Strains

“Please sit down, Miss Elizabeth.”

I do as I’m told. My throat is tight, like an orange is wedged in it, so I’m not able to respond anyway.

My legs shake underneath the conference table. I hope they can’t tell. There are three pairs of eyes burning into me. Matthew and the dean are here, and a new guy, a representative from the council, apparently, is here.

Matthew and the dean are straight-faced, and because I’ve become accustomed to their look it doesn’t bother me much. But this other guy, the councilman, his stare makes my blood run cold.

His skin is sickly pale, and his hair short and platinum blond. His eyes that pierce through my pretend calm exterior are a steely bluish grey. He hasn’t said anything to me yet, but, I don’t know. I don’t like the vibes.

“This is councilman Kane,” the dean says. “The council has decided that as the delegate overseeing the academy, he will make the final determination in regards to your placement.”

“Good morning, sir. It’s nice to meet you.”

He nods, and I see Matthew crack a slight smile on the other side of the dean. Alright, so far so good.

“Hello Elizabeth. The rest of the council and I have gone over your assessment. It is most unusual. Tell me, is there anything you’d like to add to it for consideration?”

I begin to shake my head but stop myself.

“No sir, I filled out the questionnaire to the best of my ability.”

Oh god, what if he thinks I’m illiterate now, too?

“Well,” the councilman says, leaning back in his chair. “We don’t really have the facilities here to accommodate a strainless student.”

I do not like where this is going. What is the alternative to being at the academy? So much for the 100% acceptance rate Matthew went on about.

“Perhaps a job working under the council would be a better fit,” he muses.

A job? Well that does sound like an improvement over going through high school all over again. Maybe I should mention my nearly completed English degree. Matthew’s lip fall slightly. Guess I better not interrupt.

“Actually, sir, we’ve already admitted her into the academy. We gave her a temporary room in the basement, but it can easily become a permanent dorm,” the dean begins saying and damnit do I wish he would stop.

“This isn’t a boarding house for wandering souls. We have a reputation to uphold and I can’t fathom a reason to admit a student that has zero chance of ever graduating,” the councilman says dismissively and like I’m not sitting ten feet away from him. I don’t want to be a student here or stay in that dank room for the rest of eternity, but the words hurt.

“Well, I,” the dean stutters.

“Out with it Dean.”

When he doesn’t respond promptly, the councilman directs his attention to Matthew.

“Dean Hadden seems to have lost his words. Matthew?”

Matthew closes his eyes. “Graduation for any of our students seem like a rare occurrence these days.” The dean’s gaze falls to the table as Matthew repeats the man’s inner dialogue. My breath hitches in disbelief. Matthew just outted his boss like it was nothing, with not even a second of hesitation.

“And you intend to add to that failure? Without a house, who would her facilitator be?” the councilman shoots back towards the defeated dean.

Looks like I’m getting a new job.

“I will,” Matthew says.

“You?” the councilman looks over to him.

“I believe the council would agree I am more than capable of acting as a facilitator.”

The councilman seems to think it over for a moment then he nods. “I never pegged you as one for charity, Matthew. So be it.” He looks back over to me. “Welcome to Legacy Academy, Elizabeth. This meeting is adjourned.”

The three men get up from their seats and I follow suit.

“Matthew, may I have a word with you?” the councilman says.

The dean and I quickly leave the room.

Once the door shuts behind us, he lets out a deep breath, as if he were holding it the entire time.

“I’m happy to see you’ll be staying with us, Miss Elizabeth.”

Wish I could say the same.

“Thank you, sir.”

He says he has to get back to work and disappears up the stairs. Probably to put his pride back together. What a brutal meeting.

April is typing away behind her stacks of paperwork, so I choose to sit on the bench instead of bug her.

I wonder if I would’ve done something similar if I had gotten the job with the council. Then again, I don’t know if she’s even working behind there. The stacks seem to be more of a barrier than actual work.

The boardroom door opens and the councilman walks out, followed by Matthew. What am I supposed to do now? I stand up awkwardly.

Thankfully the councilman leaves without even looking my direction. Matthew escorts him out and then comes back for me. Good, now he can explain what the hell is going on.

“Let’s go back to your room.”

Ugh. My room. That disaster zone is my eternal resting place now.

***

Matthew and I take our normal spots in my dorm. We’ve brought cleaning supplies, and all the extra things I would’ve gotten if I had a normal dorm with the normal students.

You know, the students that have powers.

“So, that was interesting, huh?” I say, breaking the silence.

“Indeed it was.” Matthew rubs his hands over his face. “Definitely not what I had planned.”

Then why did you say anything? I wouldn’t be here, he wouldn’t be here and I might have gotten a purpose.

“I did you a favor,” he says. “Try and be grateful.”

Listening in on my thoughts again. Just like he did earlier to Dean Hadden. His eyes sharpen at me and he heads for the door.

“You listen, and listen well Elizabeth. I am your facilitator now, and until the end of time. If there is one thing I will not tolerate, it’s disrespect. Mind your thoughts around me or I’ll show you what that fifth circle of hell looks like.”

He walks out the door and shuts it behind him.

Well, that was unnecessary.

