Jia shuffled into her room and from the corner of her eyes, she could see that Zoey was already passed out, face down on her bed. She dropped her bag before chucking off her shoes. With a relived sigh, she jumped to her bed and groaned. Her Potions Test had been brutal and she just wanted to sleep till tomorrow.
"Let`s just never talk about potions until after the break."
"Agreed." Came Zoey`s muffled reply.
The two last Tests had been brutal and all the girls were so tired that they didn`t bother talking about them after class. They all just came back to their room in comfortable silence. Luckily, they had all packed last night for the Christmas Holiday. Everyone was leaving and thankfully, today was just a half day for most of them as most of the Professors wanted to go home as well for the holidays. Boarding a ship during this time of the year was super hard and expensive but so worth it for anyone who wanted to spend Christmas in their own Kingdom.
Jia must have dozed off for a while when she felt someone shake her shoulder to wake her up,"Jia, it`s Zoey. I`m going now. Have a great holiday."
The teenager groaned and turned to mumbled with her eyes half closed, "You too…"
Shen then turned back and went straight to sleep. An hour must have passed before she woke up again and rubbed her face. Zoey`s side of the room was idy indicating that she was gone. The peace looked dark and Jia tilted her head down to see the sky outside. It looked grey,dark and ominous. Jia stood from her bed and made her way out to see Kyra standing at the kitchen counter writing on a piece of paper.
"Hey, you leaving?" Jia asked, getting her attention.
Kyra looked up and smiled," Hey. You`re awake. I was just leaving a letter for you to let you know that we all ordered one last pizza and that your leftover was in the fridge."
Jia gave her a nod as Kyra squeezed the paper and put it into her purple duffle bag. She then moved to hug her friend and tell her that the others had already left and that she was the last one.
"You sure you`ll be okay by yourself?" Kyra said as she released her from the hug and let Jia lead her to the Main door.
Jai patted her hand, "I will be fine. The Student Leaders are around in case I feel scared or lonely so I can always go to them if I want company."
"Which one would you go to?"
"Gillian." Jia answered. Both girls then jumped slightly when thunder boomed and shook the building.
"Was that you?" The shadow sorceress asked after the sound faded.
Jia shook her head and glanced up uneasily at the ceiling, "Nope, that was all mother nature. You should go before it starts pouring."
"Okay. See you in a week!" Kyra said as she hugged her before shouldering her bag and leaving. Jia waved at her on last time before closing the door and locking it.
She then retreated to her room and put on a movie from her laptop before leaning back in her bed and relaxing. Thank goodness for her, Kyra left her some great movies to watch to pass the time yesterday. While watching the movie about over protective parents controlling a son`s life which eventually forced him to run away and become a solider, she couldn`t help but think of the the girls and their parents.
They had all had issued death threats and some even going to the extent of threating to pull them out of school but the girls stood firm on their decision that everything was alright. Zoey`s mother had insisted that she become a non-resident of the school but Zoey just told her that she would be in even more danger as she would be travelling to and from school and thus an easy target. Clary, Kyra and Fiona`s parents had simple wanted to lock their daughters at home. Rose`s parents on the other hand, confused her.
She later came to Jia and said that she had never seen her parents show her attention and affection this much before that she was tempted to just please them by going home. However, she had then firmly told them of her decision to stay at Viola with her team.
"This was the first time I rejected them and I think it got to them," Rose admitted while Jia listened patiently. They had then left after promising her that they would personally pick her up for the holidays.
When Jia was halfway through the movie, Gillian stopped by to see her with a plate of chicken salad and fish fillets. The light sorceress came to check up on her spend some time with her. Jia switched off her laptop and listened as Gillian retold a series of scandals involving some of the nobles she knew. Her older friend finally left when it was curfew time and Jia hugged her at the door before wishing her a happy holiday.
The lightning sorceress then took off her gloves and stripped down for a hot bath. She had just finished and was stepping out of the bathroom when she heard the thunder boom from outside.
"Wow, the spirits must be in a mood tonight." Jia muttered. She padded lightly to her room to change in her silk pajamas and began to dry to her hair. When she felt that it was dry enough, she picked up her hair brush and began untangling the knots in her hair.
