Wham! She slammed into something solid and fell backward, landing on her butt. She stared at the space before her eyes. What had she hit? It was empty; there was nothing there. "What the f***?" she muttered under her breath.
"Hey, why didn't you stop?" the male demanded. He entered Sky's field of vision. He towered over her. As she sat on the ground, she looked into his handsome face. "F***, me," she mouthed inaudibly. He had a bouncing brown halo of curls that lightly swayed in the wind. They crowned his head. His bright, sky blue eyes were full of irritation. As he stared down at her demanding an answer, she fixated on his countenance. His mouth was tight with annoyance, yet his lips begged to be nibbled. He was jabbering something at her, but she didn't seem to notice. Sky's eyes fell to his body and attire. He was toned and fit under his white, slightly wrinkled uniform. She always had a soft spot for a man in uniform. As she studied him, his opened jacket flapped in the wind. "Well?" he demanded again.
Sky tried to gather her composure. As she smoothed her dress, she felt her specs. Hastily, she forced them on to her face and pushed her glasses up her nose. They hadn't disappeared during her forest adventure after all. She tried to rise to her feet, but she fell back down. She looked him in those blue orbs of seduction and began chattering: "I'm sorry. I thought you were going to attack me. I can't afford to be attacked again right now. I need to get back to school, get my uniforms, and my books and things. And then, there's the Chancellor's speech today. I'm sorry. I really didn't mean anything by it," Sky spoke rapidly. She took a deep breath, intentionally slowed her speech, and said, "I am sorry."
"Why would I attack you? I don't even know you," he said. Sky shrunk back further from the male's confused words.
"I will—its, its—n never mind—uh uh, if you will excuse me," Sky said. She attempted to stand again. When she managed to get to her feet, she winced. Her eyes teared up as she put pressure on her right ankle.
"You're injured," the male said. He had come closer to her, pulled her to her feet, and held her still. The breeze ruffled Sky hair and the male's nostrils flared again. He froze. His blue eyes went wide. Sky looked to her left, towards the forest as she heard hurried footfalls. Another male was hurrying over. He had thick, wavy, shoulder length, dark red hair that he gathered into a low ponytail. His dark green eyes were the color of old growth and were filled with curiosity. His angular chin and the hollows below his high cheekbones were dusted with short, dark red hairs. This male's white uniform was even more wrinkled than the other male's. It looked like he'd just picked it up from the floor and thrown it on.
Even though he was dressed in a dirty, pre-worn uniform, elegance still oozed from this male. Sky had the impression that he was more well connected than most of the creatures at school, and that was saying something.
"A f***ing human?" the brown-haired male asked the redhead sharply.
He immediately distanced himself, shaking his head in disgust. She stiffened up despite the inconvenience of pain and let out a type of aggravated breath. Sky stared at the brown-haired male, and then, she looked the redheaded male in the eyes, ignoring the rude, chestnut imp.
"Relax, Jin. You should be getting used to being up now. You will have to teach a class next term," the redheaded male said to brown-haired male. His melodic voice carried an air of educated tones. The brown-haired male, Jin, glared at him. His beautiful blue eyes tightened. Furrows developed between the blue twins. Then, after a minute, he wrinkled his nose.
"Ugh, I'm going to back to bed," Jin said. He quickly turned and stormed away.
"It would be better if you stayed up and did research!" the redhead yelled. Jin stopped dead in his tracks, turned around, and made a rude gesture. He resumed his walk towards the school building. The redheaded male snorted in amusement. Sky though that somehow even this was elegant. He then turned his eyes on Sky, all amusement left his face, and said, "Alright, who are you, and what are you doing here?"
Sky blanched and stuttered as she attempted to speak, "S-Sky-Skylar Mar-Maren."
"Excuse me?" The male's voice was thick with irritation. Sky took a deep steadying breath.
Looking at the floor to escape the two gemstones staring at her, she said, "I'm Skylar Maren. I'm a student here. This is Regis, right?" The male frowned, and his body became rigid.
"So, you've never been here before?" he asked. Sky shifted, uncomfortably.
"Well, not really. I was attacked and left in the forest for the Lessers to eat, right after I got here." The male gave her a look of concern that raked over her entire body. Sky flushed, embarrassed at how disheveled she appeared. The male's eyes lingered on her torn and stained dress. In an attempt to make herself more presentable, she tried to smooth her sandy-brown hair and discovered that her wig was crooked. She tugged it back into its proper place, but apparently, she pulled it too far because the male stepped closer to her and batted her hands away.
Gently, he resettled it on her head. "It's okay," he said.
Sky boldly glanced into his face. His face was serene like a lake on a windless summer day. Sky immediately diverted her eyes and mentally chided herself for foolishly thinking that he would be perturbed in the least by her proximity to him. Uncomfortably racing heartbeats, suddenly sweating palms, and rapidly rising body temperature belonged to her. She had never been this close to a male who wasn't a relative before. Silently, she hoped that he wouldn't notice and make fun of her for it.