Silverwood Academy Book 1

by Jasmaine Groth

  He held his hands out. “Geez. I was just joking,” he walked away, shaking his head. I poured myself another drink, extra strong and walked back to the girls, sipping on my rum and coke, my hips shimmying.

  Anna looked at me questioningly. “Why did Oliver walk past here all wet and angry?”

  I looked innocently at her. “He stole my drink, so I threw it on him,” I shrugged. “I couldn’t risk drinking it after his mouth had been all over.”

  Anna shook her laughing. Grace put her arm around me grinning. “That’s bloody brilliant,” she said, laughing.

  We continued dancing through the night, and eventually we stumbled back towards our dorm, Anna, Sophia and I stumbled back to the vampire dormitories, I lost track of where the other girls went.

  “Oh my god!” I exclaimed a little too loudly, touching Sophia’s hair. “Have I ever told you how beautiful your hair is? I want red hair!” I held her hair up against my face and looked at Anna. “What do you think? Does it suit me?” Anna howled with laughed and Sophia grumbled about me pulling her hair so hard. “Ergh, Anna how the hell are you a vampire? You look more like an angel!” Anna blushed so pink. I was probably gonna regret all this tomorrow, but that was tomorrow’s problem, and right now I was so drunk I didn’t even care, I didn’t even have a filter.

  Selene came storming past with Silver and Dawn in tow, glaring at me and shaking her head. “Someone can’t handle their liquor,” Selene said to Silver and Dawn, they both laughed like it was the funniest they ever heard.

  I giggled. “Aww someone’s just jealous their boyfriend likes me more,” I said loudly to Sophia and Anna, so Selene and her friends could hear. Selene growled at me, like actually growled, fangs bared and all.

  I laughed so hard I tripped over, strong arms grabbed hold of me before I could hit the ground, I looked up to see who caught me, suddenly feeling nauseous and like someone had kicked me in the stomach. Immediately sobering up. It was him. The man who chased me through the streets and terrorised me. His hair was still styled in that perfect messy way, his intense dark eyes looking at me but this time judgingly, his strong jawline and the stubble that was along his jaw. A breath caught in my throat as fear trembled up my spine. “Not you again,” I breathed.

  “Are you drunk?” he asked, raising an eyebrow. A giggling came from behind him which I could only imagine came from Selene. He looked at Anna. “Miss Clarke, please make sure you get your drunk friend back to her room safely.” He let go of me and Anna grabbed hold of me, so I didn’t fall. He started walking off.

  I pulled myself out of Anna’s arms. “Hey!” I yelled out after him. “You have a lot of explaining to do.” I stumbled after him as he continued to walk away. “You kidnapped me! You! You bit me!”

  He paused and turned around, rolling his eyes. “You’re drunk, go to your room before you get a detention,” he turned and started to walk away. “And honestly, the biting part was no fun for me either!”

  I ran after him, stumbling, heat rising to my cheeks, my cheeks flushing, embarrassment swept over me, and the need to defend myself. “Hey! You get back here! What do you mean? I am extremely bite-able and delicious!” Before I even finished the sentence, he was gone in a blur. “Argh!” I cried out in frustration. “That annoying life stealing jerk!” Stomping back to Anna.

  Selene was still laughing, her notebook held up pointing at me as if she were filming me and a snarl escaped my mouth as I rounded on her. “Stop filming me you desperate twat!” I yelled at her, rage coiling in my stomach, suddenly two sharp objects popped out of my mouth and pierced my lips, the taste of blood filled my mouth, and the sweet smell filled the air. “Urgh! Again!” I dabbed at my lip with my finger, trying to stop it from bleeding. Selene hurried off with her friends, whispering amongst themselves as they hurried along the path through the woods ahead of her.

  We walked back to the dormitories in silence, my mood sour. We headed up the steps, Sophia left us with a goodbye at the third floor and we continued up to the fifth.

  We stood outside my door and I fumbled with my key, trying to get it into the lock. “Either this lock shrunk, or my key got bigger because it won’t fit,” I mumbled more to myself than anyone else. My key finally went into the keyhole and I whooped, only for someone to yell “Shut up, I’m trying to sleep” across the hall from me. “Whoops!” I said a little too loudly, giggling. “Shhhhh!” I muttered to myself.

