Gemstone Academy

Chapter 5

"You know him?" Blair asked me stunned. I turned away from Lazarus to face her. "Yeah, I grew up with him and he's my f-" I stopped. I don't think I wanted them to know he was my fiancé. "Friend," I said instead.

"And you didn't know he went to school here?" Chris asked raising his eyebrow at me. Was he judging my friendship? Rude.

"I didn't know the name of his school."

"And he didn't say anything when you said you were coming here?" Zoey asked also giving me a weird look.

Damn they were all judging my friendship. Although, he wasn't a close friend. He was just someone who had to be in my life, but I still didn't want them knowing that for some reason. Probably because the whole situation was complicated. Lazarus won't even be my fiancé anymore if I'm able to become queen.

"We have a complicated friendship," I said. The girls and Chris exchanged looks but let the subject drop.

"Either way you're lucky," Blair said. "That guy is gorgeous."

I shrugged. "I guess." I was more worried about who the chick was with him. It always seemed like he liked me and was serious about marrying me. Was it an act? I never liked him like that, but it still kind of hurt to see him so cozy with another girl.

A few minutes later Headmaster Krail came into the dining room followed by other adults. The other adults sat at a table up front and the Headmaster faced us. He raised his hands and everyone quieted.

"Welcome back students! And to the first-year students, welcome to Gemstone Academy! This is where you'll learn how to pretty much rule the world, if you're willing to put in the work required to rule the world."

Rule the world? Well that seemed a little extreme.

"You'll all receive your schedules tomorrow at breakfast, so don't sleep in. Classes will also be starting in the morning, but for now, enjoy dinner!"

Everyone else at my table started grabbing food. I was hungry and wanted to eat also, but now I was distracted after discovering Lazarus was here. I started to look around the dining room for him, but I couldn't find him. There were way too many people here and I couldn't decipher between some of the students faces. I also realized I was looking for someone else I couldn't find, because I noticed the Assistant Headmaster didn't come in with the rest of the teachers.

"Where's the assistant headmaster?" I asked Zoey.

She held up a finger because she was chewing. "We rarely see him," She said after she swallowed. "He's never at meals. Every once in a while, he comes in to talk to the headmaster. Or you see him in the halls. But rarely."

Well that's a huge let down. The one promising thing about this school so far was how attractive the assistant headmaster was. And now Zoey was telling me that I would barely get to see him? How lame.

After we were all done eating we stood to leave. There were groups of students standing in the entrance way. The largest group of people were over by that deserted hallway, just before it started. Lazarus was over there too, with that girl. He said something and she laughed, placing her hand on his chest.

Lazarus looked up and locked eyes with me. His eyes widened and his mouth fell open in total shock. I looked from him to the girl and then back to him. I smirked at him then turned away angrily.

"Elizabeth! Wait!" I heard Lazarus' voice behind me. Against my better judgement I stopped and turned to him.

"Hey! Lazarus! What a surprise!" I said way too sarcastically while throwing my arms up in the air.

Lazarus rolled his eyes and grabbed my arm. He pulled me back into the dining room where it was quieter. There were only a few students left in here, along with some teachers at the head table.

Lazarus let go of me. "What are you doing here?" He asked.

"My parents sent me here," I said sitting down at a table. "They thought it would be a good idea."

Lazarus sat across from me. "But why?"

"The argument I didn't tell you about, well, it was about me saying I would make a better ruler than James."

"Really?" Lazarus asked raising his eyebrows.

I nodded. "So, then they sent me to this stupid school so I could prove myself without sabotaging James' chances."

"Oh...but if you end up being queen then..."

"Then I won't have to marry you," I said finishing his thought.

He nodded and didn't say anything. "I guess that's what you've always wanted. I wish you weren't here."

"Why? So, you can have girlfriends even though you have a fiancé?" I asked angrily. "I'm so sorry to ruin your fun."

"No one here knows I have a fiancé, and if you become queen you'll no longer be my fiancé," Lazarus snapped. He didn't snap very often so it took me by surprise. "I don't want you at this school because it's not good for you here."

I was going to ask why he thought it was no good for me here, but Lazarus kept talking so I didn't get the chance. "But since we may not have to get married now, then I guess we can date whoever we want."

"What? Seriously?" That was the last thing I expected to come out of his mouth.

"Yeah," Lazarus said standing up. "Do whatever you want." And with that he walked away.

"Lazarus!" I shouted after him making other people turn and look at me, but Lazarus kept walking.

I sighed and stood up. I've never seen him act like that before. And why did he think this place was no good for me? And how did I feel about him saying it was okay for us to date other people? I don't know. I was pretty pissed he was with that girl, but that was because he was my fiancé. I guess he was right though, at the moment, we weren't truly engaged. And if we aren't engaged, then we aren't dating either.

I was surprised I was able to make it back to my room without getting lost. Everyone else was already in here. Blair and Lilia were both sitting on their beds facing each other and talking. They seemed like an odd pair, especially since earlier Blair seemed to be annoyed by Lilia. Zoey was on her bed reading another magazine.

"Welcome back!" Lilia said when she saw me.

"Where were you?" Zoey asked.

"Talking to Lazarus," I said.

Blair looked up with interest. "Was he surprised to see you?"

"Yeah, when's curfew?" I asked Zoey wanting to end talking about Lazarus. I didn't want to answer any more questions about him.

"10:30, why?"

I looked at the clock and saw it was only 9:00. "I'm going to go shower."

"Kay."

I gathered my shower things and then left the room. I was glad the bathrooms were right there so I didn't have to walk as far.

The bathroom matched the rest of the castle: Fancy. There was one half that had porcelain sinks and toilet stalls. The other half was shower stalls. I walked to the furthest shower stall and shut the door.

Today had been stressful for me. New school, new place to live, new people, the gold eyed assistant headmaster's reaction to hearing my name, the guy with the red eyes, and finding Lazarus and him acting completely weird.

I just wanted to wash my worries away.