Before The Ravens Sing (✔️, EDITING)

Chapter 2: Sister Stare Down Commencing in 3, 2, 1

She inched closer and extended her hand toward me. At that moment, a wave of utter uncomfortableness swept over me. Standing in front of me was none other than the princess herself, Lizbeth Adelaide Wyndham— the very half-sister, who was rightfully chosen in utero over my own mother's growing fetus.  I would've been lying if I didn't admit that right at that moment, I not only felt overwhelmed about my current situation, but I really wanted to strangle her with that five hundred dollar cashmere scarf around her neck. 

Instead of committing a felony on my first day at school, I decided to swallow my ego and be minimally nice. I wiped my hand off on my pant leg and stuck it out for her to shake. She clasped my hand with her dainty hand and perfectly polished fingernails. I looked down at our hands in one another and the only thought I had was about my own terribly taken care of short nails, which were coated in chipping black nail polish. I must have been the picture of perfection compared to her.

"Yep, that's me, Talia Grey," I said, as I pointed at myself with my other free hand, just in case she had forgotten exactly who I was in the span of fifteen minutes. 

"I'm really glad that we have this chance to get to know each other, Tali. I can call you Tali, right?" she asked, as she smiled at me with her perfectly white teeth and blush pink colored lips.

"Actually, I prefer Talia. It's just an extra "a" on the end, shouldn't be too hard." I smirked a really disgusted smirk in her direction and her eyes settled on my face, examining me. When her gaze hit my nose region she cringed a tad and then composed herself. A sudden wave of self-consciousness swept over me and I placed my fingers up to my nose, feeling the metal of the thin back nose ring that sat sandwiched to the side.

In all my seventeen years on this earth, I'd never felt self-conscious. I also never felt like I didn't fit in somewhere. I may have liked to be invisible, because it saved me the hassle of dealing with people, but I hated feeling like I didn't belong. 

I could sense that Lizbeth realized she had made me uncomfortable, because her demeanor shifted back to the previous kind and bubbly persona. "You're really beautiful, Talia. I'm sure that you will have all the guys here eating out of the palm of your hand in no time." She made it a point to stress the "a" at the end of my name; a straight up yours aimed in my direction.

"Actually, I'm not interested in doing the whole boy thing. I'll focus on boys once I get to London after grad."

"No boys! What an awful thought, Talia. Surely, you can't mean that?" Her eyes became wide as saucers and I could sense that she wanted nothing more than to dish some juicy boy gossip with the newcomer.

"Yeah, sorry. Unless said boy is Nick Bateman with the drop dead gorgeous bedroom eyes, then I'll stick to keeping my head down. Thanks though," I casually stated, as I turned around to finish unpacking, while secretly praying that she would lose interest in me all together and the year would be filled with uncomfortable silences and maybe the occasional note sharing. 

"Well, we don't have any Nick Batemans at this academy, but we do have some equally amazing eye-catchers. So, Talia, I guess if you aren't interested in talking boys and surely aren't interested doing the whole sisterly thing, then what do you suggest we talk about? Otherwise, it's going to be a long year," she said, as she sat on the edge of her twin bed and crossed her legs, swaying her one foot up and down.

"Listen Lizbeth, I'm sure that you are an awesome roommate, but I'm not really looking for the whole long lost sister thing. I'm also too busy to make friends." I went back to unpacking my clothes and placing them in my drawer space. 

I heard her get up off the bed and come to stand directly behind me. I spun around to face her, her hands were on her hips and a look of irritation laced her face. "Let's get something straight, Talia. You will thank me for being your friend eventually. Until then, I am going to give you a few pieces of the best advice you will ever receive. Number one, don't forget that you might be a Grey to others, but you are a Wyndham. Number two, that being said, do yourself a favor and never tell anyone that you are."