The Secret of Rosewater High: A Naideu's Tail

The Chemistry Project

"I tested the students as you requested," said Mrs. Shelsea.

Principal Murphy spun around to face her.

"And the results?" He asked eagerly.

"There were quite  a few talented students, but one was fairly far above the others in regards to power and skill," Mrs. Shelsea reported.

"Oh? And who would that be?"

"He's a first year named Elie Walker."

"Interesting," Mr. Murphy said thoughtfully.

"Sir," Mrs. Shelsea hesitantly cut in.

"What is it, Karen?" Principal Murphy inquired with eyebrows raised.

"If I may ask, why exactly are you interested in my students' potential?"

The principal looked deep in thought. 

After what seemed like an eternity, he finally answered, "I'm not sure myself. It could be my concern that the Naideu are a potential danger to the rest of humanity, but... how do I put it? There's just something intriguing about the whole idea of another race secretly living right under our noses."

"I have no qualms with curiosity, but should the faintest thread of ill-intent be directed towards my students, I will not hesitate to do everything in my power to protect them," said Mrs. Shelsea. 

"As you rightly should," replied the principal. "But I assure you, no harm should come to them at this academy."

"I should hope so," said Mrs. Shelsea. "It has become one of our only safe-havens." 

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Chemistry had been bearable thanks to Leila. Unfortunately, most of the fun Elie found with Leila was canceled out by Demetri's presence. Elie could not think of any human that was more annoying and snobby than Demetri. Everytime something came out of Demetri's mouth, it took everything that Elie had to NOT give him the "knuckle sandwich" that he deserved. To make things worse, Elie's teacher was already assigning a take-home lab and guess who happened to be Elie's partner. Naturally, It was Demetri. This meant that Elie would have to see Demetri's mug outside of class! Leila could only give Elie her sympathies. Not to mention, Luke found the whole situation amusing. Luke had ended up in a different chemistry class, but was lucky to have a great partner. Elie could only grumble at his own misfortune. 

"So when are you two lovebirds meeting?" Luke asked with an all-too-cheerful grin on his face. 

Ignoring his taunts Elie replied, " Tomorrow afternoon at the library."

"On the bright side, the faster you get the project done, the sooner you and your "lab partner" can part ways," Luke added. 

"Yeah. I hope that we can get it all done in one night, but if I think realistically, I'll probably have to... interact with him for a couple days," Elie said with a shiver.  

"I'm sure it'll be fine. You never know, maybe Demetri isn't as bad of a person as he's led us to believe?" Leila said with uncertainty. 

"That's not very convincing, but thanks for trying anyways," Elie replied. 

Leila looked at him with pity and could only give him an encouraging pat on the back before heading off to her next class. 

"We should probably get to class as well," said Luke with a glance at his watch.

"Yeah," Elie said dejectedly. 

Luke tried to act sympathetic but failed to do so as he attempted to muffle a chuckle with his hand. Elie frowned.

"Why him of all people?" He groaned.  

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Meanwhile, Demetri grumbled to his friend as he headed to his next class.

"I can't believe I got paired up with that loser," he said to Thomas.

Thomas looked at him with his dark brows and chocolate brown eyes scrunched into a puzzled expression. Demetri had known Thomas ever since middle school. They quickly became best friends after they realized how much they had in common. Despite coming from a rich family, Demetri wasn't bothered by Thomas' social class. In turn, Thomas never tried to take advantage of his wealth. He was truly a good friend. 

"He doesn't seem like he's all that bad," Thomas responded. 

Demetri frowned. 

"I swear he always nitpicks at every word that comes out of my mouth. Plus, I feel like he glares at me when I'm not looking."

"To be fair, sometimes you can be a bit much," said Thomas. 

Demetri gave an exasperated sigh. "I know. It's just, sometimes I have trouble interacting with other people. You know that I was home-schooled until middle school. Because of that, I've always been on guard. I'm just afraid that anyone who would want to be friends with me is just secretly after my money."

"Yeah," Thomas said with a hint of sadness in his eyes. 

Suddenly, he had an idea. 

"Hey! What if you took this opportunity to make more friends? Starting with that new lab partner of yours."

Demetri looked at Thomas like he was speaking a foreign language. 

"What?!" He exclaimed. "No way could I ever be friends with that nuisance."

"Come on," Thomas egged on. "Think about it. Not many people at this school know about your family background yet. Including that Elie kid." 

"I don't know," Demetri replied. "He seems like he could have a difficult personality."

"Who's the one being difficult now?" Thomas questioned.

Demetri sighed. "Maybe I'll give it a shot."

"That's my man," Thomas cheered with a slap to his back. 

"What did I just agree to," Demetri said with a defeated expression.