  Anna giggled. “I’m going to bed now,” she whispered. “I’ll see you in the morning for breakfast.” She waved goodbye as she walked down the half.

  I waved back and walked into my room, shutting the door a little too loudly behind me. “Oops!” I bit my lip, someone yelled out “shut up” from the room next to me. I laughed and headed to the shower to get ready for bed.

  ***

  I lay in bed, my head pounding, sweat beading above my brow. I felt like someone was clapping cymbals in my head and I didn’t want to open my eyes, knowing it’ll only get worst. I groaned, recalling the events from last night. Oh my god! I made a fool of myself!

  A light knock on my door made me groan as the sound penetrated my skull. I rolled out of bed and opening the door. Sophia was standing there in her school button up shirt, blazer and school skirt, her red hair curled perfectly, wearing red lipstick and her makeup perfectly done. She grinned at me, her teeth shining so bright it hurt my eyes to look at. She held up a coffee in her hand and I sighed. “I could kiss you right now,” I took the cup off her and took a sip, sighing as the warm liquid met my mouth.

  She looked back at me and an awkward look on her face. “Mmm… let’s not confuse our friendship with that?” she suggested, I laughed. “So, I added a little blood from the cafeteria to that one. See how you like it and I’ll take this other coffee to Anna, she still hasn’t emerged yet. You have to get ready in your uniform now as there’s barely any time before we all have to go to the auditorium for the back to school assembly.” Sophia was like a ray of sunshine, very chipper.

  “Thanks,” I replied, Sophia waved at me as she headed down the hall to knock on Anna’s room. A grumbling came from inside her room and Anna answered the door, her golden blonde hair sticking in every direction and she glared at Sophia.

  I laughed and shut my door, glad that I wasn’t the only one suffering from a giant hangover. I sipped on the coffee, tasting the sweetness of the blood mixed in with the bittersweetness of the coffee. It was an amazing combination, and the more I drank the more my headache vanished.

  Pulling the school uniform from my closet, the blazer, button up white shirt and the black and red checkered skirt, clean underwear. It was all plain white, black or nude, no cute lace or sexy underwear, just simple t-shirt bras and cotton underwear, I got changed, and stood in the bathroom, sipping my coffee while I curled my waist length black hair with the hair straightener that was provided.

  When my hair was curled perfectly, I shook my hair, watching the light catch it, the curls falling out as I ran my fingers through it. Better. I applied makeup and added a gloss to my naturally pink lips. I blew myself a kiss feeling slightly giddy from all the blood and coffee. I slapped some sunscreen all over the rest of my body, sunglasses perched on top of my head, just in case I needed them.

  I grabbed my key and the notebook from my nightstand putting it in my bag heading out the door, locking it behind me. Sophia and Anna were walking towards my room.

  Anna looked a lot more awake and ready for the day, her hair was brushed and hung in loose waves at her shoulders, makeup applied and sipping on her coffee. She was wearing the blazer and skirt combo like Sophia and myself. I fell into step with them as we made our way to the ground floor. “This coffee is so great! I woke up with a killer hangover and now it’s gone!” I told Sophia.

  Sophia grinned. “That’s because of the blood, it helps get rid of the hangover quicker,” she said.

  Anna looked at Sophia impressed. “That is genius! You get the coffee kick as well as the blood rush
!” she commented.

  I looked at them. “Is that why I’ve been feeling giddy like someone spiked my coffee?” I asked jokingly.

  Sophia threw her head back and laughed. “Technically I did, but with blood.” We all laughed, stepping down onto the ground floor.

  All eyes turned on us, for a minute nobody moved, they just stared. I shrugged off the tingling sensation that was running up my spine, making me uncomfortable and held my head up high and ignored everyone’s stares, whispers broke out a second later. I looked at Sophia who looked super guilty, Anna elbowed her giving her a look I couldn’t quite figure out.

  “What’s going on?” I asked.

  “You don’t go on the s-book, do you?” Anna asked innocently.

  “What’s s-book?” I asked.

  Sophia looked at me and smiled half-heartedly and shrugged. “It’s social media for the supernatural.”

  “And?” I continued. “What about it?”

