“Want me to French plait your hair out of the way?” she asks. “And yeah, you’ve been hiding. Or more likely, a certain bestie was hiding you away from all the other fish in the ocean.”
“Riley just sees me as a friend, Ves,” I remind her as I sit on the floor in front of where she sits on my bed, and I grab a packet of Parma Violets to chew on as she does my hair. Who knows what I’m going to do when I run out of my sweets? Have a mini-breakdown maybe? She slowly brushes my hair before starting the plaits, and I try not to wince from how hard she tugs on my hair to keep the plaits tight.
“I think he is confused about you,” she genuinely tells me.
“Nope, he isn’t, and I’m not. Honestly, about two years ago, we came close to kissing and it repulsed us both,” I say and chuckle at the memory. “I never had siblings, and he is my brother in that sense.”
“Got it,” she replies, but I sense she doesn’t believe me. “I had a best friend like that back home, but our relationship turned into more just before I died.”
“I’m sorry, that really sucks,” I whisper, catching her dark eyes in the mirror on the wall.
“Yep, especially when I just came out of the closet with her and told my dad. My life was literally the best it could have been before it was just gone,” she says.
“Well, I don’t care, you know that, right?” I ask as she finishes tying the end of my plait up. I turn and look up at her, seeing the real worry in her gaze. “You are my friend, and I don’t think anyone should have to hide who they like or love.”
“I’m happy I’ve told you now. I spent years worrying about telling my family and friends before, and I don’t want to start off my second life like that,” she firmly states. “My dad told me to always be proud of who I am and who I love. I fully intend to live my life that way.”
“You can tell me anything, just for the record. I won’t judge you. Ever,” I say and stand up. “And by the way, the riding outfit looks amazing on you too.”
“Oh I know,” she says and winks at me. “Now, can we discuss how jelly I am that you get to be the gardener’s assistant and spend time with him?”
“Hey, I thought you liked girls,” I bump her shoulder as we walk out the room, and she laughs.
“A girl can change her mind for a guy who looks like that. Well, at least for one night,” she replies, and I laugh with her. She does have a point.
“I’m actually looking forward to gardening. Now, if this place had a library full of new romance books, I might not try to escape in the future,” I jokingly say as we get outside and breathe in the warm air. The orb is shining bright light, and I look around for the sun, not finding it anywhere. The gardens outside the academy are just as spectacular as the greenhouse, and I know I need to have a good walk around on the weekend. As I try to remember which way the stables are, Vesnia tugs me aside just as two angels land right in front of me. If Ves didn’t move me, they would have knocked me over for sure. Both of them are dark angels with bright blonde, waist-length hair, and the only difference between them is one of them has green eyes and the other blue. They are clearly twins, and they never grew out of the stage where you stop matching your clothes as kids to look cute.
“Watch out, newbies,” the green-eyed girl all but hisses. Jessica lands next to her a second later, frowning at me, and I smile back.
“Annie, Bonnie, this is the girl I told you two about,” Jessica announces, flipping her hair over her shoulder. “Kaitlyn Lightson.” My name sounds like poison as she spits it out.
“I’m Bonnie, and this is Annie. We will be seeing you around, newbie,” Bonnie declares, smacking my shoulder as she goes past. I watch them walk away, and as they get to the door and go inside, Annie turns back. “By the way, the princesses always protect the queen. You should know that before you try and take the king.”
“Do you think it matters that I have zero interest in the king...wait, Henry. I’m not calling him that,” I mutter, rolling my eyes. Ves sighs.
“Day one, and we already have enemies. I knew there was a reason I hated high school, and this place is like high school but with angels,” she drones.
“Angel high school should come with a warning about the psychopathic blondes who roam the corridors,” I whisper.
“Or hot guys,” she whispers back to me, nudging her head in the direction of the trees. Right at the start of the forest is a little hut, and in front of it is a shirtless Thallon digging in the soil, covered in mud. Hot damn. Sweat drips down his impressive chest onto his six-pack and that V shape that dips into his trousers. There is a tattoo on his ribs of some kind of words, and I have to snap my jaw shut as he looks up and sees us, and he waves. I wave back and all but trip on thin air as Vesnia laughs and tugs me away before I can make more of a fool of myself. We see a few more of the students from our class as we head to the stables, which are busy as I find Riley talking to a light angel near the front. The light angel lifts his bushy eyebrows and points at me, and Riley nods when he looks back.
“Welcome, class, I do hope you had a good night’s sleep. My name is Professor Nina for all those who have forgotten,” she comments from the stable door. “Now in my lesson, I will teach you how to care for your horse, how to call your horse on demand and become a fighting pair.” She pauses and clears her throat. “I want each of you to stand a good distance apart and use your whistle. The whistle will only work if you want your horse to come, so you must want to call your horse. Let’s start.”
“Good luck,” I whisper to Vesnia as we walk apart. I find a clear space near the edge of the stable and pick up my necklace. I place the cold silver whistle in my mouth and close my eyes, thinking of Ayda. The second I blow the whistle, a strange hum of something shivers over my skin, and I know she heard me. I open my eyes, seeing other students blowing their whistles, but there is no sound coming out, and then I hear the horses. The sound of their wings cutting through the air can’t be missed. I look up as a herd of horses fly in the air, and right in the front is Ayda. She leads the group, and they fly in circles as they land right in a line behind Ayda in front of me. I smile at her and place my hand on her head, enjoying the simple contact of her soft fur. She neighs at me, and I suspect we agree. I try to think back to riding her last and how natural it felt, even though I was just in a cloak and I’d never ridden a horse before. Let alone a flying horse.
“Very good work. Except for you, what is your name?” Professor Nina asks, and I turn to see her asking a guy with brown hair.
“Eric, but I did try—”
“I think your horse has let you go for being weak. I am sorry,” she softly tells him, placing her hands on his shoulders. I scream along with my classmates as Professor Nina roughly turns Eric’s head to the side, and a snap rings out in the silence. Eric’s body crumbles to the floor, and Professor Nina leans down, picking up the whistle and tugging it from his body. I’m shaking as everyone is dead silent, and Professor Nina goes back to her happy smile.
“Do remember that your second life is a gift in exchange for passing The Angel Academy as a strong angel. There is no room for the weak in the world of the angels,” she firmly comments, and I gulp. We are all still frozen as Thallon walks through the horses, still missing his shirt, and leans down to Eric’s body. Tears form in my eyes as Thallon softly closes Eric’s still open eyes before picking up his body and carrying him away. I search for Riley in the crowd and find him watching me, the same look of disgust and horror in his eyes.