Wretched Power | 𝐃𝐄𝐀𝐃 𝐏𝐎𝐄𝐓𝐒 𝐒𝐎𝐂𝐈𝐄𝐓𝐘 (BOOK ONE)

| CHAPTER NINE |

Neil Perry watched Lana sit alone in the study hall. Everyone else was at dinner, but Neil had noticed that Lana wasn't sitting in her usual seat at the head of the table with Knox Overstreet and Charlie Dalton to the left of her, and Steven Meeks and Gerard Pitts to the right of her. They seemed to show little interest in her whereabouts, but it was clear to Neil that they had faith and trust in her that she would show up at some point during the day and give them an explanation. In fact, Lana hadn't been in any classes today apart from English. She skipped Chemistry and Latin, stood in the doorway of mathematics to see what was being taught, but then left before Dr Hager could catch her, and when Neil walked into the classroom for English, Lana was sat firmly at her desk at the front of the classroom, patiently waiting. 

     Unfortunately, Neil's reasoning for missing dinner wasn't as powerful as Lana's ability to stop what was important to everyone else, sit down, and educate herself on something she enjoyed. Neil was sat on the other side of the study hall, his cheeks tear-stained and eyes bloodshot, forced to do extra homework at the request of his stubborn father. Neil and Lana had been in the hall for an hour, neither of them moving from their seats, or looking at each other, until now. 

     Stealing a glance at Lana from across the hall, Neil slowly pulled his eyes up but immediately shuddered from her gaze when she was already looking at him. Lana and Neil had been sharing glances frequently over the past few weeks; it was clear that they both wanted to talk to each other with firm confrontation, but the fear was holding them back. Neil was scared of what his father would think of him when the word got spread that Neil had twisted himself into the group of the only exception at Welton Academy -- who was now showing signs of rebellion and troubled behaviour. But that was what intrigued Neil. He had overheard her ramble with Meeks, Pitts, Charlie, and Knox about her wanting to do more, wanting to be more, and he couldn't help but feel excited by her excitement. He wanted to know more. He wanted to know everything about her. 

     "Hey Lala," Neil snapped out of his thoughts once he heard Charlie's nickname for Lana burst through the study hall, which was beginning to fill with students for the last few minutes of dinner before the older years took over. 

     "Where have you been all day?" Meeks asked as the boys surrounded her and sat down. 

     "In here,"

     "Doing what?"

     "Learning about Greek mythology. Did you know that Athena's birth was quite different from that of her siblings? She was the result of a headache."

     Knox furrowed his brows. "What?"

     "Well, Zeus was afraid that his child would be his destruction -- due to a prophecy that said just that -- so he ate his lover when he found out she was pregnant. The fetus then became a part of him, and one day she popped out of his forehead, fully grown, and dressed for battle. Thus Athena."

     "You are bizarre." Lana smiled at Charlie. 

     "So... you've just been sitting in here all day reading?" Pitts asked. Lana hummed. "Is this a part of your Whitman worship?" 

     "Part of it. I'm planning to do much bigger things, Pitts,"

     "Like what?" 

     "Become president." Lana smiled at the tall boy, and the remaining all groaned in annoyance. Lana chuckled softly and glided her eyes back over to Neil Perry, who had constricted himself to keeping his eyes on his work. Meeks followed her gaze. 

     "Oh, that's Neil Perry. His father is very persistent on Neil becoming a doctor. He's ordered Nolan to give him more homework so he's constantly studying." Lana stared at Neil, hoping he would look at her again.