  “Well…” Anna started, trailing off. “After we went to bed last night Selene may have…”

  “Posted a video of you drunk and saying that you’re extremely bite-able and delicious,” Sophia finished quickly in one breath.

  I groaned. “Are you kidding me?” I rolled my eyes. “It can’t be that bad… can it?”

  Sophia looked at Anna who shrugged at her, Sophia held her hand out. “Give me your notebook and I’ll show you.” I pulled it out of my bag, handing it to her and watched as she flicked through the home screen and tapped on a little “s” icon that was red, the screen loading up. It had heaps of notifications, Sophia scrolled down the bottom to the very first notification. It read Selene Kennedy tagged you in a video, Sophia clicked on it and passed me back the device.

  I sat down on the couch wordlessly, watching the video, reading the caption she put. Natasha Marshall says she’s bite-able and delicious, while propositioning Professor Sterling Blackwell. The question is… how would she even know? Does she bite herself? I mean whatever kink you’re into but don’t broadcast it across the school! Then below that was a video of me shouting out to the man they call Professor Blackthorne to “get back here” and then it cut out to me saying to a blur of darkness “I’m bite-able and delicious!”. Then it replayed over again.

  I’ll bite her if he doesn’t – Duncan Fox commented with a winky face. Another student called Adrienne Vargas commented Headmistress Claudia Nightwing is this even allowed? And to my horror she replied with: It’s not against the school rules #bitingisallowedjustnotsex

  I groaned sinking into the chair further. It really didn’t look good for me. She did make it look like I was trying to proposition him. “Fuck!” I muttered.

  ***

  Chapter 3:

  Walking into the auditorium we found some seats at the back, sinking into them as people filed in. Grace sat in one of the chairs nearby, smiling at me sympathetically. “I saw what happened on s-book. Are you okay?” she asked kindly.

  I held my head up high, refusing to feel embarrassed. I was drunk and I did not proposition him. “I’m great,” I told her.

  My eyes scanned the crowds and my eyes met with a pair of dark brown eyes and Oliver grinned at me, heading towards me, Isaac following behind him and another guy. He was tan with dark brown hair, he had one fully blue eye and the other was half blue and half light brown, he had dark brown stubble across his face and looked bored.

  Isaac grinned at Anna and she smiled back, blushing. “Hey gorgeous,” he said to her and she blushed a rosy hue of pink.

  “Hey,” Anna replied, smiling brightly, her blue eyes sparkling, looking exactly like water as the light hits it.

  Oliver kneeled on the chair that was a row down from mine, his arms folded over the top, his chin resting on his arms. “I heard you got up to a lot of mischief after I left you last night,” he teased. I rolled my eyes and he continued. “Heard you propositioned a teacher last night.”

  I smirked at him. “Why? You jealous?” I asked him.

  He laughed and shook his head. “As if, I’m much better looking than Professor Blackwell.”

  At that moment, Sterling Blackwell walked into the auditorium, his eyes met mine and I couldn’t quite tell if he was amused or pissed off, his eyes had an amused glint to them like he was thinking something funny, but the way his jaw was clenched and his mouth set in a hard line made me think he was cranky. I wonder if he had read the post. At that thought heat flooded to my face and I knew I was blushing, he looked up at me and I couldn’t tear my eyes away.

  He made me so angry, but I couldn’t help but look him up and down. Staring at the way his shirt clung tightly to muscly chest, his jawline, his brown eyes, his brown hair that had natural highlights from the sun bleaching it, his hair was styled in the exact same messy way it has been every single time I’ve seen him.

  He infuriated me. He seemed like an arrogant jerk and he said that biting me wasn’t very fun. Why did it even offend me?

  My eyes travelled down his chest and the way his button down white shirt clung to him, you could tell there was abs underneath his shirt, and that ‘v’ that guys have, his shirt was rolled up over his bulging forearms and a shiver was sent up my spine, reminding me that I was openly perving on him in a room full of people.

  When my eyes met his amusement twinkled in his eyes, like he knew I had been checking him out, his lips twitched at the corner of his mouth and I blushed even harder. Oh my god! He knows I was just checking him out! I

  glared at him, pretending like I wasn’t just checking him out. Maybe I did proposition him? Of course I didn’t… did I? He glared right back, still looking hot as he did, walked down to the centre of the auditorium, standing on the round stage to the side near a bunch of other people, from my guess they were other Professors.

