Atlantis Academy: The First Element

CHAPTER THREE

It's Esme.

Her mouth's hanging open in a little "oh" of surprise, but it does nothing to take away from her stupidly pretty maybe-she's-born-with-it, maybe-it's-magick looks.

Her long brown hair's tumbling over her shoulders in perfect shampoo-commercial waves, and she's wearing a form-fitting, low-cut white dress and heels that I could never pull off.

Ugh.

She recovers before I do, putting her hands on her hips and narrowing her eyes at me. "What the hell are you doing here?"

I finally get ahold of myself and take a wise step back. She had no problem pushing me down the stairs in the Hall of Arrangement this morning, and we're a hell of a lot higher off the ground now.

"Why are you here?" She steps into the doorway, blocking it.

I ball my hands into fists and straighten my spine. But when I make eye contact with her again, what I see throws me even more off-balance.

Is that... fear in her eyes?

No. It can't be.

Can it?

I lick my lips and try to look confident. "This is my cabin. A-12."

Amusement dances across Esme's face, and if there was fear, it's gone now. "I'd tell you to get lost, but you already are." She steps back from the door and slaps the wall beside her. The door starts to slide shut.

I lunge forward without thinking and throw my arm up to keep the door from closing.

"My keycard says A-12." I wince at the way my voice is shaking. "This—this is A-12."

"Check your card again. This is an ArchGuardian Legacy cabin. I do not have a roommate."

She's sneering at me as I hold my card up so she can see the room number. I try to keep my hand from shaking, but I fail miserably.

"Impossible," she says. "It's obviously wrong. You need to leave. Now." Her nostrils flare when I don't move. "I. Said. Leave."

I can hardly hear her over my own pulse. Where am I supposed to go? Back down on the ground with Belfhop? Am I supposed to just sit out here?

I desperately want to give up and run away. But when has that ever worked in my favor?

Bullies love it when you're weak.

And this one's an entitled bitch who would happily throw me off one of these bridges if I let her.

A sliver of anger shoots through me, and I grab onto it to try to extinguish my fear.

But I'm still trembling as I grit my teeth and, with a grunt and a prayer that this somehow ends well, I shove past her into the cabin.

Esme lets out a gasp and leaps away from me like I've got the plague. The sliding door clicks shut behind us.

As my eyes adjust to the interior, I note the massive Redwood trunk in the center of the cabin and the hallway and some doors behind Esme.

I don't think this place is gonna be big enough for the both of us, and she looks about ready to murder me.

"Get the hell out of my cabin." She steps closer, ice in her blue eyes.

I angle my body away, keeping my suitcase between us.

Why did I push my way in? I should've just left. I should've...

I should've what?

This is my cabin too. The keycard says it is.