Priest. (Nevermore Academy/Xavier Thorpe x Reader)

Chapter 5

Nevermore Academy
September, 2021

*****

After grabbing her canvas tote full of the necessary school supplies, Y/N walked down the winding stairs of the clock tower. Only now did she notice that every brick at eye-level of her departure featured a unique engraving of some mythical being. A minotaur especially caught her eye, as it was magnificently crafted.

When she finally descended and entered Ophelia Hall, a cute blonde girl was walking -- rather, running -- towards her.

"Ohmygod, you're totally the new girl! Y/N, right? The chick from the UK?" The blonde girl spoke quickly, her words barely registering. Y/N was overwhelmed with her aura, it was so colorful and filled with nuanced undertones.

"Yeah, that's me... how'd you know? I thought my American accent was pretty good..."

"Oh, my name's Enid! I know all the hot gossip, you can find it all on my personal blog -- where are my manners, though? What kind of outcast are you?" Enid's words were still going a hundred miles a minute.

"I don't know, there isn't really a known label for what I am. Some kinda psychic, I guess," Y/N quirked a smile, "Could you maybe show me to European History? Room... room one-thousand twenty-two?"

"For sure! That's my first class too, right this way!" Enid smiled and turned down the hall, practically skipping every step of the way. Y/N followed in her usual, speedy walking pace.

"You know Enid, I think you were supposed to meet me tonight. You're Ajax's friend, right?"

"You know Ajax?!"

"He and Xavier helped me and my mom bring furniture to my dorm, so we decided to have a house-warming tonight and bake cookies in my dorm. He said he was going to invite you and your roommate — Wednesday, right?"

"Oh wow, that is SO sweet of Ajax! He's like, totally the best. The. Best. And yeah, Wednesday is my roomie slash bestie slash DBF."

"What's a DBF?"

"Depressed best friend — this is the history building, by the way," Enid did a lazy yet extravagant motion with her arm around the building they were now in, a uniquely dark and twisting labyrinth of gothic architecture and book shelves, "Euro is — right here!" She pointed directly at a deep purple door.

The two of them entered in to find a half full room of students hovering around, some already in their seats and some hovering in groups. She noted one of the bigger hoverers had a concentration siren energy, and she shuddered from the coolness of it. Sirens always felt like rushes of cold ocean water.

There was also her professor, a man who looked around her mother's age — on the shorter side, dark hair, and quickly shifting eyes. He was a psychic, specifically a mind reader. She had only met one before, so it fascinated her as he stared back at her.

She realized the whole class had grown silent, watching as Y/N and the professor stared at one another.

"Mind reader," Y/N stated, her eye contact not breaking.

"You are a fascinating specimen," The man beamed, his eyes suddenly coming alive with curiosity, he studied her eyes. She could tell whenever people did — looking at the white corneas with wonder.

"You are... so familiar to me," Y/N observed, recognizing him but not knowing from where, "Do you know Scarlett Priest?" Y/N didn't pay mind to their conversation being so public — somehow it felt intimate still. Perhaps it was the room, so small and covered in books and knickknacks.

"I went to high school with her, and your father. Neal Priest. He had your mind."

"Thanksgiving, 2014 — you were wearing a bow tie with Turkeys," Y/N quietly declared as the realization hit her, "That's when I met you."