Hunter sat back in surprise.
“Not used to somebody talkin’ to you like that, are ya Hunter?” Nevaeh asked with a smirk as Hunter struggled with a response, hidden fury racing across his eyes. “See, Hunter’s kind of the strong, silent, frightening type. People don’t feel comfortable snapping at him,” Nev informed Ari, clearly amused.
Ari didn’t break Hunter’s gaze. “I’ve met worse.”
This seemed to interest Hunter and he sat forward again, his scowl deepening. “When?”
Ari shook her head and rolled her eyes toward the ceiling. “I’ve been the new kid more times than you can count, cowboy. I’m used to bullies like you and I hate to ruin your day but sorry, you don’t scare me.” She could feel red sparks itching at her fingertips, pleading to be set free.
Luckily, the teacher walked in just then, and Nevaeh sat forward in her seat, looking over at Hunter uncomfortably as she tried to block Ari from his glare. He ignored her, instead studying Ari for several seconds before leaning around Nevaeh to catch Ari’s eyes. “One
more question,” he whispered. Ari glanced at him out of the corner of her eye but said nothing. “Are you a football fan?”
Surprised, Ari turned to scowl at him for a minute, trying to figure out where this would lead. “Absolutely,” she answered in a fierce whisper, and Hunter nodded once, then dismissed her as he faced the front of the class. Ari glanced at Nevaeh in confusion but Nevaeh shrugged, looking just as baffled as Ari.
“Arianna Delacour?”
Sighing, Ari said, “Here,” and raised her hand.
Ari didn’t mind calculus. She liked math. She liked school, period. It made her feel normal. Monsters didn’t do school, so she couldn’t be a monster, could she?
When the bell rang Ari got up, throwing her things into her bag.
“Your next class is on my way so I’ll walk you. Oh, and I drew you a map from there to third period.” Nevaeh handed her a piece of paper with all sorts of random lines and squiggles and arrows.
“Thank you,” Ari said in surprise, taking the map. If she was the crying kind, she might have teared up a little.
“No problem. My class is clear down on the first floor in the far corner, and I’d never make it up here to help you. So, the map,” Nevaeh explained as she grabbed her bag and started toward the door. She led Ari out into the halls, which Ari finally had the chance to notice were painted a neutral beige, and weren’t lined with lockers like some of her other schools had been. Students flooded out of classrooms as the girls headed down the winding circular staircase.
Nevaeh pointed in a general southerly direction, saying, “Okay, your next class is down one more floor and then follow my map and you’ll be just fine.” She had stopped in front of a door right by the stairs.
“Okay. Thank you.” Ari realized with a start that she was sad to see Nevaeh go. She had to remind herself that making friends would hurt her. Even so, she couldn’t help but look forward to her chemistry class at the end of the day. Just a little.
Chapter Four
