Lunaria ☆ | DISCONTINUED

the butterfly; 11

Yuchi places a teapot on the coffee table, then the cups. She pours me a cup and hands it to me. I don't like tea but I don't want to be rude so I take a sip. It's so bitter, forcing myself to finish it with tiny sips. "So what's this about this Zaiden?" she asks me as she takes a seat right beside me, holding a cup of tea for herself. Before I can answer, Haider takes up the space beside me, squishing me against Yuchi and causing the cat to jump off my lap. Wow, he just scared away the only thing I trust in this god forbidden room. "I know Zaiden, he's your boyfriend, right? You're lucky, that guy is as attractive as our headmasters," he teases me, what a loudmouth. "Friend. He's my friend," I correct him as I shimmy over towards Yuchi again. Haider is making me uncomfortable.

"You sure? You're worried as if he's your boyfriend," Haider says, ever so teasingly as he nudges me on the shoulder. Has he ever heard of personal space? "She can worry about someone she cares about without being in love with them," Yuchi backs me up, making some more space for me. "In all seriousness, Zaiden isn't on our side. Other than that, I don't know," he says, running his fingers through my hair, taking out the tangles in it. He attempts to take out one of my hair ties, but before he does, I stand up and move away from him. Yuchi's right, he's weird. "Get away from me," I demand and Yuchi chuckles mockingly at him.

I head towards the exit, rushing straight for the door before I'm stopped by someone's wing in my face. "Jatra said no one leaves," Venus gives me the death glare. I chuckled nervously to get away from these crazy people. I shouldn't have taken my time with Zaiden for granted. Both Inara and Zaiden aren't on my side. Maybe Sipher and Amelia aren't too. I have nowhere else to go, so now I'm stuck here with strangers that have something wrong with their heads.

I'm standing in front of the door and I can feel Venus staring at me so intensely. It gives me chills running down my spine and I don't think they like me. A few minutes later, the door swings open, sending me with it. "We're back with some intel," I manage to hear as my head aches from being slammed by the door. Rubbing my head as I manage to stand up. "Oh deer, get it?" I hear Yuchi's voice laughing from across the room. I'm concerned for her humor but no one's concerned for my safety. Whatever, I couldn't care less.

I see quite a lot of new faces other than Yuchi, Haider, Venus, Chantelle, and Holden. A girl walks over to me and hands me a doughnut. She says nothing and just walks away. "That's Naeima," Yuchi whispers over to me, taking a bite out of my doughnut. I let it slide but I'm keeping my doughnut away from everyone starting from now. Chantelle is discussing some stuff with Holden. I feel my hand empty. I look back at my hand to see Haider munching on my doughnut and he looks like he's about to devour my whole arm. Does no one here know manners?

My tummy rumbles in starvation, I hope no one heard that. "Are you hungry?" of course Haider heard it. He spits out the doughnut in a whole and I feel my tummy churning. Ew, that's disgusting. Please get this man away from me. I'd rather be stuck with Zaiden at this point. "Not anymore," I say, walking away from him. I stand by Holden and Chantelle since they seem to be the only normal people here.

"Alright, everyone. Jatra and I have noticed that the school is actually split according to species. Majority of our side are hybrids and theirs are elves," Chantelle explains what they've found out during their investigation. Holden looks at me and gestures to follow him into the kitchen. I follow him towards the kitchen, telling me to sit down at the table. He places a plate of Kacchi Biryani with mutton on the sides. Did he know I was hungry? "I think everyone heard your stomach. Now eat up, Chantelle is planning to bring you with her later," he says. Was my tummy rumbling that loud? That seems quite embarrassing.

***

I wonder if Holden was the one that cooked this. It tastes amazing. After I'm done, I hear Chantelle call out my name so I head over back to the living room. "What weapon are you comfortable with using?" she asks me and I don't know the answer to that. She looks down on me, her gaze trailing up and down my body as she's waiting for me to answer. "Yara didn't train enough," Haider teases but Chantelle shuts him up. I love her already. Both Chantelle and Holden. "You can use your evol and daggers for now. Venus, Yara, let's go," she demands, walking out the door, not even sparing a second to wait for us. Venus rushes out the door with an axe in her grip and I follow behind swiftly.