Alpha Academy: Misfit's Rise

Chapter Eleven: The Roommates

I only got lost three times finding my room, so that was a plus. Someone had brought my stuff up and placed it by the empty bed. I unpacked, glancing around the three other beds. I never would've guessed they'd cram four people into one room, but since the room was four times the size of my bedroom, it worked.

The bed across from my mine had shelves of books, with more on the desks and bed. It wasn't hard to figure out what she must be like. The bed next to hers was pristine, with all the shelves labeled. There was a small projection on her desk, showing a pure white horse galloping, its main blowing in the breeze. The girl next to her had a thing for wolves, since they were everywhere: on her walls, her desk, and her blankets. So, my roommates were a bookworm, a clean-freak, and Julia with the Wolves. I could run with that.

I finished unloading my stuff, making sure Kuri was easily visible. Nothing said hello to new roommates like a deathly pale, red-eyed, porcelain goth doll. Then I wandered out into the hall. I spotted a common area in the center of all the dorms, with something like an arcade game, only more disco-y. There was this translucent gray stuff you stepped on, and when you did the whole thing began to wobble like some hyperactive cloud. Maybe the point was to stay on as long as possible, but my record was five seconds. I gave up and went back to my room.

A girl whirled around as I opened the door. She was carrying several thick books that were too big for her short, skinny frame. Her silvery-blond hair was pulled into a bun, and she was wearing large, thick-rimmed black glasses that made her eyes seem wider than her head. Also, she had pointy ears. My first Elf.

"Hi," I said, when she stayed silent. "I'm Billie Runningdeer."

She gawked at me. "You're the new girl, the Rusty."

I gritted my teeth at the nickname, but forced a laughed. "That's me, and what's your name?"

Her eyes widened as she stared at me, and then she scampered onto her bed, opened one of her books and disappeared behind it. Sighing, I collapsed onto my bed. No one wanted to tell me their name.

A few minutes later another girl walked in. She was tall and slender with long, warm brown hair that fell to her mid-back. It had the look of someone who had meticulously tried to make her hair look perfectly natural. The clean-freak was my guess.

"Hello, Iris." She missed me in the corner and she moved to a bed next to Iris's. I was right about her being the clean-freak.

"How are you?" she asked, but Iris didn't respond and just stared at me. The new girl followed her look.

"Oh." She jumped a little at the sight of me. "I didn't realize you were coming today."

Obviously. I smiled and said, "Billie."

She studied me for a moment, then said, "Thea, and this is Iris." But Iris only stared at me with wide, fearful eyes, gulped, and disappeared behind her book again. Thea sighed.

"So ... you're a Faerie, correct?"

"Yep," I answered.

"Wonderful." She forced a smile. "I'm a Wizard, Iris is an Elf and ... wait, do you know ..." she trailed off.

"I know the species, yes," I answered, which was only half-true. I knew their names, but apparently there was a lot I didn't know.

"Of course—I didn't mean to—I just wasn't sure if ... I didn't want to make any assumptions about ... what they tell you in the—"

"Got it," I said, and resisted a sigh. What exactly do these people think of the Rustlands? That we grow up in caves?

I took a deep breath. Thea was trying to be polite, and I could do the same.