  Headmistress Nightwing was there, her hair pulled back into a sleek bun, she was wearing a black dress and red stilettos, standing with Melissa and a man with deep reddish-brown skin, a full beard and dreadlocks.

  I turned back to Oliver and he looked at me with an eyebrow raised. “As long as you think so,” I said jokingly. Oliver snorted.

  The guy with multi-coloured eyes gave me a half smile. “I’m Nic,” he said. “You must be Natasha. I’ve read a lot about you this morning.” He winked at me.

  I laughed. “I think everyone has.”

  The Headmistress walked over to the podium in the middle of the platform and cleared her throat. The auditorium silenced and Oliver turned to face the front of the room, Isaac turned away from a blushing Sophia who looked at me with wide eyes, Nic sat down staring straight ahead.

  I looked towards the front of my room, my eyes looking over everyone standing in the middle of the platform. My eyes strayed to Professor Blackwell, he was standing to the side with his arms behind his back, looking at the headmistress. This is all his fault! I remembered the way his teeth sunk into my flesh, the way the tables were thrown in such a fierce way they splintered, the pain in my scalp from him yanking me up by my hair.

  “Good morning!” Headmistress Nightwing said into the microphone, her soft voice carrying through the speakers. “I trust everyone had a great night before classes resume.” Professor Blackwell looked up at me, hopefully from feeling my glare boring into him, his eyebrows raised slightly.

  I turned away from him to look at the Headmistress, she was still talking. “Here at Silverwood Academy we encourage excellence, strength and determination.” I could still feel eyes on me, and I looked back towards Blackwell to see him still staring at me, I glared at him while taking a sip from my coffee. The speech rang on, but I tuned out, averting my gaze to stare at the back of Oliver’s head.

  When the assembly finished, I stood waiting for the line to start moving so I could move out. “What are you doing tonight?” Oliver asked, smiling up at me.

  I shrugged. “I don’t know yet.”

  Oliver flashed me a cheeky smile. “Why don’t we have a party of our own in your room?”

  I
laughed at his subtlety, which was non-existent. “I’d rather not.”

  He smirked up at me, his eyes glinting with amusement. “Come on, I’ll even bite you if I have to,” he winked at me, “help satisfy some of those cravings.”

  I pretended to think about it. “I think I’d rather bite myself. I am delicious after all,” I winked at him before following the moving line towards the door. Anna stepped out ahead of me and I found myself face-to-face with Blackwell again, he was looking at me all serious.

  “I’m afraid if you continue on biting yourself, we are going to have to request you speak to a counsellor about your… issues.” Blackwell said.

  Oliver roared with laughter and I glared up at Blackwell, crossing my arms over my chest. “Do you listen in on everyone’s conversations?” I demanded, crossing my arms. Then he was gone in a flash. I shook my head, stomping out of the auditorium, opening my notebook to find my schedule.

  Timetable:

  Period 1 – Enhanced Senses 101 with Professor Bradshaw

  Period 2 – Control 101 with Professor Winters

  Lunch

  Period 3 – Compulsion 101 with Professor Blackthorne

  Period 4 – Physical Exercise with Professor Blackwell (Great, just bloody brilliant)

  Period 5 – Gifts and Powers 101 with Professor Pierce

  Every Tuesday and Thursday at 10pm we had a Night Vision 101 class with Professor Blackthorne, and every Wednesday and Friday instead of Physical Exercise we had Attack and defend 101 with Professor Blackthorne and Professor Rushford, who from the orientation I found out was the man, with dreadlocks, speaking with the Headmistress and Melissa in the auditorium.

  Sophia and Anna had the same classes as me, so we headed off in the direction of our second class as we missed first period due to the orientation. We stood outside the classroom with the rest of our classmates, chatting about classes.

  Professor Winters came striding forward, unlocking the classroom, running a hand through his dark hair and walking through the door. The rest of us walked through the door, the classroom had desks and chairs sitting in an arc around a desk at the front of the room, each row of desks slowly rising a step higher than the last. We had found three desks towards the back of the classroom and planted our stuff down, opening my notebook to the class I was attending and waiting for the lecture to begin, staring at a blank screen.