The Mysterious Benedict Society Meets the Mysterious Miss F

Chapter 10

Constance felt, for the first time in her life, embarrassed. The way the elven students glanced at her in the hallways made her slightly self conscious. She was the new girl, and to make matters worse, she was the shortest student in the school! But Constance mustered her courage and walked into the cafeteria after an exhausting and confusing first classes.

Little did Constance know that the real reason the other students were so interested in her, was because they thought she was another Sophie. Another Moonlark.

Constance pushed open the doors and stood, looking for a familiar face among the crowd of students. She saw Sophie Foster and started to make her way over to her, but stopped. What if Sophie didn't want to sit with her?
Well screw it, Constance thought, back to her normal self for a moment. She walked to an empty table after getting her lunch of mushy, colorful vegetables. A blond girl with tiny braids sat across the table. Sensing Constance watching her, she snapped, "Don't talk to me."

Well, someone's antisocial. But Constance shrugged and started poking at the purple substance on her tray that suspiciously looked like dyed applesauce.

Her mind was whirling while she thought of Atlantis the day before. But she wasn't concerned about Ruy or Gethen or whoever the Neverseen were. She wasn't even worried about this "Moonlark". The thing Constance was pondering over was the realization of not being human. The more she thought about it, the more real it felt. She could feel it in her gut. And if she wasn't human, then she most definitely didn't have human parents.

Constance was never before interested in her biological family. She loved her adoptive father, Mr. Benedict, dearly and could ask for no better father. She was still positive no one could be better than him, but now a curiosity burned inside her. It flamed her insides and consumed her thoughts. She racked her brain for potential parents, but unfortunately, the only adults she met were Mr. Forkle and her teachers. There has to be a way...

"Hey," Constance said suddenly, surprising even herself when she spun around at the antisocial girl with braids.

"What?" The girl said glumly, downcast. Constance was taken aback by her sudden sadness.

"What's your name, and um, is anything uh-" Constance tried an empathetic reproach, but quickly just blurted out, "What's wrong with you? Once second, you're all "don't talk to me" and the next it's like you're sad you don't have friends!"

Constance was surprised to see the girl give her a small smile. She looked at her for a second, as if in thought of whether to answer or not. Constance refrained from diving in her mind.

"Marella." She said simply, going back to her food.

"What?" Constance hoped that wasn't a secret elf code.

"You asked for my name," The girl reminded her. "Its Marella. Not Mare. Not Ella."

"Okay... Marella. I'm Constance. Have you ever heard of the last name Contraire?" Constance asked, trying to sound like she was purely curious and not planning a bigger scheme.

"Contraire..." Marella murmured, thinking hard. "No, I haven't." When she saw the disappointed look on Constance's face, she quickly added. "But there's a way to find out."

"Really?" Constance asked suspiciously.

"Yeah. And I'm willing to show you on one condition." Marella said with gleam in her eyes.

"What?" Constance asked, excitement growing inside her.

"I'll be in on it." Marella said, tossing her hair over her shoulder. "I'll help you and you'll include me. No ditching me." She said, and Constance could've sworn she saw a fire in Marella's eyes. It startled her, but Constance wasn't sure she was ready to include anyone else. This was a very... personal mission. But Marella seemed alright, like she wouldn't spill all Constance's secrets. But I can always blackmail her, Constance thought, knowing she didn't give a care for the elven rules of telepathy.

"Deal." Constance said, her grin widening. "So... where are we going?"
"You want to go now?!" Marella exclaimed.

"The sooner the better." Constance replied. "I'm not a very patient person, in case you can't tell."

Marella chuckled and stood up. "Follow me."

After emptying their lunch trays, (Constance still wasn't up to trying the purple mush) they snuck out of the cafeteria and into the school hallways. It was much quieter now than it was when students were rampaging in the school halls like elephants.

"Where in the world are we going?!" Constance hissed when Marella turned left after what felt like centuries. "Lunch will be over by the time we get back!"

"Chill, Constance. It's only been ten minutes." Marella said, glancing behind her at a huffing Constance. "Besides, it's right there." She pointed to a glass office that was shaped as a pyramid. "It's Magnate Leto's office. He's like the principle of the school."

"I knew that." Constance lied, racing forward. Sophie had probably told her when she explained the school, but Constance hadn't been paying attention.

Once they got inside and carefully locked the door, checking to make sure no one was there, Constance let out a breath and immediately started scanning shelves. "Is this where the Foxfire files are?"
"Yeah," Marella said, searching for something in Magnate Leto's desk, "and I was thinking we could look up 'Contraire' and see which student we find, if they went to Foxfire of course..."
"Where else would they have gone? And what's that?" Constance pointed at the device held triumphantly in Marella's hands.

"This is the digital file." Marella said, her eyes already scanning the names pulled up, "we just have to find Contraire... you don't have a first name, do you?"

"No, just a last name..." Constance said uneasily, hoping Marella could find it.

"Are you sure Contraire is an elf? 'Cause I don't see a name." Marella said, confused. Constance felt her heart skip a beat.

"No, he is definitely an elf." She confirmed. They have to be? How else do I have powers? If only I had my mother's maiden name too... "Maybe they didn't go to school here."

"Well, there is one other place. But elves only go there when banished. It's a school called Exilium." Marella explained. "And who is Contraire anyway? Why are you so interested in them?"

"I-I heard their name... Sophie mentioned it..." Constance stuttered, glad she hadn't given herself away. But Marella's eyes narrowed at the word "Sophie".

"Oh." Marella said, "Well, class starts soon, so I'm leaving. I also don't feel like getting in detention today." When she reached the door, she stopped and called back. "And if you need help, I'd ask an important technopath, like Dex." She said coldly before walking away.

"Marella...?" Constance called after her, confused. But she shook her head and confusion was soon replaced with excitement as she thought about Exilium...

Now where can I find this Dex?