Two

Roselle had spent the last two days avoiding Jacob, or at least trying to. The boy seemed to be everywhere, showing up in the hall after her lessons, in the practice room, sitting at the dining table when she walked into the kitchen to grab a snack, and she had rushed past him when he was heading into the cafe this morning while she was leaving. She had uncharacteristically spilled some of her coffee on herself.

She huffed as she changed into clean jeans, tossing her loose curls. Sure, they lived together, and they were on the same team, but that didn’t mean she wanted to see his stupid face every day. She checked her reflection quickly, stopping to admire how the black tunic complimented her figure and made her auburn hair look brighter than it was.

The observance was quiet since most of the team was still out, which left her alone with her invasive thoughts, and Jacob couldn’t simply bump into her in here; her room nicely furnished and without clutter.

Amber’s words, however insignificant, stuck with her. It brought her attention to the unspoken glances she’s previously dismissed, along with her own feelings that had viciously betrayed her and left her feeling vulnerable. The worst part was that Jacob most likely already knew.

She scowled at herself in the mirror for a moment, leveling a determined look at herself. No more of this. She shook her head, clearing her thoughts of any reminder of a certain golden-eyed boy. She had other concerns to focus on right now, such as desperately needing to catch up on her reading for her history lessons and practicing reading Caldesarian in general. Between learning English and French while her family had lived in Quebec, her family had stopped speaking their native language completely, which left her to piece together what she could remember and the affectionate nicknames that her parents had continued to use to make sense of any of it.

Relearning their culture was why she was here, after all. She might as well focus on it rather than some boy that may have snuck his way into her subconscious. She spun on her heel away from the mirror, plopping down on the brown loveseat by her window with her book in hand.

As she read about the twenty-fourth squirmish between the Nirshorn and Caldesaria, her mind began to wander. The symbols on the page blurred together, and she found herself rereading entire passages over and over again. “Sacrament,” she muttered the curse, closing the book with a snap.

Her muscles itched to move, but she stayed put. She didn’t know why it was bothering her so much.

No. She actually did, but she would choose to remain in denial.

She covered her face with the book, muffling a groan. What was the problem anyway? Oh, it’s because Jacob practically worshipped the ground the headmaster walked on, even when it made life for everyone living on academy grounds more difficult. Not even six months ago, Maishear had lowered the food budget for no reason other than he didn’t like spending so much. This left families to ration what they had, and it being during the harsh, Minnesota winter, no one could even begin growing their own food until a couple of months ago.

The only good thing that came from it was the plot of land that was now dedicated to a community garden to also contribute to everyone’s pantries. It was the first project that had brought the community together since she had come to live here.

In addition to making people starve, she had never liked how Maishear collected everyone’s earnings. Those who did not work in the academy itself were expected to work in the human world, but their funds went immediately into the single pool that was then spent in any way that Maishear pleased. Sure, the council was there to filter his decisions but Maishear’s opposition hardly stood a chance.

His cult following had driven her parents to leave, and though they stayed close by, neither Roselle nor Kesritae could see them often, as Maishear didn’t ever readmit those who had chosen to leave, and leaving academy grounds required approval. So was he the worst person in the world? Probably not, but she was going to keep her distance; thank you.

When she had joined the observance, she hadn’t realized that Amber was his daughter, as she openly opposed him. It was only when Jacob and Elaine had been brought into their team that she realized that she was suddenly surrounded by the vile man’s offspring.

A sudden knock on her door made her jump; the book flying to the floor with a thunk. She glared at the closed door from her seat, huffing before making a move to stand.

She hadn’t fully straightened before her door opened on its own, or rather, Elaine let herself in, adding a dramatic spin to swing the door closed with a bang. The other girl then sat herself down beside Roselle, her arms crossed and eyes focused out the window.

“Hello?” Roselle called, despite Elaine’s new proximity. “Who is it?” She knew she was being a bit of a sotan, but did it anyway. “Oh hello, Elaine, what can I do for you?”

A poisonous glance and an unintelligible mutter were shot at her.

“Good to see you too,” she hummed.

“Pick it up,” Elaine glanced at the book, haphazardly face down on the white carpet. Her expression was an explicit mix of exasperation and disappointment, her pale lips twisted in a grimace.

“What can I do for you?” She asked as she did as she asked. Not for the first time, she wondered if Elaine considered her a friend, or if she simply stopped by whenever she was bored.

“You’re an idiot,” Elaine announced the same way that someone else may state a name or undeniable fact.

“So harsh,” Roselle winced, turning to her teammate with a chuckle. “What did I do to deserve such a title?”

“If you need me to tell you, you’re dumber than I thought,” she raised an unimpressed eyebrow.

Roselle sighed, silently cursing herself for walking into that one. “What do you want me to say?”

Elaine rolled her eyes dramatically while her fingers twisted her long braided hair. “Considering you’re weirder than normal?” She mused, colorless eyes sharp. “I don’t really care, but the fact that you almost walked into a wall yesterday makes me wonder if you’ve lost what little mind you had.”

Roselle snorted but felt her face burn at the memory. “Only my sense,” she shook her head.

“You can add coordination too, considering you’re wearing different clothes than you were this morning,” Elaine observed nonchalantly.

“Don’t you have anything better to do?” She coughed awkwardly, sitting back down beside Elaine.

“Not really,” she shrugged.

Roselle suppressed a sigh. She definitely came with a reason, but she’d also been around Elaine long enough to know that while she was blunt, she couldn’t ever admit how much she actually cared. This meant that some topics got skirted around. “I’m trying to figure this out, okay?” She told her, giving her a pointed look. “It’s not that simple.”

“Seems pretty simple to me,” Elaine was unconvinced.

“For one,” Roselle turned to face her. “He hasn’t even said that he likes me-”

“Doesn’t need to,” she interjected.

“Two,” Roselle glared at her. “I don’t like him like that-”

“Really?” she cut her off again with a curled lip and disbelief.

“Three,” Roselle insisted. “No offense, but your family is crazy. I don’t want anything to do with that.”

Elaine shrugged but didn’t say anything, suddenly cooperative.

“Really?” Roselle blinked at her. “Nothing to say on that one?”

“I don’t want anything to do with that,” she flicked the end of her braid over her shoulder. “But seriously,” there was an undercurrent of irritation in the other girl’s voice. “You’re driving everyone insane. Just accept it and move on.”

“Why am I even talking to you about it?” Roselle shook her head. “He’s your brother.”

“He is,” Elaine acknowledged. “And he’s annoying too.”

“Why are you even here?” Roselle asked incredulously.

She shrugged again.

Roselle crossed her arms with a huff, eyeing her teammate.

“Both of you are idiots,” Elaine stated blankly.

“You think everyone is an idiot,” Roselle protested.

“Because everyone is an idiot,” she was unphased, as though that was her point the whole time.

Roselle groaned, casting a glare out her window. She could feel Elaine’s contained amusement; it was maddening. She was pouting, she knew that, but she was out of options. She was no lovestruck idiot, nor would she become one. Nothing good would come out of anything with Jacob Sagael. She was bound and determined to kill this infatuation as soon as she could.

She just needed to figure out how.