Sain Clare Academy (gxg, 18+)

Chapter Seven

This time, it was my eyes that followed Grace in Professor Thurman's class as we did squats with 20lb weights on our backs. Her shirt stuck to her from perspiration, hugging her curves enticingly.

"--livia?" Elizabeth's voice snapped me back into focus.

"Hmm?" I hummed distractedly. A pause.

"Are you okay?" Finally, I turned to look at her, smiling. Her eyebrows were furrowed. May's doe-like eyes stared at me with equal anticipation.

"What do you mean, Elizabeth?" I asked.

"Liz," Elizabeth corrected; she'd been wanting me to use her nickname for a while, though I still felt weird about it concerning I was technically her teacher. "Normally you're really focused, but you've been spacing out all day," she let me know, shooting me a concerned look. It was true-- most of the time I had to keep my concentration on the mana in the room, keeping track of Anna, Annakin and Grace and making sure I didn't stand out more than I needed to. It seemed my little... quarrel with Grace had affected me more than I realized.

I couldn't get the bittersweet expression on her face at that moment out of my head.

"Oh, yeah, I'm good, I just didn't get a lot of sleep," I bluffed lamely. Elizabeth seemed to buy it; like the true gossip-Queen she was, she changed the subject fast.

"There have been a ton of rumors going around recently," she whispered conspiratorily. May nodded with enthusiasm.

"Yeah! People have been talking about how you're close with Grace, and also how Martin asked to spar with you on your first day. You're like an enigma to them," she added, playing it up. I sighed.

"What have they been saying?" It was good for me to know what they thought of me. Of course, it was impossible to stay completely out of the spotlight, what with me being a transfer and as a latent consequence of getting to know the Belloway family, but it was better if things didn't get out of hand.

"Well, I dunno," May deliberated, "it's mostly like, uh, well, some people are jealous-- saying things like you're actually really weak and you came to the school because of a political agenda." Ouch. I knew it was just petty rumors, but they were actually closer to the truth than I would have liked to admit.

"Also, some people are talking about how you're secretly Professor Eclaire's kid or something, because you sort of give off the whole regal air and stuff, or maybe related to the principal because you get along with all of the professors in our classes." I had to bite back a laugh. People thought I was my own daughter?

Still, it seemed that I needed to be a bit more professional with the professors. It was hard, though, because many of them were my close friends and comrades.

"But Olivia," Elizabeth warned in an uncharacteristically serious tone, "I would be careful. A lot of people look up to Grace, so you might end up being a target. She's... really popular, after all."

That was true. From what I could see, Grace Belloway fascinated those around her. Ethereal beauty, perfect swordsmanship, and Queen-like mannerisms, it was hard not to be. And although I wasn't particularly close with anyone besides May and Elizabeth, even I had heard whispers in the hallway about her. About how no one really knew her true strength, because she always matched the strength of her opponent out of politeness.

Except, I knew. I thought back to the midterm scores she had shown me earlier in the semester; though even those scores couldn't show her real strength.

99 out of 100. A prodigy.

I smiled sourly; how lonely she had to be. The daughter of a duke, famous at school, renowned for her skills-- every hour of the day she had eyes on her. I wondered if she had anyone at all she could show her true face to.

Little rabbit. Her voice flashed in my mind, and I felt my cheeks and ears heat. This was a bad time to be remembering that.

I needed to single her out, talk about our weird... not-really-a-fight. I wasn't a child, and I knew how important communication was.

Besides, something about her eyes that day brought out every protective instinct in my body.

Don't fall for it, Morgan Eclaire, I had to remind myself. No matter how much she reminds you of the you from back then, you're aren't alike. She's a Belloway, a royal child. Her beautiful, silver hair flashed through my mind, marking my resolve. My job, however ironic, was to be the Selector. I would carry my duty out for my country. I would make the best possible choice for the people living within the Kingdom of Belland, for the sake of the delicate peace we currently held.

Grace was a Belloway, and I was an Eclaire. There was no room for similarities. I would need to get close to her, for the sake of the job, but nothing like... that could ever happen again.

...

Grace wasn't in my last class as a student, purely so I could avoid suspicion for having my schedule perfectly tailored to match hers. Because of this, it was supremely boring. It was a history class I had already taken once before, and it was supposed to allow me the opportunity to observe Anna Belloway. She never attended, so it only ever felt useless. I couldn't even skip out, because I didn't know if she'd ever show up.

I waited until everyone had left the classroom-- a habit from my school days-- before leaving myself. The large hallways were clear because classes had started again. Most students, besides myself, of course, had classes in the morning and in the afternoon. I had barely 2 hours before I needed to transform back into myself and prepare for lecture.

I noticed a group of three girls, one who I recognized to be in my history class, conglomerated close to the classroom door. They watched me as I exited, stepping closer to me. I smiled.

"Hello," I greeted, forcing back the 'Can I help you?' that I normally would have asked. The tallest girl, a pretty blond, scowled at me.

"I don't understand how someone like her could be the daughter of the esteemed Professor Eclaire," one girl whispered to another, purposefully loud, referring to the rumors that had been floating about. It sounded ridiculous-- me, the daughter of myself.

"It's probably a lie that she's close with Grace. I've never seen them together, before," another said. The blond laughed, pity coloring her gaze as she stared at me.

"What a childish way to get attention," she bit out. I blinked at them. Were they trying to bully me? How cute. Ah, adolescence. Or late adolescence, anyway– the students ages ranged from early teens to mid-twentiesat Sain Clare. I remembered the drama from my school days, though I hadn't particularly missed it. My own drama had tended to be more... violent.

I smiled, saccharine sweet, in return before pivoting and walking past them. It wasn't worth my time.

When a hand gripped my arm, halting me, I had to force back the gut reaction to slam my aggressor against the wall with magic. I was still disguised as a student, and Olivia Denton didn't know how to use magic. Besides, assaulting a student was probably a bad idea. I couldn't fight back.

"Let go," I ground out, working to keep a fake smile on my face, "please." The girl who had grabbed me, a brunette who I decided was currently using strength-reenforcement magic against, slammed me against the wall. I gasped as all of the breath left my lungs; that would definitely bruise later. Perhaps I'd been wrong about the less-violent thing. Teenagers in a school for soldiers had a lot of pent-up stress, after all.

So much for not standing out.