Mine {h.s.}

Chapter Two.

I walk out of the room with him, my carry-on in hand. I am a little suspicious of Alex. To say the truth, he scares me a little. The fact that now he is giving me the tour doesn't help with that fact either. I am going to be alone with him for the next hour or so and that isn't helping my nerves.

"Would you like a tour or would you like to go to your room first?" Alex asks me, snapping me out of my thoughts.

"My room, please," I reply softly.

"OK." Alex leads me out into the lobby where I first had walked in. He walked over to a staircase that I hadn't noticed before and started walking up it with me trailing behind. We continue walking for sometime up the giant staircase. It looked ornate, like it had taken a hundred workers to carve them. I realize that Alex hasn't said anything for a while. I realize that I haven't either. It soon becomes awkward as we walk down the hallway, finally reaching my room.

"Um. Do you have a room key?" I ask Alex. He smiles and whips out a key, unlocking the door and motioning for me to walk inside. I walk in and he trails behind me. I explore the expanse of my room. It was fairly sized, a little bigger than a normal dorm room. All my things are placed around my room, just as I had asked. I turn back to Alex.

"OK," I say as I put down my carry-on. "Can we start the tour?"

"Of course. I just need to tell you one little thing."

"Sure," I say hesitantly, not sure of his actions.

"You don't need to be afraid of me."

"I'm not afraid," I defend a little to quickly.

"Yes you are," he insists.

"No I am not."

"Fine. You want to believe that you aren't afraid of me, but I can tell that you are. Just know that you don't need to be afraid of me." I stay silent for a few moments before responding.

"Can we please start the tour."

"Fine. I just need to ask one more thing."

"What?" I say, annoyed at him.

"I never got your name."

"Emma, Emma Thyme," I say, holding out my hand. "What's yours?"

"Alexander Smith, but most people call me Alex or Xander," he responds, grasping my small hand in a handshake. He then leads me on a tour of the place. The castle is huge. It has a huge kitchen, ballrooms, dining areas, living areas, classrooms. Don't even get me started on their library! After we finish touring around the castle, Alex takes me to the buildings that are scattered around the castle. They are the same buildings that I questioned the use of earlier.

"Some of these are simply just for storage, but others are classrooms. We have less people than normal colleges, so we are able to use these for schooling as well," Alex explains, walking me into one of the classrooms. The buildings are very much like the castle. They have a false facade on the outside, the inside being immaculate and ornate.

"Wow," I say as I survey the room. This particular building is a classroom. There are a number of chairs lining the wall, creating a half circle around a chalk-board and desk. I walk around the room and take everything in.

"Having fun there?" I hear Alex say. I turn around and see him standing behind me with his arms folded against his chest, his weight resting on one leg.

"As a matter of fact, yes. Yes I am," I say, returning the gaze. We stare each other down for a while before we both burst out laughing.

"So I take it your not scared of me anymore?" he asks.