So here she was, outside of room 204, class 1-ES1. All told, she'd spent about an hour standing in front of those stupid boards, and now, she was dithering about opening the damn door. Jeez, she'd be late if she didn't enter that damn room soon. Sky took another deep breath, and, on the exhale, she forced herself to turn the knob and opened the door.
Bright, golden sunlight momentarily blinded her, but her ears worked fine, picking up the growls, gasps, and snarls that greeted her presence. The moment of blindness passed, and Sky could now see the cold, hard, beautiful faces of twenty creatures staring back at her amid a plethora of comfortable-looking armchairs and couches.
Sky looked at each of the creatures in turn. She avoided eye contact as she made her way across the room. These were them, the wealthiest, most well-connected people on Gothe. In addition to paying the staggering tuition, these students and their families had ruthlessly connived, plotted, blackmailed, and bribed their way onto those comfortable furnishings, and here she was—a mere scholarship student. There was a bit of smug satisfaction that swept over Sky by this fact.
Silence reigned as Sky ducked her head and quickly made her way to the nearest furniture arrangement. She was about to sit down in an oversized armchair with a bright yellow and vibrant green floral pattern when it burst into flame. Sky jumped away from it amidst snickers from her classmates. She didn't want to give them the satisfaction of seeing her taken off guard.
"Can we help you with something, human?" a cold, rich voice asked with a tone that was just a bit too sweet. Sky glanced at the speaker, and he was handsome—of course. Most creatures were gorgeous. He had brown-skin, and his hair was the color of sassafras leaves in the fall. The speaker's full mouth clearly had been made for smiling, which he was. Although his pearly teeth stood out white against the warmth of his brown skin, his hazel eyes were mirthless and hard.
"Are you lost?" he asked. Sky's gaze quickly sunk to the floor, and her shoulders hunched as she shook her head no. Hastily, she made her way to the other armchair in the arrangement. This one was smaller and a solid, cherry red. It, like the first, became a blazing inferno the moment she neared it. As she watched the flames, her lips pursed tightly, and she was annoyed—pissed really.
"I think you must be in need of some sort of help; otherwise, you wouldn't be scurrying around our classroom like the insect you are," the male said. His sharp words cut like a knife into Sky's gut. She felt her body stiffen, clenched her fists and searched out another seat.
In a flurry of motion, the creatures shifted. Immediately, Sky noticed that the creatures were now as spread out as they possibly could be, meaning there was no seat for her. Really, she thought. Sky's questioning eyes landed on the teacher's desk, and she had a nasty shock. Her previous escort sat in the leather chair behind the large wooden desk. Fuck, she thought. He glared at her. As soon as their eyes met, he turned his gaze on a big, black tome, lying haphazardly on the desk's polished surface. Sky stood watching, wondering what was about to befall her.
Sky sighed heavily, turned away, and shuffled over to the wall with the windows. Seating herself against the wall underneath the centermost window, she pulled her knees into her chest and stared at the floor. As she ruminated, she mentally prepared herself for another long, uncomfortable day. She couldn't stop the mental f***s from littering her mind. She ended up sitting there for the whole class day.
When Sky got to her room that night, she couldn't help but cry. She chocked back any sobs and resisted the urge to vocalize anything because she refused to disturb anyone. Silence—as usual. Her dreams died hard—just like the saying. Her dream of finally being accepted somewhere hadn't seemed so farfetched until she'd spent the day in that classroom, alone.
It had been miserable. No one had physically hurt her, but they ignored her the entire day from the moment she sat to the time she went to her room. Even her escort, who was also the teacher, ignored her. When he called attendance, he ignored her. When he taught his lesson, he ignored her. When he checked on the students' progress, he ignored her. She knew that he'd ignored her every minute of every single day. Sky knew that speaking or asking questions was a waste of time. She knew she couldn't even ask for books; she couldn't ask for a damn thing. He wasn't ever going to give her anything. Despite this obvious snub, she was determined and spend the entire day watching everyone else work on the activity for the week, which was something she could do without the books. Sky knew that she needed those books to do the activity herself, so she set out to acquisition them by any means necessary.
She went to the library—twice. The first-time, she went during lunch. She had to give up food for that trip, which would have been worth it had she gotten a hold of what she needed. The second time, she went after class, which was risky. Both times the librarian, a female by the name of Madam Pritchard, informed her that she could not lend books to Sky because she didn't have a student ID card. Technicalities, Sky thought. She tried arguing that the school hadn't yet issued the ID. She tried arguing the fundamentals of education. Both time, Madam Pritchard stonewalled and dismissed her.
Aven hadn't been able to get Sky's ID. There was some sort of hold up. He'd said that she'd need to get the Chancellor or his secretary to change her status from Run Away, RA, to Active. Sky knew that she had to confront the Chancellor, but she wasn't too keen on that idea, considering what happened the last time she was in his office. That didn't matter; she had to get those books one way or another. One afternoon, Sky made her way to the Chancellor's office. The secretary was her usually inactive self, appearing to be completing absolutely no task whatsoever. Although the secretary sat there unencumbered by any semblance of work, Sky waited for two hours. Sky waited while she looked out of the window, while she did her nails, and while she napped. What the fuck is going on, she wondered. As evening approached, Sky knew she wasn't going to sit there all night. On her way out, Sky stopped at her desk, leaned over, and said, "thank you." She left in a bit of a huff and made her way back to her room. Sky was angry, depressed, and worn out. After closing the door to her room, she walked over to the windows, drew the curtains, and crawled into bed. She knew that she had to figure out something, but what?