I looked down at the stain on my shirt.
Leftover pineapple juice refused to come off since lunch, a delicious fruit salad that put all others to shame.
I bitterly accepted Ender's role in my currently full stomach.
Riley, Connie, and I were currently leaving our last lecture of the day, conversing about inconsequential matters and colder weather. The two were getting along way better than I imagined, with Riley's natural given kindness contrasting against Connie's built in spitefulness.
'Some people are tolerable, Novalie.' The unicorn didn't even glance behind him. 'I know that's hard to believe, especially for someone like you.'
I glared at the back of his head, cloud-like hair perfectly styled as per usual.
All calm was quickly ruined when the bottom of my shoe stepped on a surface that wasn't leveled with the floor. My sorry excuse of a life flashed before widened eyes as I slipped backwards, propelling arms in some meager attempt to readjust any center of gravity.
The two distant figures were walking ahead, both unaware by how I almost just broke my neck.
My face scowled down at the ground, searching for the cause that made me slip. An item appeared as a small journal, leather bound with decaying string holding the old thing together.
I casually flipped it open, attempting to find a name or initials pertaining to the owner. By its condition, the writer was probably long dead, and this relic should be placed inside a museum or antique shop. Fingers carefully searched though the brittle parchment, ink splotched onto random pages.
I glanced around the hallway in case someone dropped it by accident, with no one looking back, I nosily snooped through the contents.
'𝓜𝓪𝓻𝓬𝓱
𝓟𝓮𝓻𝓱𝓪𝓹𝓼 𝓲𝓽 𝔀𝓪𝓼 𝓽𝓲𝓶𝓮 𝓽𝓸 𝓻𝓮𝓽𝓲𝓻𝓮 𝓶𝔂 𝔀𝓸𝓻𝓴 𝓪𝓷𝓭 𝓵𝓮𝓽 𝓪𝓷𝓸𝓽𝓱𝓮𝓻 𝓽𝓪𝓴𝓮 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝓻𝓮𝓲𝓷𝓼 𝓸𝓯 𝓻𝓮𝓼𝓹𝓸𝓷𝓼𝓲𝓫𝓲𝓵𝓲𝓽𝔂, 𝓬𝓸𝓷𝓽𝓲𝓷𝓾𝓲𝓷𝓰 𝓪 𝓱𝓪𝓻𝓭 𝓮𝓪𝓻𝓷𝓮𝓭 𝓵𝓮𝓰𝓪𝓬𝔂. 𝓐𝓷𝓷𝓪 𝓱𝓪𝓼 𝓽𝓸𝓵𝓭 𝓶𝓮 𝓸𝓯 𝓱𝓮𝓻 𝓻𝓮𝓺𝓾𝓮𝓼𝓽 𝓲𝓷 𝓼𝓽𝓪𝔂𝓲𝓷𝓰, 𝓽𝓸 𝓭𝓲𝓮 𝓲𝓷𝓼𝓲𝓭𝓮 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝓬𝓪𝓼𝓽𝓵𝓮 𝔀𝓪𝓵𝓵𝓼. 𝓟𝓮𝓻𝓱𝓪𝓹𝓼 𝓽𝓱𝓲𝓼 𝔀𝓪𝓼 𝓶𝔂 𝓻𝓮𝓹𝓮𝓷𝓽𝓪𝓷𝓬𝓮—𝓪𝓽𝓸𝓷𝓮𝓶𝓮𝓷𝓽 𝓯𝓸𝓻 𝓪𝓵𝓵 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝓼𝓲𝓷𝓼.'
I frowned at the paragraph, wondering who these people were and what meanings their words held. My gaze traveled to the next worn page, skipping over sentences that were destroyed by age and impossible to decipher.
