Protective

First Day

Lana

It was a stupid thing to ask, a stupid and rude thing to ask. I was eternally grateful to the servant that walked in right before he responded.

Last night was all I thought about as I got ready for school. No, I didn't think about the mad man after me. I thought about him and his kind hazel eyes.

What the hell was wrong with me?

I groaned as I finished the last button on my shirt, before tucking it into my plaid skirt.

I didn't necessarily like or dislike the uniform. It was alright. Standard button down with a skirt. It was a black shirt with a red and black pleated skirt.

I ordered mine shorter than the school regulated. I hated the way long skirts looked on me. Once the hem reached past my knee, I looked like a pillar. So I had mine altered to reach the middle of my thigh.

I put on my over the knee socks and slipped into the $1000 dollar designer loafers I bought just so I didn't have to wear the standard school issued abominations.

Of course it was a shallow and very spoiled thing to do, but when did I ever deny being either of those things?

The school insignia was a lion on a red, black, and white crest. It just so happened to be on the school sweater as well. I pulled the v-necked white sweater over my head before sitting at my vanity.

I brushed my hair, then put on my diamond stud earrings. I sprayed perfume, applied mascara and a bit of concealer, then put on my Cartier bracelet.

Still none of that made me forget what I had talked to him about last night, what I allowed him to witness.

Father always told us how important it was not to let strangers see us vulnerable. When people know that you're weak they move in and attack.

Yet, there I was having a panic attack in front of him. An extremely mild panic attack still in its early stages, but it was vulnerability none the less.

Yeremy was trusted but he wasn't family. The only people we could trust was one another. A second piece of advice our father shared with us.

I sighed as I grabbed the new school bag I had bought specifically for the first day. It had just a pen in it which was irresponsible of me but somehow my brother and I forgot to go shopping for school supplies.

I headed downstairs to the front of the house as I had already missed breakfast and waited for Iosef to pull the car around.

Yeremy was already waiting there. He looked rather awkward as he fiddled with his uniform. He was wearing the red blazer, the white pullover, the black shirt and slacks.

"You look stupid," I accused as I got closer to him, "Have you never worn a uniform before?"

He sighed, "Not one this uncomfortable. I have to hide a gun in here you know."

I rolled my eyes and shoved my bag into his hands, "What are you doing?" he asked.

"I'm fixing this," I gestured to his outfit, "No one is going to believe that we know one another if I'm standing next to you looking so good."

"Very humble," he muttered making me smile.

I took off the blazer and untucked his tie from underneath his sweater. As I redid the tie I caught him stealing glances at me, "What are you looking at?"

"How do you know how to tie a tie?"

I shrugged, tucking his tie into his sweater and dropping the blazer to the ground, "I learned from watching Dmitri when I was little. I used to watch him get ready and he rarely ever wore them, but the times he did he put one on me and told me that if I did it faster than him he'd give me any sweet I wanted. It took me a few months but I had him beat after a while. In hindsight he probably just let me win," I laughed.