The Otherworlders Academy - An Original Teen Fantasy

S2-Ep. 5.3 (R) - You Don't Say?

Previously on "The Otherworlders": So, Sebastian finally got assigned the mission he'd so desperately wanted. But on his way to start preparing for it, he stumbles across Eloise "Ella" Pierce again, Headmaster Pierce's daughter. And he just can't let an opportunity like that pass by. ;-)

***********

Sitting at the outdoor patio table studying, Ella arches a brow and tilts her head playfully. "Oh, I see," she says. "And I take it you always prefer to present your most authentic self to people, is that what you're implying?"

"Well..." Sebastian says with a shrug and a laugh.

"Mm-hmm...." Ella nods. Then she leans forward and props her chin in the palm of her hand. "I can tell there's a story somewhere in the midst of that very vague reply of yours." She gestures to the empty chair next to her. "Please, continue."

Sebastian cracks a big smile as he takes a seat. 

Oh, he likes this girl!

He leans back in the chair, laces his hands behind his head, and kicks his legs out beneath the table. Now he's determined to get to know Ella much better... Headmaster Pierce be damned!

"Not exactly. You see..." Still leaning back in the chair, Sebastian rests his hand lightly on his chest. "I'm still searching for my most authentic self. But you can be absolutely certain, the moment I find it, I will put it on full display for all who care to witness it!"

This makes Ella laugh — hard — and uncharacteristically, she snorts.

Embarrassed, she covers her mouth and nose with her hands, but Sebastian is totally charmed by this point. An inelegant snort from a girl like her — so prim and so proper — well, it's downright delightful!

Realizing that he's been staring at Ella for far too long, Sebastian begins to pick at the twigs and leaves littering the patio table, tossing them aside one by one as if he'd been assigned yard duty for breaking the rules again.

This is all very new territory for him.

The kinds of girls he's liked in the past — that he's been with in the past — weren't the kind you talked to, so much as seduced. They were the rich, bored Vampyr girls from his private school.

You'd throw out the standard pickup lines, drop that you were a First Son from the McFadden clan and boom! The girl was in your bed by midnight.

This one, though, she was different and not just because she was an Enchanted.

"So, how long are you here for?" Sebastian asks her.

"Oh, just a few days," Ella says. "I'm trying to convince my father to let me stay longer, but I have a training scheduled, and he doesn't want me to miss any sessions."

"Training for what?"

"I'm studying to be a Healer," Ella says proudly.

"Oh, I see." Sebastian nods slowly. "Is that a tough course of study?"

"For me it is..." Ella pauses, debating whether or not to come clean to Sebastian, who for all intents and purposes, is a total stranger to her.

It's odd, but for some reason, she has this strong desire to confide in him; and while she can't explain it, she's intent on doing it, so she girds herself with a long hearty breath and says, "It's particularly challenging for me because I'm half human."

Sebastian's eyebrows arch in surprise as he blurts out, "I'm so sorry!"

Immediately, his face scrunches up as he mentally kicks himself for being so insensitive, but relaxes when he hears Ella chuckle.