Ivy Cordelia Boarding School

Chapter Ten

sky.

I was finally, actually here. Here as in Ivy Cordelia- as in the school of my freaking dreams. It was just me and my laptop bag, since I'd sent the rest of my belongings over yesterday. I was told, in a brief email, that I'd be permitted entrance to the school at 1:30. My meeting with the Dean was a short ten minutes later. The email was accompanied with a small map leading me to my destination.

I hot foot it over, secretly hoping to bump into some really hot guy with rock hard abs like they do in all of the books. Unfortunately, I made it there sans incident with the model-like teen I'd obviously end up marrying. That'd come a little later in the year, I'm sure.

I make it to the heavy oak doors of her office, admiring the more modern take on older boarding schools. It held a nice balance between old and stuffy crumbling brick, and stiff and cold whites and marbles.

I love learning and I crave to get as many lessons out of life as possible before I'm gone. And you'll never learn any real life knowledge without real life lessons. But it's surprising that not even twenty minutes into my day at ICBS, I learn a really big one. NEVER STAND BEHIND A DOOR THAT ISN'T GLASS. I mean, it should be obvious that the people inside can't see you.

Still, for some reason I can't fathom, I make that exact mistake. Learning, in the worst way possible, how bad an oak door feels smacking you directly in the face. Especially when shoved open by an angry boy who looks like he bench presses refrigerators for a living. I mean...mini ones- but, still refrigerators.

"It was supposed to be your abs" I whisper, and then all I see is black.

*

I wake up in what I quickly realize is the nurse's office, the light's feeling as if they're damaging my corneas once I peel my eyes open. Since I don't immediately assume the bright white room I'm in is the hospital, I'm sure my brain's not damaged. "She's up, doc" a voice as smooth, and sensuous, as chocolate drizzle running down an ice cream sundae says from beside me. I turn my head quickly, wincing at the throbbing protest from every fiber of my being, leading directly back to my head.

"Careful, Skylar" he says gently, looking at me with bottle green eyes, set beneath a line of thick lashes. "Give her the pills on the stand beside you. Maybe taking care of the mess you've made will help you get a leash on your anger, Damien" another voice in the room says. It's a woman this time, with a voice of a movie grandma figure. She sounded as if she'd make cookies for her patients, if she wasn't scolding someone at the moment. Still, her voice sounded sweet.

I refuse, though, to turn towards that one. Instead, I focus on the messy- browed boy beside me.

"I could pluck those. I took a class, once" I say, absentmindedly reaching for his face. He doesn't put up a fuss as I stroke his brow with my thumb, tilting a small cup of pills to my parted lips. He only sports an amused smile on sexy lips that are made even better by the small scar on the top right of his mouth.

"Take these. They'll make your head feel a lot better" he says, and so I do, accepting the water he offers as well. "Thank you, Damien, who has caused this mess. Why ARE you so angry?" I ask, dropping my tired arm back to my side.

"I may or may not be in trouble for sneaking back onto the school grounds past curfew. In my defense, Skylar, I left before curfew ended and was only late by two minutes. I mean, who punishes someone for being two minutes late?".

"The Dean, I guess. Maybe if you wouldn't have tried to sneak back onto the grounds, you wouldn't have been punished. If you think about it, you though you deserved to be in trouble, as well".

He groans, downing the rest of the water from my cup. "I just smacked you across the face with a door. Why are you making so much sense right now? And I wasn't going to bring this up, so as not to embarrass you, but now I think you deserve it. Why were you talking about my abs earlier?".

I giggle, and feel instant regret. "I was supposed to bump into a guy with rock hard abs on my way to the Dean's office, but instead, I was KO'd by a door. I suppose, in an abstract way, this is that exact scenario. You know, if you squint a little bit and tilt your head to the side".

He chuckles, resting his elbows on his knees and peering down at me curiously. "I do agree with you, I do. And I like you, too, you know that. Everyone's been complaining about how aliens were going to be infiltrating our school today. But, in my opinion, an alien invasion sounded pretty freaking cool. You proved my hypothesis correct, Skylar Compton".

I grin up at him, somehow feeling miles better than before he made that statement.

"Great. Now, about those eyebrows".