Paradise.

Chapter Eight

THIRTEEN DAYS

I woke to a knock again. Today, I just lay in my bed and thought of my dreams. Seraphinah had invaded them, and the image of her wouldn't leave me. Those bright green eyes staring back at me intently. Her witty comments and her mysterious behavior was enough to turn me inside out. I sat up thinking of my plans of research. Perhaps that could actually work with six people to experiment on. I'd have to be extremely careful, but, in a world with no hope, they'd try anything.

I changed quickly, and Uncle Jonas drove me to school. He seemed more tired than usual, but I assumed it was because of the mating ceremony paperwork. Him being the head superior meant he had to organize everything while the other two did the minor adjustments. I was hoping I'd never have to be superior; it seems like a really hard job.

I walked in and found our group sitting on the floor again. Will and Edward sat on the floor doing something in a textbook. Seraphinah was braiding Jade's long black hair, and she waved at me as I walked up. Janet looked up from where she was doodling and smiled a great smile.

"So, Gabriel," Janet said, "I was just thinking about that research thing, and I am willing to be your guinea pig!" She giggled lightly as Jade yanked on her shirt.

"Janet, this thing isn't going to work you're wasting your time." Jade said. She glared at me, and I wondered why she hated me so much.

"Jade, we don't know yet. We haven't even tried." Seraphinah said, tying Jade's hair off.

"Well, we can start with Janet and work our way down the list." I said smiling.

"Sounds good!" Seraphinah stood up and slung her bag over her shoulder.

"Five seconds." Will said, glancing at his watch.

"You'll have to excuse him. He's always so precise." Edward said, punching Will's shoulder. "Nerd."

The bell rang, and we filed back into the same room we were in yesterday. The teacher passed around new sheets for us to fill out and quietly told us no talking.

I looked down on my paper, but I couldn't figure any of it out. It looked like my parent's autopsy photos and that made my stomach lurch. It was like those biology tests they gave to see how much of the human body we knew only this time is was the mer version. I couldn't figure out what the scientific name for a tail was. I answered the best I could for the human parts and left the rest blank. By the time I finished, everyone else was done and heading out for swim class.

"Well," I began, closing the door, "I just failed that."

"It doesn't matter." Seraphinah said. "I don't even know why they make us take those."

"It's not like it changes our placements." Bridgit said.

"Yeah," Will said, "I thought they determined that at birth."

"It's not very fair." I said, entering the boys locker room.

"Of course it's not fair!" Edward said, flopping down into a seat.

"When has my life ever been fair?" Will said wistfully. He entered the stall to change.

"You know," Edward said, reclining in his seat, "I never thought I'd end up being the kid who didn't Turn."

"I still can't believe this is happening." I said just as Will exited the stall.

"Little William Dixon the third didn't think that would be the case either." Will said sarcastically.

Edward laughed and entered the stall.

"What do we even do in this class?" I asked.

"Sit and get made fun of. Yeah, that seems about right." Will said, grabbing a bottle of water. As Edward exited the stall, Will dumped the water on Edwards head. His spikes lay in dead piles on his head.