Sharon’s Note: I am taking a break from reading paranormal romance. It’s usually one of my favorite genres, but lately the spark has been waning. Romance isn’t romantic anymore, it’s just saying people are physically attracted and acting like that’s enough. It makes me a little sad. Warning: There’s no real romance here, either, but that’s on purpose.
So, it was a real school. A real nice school. It was the kind of place that fortune five hundred sent their kids and you had to sell your soul to afford tuition. And I had a free ride because some kind of glowy-god-light-thing had landed on my face. I still thought that this was a mistake, but that was their problem. They’d have to drag me out of my new housing. It was a surprisingly large dorm room with its own bathroom and no roommates. I had never had a room to myself before.
Of course, just because it wasn’t costing me any money, didn’t mean it was free. There was the whole Chosen One thing to deal with, which was why I was sitting in the office of my new councilor. I got the impression he was more like my keeper. The office said ‘hey, we’re buddies’ with expensive but comfy furniture covered in colorful blankets and so many motivational posters I had to really look to tell that the wall was yellow behind them. The vibe I got from him was that I was another problem to deal with that he didn’t need.
“Your grades say that you’re a good student, that will help you. Magic is a demanding path.” His eyes narrowed. “Of course, you’ll want to dedicate maximum effort to honing your skills to defeat the Hollow Ones.”
“The what now?” I did not like the sound of that at all.
“You know, the ancient evil that you were chosen to combat.” He pointed at my eye. “That mark entitles you to magic, but also imbues you with the responsibility to protect your fellow magic workers. The Hollow Ones have been killing as many of our students as they can get to. This is why all magical students have been confined to the campus. I’m sure you wouldn’t have time to go out anyway with all the catching up you have to do now.”
Between work and school, I hadn’t had much of a life before. It looked like I wouldn’t have one now either. Oh, well. No great loss. I shrugged and gave him a half-assed smile. “No problem.”
The counselor looked annoyed, like he’d expected me to argue with him, but I gave him nothing. I was good at giving people nothing. It was a life-long honed skill. In the end, he gave me a map and shoved me out the door. He spotted someone strolling by and barked at him, “Rand, show the new student around campus.”
Rand looked awfully familiar, but it took me a second to place him. I had it. He looked like a rebel version of Dick, minus a few years. They could have been clones, same dark hair, but ruffled instead of slicked, same gray eyes without the glasses, and while this one dressed in black jeans, a black tee-shirt and a black leather jacket, he wore the same loafers with pennies in them. Weird.
He stared at me for a second, and I started to feel self-conscious about my eye. I just started walking. “Nevermind. I can find my own way.”
“No, wait!” Rand hurried to my side as I stomped out into the hall. The smile he gave me was broad, showed a lot of teeth, and practiced as hell. “I was just surprised. I’d love to show you around.”
“Go to hell.” I picked up the pace, but he had longer legs.
Not only could he easily keep up, he got ahead of me and walked backwards while he talked. “Now, give me a chance. If you don’t want me to give you a tour today, how about I take you to a party tonight?”
I stopped walking, and it took him a couple of steps to do the same. I stared him in the eyes. “Let me make this perfectly clear. I don’t want your company. I don’t go to parties. I will not see you tonight or ever again, so, please, fuck off.”
I turned around and walked away. After a second, I heard from behind me, “Yeah, right. See you tonight, Sunshine.”
Gray Matters: The Works of Sharon and James Gray 