'𝓙𝓾𝓵𝔂
𝓐𝓷𝓷𝓪 𝓪𝓭𝓸𝓻𝓮𝓭 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝓯𝓵𝓸𝔀𝓮𝓻𝓼 𝓘 𝓰𝓪𝓿𝓮 𝓱𝓮𝓻 𝓮𝓪𝓻𝓵𝓲𝓮𝓻 𝓽𝓱𝓲𝓼 𝓶𝓸𝓻𝓷𝓲𝓷𝓰, 𝓪 𝓹𝓪𝓻𝓽𝓲𝓷𝓰 𝓰𝓲𝓯𝓽 𝓸𝓷𝓮 𝓬𝓸𝓾𝓵𝓭 𝓼𝓪𝔂, 𝓪𝓵𝓽𝓱𝓸𝓾𝓰𝓱 𝓬𝓸𝓶𝓹𝓪𝓻𝓮𝓭 𝓽𝓸 𝓱𝓮𝓻 𝓪𝓵𝓵 𝓘 𝓼𝓪𝔀 𝔀𝓪𝓼 𝓪 𝔀𝓮𝓮𝓭. 𝓞𝓻 𝓹𝓮𝓻𝓬𝓱𝓪𝓷𝓬𝓮 𝓘 𝔀𝓪𝓼 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝔀𝓮𝓮𝓭, 𝓪 𝓯𝓵𝓪𝔀 𝓽𝓱𝓪𝓽 𝔀𝓸𝓾𝓵𝓭 𝓭𝓸 𝓷𝓸𝓽𝓱𝓲𝓷𝓰 𝓫𝓾𝓽 𝓻𝓾𝓲𝓷 𝓶𝔂 𝓫𝓮𝓪𝓾𝓽𝓲𝓯𝓾𝓵 𝓫𝓵𝓸𝓼𝓼𝓸𝓶...'
Eyebrows furrowed deeper as this mysterious person gradually wrote more, dread surrounding the script.
My heart squeezed as I continued.
'𝓜𝓪𝔂
𝓘 𝓴𝓷𝓮𝔀 𝓽𝓱𝓪𝓽 𝓲𝓷 𝓪𝓵𝓵 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝓽𝓲𝓶𝓮 𝓸𝓯 𝓫𝓮𝓲𝓷𝓰 𝓪𝓵𝓲𝓿𝓮, 𝓪𝓷𝓭 𝓽𝓱𝓻𝓸𝓾𝓰𝓱 𝓪𝓵𝓵 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝓹𝓮𝓸𝓹𝓵𝓮 𝓶𝔂 𝓹𝓪𝓽𝓱 𝓱𝓪𝓼 𝓰𝓲𝓿𝓮𝓷 𝓶𝓮... 𝓐𝓷𝓷𝓪 𝔀𝓪𝓼 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝓸𝓷𝓵𝔂 𝓸𝓷𝓮 𝓽𝓱𝓪𝓽 𝓘 𝓮𝓿𝓮𝓻 𝓽𝓻𝓾𝓵𝔂 𝓬𝓻𝓪𝓿𝓮𝓭 𝓽𝓸 𝓱𝓪𝓿𝓮 𝓪𝓼 𝓶𝓲𝓷𝓮.
𝓞𝓾𝓻 𝓫𝓸𝓷𝓭 𝔀𝓪𝓼 𝓽𝓸 𝓫𝓮 𝓼𝓮𝓿𝓮𝓻𝓮𝓭 𝓼𝓲𝓷𝓬𝓮 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝓫𝓮𝓰𝓲𝓷𝓷𝓲𝓷𝓰, 𝓵𝓲𝓶𝓲𝓽𝓮𝓭 𝓽𝓸 𝓱𝓮𝓻 𝓪𝓹𝓹𝓻𝓸𝓪𝓬𝓱𝓲𝓷𝓰 𝓭𝓮𝓪𝓽𝓱. 𝓐 𝓯𝓲𝓮𝓻𝔂 𝓭𝓮𝓶𝓲𝓼𝓮 𝓽𝓱𝓪𝓽 𝓼𝓱𝓮 𝓪𝓵𝓸𝓷𝓮 𝓬𝓸𝓷𝓽𝓻𝓸𝓵𝓼, 𝓪𝓷𝓭 𝓽𝓱𝓮𝓻𝓮 𝔀𝓪𝓼 𝓷𝓸𝓽𝓱𝓲𝓷𝓰 𝓘 𝓬𝓸𝓾𝓵𝓭 𝓭𝓸 𝓫𝓾𝓽 𝔀𝓪𝓽𝓬𝓱 𝓶𝔂 𝓼𝓾𝓷 𝓫𝓾𝓻𝓷 𝓽𝓸 𝓪𝓼𝓱... 𝓪𝓷𝓭 𝓾𝓷𝓭𝓮𝓻 𝓲𝓽𝓼 𝓯𝓵𝓪𝓶𝓮𝓼 𝓘 𝔀𝓲𝓵𝓵 𝓫𝓮 𝓵𝓮𝓯𝓽 𝓲𝓷 𝓭𝓾𝓼𝓽.'
