Let's Kill Her (Book #1)

(ﾒ￣▽￣)︻┳═一(2)

I tuck a white linen shirt into a pair of black leggings that I found mysteriously laid out for me when I returned from my bath. I stare at myself in my vanity mirror. The only thing I recognize is my long flowy hair. The rest of me looks like I've been dressed up as a pirate for the Renaissance. If Jisoo saw me, she would laugh for a year. I just wish I had my phone to take a picture.

There's a knock on my bedroom door.

"Come in!" I say, and the door opens.

Sejeong's dressed in the same clothes as me, only the pirate gear doesn't diminish her grace. Her hair is in a ponytail. If anything, she looks more regal than she did last night. "We'll be late if we don't go soon. And I'm never late."

"I'm usually late," I say in a friendly tone. "Maybe you'll be a good influence on me."

She frowns.

"Do you know where these clothes came from?" I gesture toward my black-laced boots. "When I got back fro the bathroom, they were on the trunk at the foot of my bed."

Her frown deepens. "The maid."

"The maid?" I pause. "You're kidding." Appa never ever hired a housekeeper and now I have a maid? This school must have cost him his savings. The not that formed in my stomach last night tightens. Something about appa's decision and this entire situation feels off.

She stands a little straighter, which I didn't imagine was possible with her already perfect posture. "Not in the least."

Aish. She's stiffer than my 90-year-old physics teacher. "Well, any chance you know what happened to my clothes?" I ask. "Also, the things I brought with me from -" I remember rule number one - "home. I can't find my luggage anywhere."

"Personal items are forbidden on campus. Headmaster Kang keeps them locked up."

"Even my toiletries and my -"

"Everything."

I grumble. I already miss my pillowcase covered trees that was part of the bed set I lusted after for months. And the scarf Jisoo knitted last winter that has become a staple of my wardrobe even though it's lopsided - all the familiar little bits and pieces from my life are locked up somewhere I can't get them.

"About that - the forbidden part. What's the deal with all the secrecy?" I ask.

Sejeong looks at me suspiciously. "Why would you ask me that?"

I definitely wasn't expecting her to dish on all the inner workings of this place, considering the severity of Kang's rules, but I also wasn't expecting such a defensive answer. Now she'd piqued my interest. I smile the disarming smile that's always worked well for me. "I was just hoping you could explain it to me."

"Don't be absurd." She lifts her chin and turns around in one fluid motion. I wouldn't be surprised if she practiced that dramatic exit, waiting for someone to frustrate her so she could use it.

I follow her into the sitting room. She opens a tall armoire and pulls out two floor-length black coat with hoods (similar to the Harry Potter ones!) and hands one to me. 

I examine the velvet-lined wool with interest. There are gloves in the pocket. "Is this a cape?"

"It's a cloak," she corrects me, "and the quality is impeccable."

At just about heart level on the left-hand side of the cloak is the crest I saw in Kang's office. It's embroidered with gold and navy thread. "'Historia Est Magistra Vitae,'" I read out loud. I'm great with Latin root words (I totally am not, so thanks Google!) - it's one of the things I picked up when I became fascinated with name origins - but I'm awful with grammar. "History, Teacher, Life?"