Snippet #2196995

Erin Vines

Hearing the words out loud and spoken by the only sure authority figures she could see, Erin mulled them over quietly. One finger went to her chin as she pondered. The fact was, it made sense...in a nonsensical way. Magic. Hm. It did bother her that their explanation was one that she couldn't confirm herself. She had tried. Since receiving her letter and discovering her slight influence over tiny flames, her time on the internet and in the public library verged on unreasonable. Practically living there for most of the last week, she discovered only myths and folklore, nothing concrete.

The adults here spoke of a man, an Icarus Whim, a name she had never heard before. And of conflict. Of human personas. Of self-defense and hospital battles. The color drained from her face with one explanation after another. Since no one sat around her in the very front row, no one saw her tense shoulders hidden by the back of the seat.

And Rodrick, her teacher. She already knew she didn't like him. His accent was intriguing, but his attitude certainly was not. Pranksters never were her kind of people and he was definitely one of them. He was going to teach her self-defense? Puffing out a breath so a few tendrils of red orange hair twisted out of her face, she glared up to him for something to distract her, crossing her arms. If he noticed or not didn't matter. She just didn't want to think about magic. Anything she couldn't understand immediately always unsettled her.

A stammering voice broke through her thoughts though.

"When c-can w-we leave?"

Glancing around, she saw the boy, voice small and face paling in nerves. Nearly orange eyes narrowing, she labeled him immediately as the annoying, timid kind of guy. He probably received just as much bullying as she did at school, but for different reasons.

Again she huffed and faced the teachers, expecting them to order him to sit down for the remainder of the orientation. But no.

Rodrick was the one to answer, a small smile traveling down to the boy. "Soon, lad. We're almost finished. Should we just tell them how Nilrem set things up? He's late. I don't think he deserves the right to lead this thing. We already started."

Gina's blue eyes rolled up as she turned her back on the crowd. "Whatever," she sighed, starting off stage.

Shaking his head of black hair, Rodrick gestured to her and announced, "Give it up for Gina Games everyone! Woo!" he teased, clapping loudly until others joined in. Erin scowled. Such immaturity.

"Now," the fire teacher went on. "We'll be splitting you up into three groups and these will be your bunk mates. And no, its not like Harry Potter. Please, don't make any sort of reference to that infernal fictional boy around me."

Erin took note of that.

"They are Thrull, Micnah and Fayr. Courtney will randomly select your names and announce your dorm location."

Courtney did just that, with a top hat and everything.

She explained that the Thrull rooms were on the top floor of the building in the far east wing. Micnah students slept on the third floor in the west wing. Fayr students had the bottom floor all the way in the back by the kitchens.

"We're only splitting ya'll up 'cuz there's limited beds and this place was designed as a private school to begin with, so everything's all set up already. Just gotta assign you guys a room. Also, I tried to make it fun. We are gonna do a point system," her eyes flicked to Rodrick's, "just like Harry Potter. But it's mostly for a chance to opt out of the final test at the end of our projected term. It more or less an obstacle course, but your abilities will be tested to their limits. So, if your team wins, you can opt out of that if you'd like."

She began calling names. Erin was one of the first chosen, her team Thrull on the top floor. It figured she would have to travel the farthest to reach her bed, but simultaneously she knew the exercise would be nice. There was always need for working leg muscles. Since she stopped playing team sports in middle school, much to her parents' disappointment, she had been slacking in the area of physical health. So, thinking positively, she turned and tried to identify her teammates.

The stammering boy, called out as Tony, was with her. Great. And another girl, Franki. She was talking to that kid with the knife, so Erin immediately disliked her as well. So much for having anyone to study with. Maybe some of the others that were called for Thrull would be inviting, but after that no one seemed to respond to their name so she couldn't identify anyone.

Facing front again, shoulders slumping and arms crossed, a flitting thought made it way briefly into her mind.

Why don't I ever have friends?

But when Courtney finished calling names, she straightened up again, wondering if they could leave now. Part of her was hungry, while another part wanted to find a bed to curl up on with her book. The auditorium suddenly felt hot and crowded.