Anna. Anna. Anna.
"What are you reading?"
The voice came from beside my face, and it caused a hand to quickly whip behind me in a sore attempt to hide the journal.
"Whaddya' mean reading—who says I can read?" I let out a nervous laugh, slipping the small item inside my blazer's pocket.
"You were just reciting it aloud." Benedict held a large book by his side, fingers curled lightly over the hard spine. "It sounds oddly familiar."
"Uh, yeah, someone lent this poetry book to me recently." I mentally gave myself a slap from the compulsive lie, feeling some strange possessiveness arise at the thought of another person looking through this journal.
"I passed by your friends just now." He gestured behind. "The short one seemed panicked, but Solis assured her that you 'probably got distracted by a bug and followed it'."
I gave a grateful nod at the shared info, all while plotting the different ways in which I'll show Connie my apparent interest in bugs.
Maybe set a couple loose in his bed.
"Where are you going?" My steps became parallel with his.
"I'm returning this book—" Benedict lifted the novel in his hand "—back to the library."
I perked up at the destination.
The male seemed to notice, giving a secretive smirk. "You can tag along if you wish."
̶«̶ ̶̶̶ ̶ ̶ ̶̶̶ ̶«̶ ̶̶̶ ̶ ̶»̶ ̶̶̶ ̶ ̶ ̶̶̶ ̶»̶
The journey over was surprisingly pleasant, with topics ranging from school work to little details about ourselves.
We were currently sitting on a hidden bench, the same one that Benedict situated himself on during our first meeting, carelessly flipping through random books we picked off the shelves.
"Yo, Benny, you're a fourth year right?"
He softly nodded once, never really questioning my childish nickname for him and refusing to take eyes off his current read.
"So why did Ender become the Dark Representative if he's a third year, shouldn't it have gone to you instead?"
"I declined NIFEEN's offer and gave it to him, he more than deserves the title." Benedict frowned lightly. "Besides, the academy chooses representatives based on more than just their year—grades, reputation, popularity, and likability are also factors taken into consideration."
He'd taken off his sunglasses prior to sitting down, keeping a hardened gaze on the pages as I prattled curiosities.
"Why did you decline?" I wasn't sure if prodding in business that occurred before my arrival was smart.
But Connie's warning agaisnt him was a tempting concern, pushing me to find more information.
I also tried ignoring the implication Benedict hinted at, saying that he didn't have the other good traits to qualify for a leadership position.
The older student gave a quick glance before glancing away and shifting his scarlet orbs somewhere else. "Maybe it's just you who is blinded, Novalie—everyone tends to avoid me."
Novalie, not Bishop... why are these boys being so friendly all of a sudden?
"Did you kill a another student or something?" I asked casually, estimating the amount of weight these bookshelves could hold if I were to ever climb them.
Hypothetically speaking of course.
"Not recently." He was in deep thought, ignoring my affronted expression as his mind pondered. "Kidding, I haven't done anything of that caliber."
My brows furrowed, not sure if he was really joking.
He calmly collected the stray novels surrounding us, getting up and returning them to their rightful place on a nearby shelf.
"Most Soul Spirit traits refuse to appear until later in development; unfortunately mine hit its peak quite early. I was handed these sunglasses as a safety net, more so for other's to feel comfortable, since they don't actually do anything."
"That's still no excuse for people to be so wary." I was annoyed at the ignorant students who placed judgment without even getting to know how decent people actually were.
Benedict shrugged easily. "The isolation doesn't bother me; I like to think that I thrive in solitude."
"Everyone needs company," I argued.
"Which is why I'm thankful for Ender and everyone." He nodded. "They accept me for who I am, instead of who I could be."
"What kind of spirit would instill this level of fear?"
"I'll give you a clue..." He leaned forward and gave a secretive look, his voice dropping even lower. "I absolutely detest roosters."
I paused as his scent of agarwood and saffron wafted under my nose, a refined aroma that made me think of serpents slithering through dark woods.
It was enchanting.
"Roosters?" I rushed forward as he began to walk away. "How am I supposed to connect that with your inner beast?"
"Come; let's head back to our dorms." The male chuckled as I pried him for more clues, our walk back being one of back and forth wit.
̶«̶ ̶̶̶ ̶ ̶ ̶̶̶ ̶«̶ ̶̶̶ ̶ ̶»̶ ̶̶̶ ̶ ̶ ̶̶̶ ̶»̶ ̶̶̶ ̶ ̶
It was getting dark by the time we actually entered our section's main entrance, stray students gathered together and hanging out with one another.
