Pangaia: Agendas (Year One: Fall)

Chapter Six - Cheyenne

 Mrs. Aradia Orinda reminded Cheyenne of a princess.

She sat in her chair with her legs crossed elegantly at the ankles, her long brown skirt flowing over her knees in a mature sort of fashion. She had an air of regalness surrounding her, an inner light radiating from her body. Oozing of confidence and life, as well as being beautiful, Cheyenne found herself jealous. Especially over the way Mrs. Orinda's soft brown hair sat in a perfect bun on the back of her hair and the crystal dangling earrings she wore brought light to the dullest of hazel eyes. Cheyenne wanted to look perfect just like her.

This woman, who couldn't have been much older than her mid twenties, spoke in a natural conversational tone and broke the awkward tension filling the room on more than one occasion. She always knew what to say and when to say it, which made her the perfect candidate to send. However, Cheyenne was too busy staring in awe instead of paying attention to her words.

"You might as well stop, Aradia. She is not listening," her companion, a man who answered to the name of Akuji Thantos, said dryly.

He was the exact opposite of Mrs. Orinda. He had eyes so dark they appeared to be black, and dark tousled hair that fell over those eyes protectively. He must not like people looking into them because whenever Cheyenne tried to make eye contact with him, he turned his head in another direction casually with obvious discomfort. His skin was pale and nearly dead looking. That, along with his thin frame, reminded Cheyenne of a ghost, or maybe even a corpse.

Despite all of this, he was still quite handsome. He had a strong jaw line, but soft cheeks and beautiful clear skin reminding Cheyenne of porcelain when she didn't think about how creepy his lack of pigmentation was. He seemed to be close in age with his partner, but he sat in a way that expressed many years of wisdom and experience.

For some strange reason, the look worked for him. It would have been strange to see him presented in any other package. It fit; he acted as cold as he appeared.

"This is going to take longer than I thought," he said.

"Sorry," Cheyenne whispered. "I didn't mean to...I..." She glanced at her mother. "I'm listening now."

Mrs. Orinda shot her companion a sharp look and then started over again with her speech, "We're teachers from the Pangaia School and Seminary. We contacted your mother not too long ago about the possibility of you attending the school this year. It's a relief she's decided to listen to our multiple requests."

"Finally," Mr. Thantos grumbled.

Mrs. Orinda ignored him. "You would remain for the rest of your high school career. It has a beautiful campus. It's a private school, well, a boarding school, and the grounds are centered around a beautiful mansion that's nearly two hundred years old."

"Stop going through the brochure and answer the questions she is really wanting the answers to," Mr. Thantos snapped. "There is no point in beating around the bush at this point. She was attacked recently and her powers are starting to break out. She is confused and does not care about the layout of the land. Perhaps you should tell her something useful, like her nymph heritage, or that she does not have a choice but to come with us. Her birth parents are making us take her whether she likes it or not."

He shot Cheyenne a dark and intimidating look suggesting she comply with them or something bad might happen. Mrs. Orinda caught the look and gave him a firm smack across the arm. It certainly wasn't professional of her to do, but Cheyenne appreciated the gesture.

"You're horrible, saying everything so bluntly like it didn't make a difference. It's not easy to swallow. Being told you're different from the rest of the human population, and then on top of that, you're adopted."