Earnshaw Heights

Chapter Eight

The students systematically parted ways in order to form a path between them for the man to walk through. He pulled out an object from beneath his blazer that appeared to be a wand, but it differed from any that Normani had seen before. She studied the man as he skimmed the wand across the surface of the stone, mouthing some type of chant that Normani couldn't make out. The stone's effects faded as it seemed to "power off" in a sense and return to normal.

Whipping around quickly and sending a jolt through Mani's chest, the man's dark eyes scanned across the students, silently evaluating each of them. The room fell completely silent under the scrutiny of their new guest. When his eyes settled on Normani, she felt as though her personal space was being invaded, although the man remained a few feet away from her. "Good morning all. Congratulations to you again on effectively overcoming the first task. I must admit that I am rather impressed, and that is not something easily accomplished." The man's voice was laced with magic much like her father used. The reminder of her father and her life at home hit Mani harder than she had expected. It also allowed her mind to break away from the trance he was attempting to put over the students. Mani looked around the room and noted that his skills were impressive, as nearly all of her peers were wide-eyed and fixated on the man in front of them. The sole exception, Mani discovered, was Lauren, whose eyes met Mani's instantly.

"I would like you all to relax for a moment," and with those words, each and every peer instinctively found seats around the hall. They began returning tables and benches to their rightful positions as though nothing had transpired moments earlier. Normani watched them for a moment, confused as to how they had all responded so uniformly. She shifted her gaze back to Lauren, who seemed to be pleading with Mani to join her in finding a seat. Mani questioned why Lauren's expression was filled with a certain urgency, but she made her way across the room to sit in a bench next to her roommate. As Normani passed the man, she looked in his direction and noticed that he was silently watching her, his eyes following as she crossed the room and took a seat. Mani turned towards Lauren and opened her mouth to form a question, but Lauren quickly shushed her and turned her attention back towards the man. Mani paused for a moment, pouting and debating whether or not to act on her irritation at being shut down, but she followed suit, assuming she'd get an explanation soon enough.

"Thank you all," the man announced out to the students, turning towards the stone with his wand once again. Mani felt a weight lift off of her skin, and in the same moment she noticed that her classmates had shaken the odd militaristic attitudes that had washed over them. She took the pause in activity to turn to Lauren, the same question from earlier evident on her face. "He was casting some type of control out over us, and I'm pretty positive he noticed that we weren't falling for it like every one else," Lauren whispered, her voice barely audible so that her peers in close proximity would not overhear her. The raspy tone that came with the softness of Lauren's voice sent a shiver down Mani's back, and she played it off to be about what Lauren's words had meant - which is truly where her concern should have been at that particular moment.

The man pivoted around to face the students as the stone behind him shone to life once more, this time revealing some type of listing for the students. "You may all take some time here to look over the stone, which I have used to display your schedule of classes for your time here. You will find copies of these in your rooms later today. After evaluating your efforts this morning as well as your histories and experiences with magic, the castle has grouped you accordingly." Mani could feel Lauren tensing beside her, undoubtedly due to the mention of "histories and experiences with magic." Mani reached over and placed her hand on Lauren's thigh, her fingers moving lightly over the fabric there. Lauren's head jerked over in Mani's direction, her face appearing startled and unnerved. Mani offered her a small smile, suggesting her apparently failed attempt at providing Lauren with some comfort. Lauren relaxed and offered a smile back, taking Mani's hand in her own and gently squeezing her. The moment was making Mani feel lightheaded again, and she turned her focus back to the stone in front of her before she could be pulled into the depths of Lauren's eyes.

Mani's peers began to rise, making their way over to examine the stone. Mani moved to join them, but Lauren clung more tightly to her hand. Mani looked down, and the brunette sat frozen with her eyes focused on the ground in front of her. "Hey," Mani's voice softened as she sat down in her original position. Lauren brought her eyes up to look at Mani, and she saw them shimmering with tears that were threatening to spill over onto her face. "Oh no no, girl, we can't have that," Mani joked, bringing about a laugh from Lauren. Mani's smile grew at the sound of Lauren's laughter. "Listen. You did amazingly well today. I would probably be made of stone at the moment if you hadn't have come over and saved my ass, okay?" Lauren nodded, smiling slightly, wiping at her eyes before any tears could escape.

"I just wish I didn't have to keep reliving my past. I thought coming here was going to mean forgetting everything that had happened," Lauren admitted freely to Mani. Her chest tightened at Lauren's words and at the fact that she had felt so comfortable to share them with her. "We can't run from our past, and we certainly can't change things. We can only grown from it, yeah?" Normani knew her attempt was weak, but she would say anything to change the sadness radiating from her roommate. "You're talking to the one person who who can probably best guarantee that our actions don't have to mirror those of our parents." With those words, Lauren focused her eyes on Normani's, who was silently pleading with Lauren to listen and believe that she meant what she was saying.

"Now come on, I'm sure you're going to kick ass at all of these classes they've placed you in, but we've gotta see what they are first." Mani yanked Lauren to her feet, and before she could process what was happening, she felt Laurens body enveloping her own. Hesitantly, she wrapped her arms around Lauren's neck, her ankle boots allowing her to be slightly taller than the girl whose face was now buried in her shoulder.

"Thank you," was all that Lauren could manage, and Normani acknowledged her words by pulling her in tighter. Her senses were overwhelming her in that moment so much so that Normani didn't know what to focus on. She felt Lauren's hot breath against her neck, which was sending jolts through her body in places that she didn't want to admit, even to herself. She breathed in Lauren's scent, which was fresh and light and smelled like pure comfort. She had to restrain herself from burying her own face in Lauren's dark locks and losing herself in her smell. She felt Lauren's arms wrapped around her waist, Lauren's hands lightly brushing the dip in her back. She could feel Lauren's body pressing against the front of her own, and she knew that she would not be the one to pull away from the hug. She couldn't focus enough to even figure out how to control her body to do anything but cling to this girl as though she was her sole purpose in life.

Too quickly for Normani's liking, Lauren pulled back, and the look in her eyes must have matched the expression that Normani felt in her own. She felt blurry, and she was unsure that she would remain standing upright once Lauren separated her body from hers, but she managed. Lauren gave Mani's hand one last squeeze, and she walked over to locate her own information on the stone. Mani stood immobile, frozen in her spot, focusing on catching her breath and reorienting herself to her current location. She shook her head, glancing around at her peers flooding up to the center of the room, unfortunately making eye contact with Niall in the process. He had obviously seen the whole occurrence, and he was also obviously not very enthused at the moment the two girls had shared. She turned away from him, filled with a guilt that she was becoming quite familiar with, and walked towards the stone to find her classes.

Normani knew in that instant that something would have to change. While she couldn't stand the look that Niall had given her, she also knew that she couldn't keep herself away from Lauren any longer.