The room itself was elaborately decorated with deep oak and stone, extravagant furnishings situated throughout the giant space, and I was once again reminded why this academy was so historically prestigious.
I could feel my poverty leaking onto the floor.
The conversation I was having with Benedict continued even after we entered the threshold, our current topic focusing on if aliens were real or not.
"I'm telling you, the universe is so large that there's bound to be other life forms out there. They're either so advanced that they couldn't bother with us, or they haven't evolved enough to even comprehend there's more!"
Benedict patiently listened to the enthusiastic claims, my mouth running faster than ever.
There was something in the way he acted that made me gravitate towards him, always entertaining my goofy mannerisms and hyperactive curiosity when it came to learning about the world.
Perhaps it was our shared openness which made Ender glare at us from across the room.
"Hey, guys!" An arm suddenly slung itself over my shoulder, silver hair curtaining down softly on both our blazers. "Where have you two been?"
"Good evening, Zelda." Benedict gave her a polite smile as she guided us towards the center, where seats piled around a large circular low-table. "Our noses have been stuck in books all evening it seems."
"I'm surprised Nova skipped out on dinner, the chef's special today was pizza."
"Are you kidding me?" I groaned as I sunk into a nearby couch, grabbing a cushion and smothering my face into the expensive fabric. "I keep missing the best dishes!"
Benedict chose to sit down beside me, another new book in his possession as he opened it, beginning the new story and entering a world of his own.
I knew that we wouldn't be getting his attention anytime soon, so I turned towards Zelda as she sat on the couch's armrest. She was about to comment on Benedict and I's sudden amiable relationship, until raucous laughter brought our attention to the room's corner, revealing students who were playing a game of cards.
I noticed the Dark Representative being one of the players, saying something with a smirk that made everyone laugh once again.
"Ender should pursue a career in acting," Zelda scoffed as she observed the scene. "You wouldn't believe he's a walking ball of gloom when everyone worships the ground he walks on."
It was silently agreed upon as I watched Ender entertain the large group of people, sitting casually in his seat and confidently grabbing all attention around him.
He was the sun that everyone chose to orbit around, a big bright star.
A gorgeous girl sat beside him, holding her own hand of cards and occasionally grazing his chest while she giggled at something or another.
"Wanna' join the game?"
My awareness was brought back to Zelda once again, watching as her untamed eyes surveyed the group of young people, a challenge brewing soundly.
"Depends on what they're playing," I said unsure. "My card knowledge doesn't go that far beyond a simple game of Go Fish."
"GO FISH!"
I looked back at the group as a random boy shouted, jumping up from his seat and fist pumping the air—someone grabbed him back down in embarrassment. "You say that when you don't have the card, Jason!"
I continued to watch for a little while longer, giving Jason a mental pat on the back as he won in the end.
"Alright." I finally decided. "Let's play."
They didn't notice our approach until Zelda ruffled Ender's hair in an affectionate manner, earning her a lethal side glare as it now stuck up more pronounced.
I awkwardly waved my hand as an introduction to the others.
Ender gave the wolf spirit an exasperated look, amber irises traveling to mine in a manner that was wholly dismissive.
He would have probably spouted a snarky greeting if others weren't around.
People still didn't know how to act towards me, so I thanked everything above for Zelda as she got us two seats around the table. We were handed five new cards, Ender swiftly dealing the deck to all players.
The last time I played any sort of recreational game was at the orphanage, and that was against children half my age. Although, there was something wholly amusing about young adults who could be doing drugs or drinking, choosing instead to play Go Fish.
My eyes scanned my opponents, those who stayed for another round: Ender, the flirty goddess from earlier, Zelda, and Jason.
I watched as the game-master, also known as Ender Mishal, placed cards face down in the middle of our table to form a stack.
"Alright—no cheating, scamming, or sore losers."
"I'm just going to ignore how you looked at me while saying that." Zelda rubbed her hands together in a distrustful manner, silently promising that she was going to do at least two of those warnings.
The girl from earlier laughed faintly, crystal-like eyes playful and expectant to win. "We could play strip poker."
"I think we all need to be drunk for that, Christina." Ender looked at his own array of cards with the perfect bluffing face.
Christina's smirk intensified. "We can play our own private game later."
