Twisted Wonderland: A New Dawn

Chapter 7

  Throwing the card under her bed that night, Rhyme flopped onto her bed at Ramshackle, groaning into her pillow.

This was never going to work!

Each dom was so different and unique that she couldn't decide which one to try first.

A knock came at the door and Rhyme looked up. "What?"

"You missed dinner so I brought you something."

Rhyme groaned inwardly. Prefect, seriously? Couldn't he tell she didn't want to see or talk or associate with him?

"Leave it outside," Rhyme said, turning back to her pillow. "I'll grab it when I'm hungry. And if I don't, I'm sure that flea-ball will happily take it."

There was a pause.

"Rhyme. Do you hate me?"

"What?" Rhyme asked quickly. "Do I hate you? Think about it: You're a non-magic user. How do you expect me to like you when you're the most different out of all of us here at this school?"

"You're different too," Prefect said on the other side of the door. "You're the only girl who was summoned and that puts you in almost the same position as me."

"No," Rhyme said, sitting up. "No. You don't get to compare me to you. We are nothing alike. I can use magic, I can have a good life because of magic. You'll forever be magicless, left as a school janitor or a partner to an untrained, stupid familiar. So you don't get to throw me a pity party and invite yourself in. I may have been the only girl called to join Night Raven Collage but I still fit in more than you!"

There was a pause of silence then the sound of a tray being placed on the ground then receding footsteps.

Rhyme walked back over to her bed then crawled under the covers, covering her head, hiding her tears.

Why couldn't things just go her way for once?

~~~~~

Rhyme frowned the next afternoon as she saw Jade and Floyd between classes and ducked down a different hallway to avoid them, running into someone and sending her to the floor.

"Ouch..." Rhyme groaned, rubbing her head.

"I do hope you're not hurt," a polite voice said. "Humans seem very frail."

"I'll be alright," Rhyme said, opening her eyes to see a young man with black hair with hot pink streaks and wearing the neon green of Diasomnia dorm standing in front of her. "Thanks."

"You must be Rhyme Rosehearts." The young man said.

"How'd you guess?" Rhyme asked, taking the young man's hand as he offered to help her up.

"You're the only girl to be enrolled in a very long time," the young man replied. "I am Lilia."

"Nice to meet you Lilia," Rhyme said. "Sorry about bumping into you."

"It's quite alright," Lilia replied. "I was distracted myself so it is a shared fault."

"Why were you distracted?" Rhyme asked.

"I am looking for Diasomnia's housewarden," Lilia said. "He's gone off again."

"Does he often do this?"

"Wander off? Occasionally. And while I know he can take care of himself, I still worry that he could get into trouble." Lilia said.

"If I see him, should I tell him that you're looking for him?" Rhyme asked.

Lilia nodded. "If you don't mind."

"It's no trouble," Rhyme said, then collected her books. "I need to head to my next class, so I'll see you around."

"Farewell Miss Rosehearts." Lilia said before Rhyme hurried down the hall.

~~~~~

Once classes were over, Rhyme dropped her books off at Ramshackle then returned to the main school building, heading into the library for some peaceful browsing then reading.

Only, there were more students inside than normal so Rhyme grabbed a book she was well familiar with and headed towards the roof. The previous day, she had seen a short ledge where gargoyles sat and reasoned that the ledge would be big enough for someone to sit and be undisturbed.

When Rhyme reached the ledge, the sun had begun to set, setting the sky alight in orange and pink.

"Wow..." she breathed, taking in the sky.

"I didn't realize that anyone else came up here," Rhyme turned as a calm voice spoke out. "I suppose that I'll have to find a new quiet place."

"Oh, you don't have to," Rhyme said quickly. "I didn't realize that this spot was already claimed. It's me who's intruding and should leave."

The young man standing a few feet away chuckled. "I don't mind the company. I suppose I am just more used to being alone."

Rhyme wasn't sure if that was supposed to be an invitation to stay or a polite invitation to leave and stood there, now awkward.

"Sit," the young man invited, waving his hand next to him. "Please. There is more than enough room for both of us."

"Thank you," Rhyme said, carefully sitting, her feet spread out towards the edge of the ledge. "I'm Rhyme."

"You may call me whatever you'd like, Rhyme," the young man said. "I'm not partial to anything."

"I'd like to call you by your real name," Rhyme said. "But as I have given you my name, you have neglected to give me yours."

The young man laughed, making Rhyme feel nervous. "I apologize for my outburst," he said, once the laugh had subsided. "Not many dare speak openly to me such as you."

"There's a first time for everything." Rhyme replied.

"Indeed." The young man said, before turning back to the sunset in front of them.

Rhyme waited for him to tell her his name, but it never came.

"You're from Diasomnia?" She asked, noting the tattletale green vest and gemstone he had.

He nodded, then looked over at her. "And you are from the same dorm as Prefect and Grim. Prefect is wise beyond his years. It would be best to speak with him about what worries you."

"I can't," Rhyme said, shaking her head. "He doesn't use magic. How could he know how to help?"

"Perhaps you should simply trust," the young man said, before standing. "I should be going. Till next time we both need some solitude, Rhyme."

Rhyme watched him as he walked back towards the hatch leaning into the school then called out: "Wait! I still didn't catch your name!"

He turned back to look at her and smiled. "I'm afraid I will not divulge that piece of information so easily, Miss Rhyme. Do think over what I said about Prefect."

And with that, he vanished back into the school, leaving Rhyme and the darkening sunset alone.