She stopped brushing her hair when she heard knocks on her balcony doors. She turned in her seat and stood up with her hands lighting up with electricity. She slowly went to the door and saw a huge figure hunched against the glass. When she held up her hand to illuminate the face, she was surprised to see Tristan shivering in his clothes.
"Tristan?" Jia mumbled. She unlocked the doors and ushered the freezing boy inside. Luckily, it was warm and toasty inside due to the heating spell Fiona casted before she left.
"What are you doing here, Tristan?' Jia asked. She ran out into Rose's room, praying that she left one of her spare towels inside her closet.
"Got caught up in the storm and I needed a place to crash." the Knight answered sheepishly
Jia frowned as she entered the room and stared him, "How did you know I`d be-?"
"Roy mentioned that you couldn`t go home till tomorrow. Something about your dad wanting to personally, pick you up." Tristan answered.
"Yes. I like spending time with my papa whenever I can. Wait-how did you get passed the barrier?" Jia asked him suspiciously as she moved to her bed.
Tristan ran a hand through his hair,"I was here early on but you were in the bathroom and after that you were busy with your hair- "
"So you waited for me to finish? Wait-," She dropped the towel on her bed and faced him expectantly," Did you see me get dressed?"
There was a pause.
"So how come you`re not asleep yet?" Tristan asked as moved to her bed and pick up the towel to inspect it.
"You didn`t answer my question."
"Okay," He then glanced up at her with a smirk," How did you get the scar on your left hipbone?"
Jia gasped," You pervert!"
"At least that answered your question." Tristan muttered as he began drying his hair.
"Tristan! "Jia shrieked," You`re supposed to be better than that!"
"We`ve been over this Jia, I`m not like most guys."
"Tristan!"
"Do you have anything I can wear?" The raven-haired man asked, quickly changing the subject.
Jia pinched the bridge of her nose, "Y-yeah, hang on."
The sorceress turned to shuffle over to her dresser and open it before opening a small bag inside. There were a number of sports shorts, boxers and t shirts three sizes bigger than her. With a small nod, Jia pulled out the clothes she needed and threw them at Tristan.
The blue-eyed solider caught them before looking at her with a frown," Do I want to know why you have guy clothes in your closet?"
Jia shrugged as she shut her dresser and moved to sit on her bed," They`re Roy`s emergency clothes. For when he needs to disappear."
Tristan dropped the towel and moved to pull off his shirt when he saw Jia lean back against her pillow.
"Are you going to look away?"
Jia shrugged, "I don't know. Maybe?"
Tristan shook his head and left out of her room with the clothes plusthe towel. Jia assumed that he would go to the bathroom so she continued on with her hair routine. She then stood and searched for her spare blanket before uttering a spell that turned her bed from single size to queen size. Mentally sending thanks to Kyra for teaching her that spell, she then went about arranging the bed. Once she was done, she switched off her night light and some of Zoey`s new Zeo crystals lit up the room in a soft glow. Lightning flashing made her look towards the balcony where the rain complete hid everything from her view.
Jia sat and watched the rain with a serene smile on her face. When Tristan entered her room, she could feel his eyes focused on her but she put all her effort into watching the storm outside of her balcony. She felt him take a spot next to her bed and fix his blankets before sliding under the covers and lying back with a relived sigh. A moment of silence passed and Jia thought that the Knight had gone to sleep.
"Most girls hate the rain and rain storms," Tristan spoke up.
Jia hummed, "I like storms. They let me know that even the sky sometimes screams."
"You like it chaotic and cold?"
She turned to face him," What`s wrong with that?"
The Knight was lying down under the covers that were pulled up to his waist and both his arms were tucked behind his head. Jia noted with satisfaction that Roy's clothes had fit him snuggly. He gave her a shrug, "Most people would think you`re evil."
Jia`s upper lip twitched, "That's their own opinion. What matters is that I`m not and I know that," Jia said softly.
Tristan pursed his lips and nodded as he scanned her face carefully," Jia, why didn`t you electrocute me that day?"