A hummed noise was his response, one that didn't give any hint of agreeing or disagreeing.
I held back a snort, amused by how indifferent he was to the world around him. That being said, effort was made as I tried keeping a neutral face towards Christina's flirtation, feeling strong bouts of annoyance lingering like a disease.
Peripheral movement made me pause, catching a certain someone taking out cards from the inside of their sleeve and switching it with current ones.
That sneaky wolf!
Jason kept nervously glancing at Zelda, who was confidently gathering enough points to win the entire game. There were a couple times that he seemed to pick up on her cheating, but one animalistic grin which showed her canines, and he smartly kept quite.
Ender was stoic for the most part, only speaking to address if anyone had a specific card. He seemed to be coming in second place, and would have been taking the lead if Zelda wasn't proudly corrupting the entire game.
I observed how everyone had slowly loosened their ties as the game went on, with Zelda and Jason shifting out of their blazers.
Everyone except Ender, whose uniform still flawlessly presented itself in one piece. Brown locks were curling slightly on their ends, the only messy part about his appearance.
We haven't adressed each other the entire time, until he was the first one to break our streak.
"Do you have a king?"
"Nope," I said. "Try again."
He reached over to grab another card, giving me a cursory glance as if it were a lie.
"Are you sure?" His voice was laced with pure distrust.
My face scrunched up. "I know what a king looks like."
Ender did that soft little hum he always seemed to do whenever a question didn't warrant any straightforward answer. His torso jerked violently as my shoe made contact with his shin from underneath the table, earning me a sharp look in return.
The amber in his eyes began to turn a light gold. "You—"
"I know what a king looks like, he's sitting right here." Christina brought her perfectly manicured hand under Ender's tie, dragging it playfully along the fabric.
He then turned his attention to her, attempting to reign in his anger directed towards me. "Please don't crease my tie; I just ironed it this morning."
Christina didn't seem overly surprised by his brusque response, quickly removing her appendage and giving a surly smile towards him—sending a glare towards me, as if I was the reason for his bad mood.
She was probably right.
I snickered behind my own fan of cards, quickly sobering up as Ender gave a glance that screamed 'be quite'.
"Is there something you want to add?" Christina also seemed to catch onto my amusement, because she quickly sneered. "Because if I were to pick a role for you, it would probably be... perhaps the court jester?"
I tried to hold my irritation in check. "At least that means I'm funny."
She ran a hand through her sleek black hair, not bothering to give an answer in rebuttal.
"Nova spices up this uptight school." Jason casually added, further sending a wink in my direction. "You're an abundance of cool."
I smiled and gave him a small bow.
Christina rolled her eyes at our interaction, but soon pouted as she saw the aggravated expression deepen on Ender's face.
"I WON!"
We all turned to Zelda, who had an unreal amount of matched pairs—not looking at all fazed as everyone gave her an accusing look. She placed her elbows on the table and rested a proud chin into calloused palms, sending an innocent look towards everyone.
"Zelda is disqualified for cheating." Ender calmly gathered the cards and neatly stacked them back together.
"Excuse me?!" She looked panicked, afraid that her bragging rights were going to be taken away. "You don't have any proof!"
The dealer continued to collect the cards. "Don't act surprised, I saw you fumbling around the entire time."
Zelda tried to sputter out an excuse as Ender accused her, making all of us laugh.
Even Christina let out a small grin.
"Don't worry, Zelda," I began. "I think you cheated with style."
"Thanks, Nova." She gave a dramatic look of thanks, clutching the area of her heart and leaning back. "It was a good game nevertheless."
Zelda then asked Jason if he wanted to play a quick game of checkers, to which he readily agreed.
I gave them both a nod as they made their way to the couches, where a board was already set up.
Christina herself gracefully got up—whereas I banged my knee against a chair's edge—and sat on the tabletop with a flourished crossing of her slim legs, the outcome causing her skirt to purposely hitch up. She sent me a glare that said scram, before putting all her attention to Ender once more. Something suggestive was whispered in his ear, causing him to devilishly give a half-grin that should have been illegal.
I tried to ignore a part of me that was irked by the whole exchange.
I forced myself to wander and find something else, since everyone was now busy doing their own thing. I sighed and decided to head towards the girls' dormitory, hope slightly rising at the chance that Riley would probably wake up soon.
I heavily trekked up the stairs, a stray thought lingering in mockery.
Zelda was the disqualified cheater, yet why did I felt like the sore loser.