Staying Under

Chapter Five

Chapter Five

Duh, of course I didn't die. I knew that because before I even opened my eyes, I heard Principal Edgerton's muffled voice ranting about water, stupidity, and phones. When I opened my eyes and her voice was still kind of muffled, I realized there was water in my ears. Muddy pond water. Ew. I shook my head a little to get the water out. When I did, immediately the principal's voice increased in volume and I winced as my head was hit by this ginormous headache.

"Kids these days!" she cried. "You're not following your friends to jump off cliffs, but you'll do it if your phone takes a dive off the cliff. I've always hated that technology. I should ban cell phones once and for all including the internet..."

Blah, blah. I stopped listening to her and took in my surroundings. I was in the infirmary. Carter stood on the door, looking more like a statue than an actual guy, but Luke was nowhere to be seen. "Where's Luke?" I asked no one in particular. A dread settled onto my stomach. It had been my fault that the boat turned over and drowned us in. I knew Luke could hold his breath for thirty-four minutes, but if he had panicked like me, he wouldn't have survived either. I'd never live down killing Lucas Island in Asphodel Academy.

"Mr. Island," Principal Edgerton snapped, "was the only person among the two of you with enough common sense. He pulled you out of the water along with our mage over there." Luke saved me? Scratch the bit about killing him. I'd never live down his smugness over saving my life. "I have to say, Miss Williams, I'm disappointed to have a student such as you..."

I tuned out again and looked at the nurse with what I hoped resembled a pleading look. "I'm getting a headache," I said. "Aren't you supposed to protect your patients and make sure they recuperate to their full strength before feeding them to the wolves?"

"Miss Williams!" the principal barked at me. "I swear, if there's any parent I could call right now, you'd be toasted—" Wow. Principal Edgerton said toasted. "—and in fact, I think it's time you're with a guardian. I can't handle you any longer."

What? "I'm seventeen!" I protested. "I don't need any guardian."

But instead of changing her mind, Principal Edgerton looked only more determined that she had come to the right decision. "Yes, yes," she said, nodding to herself. "I think it's time. You're not my responsibility to begin with."

That hurt, actually. Hearing that.

She patted me on the shoulder, gentle all of the sudden. "You'll soon be where you belong, Riley."

She called me Riley. That was a bad, bad news.

After getting released from the infirmary, I couldn't stop thinking about what the principal said. If I was right, she was talking about sending me away. Possibly expelling me from the academy. I couldn't believe she would do that to me. She knew I had nowhere else to go. I even spent my holidays here, with the exception for last summer, where I went to live with Amy's family. Asphodel Academy had always been my home. And I only had one year left here. Yeah, I hadn't been the best student, but I actually loved learning things. The academy was the one good thing that had ever happened in my life.

Positively depressed, I stayed in my room to keep warm all day. Saturday was a class-free day, except for the sports and music electives. I wasn't feeling up to Archery or Swimming after what happened last night, so I stayed in bed with all the covers up, feeling exactly the way I felt the first time I came to Asphodel. I had been worried that the school was too good to be true, that they would kick me out any day because I didn't have a paying parent. I never really remembered what exactly happened, but they must have found me a benefactor to give me a scholarship. That was what they did with other students who weren't capable of paying their tuition or living costs.