When Elowen woke up the next morning, she found herself alone in the dorm. Peaking out the blinds, she found the sun had risen high into the sky, signaling that Elowen had lost several hours to her late night findings and thoughts. Looking around the room before starting to move the brick out of place and slipping the journal out, she opened it to read more thoroughly then she had the previous night. After slipping through the random sketches and various notes, she found the first actual journal entry that Nuri had written, dated for her second year in Dorian.
October 9th, Dorian Academy
I found something and it scares me. Actually, truly, scares me. Not the kind of fear you get when you miss a step on the staircase but don't end up falling. The kind of primal fear I need to get out my system before tomorrows classes. I've already spent my first year knowing that something was wrong with Dorian, how everyone uses certain words so loosely like its something to be okay with hearing a million times a day. Punishment is the most common one I hear. I managed to keep my nose clean, thanks to dad and his insistence that I follow the weird mixture of military and farm rules he laid out for me. But I was wandering the halls yesterday between one and two in the morning, but I heard something. I was in a different building, I think it was building D, the one with all the teacher offices and stuff.
I think I was wrong, about it being teacher offices. I don't think teacher offices are meant to have a fellow student being practically tortured by someone. I didn't see the teacher or the students face, but the screams, begging and pleading. Its stuck in my ears, like honey and paint. If I close my eyes I can still see it, which is why I'm still up. I knew something was wrong about this place but never in my wildest theories did I cross into that. Because why would I? Why would I even think about that happening to one my fellow students? Punishment, whenever I heard that I thought about the punishments at public school.
Detention is what they called them (like normal people). You know, write 500 times this phrase, get hit on the wrist with a ruler. That kind of stuff, things that are horrible to do but aren't anywhere near this level. I don't know what else is going on here, but its clear I need to up the craziness of my theories.
Signed,
Nuri Everglass
Elowen's grip on the journal had tightened, the papers had crinkled under her grip. Her stomach twisted and churned, she sat back to look away from the first journal entry. If that's the severity it took for Nuri to actually write down what happened, a lump formed in her throat at the thought of what else the journal held for her. What else did Nuri find out during her time? Deciding that was enough for one day, Elowen hid the journal once again. Getting dressed, she left the dorm to learn more about the campus until lunch. She had decided that building D would be the one place she would avoid during these trips.
The campus, despite the horrors it hid underneath a layer of upper class money, was still beautiful. Elowen only saw beauty like this when she visited the gardens in the city, of which she had only done twice to her pure disappointment. The hedges were perfectly trimmed, the trees were thriving and some even had flowers blossoming on them. The architecture varied but was always perfect, with columns made of marble more common on older buildings like her dorm. But stained glass windows becoming a staple among the more recently built places. Gardens littered the campus, her favorite now becoming the tulip garden.
It there that she wandered, eventually finding a bench to sit on. She assumed she would be alone for a while, pulling out her comfort book for what was probably her 100th reread of it. The spine was cracked from use, pages yellowed from age but she still cherished the item. She had gotten to page 50 when she heard the grass move. She glanced up from her book to see Delphi approaching. Remembering her last interaction, Elowen quickly got ready to leave the wonderfully scenic spot she had found but was stopped by Delphi.
"No wait, you don't have to go.'" She said, quickly stopping in her own tracks when she saw the haste of Elowens departure. "I just wanted to talk."
Elowens grip on her bookbag tightened, why did Delphi want to talk to her? Hadn't she already made enough conversation by hiding insults under thin layer of compliments. "Well, I don't want to." She said firmly, getting up and starting to walk past Delphi to leave the area, maybe to find a different garden to read at until lunch.
"Wait," Delphi said, grabbing Elowens free wrist to stop her. Elowens gaze snapped at her, brown eyes glared into Delphi's light green ones.
"What? What could you possibly want from me? You want to learn more about my sister? Well tough luck because I don't have anything for you." She snapped, her sudden anger making Delphi take a step back in shock. "So unless you're here to quickly smell the flowers and then leave I don't want to be here." Elowen pulled her wrist from Delphi's grip and stomped forward.
"I'm sorry." Delphi said, making Elowen stop. "I'm sorry for being rude to yesterday, I didn't mean it. I… I don't really know how to talk to…" She trailed off, "To lower class people." She said, settling on a phrase she hoped wouldn't upset Elowen too much.
Elowen let out a sigh through her nose, "Delphi, I don't care okay? I don't want to know how you managed to find me. I don't care about your weak apology, what I care about is graduating. If you're brother had a thing for my sister then boo-hoo for your family I guess." She huffed.
"I want to learn from you." Delphi said quickly, once again catching Elowen off-guard. "Its true, you came into Dorian with flying colors. Highest test scores I've ever seen. Mine weren't amazing, average. And I want to be more then just average." Delphi said, determination in her eyes becoming clear. "I'm mean when I feel threatened and your intelligence threatened me. I had tutors, special classes, I have been raised to get into important schools. And yet, you managed to surpass me. Tell me, how did you do it? And if you could, help me do it."
Elowen almost sneered but that familiar glint in Delphi's eyes made her stop before she said anything. She sees that glint in her parents, pictures of her sister and when she looks in the mirror. Delphi was raised upper class, but had failed to live up the expectations that came with it. Besides, what cruel irony was it that an upper class snob would ask her, a lowly poor person, for help? It would make a great story to tell later. If she could tell it later, was a thought that wormed its way into her head. "Fine. I'll help you." Elowen said. "Starting tomorrow, but for now, I want to be left alone."
And without being able to get into another word, Elowen left. She hadn't wanted to, the garden was wonderful but being near Delphi while her rage boiled so close to the surface wouldn't lead to great decision making on her part. Perhaps Elowen had misjudged Delphi, she was still an upper class brat but without the success to follow it. Elowen would work Delphi to the bone during study hours, teach her how Elowen had to teach herself. She would apply everything that worked and hadn't to Delphi, at least Elowen had never tried the nail and hair method.