Behind The Scenes ~ Theyna

Chapter Three

We sat in the hall in complete silence. Artemis hadn't shown up yet - who knows when she would show up. I knew exactly what would happen. She would arrive half an hour late, or something, then make up some silly excuse like, I am not late, you are all just early, or, I arrive precisely when I mean too. Even so, there was nothing we could do about it. One word against her and we could be thrown out of the school, onto the streets.

"Welcome, everyone," a booming voice rang out through the hall. Finally, she had arrived. Twenty two minutes late, but nobody could say anything about that.

Sitting at the back of the hall, I shouldn't have been able to see or hear her all too well, but she somehow overpowered everyone in here. I could see her face and features clear as day - a young face (seriously, she could have been mistaken for a teenager, despite being decades older than my parents), sparkling emerald green eyes, freckles dotted across her pale cheeks, and flowing locks of auburn hair. And even without a microphone, her voice, taking at barely a whisper, could probably have been heard from miles away. She just seemed to radiate power. I'd be lying if I said that I wasn't terrified of her.

"Now," she continued, "I'm sure you are all excited for the new year-" No. "-and I am certain that you will all work your very hardest in all of your subjects." No. "However, as always, we need to lay down a few rules."

I rolled my eyes, and leaned back in my chair. She always did this. All of her rules were stupid, too. I had heard them a million times. Zoë nudged me, motioning for me to sit up straight. I just stared at her, before returning my focus to Artemis. I honestly didn't care what Artemis would think of me. Unlike the rest of these idiots, I had had no choice but to join this school. These lot actually wanted to be with Artemis. Those weirdos.

"First, no boys."

This rule was probably the stupidest of all. Why should she have any right to decide whom we should hang out with outside of school grounds? Sure, this was an all girl school, but why should that mean we cannot see boys at all?

"Second, you are to do exactly as I instruct."

This entire rule was pointless. Honestly, it should have been just common sense.

"Third, you are all young maidens, and I expect you to behave as such. Mind your manners, don't fight one another, and try to look presentable."

I felt as if she was staring at me specifically as she spoke those words. Why should she care about what I choose to wear? I rolled my eyes again. I could swear that Zoë was smirking.

"If you stick to those rules, then we should have no problems here, and we can all continue on as one big happy family." Artemis smiled as she looked around at us. She clapped her hands together. "Now, off to lessons, all of you!"

Everyone in the hall immediately stood up, and made their way towards the exits. I followed on, walking besides Zoë. Not by choice, but it wasn't as if I could escape from her anyway. We were in all the same classes.

"You really need to watch yourself around Lady Artemis," Zoë reminded me.

I sighed. "Zoë, Zoë... if I get my way, I'll be out of this hellhole within the next month."

She didn't bother to reply to that. We walked to class in silence.