Rose Thorns & Love Letters

11 ➪ Love, Knox

•Camilla•

21/3/1867
Dearest Filipa,
You are the one woman I belong to by fate and inclination. To have you in my life is a dream I never believed could come to pass. Your love is sweeter than honey. Your comfort is softer than a cloud. Your compassion is stronger than steel. I want not only to be loved by you, but to love like you.
Love, Knox

__________________

The girls offer warm smiles as my shoulders brush by them and the boys offer sneaky winks. It becomes abundantly clear that although I am only a few weeks late to starting this academic year, a great majority of the school can recognise that I am new.

Aisha seems to be popular. As she shows me around the school's endless halls, there is someone new for her to talk to for every turn that we make. She is sweet enough to introduce me and apologise for the minor inconvenience when we walk away.

We approach a huge window overlooking the whole campus and decide to take a break. We take a seat on the ledge and I watch as she carefully crosses one leg over the other. Although my Mother taught me to do the same when I was young, I wouldn't want to make it seem as though I am copying her every move.

So I simply cross my ankles and straighten out my skirt.

"Oh, right! It slipped my mind." She points to my blouse, "Your sweater vest. Are you Ignite, or Inflame?" She asks me while running a hand through her thick hair.

I awkwardly smile and softly giggle, "I don't...know?" She slaps her forehead with her palm and apologises.

"Fuck. Sorry I forgot you missed orientation. So our school is separated into two houses. Ignite and Inflame. They are both synonyms of starting a fire. I mean, I guess it makes sense because the College is called Burner's College." She points to the logo carefully sewed into her sweater vest. "I'm Ignite."

The logo shows a fire pit with three wood logs accommodating a purple flame followed by an indigo hue. The word 'Ignite' is written under it with a spark replacing the dots over the 'i's.

I nod my head in understanding as she explains the houses. "What does it mean to be in the different houses?" I ask curiously.

She shrugs, "Nothing much. You just can't room, share lessons, or eat in the same hall with the students in the other house." She points to the buildings on campus. "That building is where Ignites dorm, and that building is where Inflames dorm."

"So how do I find out what house I'm in?" She stands from the window-sill and nods her head in the direction of a door presumably holding an office behind it. It has the words 'Principal Terrance' engraved in the wood.

"After you." She smiles.

___________________

I walk off campus and into the parking lot. I turn around and wave goodbye as Aisha and her friends tell me to get home safe. I smile at how welcoming and adaptive they were in response to my appearance.

I turn back around and spot the car I arrived at this intimidatingly prominent School in. However, the person driving the car is different. The man sat in the driver's seat lazily takes a drag from the cigarette he holds in his hand and rolls down the window to release the whisper of fire.