HUMAN - The Son

Chapter 5

Aili

The Academy. School of the Gifted. School of the Elite. School for the Witches and Wizards of the country.

Those who landed here were magically gifted and thus had a good chance of a successful life. At least that's how it always was. In the past. Many of those that ended their school time there became soldiers or went to university, if their families could afford it. However, if they could prove extraordinary magical achievements, some scholarships were awarded to the poorer students.

Yes. Those who made it here were in for golden times.

At least that's what my mother said all the time.

And then she told boring stories about her time as a young witch and all her suitors. The only thing she didn't rave about was the blue school uniforms. Well, in her school days, these were blue. Our headmistress, Princess Lea von Sonnenhof, had the school uniforms redesigned a few years ago. So that they became more modern. Now there were fir green jackets, and the sleeves were decorated with magnificent golden embroidery and a generous hood. Underneath, a white shirt made of light fabric and a fir green skirt with sewn-in pockets. Or wide-cut trousers. I liked green, so I couldn't complain. I didn't want to either. And we were allowed to change our uniforms slightly. I liked to wear a purple silk scarf around my neck. Others wore colorful jewelry, brooches, or whatever they could think of.

I shared the room with a girl from my class. We didn't understand each other. Strictly speaking, no one got along with her, which is why no one wanted to swap rooms with me. A real misfortune. Her side of the small room was extremely clean and tidy. My site, though? Chaos summed it up quite well as a description. At least, if Candy was to be believed. And every morning and evening we argued about it. Candy Moorbeere did not stand clutter. And I hated cleaning up.

And I tended not to clean up when someone told me to. Of course, this sounds as if I am the (pubescent) problem of the dispute, but this is not entirely true. For Candy, even a sock that lies forgotten on the bed or a forgotten pen on your own desk is considered an abomination. Clutter Deluxe. A single speck of dust? A disaster.

A single room would do her good, but there was none for her this school year either. The students of the graduating class were entitled to have their own room, but the dormitory with single rooms was dilapidated and got demolished during the holidays. Otherwise, there might have been one for a Candy Moosbeere. The few students of the third year, there were only fifteen this school year, were distributed to other rooms. Instead of a dormitory, there was now a dusty construction site. And so I was allowed to argue with Candy for another year. And that's where the problems unfortunately began.

For Candy liked to lecture everyone around her, including the teachers, about the benefits and the great necessity of order and purity. In addition, she was extremely intelligent and could not refrain from correcting others. And yes, the teachers too.

The young healer liked to brag about her successes and did not listen to others when they talked about their own achievements. In the Candy world, there was only Candy. And her cat, which she was not allowed to take with her to the academy.

You could only get along well with Candy if you followed everything exactly as she wished. Otherwise, quarrels were inevitable. Unfortunately.

I would have liked to be friends with her and I had even tried it in the first year of school. Candy was exhausting, but also very loyal and, apart from her selfishness, even kind-hearted. She didn't mean it badly. She believed she was doing everyone else a favor with her teachings. But my attempt failed.

And even before I had unpacked my suitcase, it started. We had both arrived a few hours ago. We shared a room again. Although I had officially asked for another roommate at the end of the school year. Instead, they wished us a nice time together. As I said, no one wanted to be in a room with Candy. And so it was me again. (Or they had forgotten my request. That could also be the reason for my predicament.) At least we were among the lucky ones who didn't get a third-year student squeezed into the small room.

"Do you have to put your suitcase on the bed? It's going to be dirty!" Candy wrinkled her nose. She was a very thin girl with a long nose and short brown curls. "It's not even done yet! You're going to sleep in dirt, Aili!"

"And? It's my bed", I grumbled, opening my suitcase to put my belongings in the small closet in my part of the room. There wasn't much more in our room. Two beds, two narrow wardrobes, and two small desks with chairs. And from our little window, we could see the forest behind the white buildings with their blue roofs of the Academy.

"It may be your bed, but I also live in this room. It can't look as messy as it did last year. I hope your parents scolded you for your behavior? I sent them several letters. It can't go on like this with you, Aili. You won't find a man and sink into chaos! I'm sure you don't want that..."

"You have what? Letters? And where did you get my address from?" I'm already engaged, Candy. Tadaaaa! Surprise.

Candy shrugged. "I broke into the principal's office. Before the holidays. She urgently needs to clean the dust. Otherwise, the office is very exemplary."

"You broke into the office? To Princess Lea's office?" Stunned, I sat down on my bed. No. I accidentally sat down in my suitcase. Ouch. But I was too lazy to correct the mistake.

"Yes. Her Highness has refused to reprimand you for your behavior. Or to take other measures. Although I begged her to do so. She told me to relax!" Candy crossed her arms and sat down on her already exemplary bed. "And she didn't want to give me your address. Unfortunately, I had to break in."

"Unfortunately?"

She nodded with a sorrowful sigh. "Of course, I deeply regret that I had to go so far. It would have been easier if she had given me the address. And? Have you been reprimanded?"

I remembered a couple of unopened letters lying on the fireplace before Mom burned them in it. Were these Candy's letters? If so, my mother never read them. Or my father. At least I've never heard of letters of complaint. But telling Candy this might be unwise. "Oh! Yes! I had to clean the whole house."

"Good." Candy nodded. "I'm sure you've learned from that. How beautiful. It's always good to know that you could do good." She glanced at my suitcase, where I was still sitting, and frowned. "You learned from it, didn't you?"

"Yes. I just don't want to bend over all the time", I replied. "I'll shake out the bedding later."

"Ah. Nice." And, finally, she let the topic be. Instead, she announced that she would check on the school garden. "Last year, the gardeners let the roses grow way too wild!", she informed me and left. At last!

Now I could put away my things in peace. Without the comments of a lunatic! And I did NOT shake out my bedding!

But apart from Candy, there was a lot of good stuff waiting for me here. My three best friends and my boyfriend. And I don't mean my fiancé! No, no. I mean a real, self-chosen boyfriend. He didn't know anything about my fiancé. I preferred to keep that to myself. Besides, Oswald wasn't someone I wanted to brag about. Or whom I wanted to marry. (Or would.) Every time we met, he treated me like a little fool.

Nio Braumann, who was very different from an Oswald, was a class above me. He began his last year at the Academy. He had light blonde, almost white hair, and dark brown eyes. He was a little shorter than me, but that didn't bother me. He fought for my heart in my first school year, like a prince in a fairy tale. Two weeks later, we were a couple. And this one month before the end of the school year. All his initially clumsy attempts to woo me I found much more romantic than a fiancé assigned to me. While Oswald liked to treat me like an object, Nio gave me gifts. We went for walks, we laughed at stupid jokes and we could talk for hours. Nio was perfect!

Sometimes maybe a little stubborn, but a romantic. When we got together, he bragged with me. I felt still flattered. However, he didn't like spending time with my friends. He never talked to them for long. But we had only been together for a short time. Of course, he wanted to spend a lot of time alone with me. I didn't feel much different. However, I hoped that he would make friends with my friends this school year and that we all would have fun together.

(c: sasi)