Twisted Wonderland: A New Dawn

Chapter 5

  Rhyme kept her hand clasped over her arm, where the dorm crest had been placed, trying to keep it hidden from the other students, but rumors about the previous night spread soon everyone knew that Rhyme Rosehearts, younger sister to Housewarden Riddle, was in Ramshackle Dorm.
  After that, Rhyme tried to find places to hide, scared of the things they might say to her, but the whispers came anyway.
  Worthless. Talentless. Why couldn't she be more like her brother? Don't make eye contact with a Ramshackle student. Unimportant. Overlooked. Unwanted.
  Grim noticed Rhyme's discomfort first. "Hey kid," he mowed over lunch. "You okay?"
  "How can you live like this?" Rhyme asked, looking up from her food. "Always being torn down by others?"
  "You find friends," Prefect said, drawing Grim and Rhyme's eyes over to him. He was wearing another hood, concealing his physical details once again. "And make sure you trust them."
  "That's easy for a non-magic user to say," Rhyme huffed. "Let me guess, you actually ran into someone on your first day?"
  "Yep and I would say something good came out of it!"
  Rhyme looked behind her as a new young man walked over, sitting in front of Prefect. He was fair-skinned and average height. His fluffy, ginger hair flipped up at the ends, and average-length bangs fell around his face and between his eyes.
  His eyes were bright scarlet in color, and over his left eye was a red marking shaped like a heart. He gave Rhyme an energetic smile.
  "Name's Ace," he said. "Freshman of Heartslabyul."
  Rhyme looked back at her food, disinterested. Ace's smile fell and he scratched the back of his head. "Huh. You're a bit harsh, aren't you?" He muttered.
  "Hey," Grim said. "Where's Deuce?"
  Ace threw his thumb behind him. "He's on his way. Trying to pick out a good "honour student" lunch," he shook his head. "He'll be at it till the lunch bell rings."
  "Actually, this time I was only a few minutes," Rhyme only spared a glance at the newcomer. Tall, a black spade stenciled in by his eye, blue-tinted short hair and blue eyes. "Besides Ace, we were almost late thanks to you taking back in class."
  "Oh?" Grim inquired, grinning.
  "Ah...it wasn't my fault," Ace protested quickly. "The textbook was confusing me."
  "You must be Rhyme," Deuce said, turning to Rhyme. "Do you mind if I sit next to you?"
  "I'd rather you not," Rhyme said. "But the seat in front is empty."
  "Thanks," Deuce said, taking the seat in front. "How are you finding Night Raven College?"
  "It's...alright," Rhyme said. "I like the magestone pens."
  She fingered the dark purple jewel set into the top of a black fountain pen, which had been on top of her school uniform that morning.
  Deuce nodded. "The pens definitely are a highlight," he said, taking a bite of lunch. "Anything else? Any after school clubs you want to join?"
  "Would they accept a student from a false dorm?" Rhyme asked.
  Ace looked over from where he had been teasing Grim with a bit of meat. "False dorm?" He inquired. "Most people in clubs don't care which dorm you come from. If you want to avoid people though, you should find a small club, one with only two or three people in it. There's got to be some."
  Rhyme nodded, but she didn't believe it. No one would accept her till she was part of a dorm that was recognized by the rest of the students.
  Then she noticed a few Pomefiore students and tilted her head. Maybe there was an quicker way to prove she could belong to a different dorm.