"I don’t understand," I whispered. "You want me to be a girl?"
Headmistress Vale narrowed her eyes, arching one brow with irritation. "What don’t you understand, Eamon?"
"Everything," I replied honestly.
My mind was still spinning from the slap, the threats, the video; everything.
She sighed, as if I were wasting her time, and slowly began enunciating her words, as if she were dealing with a slow child.
"Come find me after classes tomorrow and you’ll know." Then she flicked her wrist toward the door. "You can go."
I turned and left the office, with my head still reeling in confusion. I was trying to make sense of what had just happened. Why would the headmistress need me to be a girl when my sole purpose was to hide that fact?
What was she planning?
My male identity was the only thing keeping me safe; what on earth could possibly require me to abandon it?
Lost in thoughts, I almost didn’t notice Slater running toward me down the corridor until he was close. I stopped walking and waited for him to catch up to me.
He stopped short, panting when he reached me. "Charis—Eamon—are you okay?"
I blinked, forcing a smile despite the chaos churning inside me. I couldn’t let Slater know. He would complicate things. "Of course, I’m fine. Why wouldn’t I be?"
He exhaled loudly like he’d been holding his breath for an hour. "Moons. I was worried when someone mentioned they saw a sentinel taking you towards the Vale’s office. What did she want this time?"
I looked up at the concerned expression on his face, and it almost hurt to take in his genuineness and lie. Still, I had no choice.
"She just...wanted to confirm something with my documentation. Something about inconsistencies in my name. That’s all."
He frowned for a second, but he nodded. "Are you sure that’s all?"
"Positive," I flashed him a bright smile to sell it. "There’s nothing to worry about."
"Alright," he said slowly. "If anything happens—"
"Nothing will happen," I cut in, then quickly added, hoping it would shift the conversation to something else. "Something happened in class today," I said, launching into the story of my unwanted election.
"They made me Class Alpha. I tried to refuse, but Phil, my roommate from the dorm, orchestrated the whole thing. He got everyone to nominate me and then made sure no one else would nominate another person. Now, I’m trapped in this position I never wanted."
"Charis," he chuckled. "That’s good news if you ask me. I was elected Class Alpha as a first-year student, too."
I felt my anxiety spike. "But I don’t want the responsibility. I don’t know anything about leadership or representing people. Plus, shouldn’t I be doing my best to stay out of the spotlight? I already have a lot of attention on me as it is, I don’t want all this..."
"Everything will be fine, believe me," Slater said gently. "Remember, I said one of the ways to survive Ravenshore is popularity, and you’re slowly getting there. The more popular you are, the less you’d be at risk..."
"Be at risk?" I frowned. "From what?"
He looked thrown off for a second before he shrugged with an awkward smile. "You know, just from being discovered."
"Isn’t that the whole point of this?" I whispered fiercely as two students walked past us. "If I am out there in front of people’s faces, I’ll be at more risk."
"Trust me, this would be the best thing that happened to you at Ravenshore. You’ll enjoy the position in the long run. It’ll give you influence, connections..."
"But I don’t want any of these things. I want to exist while I look for a better plan."
"Give it a shot," he grinned. "And you’ll love it. Once you realise you have more power than you thought."
"Fine," I sighed. "By the way, I didn’t see Rhett in class today. Where did he run off to?" I asked.
"He was feeling dizzy a while after you and Kael left, so I suggested he go back to his room and rest," Slater explained. "He’s not in the best shape these days, so it’s only normal for him to have these episodes."
Before I could inquire more, Slater looked at his wristwatch and cursed loudly.
"Shit! I’m going to be late. I need to be at a meeting now. Student Council stuff. We’ll talk later, okay?"
Before I could respond, he was already jogging away. I checked my watch and discovered I had about forty-five minutes before the break ended. My stomach growled loudly, reminding me that the food I had eaten for breakfast had been used up.
Then I also remembered that I was supposed to meet with Kael at the café during lunch. Taking the stairs two at a time, I hurried towards it.
The moment I entered the café, my eyes scanned the room looking for Kael, and within seconds, I spotted him tucked away at a corner table with a cup of coffee and bread in front of him.
He seemed to be absorbed in what appeared to be a book. Sighing with relief, I crossed the room towards him quietly. As I reached the table, he looked up, immediately sensing my presence.
His brows arched in surprise. "You came?" he said quietly, as if he’d been hoping but not quite expecting to see me.
I nodded and dropped into the chair across from him, stretching my body to loosen the tension lodged in my joints.
"I’m sorry for not coming on time. I had to go see Headmistress Vale, but it was nothing serious."
He didn’t say anything, just stared at me for a moment as if he was reading something on my face. Then he passed me a bottle of his water. "Drink first."
I took the water from him, flashed him a grateful smile, and then gulped the entire contents in one go, exhaling tiredly.
"I’ve had a busy day today. Our form mistress, Mrs Tiam, came to the class for an official introduction. "She’s kind of...terrifying," I laughed at my joke while Kael just gazed at me quietly.
"She gave us a lot of rules, said we should go cry somewhere else because she doesn’t care. Charming, right?"
Kael’s lip twitched, but he still said nothing.
"Anyway," I continued, they made me Class Alpha. Despite all my efforts to refuse the offer, no one would listen. Now I’m stuck and I have to go see her—that’s Mrs Tiam by noon to get further instructions."
Kael looked away from me, reaching for his cup of coffee.
"To make it all worse, after class, the headmistress summoned me and..." I trailed off, realising I was about to spill the entire story to him. "Let’s just say, she was angry about me staying with you."
"She confronted you?" Kael asked at last.
I nodded. "Yeah, but I told her I and Slater fought, that’s why I came to stay with you. Then, some irregularities with the details I submitted," I added.
He leaned back slightly in his chair, frowning, but he didn’t say anything else. I had a gut feeling that he didn’t entirely believe my version of the truth, but he didn’t push it either.
Instead, he asked gently. "What do you want to eat?"
I blinked, surprised he wasn’t peppering me with details or demanding to know how I resolved the issue with headmistress Vale. Then again, it was Kael, and, as he had mentioned before, he didn’t concern himself with what went on in people’s lives.
"You don’t want to ask me any questions?" I tested the grounds.
"Fine," I rolled my eyes. "I’ll take anything."