The Stones of Time

Chapter Twelve Aria

"Asher?" I turned to face him. What was he doing? He had the same scared look on his face as before. I know my brother, and I know nothing scares him, but he looked like he had seen a ghost. "What's wrong?" I asked. Leo looked at Asher with a questioning expression on his face.

"Asher," I repeated.

He snapped out of it. "It's nothing." He assured me. He was one hundred percent lying. "I thought I saw something."

"You've been saying that all lunch. What do you think you saw?" I asked.

"Well, it doesn't matter. How about we get our sashes now?" His eyes fractured, looking somewhere distant into the columns. His body language became rigid as he forced his eyes off of the marble and looked at us.

I glanced over at the sashes and saw the new guy uncomfortably talking to Vita. My mom had introduced me to some of her friends' sons at her parties, and they were cute and all, but he looked perfect. Tousled blond hair, gorgeous ocean blue eyes, and a dazzling smile - just my type.

But all of that didn't matter. He was with Vita and she'd twist any situation to get her way.

Vita started walking away, with the new guy in tow and I decided that it was safe for us to go over there.

"Yeah, let's do that." I replied.

"These are the sashes?" Leo asked once we went up to the long rectangular table at the back of the dining hall.

"Yeah, pick any sash then go up to Mrs. Cook, see that lady?" I pointed to a teacher at the end of the table talking to a level one.

"You'll ask Mrs. Cook for your crest once you get a sash, after that it's your job to get as many badges as possible." Asher explained

"I mean it's not a competition." Leo shrugged.

"What? Of course it is! Don't you want to get the most?" I looked at Leo like he was crazy. "Whatever. Less people to destroy." I said, and then I shrugged.

"Is everything a competition for you?" Ava said, stroking Lemon's back.

"Duh, what else would it be?"

Luna rolled her eyes. "You're ridiculous."

"So are you," I flashed a smile.

"Let's get this over with," Asher grabbed a sash and started towards the crests.

"Hey Mrs. Cook." I waved, getting the teacher's attention.

"Hello Aria, and hello to you two also." Mrs. Cook smiled kindly at us. "I see there are two new students, what are your names, dears?"

Ava pulled Leo over. "I'm Ava Stronghold and this is Leo Cyprus. We're here to get our crests."

"Of course. Is this the little guy who scared Principal Stera half to death?" Mrs. Cook asked.

"Yeah, he's not that bad though, I need to find a way to train him to sit anywhere other than my head." Ava said as she scratched underneath Lemon's chin.

"Wait- I forgot to grab my sash. Luna, you're coming with me." Asher dragged Luna to the other side of the table.

"I'm sure you'll find a way, fruit lemurs are quite intelligent." She continued saying. Mrs. Cook smiled at Ava and then she handed her an envelope with her name on it. "Inside is your crest, you pin it onto the top middle of your sash." She instructed.

Ava tore open the parchment envelope and a little golden pin fell out. I inched a bit forward to take a closer look at the design Ava chose for her crest. I saw it was in the shape of a rectangle with the corners cut off. At the bottom were a couple of mountains and above it there was a sunrise.