The Girl With Green Scales: A Gen M Novel

Chapter 11: Tourmaline

The muscular blue boy with a multitude of red eyes hops over the banister and lands next to me.

"I'm Cephalothorax. Everyone calls me Ceph," he says. He's shirtless, dressed only in plaid pajama bottoms. His white hair's cut in a crisp mohawk; the red eyes scattered on his scalp and face mean he must shave very carefully. It's an absurd thought at an absurd time.

"Gently, Ceph," Tourmaline says to the blue boy as he lifts me in his strong arms. "The poor thing must be weak as a newborn kitten."

I can't believe no one's seeing through her glittering facade. I'm not some sad sack she can use to make herself shine.

For the moment, that's exactly what I am, I realize. This is a nightmare.

"Don't worry, Ms. Karuthers," Tourmaline says, her voice ringing like tiny bells, "I'll make sure Lilianne gets tucked in."

"Thank you. I have to write up her report. Make her as comfortable as you can. The rest of you," Ms. Karuthers waves at the other students, "back to bed."

Ceph bounds up the stairs, carrying me with him.

"Gently, I said!" Tourmaline shrills, chasing after him.

In truth, he's so graceful, I barely feel him moving.

What's Ceph and Tourmaline's relationship? I wonder. The way she bosses him around, are they boyfriend-girlfriend? I see the mess of pictures that have fallen to the floor. My transformation includes heightened vision—in one eye, at least. My gaze passes over a photo of an EverMight student with tiny butterfly wings on ze's back standing next to a grinning girl made of black shadow then zooms in on an image of a young crystalline girl and a blue boy with dozens of red eyes, the pair of them blowing out the candles of a shared birthday cake.

They're twins.

Ceph reaches the top of the stairs. My breath is wet and hot inside the muzzle. The other students ignore Ms. Karuthers' orders, staying put to stare at me. I gaze at them one by one in the eyes. I won't let them see how mortified I am.

"This way," Tourmaline says, hurrying ahead.

"As if I don't know the optimal trajectory to her room," Ceph sighs, rolling his multitude of eyes. Tourmaline opens a wooden door and gestures for her brother to carry me through.

Inside are two beds, one against each wall, as well as paired wardrobes, desks, mirrors, and bureaus. Shimmering drapes blow in the breeze from an open window. Shiny crystals and posters of "Pop sensation Shimmerinia" adorn one side of the room. In the moonlight, I catch the gleam of glitter on the wall. The other side of the room is plain and impersonal. It's like a line's been cut down the middle. Ceph veers toward the blah side of the chamber.

Tourmaline pulls back a beige blanket on the bed, and the blue boy carefully sets me down.

"You can decorate, if you like," Tourmaline says. "I have extra glitter."

"Tourrie," Ceph chides.

"Well, I do. If he had his way," she says to me, "everything would be bland and boring."

"Geometry is beautiful," he assures her. He quickly spins a spider's web between his hands. "Look at the logarithmic spirals."

"And you wonder why you're single," Tourmaline sighs.

He scrunches the web into a ball and throws it at her. She ducks, and the projectile sticks to the wall. I twitch and prop myself up on my elbows.

"Looks like Ms. Karuthers' jolt is wearing off," Tourmaline says. "I'd better get the restraints."