Let's Play A Game, Alpha

23 - Flora & A Unicorn Named Shirley

"Flora, let me see your homework." I said.

I was at Riverwells Boarding School. Following Lucian's order, which I suppose she could not disobey because of all the compelling Alpha crap, Genie had dropped me off to Flora. She had left without saying anything else. Genie needed time to herself now. My presence, with the added package of my sometimes idiotic mouth, would not bring back Vaughn from the dead. Lucian was still in the woods, for all I cared. I had already promised myself that I would fight tooth and nail for Genie's place in his pack.

No dumb law could make me abandon my friend.

After a long run-in with Mama Jean, to which she somehow managed to lecture me about good posture without taking a single breath, I was in Flora's room. Riverwells was a gargantuan school with less than 500 kids, so each child got their own room. To get my mind off what had just happened, I had helped Flora decorate her room with posters of kittens and her latest obsession, Doctor Who.

The room was as childlike as they came. A darling white dresser stood to the side with vases of fresh flowers provided by Mama Jean, who apparently felt was her need to "brighten these kid's lives with a touch of nature." The bed, which I was currently draped over, was far too small to fit my tall frame. It was covered with black sheets but these, unlike Lucian's, actually worked with the pink and white room. The wallpaper was flesh-colored with tendrils of tiny red roses. 

Flora handed me a folder and jumped next to me on the bed. Her bottom tooth had fallen out, giving her small face an even more adorable look. Thankfully, Professor Stinklehoffen's cold attitude hadn't rubbed off on Flora. Straightening up, I opened the folder which was filled with artwork.

"Flora, these are amazing." I slipped out a charcoal drawing on thick parchment of a rose. For a 6-year-old, it had amazing quality. The rose was partially finished with contrasts between light and dark shades. 

"Thank!" Flora beamed proudly. "It was the art project we just turned in. Miss Kinnian, the art teacher, is really nice. She says I have a 'enabilty.' I think that is a good thing."

"An ability." I laughed, putting the drawing back. The next one was a pencil sketch. It looked to be of soldiers at war, much like a castle under siege. People were scattered all over, with swords and knives and blood. Concern was one of the first things I felt. What was this Miss Kinnain teaching the kids to draw? Death certainly was an interesting topic, given that I had just lost someone, but it was not something I would like my baby sister to be drawing. But Flora looked immensely proud, so I said nothing.

"It is a painting I imitated called Helm's Deep. It's by a man named....I forget." Flora scrunched her face up. "I dunno know, someone's name that ended with Lee. Anyways, Miss Kinnian gave me an A1. She said the drawing had 'a perfect imitation of the destruction that Lee represented.' I don't know what that means, but it must be good."

"Well, it certainly has style." I chuckled, putting it back. I pulled out the last one in the folder. My heart sank when I saw the picture. It was a simple crayon drawing, unlike the other ones she had made. I stared at the messy scrawl of Lucian, with an arrow that pointed to his head and said his name, holding the hand of a stick figure me with scribbled pink hair. Between us, at a shortened height, was Flora. She was holding a white puppy with black spots. Behind us was an unfinished sketch of a large building titled 'Our House.' Flowers poked from the teal-colored ground and the sky was a majestic black. A random unicorn with only 3 legs stood beside me.

"That was just something I drew in my free time." Flora said softly. "I got bored for a moment. Look, that's you." She pointed to the pink-haired girl. "And that is Lucian. And that's me. I am holding a puppy that Vaughn bought for me. It's what I want us to be like in the future, Victoria. I want Lucian and you to be happy. Then I want a puppy. And a unicorn." she pointed to the unicorn beside me. ''She has to look like this. I'll name her Shirley. She has only 3 legs because a mean man named Viktor cut it off to make an evil potion for his immortality spell.