𝔅𝔢𝔞𝔲𝔱𝔦𝔣𝔲𝔩 𝔓𝔞𝔦𝔫

ℭ𝔥𝔞𝔭𝔱𝔢𝔯 𝔉𝔬𝔯𝔱𝔶-𝔱𝔴𝔬

Me and the Devil—Soap&Skin
𝔗𝔬𝔪'𝔰 𝔭𝔬𝔳

      Tossing the journal I have been writing in for the past hour onto my neatly made bed, I stand up and crack my neck before glancing at the window to my left. I notice that it seems to be around seven at night. That means that dinner is currently being held.

      Though I do not eat dinner on most days while staying here at this pitiful orphanage, I do eat it on Fridays. Instead of serving the gray mess they usually do, they serve pasta, which is somewhat edible. I take one look around my room to make sure everything is in order before walking over to my door. I wrap my hand around the doorknob and twist it, opening the door so I can exit my pathetic excuse of a bedroom.

      Once my door is open and I see what is on the other side of it, my eyes narrow.

      Kritana stands a foot away from me, her closed fist raised as if to knock on the door. When she sees me, her eyes widen, and she puts her fist down at her side.

      "Hi."

      Glancing at my room, I take a step forward and close the door behind me. "Do you need something?" I ask. It's been three weeks since I have spoken to her. Though she did not go out of her way to avoid me this time as she did all of the other times something happened between us, she didn't decide to speak to me either. She kept close to her friend's side, knowing that as long as she was looking at him, she wasn't looking at me.

      "I wanted to talk to you," she says, taking a small step back to put some distance between the two of us. She clasps her hands in front of her, and my eyes narrow when she does. She doesn't do that. I do that.

      I make a mental note of her starting to subconsciously copy what I do before looking back up at her. "About?" I ask. She swallows but does not look away. "When we go back to school, we need to start training."

      "Training?" I ask, my eyebrows drawing together.

      "Yes, training. We need to end this by this upcoming summer," she says, and my eyes widen at her words. "There is no possible way any of us can be ready to deal with your problem by the following summer," I tell her, and she swallows. "We have to be. This is Rhysand's last year. He doesn't have anywhere to go, and I won't risk him leaving the school."

      "Just have him fail," I tell her. If he fails his seventh year this year, he will have to retake it next year. That means an extra year at Hogwarts.

      Kritana blinks, surprised, most likely because she didn't think of that herself. "Oh," she mumbles. "That's actually not a terrible idea."

      The corners of my lips kick up, but I force them back down. "Is that all you need?" I ask. She looks back up at me and shakes her head. "Is there somewhere we can talk? I have more I need to discuss with you."