I lay back on my bed and stroke my thumb. Just Matthew and I now and until the end of time. Like eternal prison with a warden that gets sick just looking at you.

I shouldn’t think like that. Smile through the pain and make the most of it. I grab the broom and begin batting at the webs on the ceiling.

“Sorry guys, but this is my room and I wasn’t given a roommate.”

I dust and scrub every inch of my new dorm. I drag some boxes into the closet. I even get on the top bunk and polish the light bulbs. I don’t need to wipe roughly, a gentle swipe gets rid of all the dirt and leaves behind a shiny and fresh surface. When I’m done, everything looks like new, except for my dress.

I lean against the door to the bathroom and take in the space.

“Who knew you could look so nice.”

I wish I had a change of clothes. It’d be nice if I could take a shower and soak in the tub. Then again, who says I can’t anyway? Not like I’m going anywhere.

It takes me a minute to figure out which of the marble knobs to turn to avoid scalding myself in the shower. When it’s just right, I peel myself out of my dusty clothes and rinse the sweat and dirt off my body. The shampoo and soaps provided by the academy are some generic brand I’ve never heard of. They smell of lemongrass and jasmine, which I find oddly comforting.

After I finish my rinse, I drop the plug into the drain and fill the tub with water high enough to hit my chin. Guess I found my little piece of heaven. Maybe I should have gone and tried to find Hercules. I might have been able to convince him to give me a bottle from his wine stash for this very moment.

It’s fine, I’ll find him later.

I’m blowing bubbles in the water when I hear a thud from the other side of the door.

“Elizabeth? You here?”

Oh my gosh! It’s Matthew, why didn’t I lock the door? I grip the sides of the tub and pull myself up. Towel, towel… oh crap. I left the towels on my bed!

“It’s alright, I’ll put a towel near the door for you. Oh, and I brought your new uniform, I’ll put it with the towel.” I see a shadow appear underneath the door. “Okay it’s there, I’ll turn around.”

I crack the door open and pull the pile through the opening. This is weird. I sigh and get dressed.

“I thought the student uniforms were white,” I say, standing in the bathroom doorway in an exact replica of the dress I was wearing before.

“Typically. But you don’t have a house, and I’m not going to have my student be seen in a emblemless uniform. This dress is what you died in, and, considering the circumstances, I believe it makes the perfect uniform. I even had matching athletic wear made for you,” he points to another box on my bed.

I walk up to my bed and pull out navy and gold t-shirts and shorts. Underneath them are two more dresses, socks, a pile of underwear, and two bras. I feel my face go red.

“Doc is…very thorough with his examinations,” Matthew says quietly.

“I’ll sue.”

“The only judicial body in this world is the council; and it’d be best for both of us if you stayed far away from them. Now, here is your class schedule, notebooks, and assorted school supplies.” He hands me a black backpack. “You are to report for class tomorrow morning, do not be late.”

“Wait, give me a sec, Matthew.” I say trying to balance the pile of clothes and backpack in my arms.

“That’s another thing,” he passes by me and goes to the desk.

I drop all of the clothes and supplies on my bed. I’ll have to organize and clean these things up later. Matthew is looking through my desk.

“Where is your academy handbook?”

The hell if I know.

“I told you that is your most important resource, you need to treat it accordingly,” he grabs me by the chin and brings his face so close to mine I can feel his breath on my nose.

“What are you doing?“

“Just trying to see where you might have left it,” he says softly. “You haven’t picked it up in a while…”

“I can ex-” he puts a thumb over my lips.

“Shh,” he stares into my eyes a moment more and then steps back. “Under the bed.”

The bed? I get down on my knees, and sure enough it’s there. I pick it up and hand it to him.

“Your handbook is not a weapon to be used against insects,” he scolds.

Right, that’s what happened. The large thug of a tarantula had somehow squeezed its way into my room and my shoe wasn’t big enough to squish it. The best I could do was throw my handbook at it. It was enough to scare it back into the hallway. I had basically blacked out at that point, which is probably why I forgot about it so easily.

“You can read memories, too?”

“Not read. See,” he says flipping through the handbook. “Ah! Here it is.” He places the book on the desk and waves me over. “As of today, you aren’t going to call me by my first name anymore. This is the list of acceptable terms you can address me by. I’m particularly fond of this one,” he points to one of the many words on the page.

“‘Master’, are you freaking serious?”

“Glad you’re already getting used to it.”

Slick bastard.

Most of the words on the page seem to give him too much credit. The others are ones I’ve never seen before or in a different language. I tap my finger to the book. Hopefully, this one won’t boost his ego too much.

“’Teacher’, eh, “ he shrugs his shoulders. “As long as it’s in the book. Alright, now it’s orientation time, you ready?”

He almost seems excited, a lot different than he was earlier. It’s almost contagious, but not quite. I twist my wet hair in my fingers.

“Sure, I guess.”

“Okay, now my unenthusiastic pupil, when we’re in public, I want you to keep your head up. Stand up straight, and let’s see if we can keep your lack of talent under wraps. If anyone senses your vulnerabilities you’ll get eaten alive, so at least pretend to be a badass.”

I shrug my shoulders. “Whatever you say, Matthew.”

“Excuse me?”

“Huh? Oh I mean Teacher.”