The Originals

Chapter Twenty: Orchid Gray

Orchid took a long time on purpose to analyze Professor Madeleine Xing. She looked so friendly, but it had to be a facade. She huffed, shaking her head. A boy next to her tapped her on the shoulder.

"Hey, stuck on a question?"

"Oh, yeah, the first one is so stubborn. I want at least three to show I mean business," she said meekly. The boy had pale skin with a burst of fiery red hair. He wore a black leather jacket under the school blazer. "Doesn't it get hot with two layers?"

He smirked. "So, you're calling me hot? "

Orchid's cheeks went as red as the boy's hair. "No, I didn't mean it like that—"

"No talking!" Madeleine's voice boomed.

The two's voices dropped to a hush. "You know, I got a few for you. Azure Eyes of Blood by Charlotte Kee, The Loose Noose by Bill Johnston, and Still by Chris Grace." The redheaded boy was definitely helpful.

Orchid scribbled the answers down, despite knowing the first two. "Thanks."

"No name?"

"It's Orchid," she said, hesitating. She didn't like sharing her last name, it gave someone too much information on her. Now that she thought of it, the ginger was kind of cute. You can't think about boys, she scolded herself. Remember last time? Orchid shuddered.

"Thompson Asterion, but I go by Tommy," Tommy said while writing a few more answers on the exam. Orchid peeked over and realized he finished, but was pretending to keep writing to talk to her. That made her feel somewhat special considering Tommy was on the lacrosse team, he was quite popular among the sporty students of Silverleaf.

"Asterion? Doesn't that loosely translate to 'the starry one' in Greek?" Orchid asked, tapping her pencil against the desk.

"Yeah, but it's also the name of the Minotaur, one of Greek mythology's most famous beasts. Asterion killed a bunch of innocent people from Athens and stuff," he grinned, his grin reminded Orchid of Stoll's. Why are you thinking about Stoll so much? Orchid was almost embarrassed. "So, who knows, Orchid? Maybe I am just a big, scary monster under this leather jacket."

"Oh please." She stifled a laugh. "You're so weird."

"Weird's not a bad title."

"No talking!" Madeleine shouted again.

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Maybe alarm bells should have gone off in Orchid's head when she first met the charming Tommy Asterion, but that didn't stop her from thinking about him. After leaving the Exam Room, they decided to walk together through the hall. Orchid wanted for him to go away—she was as red as a cherry—but also wanted him to stay. "So you like gothic literature?" Orchid asked Tommy.

"Sort of," he replied, shrugging.

"You seem to know a lot about it though." They were approaching the stairwell. The Originals were supposed to meet at their usual spot; the rooftop. Orchid needed a way to get Tommy off her trail.

"I just pay attention in class," he said half-heartedly. Orchid arched an eyebrow but ignored it. He glanced at her, smiling. "What?" she asked and he shook his head, chuckling to himself.

They arrived at the stairwells. "Where are you going?" he inquired.

"Just to my dorm." Translation: Definitely not my dorm room. "I need to go now, thanks for walking me here, Tommy." Before he got another word in, Orchid quickly ran up the stairs, not stopping until she reached the rooftop.