ANATOMY OF A GIRL

part seven

The first day of school had finally arrived. Sapphire didn't think she'd ever been glad for the first day, but as much as she hated school, she was tired of sitting around her dorm. Pulling on her familiar white collared shirt and navy skirt had almost been a relief. Almost. Until she remembered that her skirt was a size too small and she was supposed to get a new one from the school shop, but it had slipped her mind with everything else going on.

And worse yet, because she'd had to go to the school's shop, she'd been late for early morning prayers. But at least she'd shown up. Flair hadn't, and the Goddesses did not take kindly to missed prayer sessions.

Finally, Sapphire made it to the cafeteria for breakfast. The cafeteria was abuzz with stories of the past month. Sapphire sat with Ayden and Leo, at their usual table. Flair was still in bed.

"You think Mr Berg is still gonna be an ass to me this year?" Leo asked, taking a bite from his apple.

"Probably, I mean, you did call him a fat, old man in eighth grade," Sapphire replied, sucking in her stomach and pulling her skirt further down by its hems.

Leo shook his head, sighing. "Still can't believe he hasn't gotten over that yet. I can't have been the first person to say that to him."

Sapphire smiled faintly, taking a bite of her cereal. She wasn't all that hungry, but knew she needed her strength if she was going to get through the day.

Livya Li passed their table, in Belreistkov's white and gold cheerleading uniform, and smiled at Sapphire. She was pretty in a way other half-witches weren't. Her family moved here from Vseti, the human realm, a few generations back, after discovering the magic within them.

Leo watched Livya as she walked away. As soon as she was out of hearing distance he said, "Am I the only one that thinks she got like really hot over the holidays?"

Ayden rolled his eyes at Leo, sipping his coffee. Sapphire scrunched up her nose as the scent of it wafted across the table. Black, no milk, no sugar. Disgusting. Luckily, Ayden didn't see her face. She never would have heard the end of it.

Sapphire shrugged. "C'mon, Ayden, at least she isn't blonde. That's progress, right?"

Leo looked to Livya. "Must be the uniform," he said. He looked back to them. "You should've stuck with it, Sapphire, if only for the skirt."

"Sometimes I wonder how we've stayed friends this long."

"Me too," Leo said, tapping his fingers against the plastic table top. "I don't know how I've been able to put up with you."

Sapphire scoffed and pushed Leo's shoulder. It seemed they'd both underestimated her strength, as Leo almost fell off his chair, muttering several curses.

Leo grabbed the apple from Ayden's lunch tray in retaliation, throwing it at her head. She ducked, letting the apple roll under the table behind them.

Ayden took a bite of his toast. "Like children, I swear."

"Us?" she asked incredulously. "Aren't you the one that still insists on getting a kid's meal when we go out?"

"I just wasn't hungry that day," he said, blushing.

"If you say so," she said, grinning.

Ayden's eyes narrowed. "If we had any apples left, I would throw them at you."

Sapphire formed a reply but was silenced by a group of younger students passing their table. The group turned to look at them simultaneously, but when they noticed Sapphire and Leo watching, they turned away and began whispering amongst themselves. It was when they spotted Ayden's sharp glare that they started to move away with renewed energy.