Apris Academy

7. First Snow

From the perspective of Diana.

The river around us grows shallow, splitting into dozens of tiny streams, irrigating the Gazoban Gardens of Apris Academy.

When we reach the outskirts of the Gardens, Aiko and I wade through the trickling water, then collapse onto the muddy ground. We're exhausted, soaking wet, and my knee injury is killing me.

We just lay there, looking up at the stars, replaying what just happened in our minds. When I look over at Aiko, I can see her eyes glistening in the moonlight.

"Aiko, are you okay?" I ask.

Tears fall down her red cheeks.

"I'm so sorry, Diana," she says, looking over at me.

"It's not your fault, Aiko," I tell her.

"I know, it's just... I was the one who dragged you out here, but you were the one who got hurt," she says.

"Aiko, you didn't drag me out here. I chose to come. You don't need to feel bad about it. Come on, let's go back to the dorm. I can clean up my knee and you can pet Mango or something," I say, standing up.

Mango is our orange-furred dorm room cat. She's also Aiko's unofficial support animal.

I help Aiko up, and we walk back to Apris Academy.

***

I sit in the bath, washing off my knee, while Aiko sits at the edge, holding Mango in her arms.

"That's a lot of blood..." Aiko says. She sounds like she wants to throw up.

"Yeah," I look down at the swirling red blood in the water.

"Diana... Um, do you think we're... safe? At Apris Academy?" she nervously fiddles with Mango's ear.

I'm a little thrown off by the question. Safe? At Apris Academy?

At any other time, I would have said that yes, we are completely safe, but now...

After Deimos's murder? After being chased by that monster from the shed?

I have no idea if we're even safe in our own dorms.

"No," I say, "I don't think we're safe here."

***

"Diana, wake up," I can feel Aiko shaking my shoulders. "We're late for class."

Crap. It's 6:45, and I have to be in class by 7:00. All of the other girls are gone by now.

I stumble out of bed and search through my trunk to find a decent outfit. I don't have enough time to take a shower, so I quickly brush my tangled hair and pull it into a ponytail.

Aiko brushes her teeth and quickly pours some food into Mango's bowl.

We throw on our coats and run down the spiral stairs that lead to the Commons. Aiko and I part ways at the bottom of the stairs; she's going to English Lit, and I'm going to Philosophy.

My class is in a building on the other side of the campus. I rush out the front doors of Apris Academy and into the freezing morning air. The frosted grass crunches beneath me, and I can feel the icy wind through my shirt.

I quietly open the door to Philosophy, desperately trying to sneak in unnoticed. Mr. Callinger, the professor, is writing on the chalkboard.

"Care to join us, Ms. Decker?" he says, turning around to face me.

"Yes, sir," I say, looking down. I walk to my desk and sit.

Mr. Callinger writes something on his clipboard. Aggressively.