Elitease

Chapter 3

"Wake up. Wake up, WAKE UP!" My morning haze made me confused. I sat up and rubbed my eyes, taking a better look at who had decided to wake me up at this ungodly time. Right... my roommate. She then pulled back, and as I ran my gaze over her figure, she was already dressed and had done her makeup. Jesus, at what time did she wake up? I then fumbled over my bedside stand to put on my glasses and take a better look around the room. The morning sun was rising; wait... what time was it? "5:56 if you're wondering.", she answered my unspoken question. I could've gone back to sleep if I wanted to, but I was too curious to see the school's surroundings... and maybe get a tour from Aaliyah.

I dressed up with a uniform that had been laid in a drawer. It was composed of a simple black skirt, a white blouse with a clip-on tie as an option, black or white tights, and a black blazer that must be worn at all times. Apparently, I had taken so long to put on the outfit that my roommate went back to sleep. Her mouth hanging slightly open, and head resting on her hands, I didn't doubt she was knocked out. A small strand of hair lightly sat on her face. She looked so peaceful that that one strand kind of disrupted it. And so, without thinking, I stepped in front of her and tucked it behind her ear. The slight touch of her skin against mine sent a shiver down my spine. A feeling I hadn't felt before was slowly coming to life in me. Taking a step backward to look at her one last time before going downstairs, I opened the door and closed it off, suppressing weird and unfamiliar feelings.

I headed down towards where I thought was the dining hall. No one precisely gave me any directions on what was situated where in this castle for a boarding school. Looking up at where I had stopped on the first floor, there was a sign reading "Dining hall." Well, that was easier than I thought. My jaw dropped the moment I saw it from the outside of the piece. A big chandelier hung securely from the ceiling; a long table sat in the middle of the room, and what might have been the biggest walk-in buffet of my life was near the windows. Morning sunlight bathed the flower-patterned walls in a golden glow. There were only a few girls that sat on a nearby couch next to the door of the hall. One of them suddenly looked up, catching me staring at those who were sitting down. I tried to look away, but before I knew it, she had gotten up to scan me from head to toe.

"You're the new girl, right?" she asked.

I confirmed, "Um, yeah."

"Nice to meet you. What's your name?"

"Raven. And you are...?"

"Chloe," she replied, "but you can call me Chlo. I like your vibe."

My vibe? What did she think my "vibe" was? A good enough one to let me call her Chlo instead of Chloe. And just as I finished meeting Chloe, Aaliyah sneaked up behind me and scared me, then laughed. Maybe I should too? But I couldn't bring myself to.

All my life, it had been frowned upon to laugh at jokes for real. We were taught to brush off snide remarks with smiles and to always ask to do simple things such as getting a glass of water or going to the restroom. Once when I was younger, Father caught me drawing doodles instead of doing my homework. According to his mature adult state, I deserved severe punishment for my despicable actions. The severe punishment included getting my wrists strapped to a desk and getting spanked by a metal ruler. The light scars still showed if I wasn't careful enough. I put on a disguise every day, afraid of punishments or what consequences my innocent actions may have.

Awoken from my thinking state, the doors to the dining hall opened as girls started walking in a straight line inside. I found myself dragged through the crowd, guided by my roommate. I then found myself taking a seat next to her at the table. I leaned slightly forward to see why I hadn't been hearing silverware clattering or giggles from the table. Just in time for Headmaster Cornwell to get up as everyone else stood up, I followed suit. She talked for a while, I couldn't hear a word coming out of her mouth, but once everyone started sitting down and Aaliyah nudged me gently, I understood that I should also sit down.

The food was pretty good, considering I just took a boiled egg and some avocado toast. When we had finished, Aaliyah and I went back up to our dorms. While walking behind her, I had taken notice that the hairstyle she had today was different from that of yesterday. She had put it up in a bun with two strands in the front. I was careful not to wander my look for too long before doing something irrational. This was completely unlike me. Yes, I had seen other attractive women in my life... and yes, I had even wanted to touch some of them, but that probably didn't mean anything.

I then came to a sudden stop when I ran into something, and as I looked up, I saw the perfectly sculpted figure of a woman. Hers. A feeling of embarrassment washed over me, and my face reddened as I turned away. Then, she started laughing. More like a giggle that made me open up a bit as I let out a small chuckle that turned into a full-blown laughing attack. She cupped my face with both of her soft hands to look at me with those amber eyes. To my disappointment, she pulled away and kept walking upstairs. I had intended to break the eye contact first, but she had the same unspoken thought that this was wrong... so so wrong. But then why did I want her to lean in and...