Briar Preparatory Academy

Finding Allies

Celeste POV

My Monday morning starts with a loud ringing in my ears. I roll over in my bed, clutching my pillow to my head to drown out the noise. I make a noise of complaint low in my throat when I feel something soft hit me on the back. I hear a voice seep its way through the feathers in my pillow.

"6:30, Celeste. We gotta get up."

I roll back over and meet Kate's emerald green eyes. She is smiling down at me, an amused look on her face. She is already dressed in her uniform: a white and navy plaid skirt, white polo, and a navy sweater vest. Her chocolate brown hair is pulled up into a high ponytail, like it always is, and she is wearing her glasses today. All that told me that she really doesn't care what she looks like. She never did on Mondays. Then again, who did care what they looked like on the first day of the school week?

Kate pushes the snooze button on my alarm clock and switches on the lights. I respond with another noise of aggravation and sit up, rubbing my eyes. "I do not want to go to class today. Correction. I never want to go to class ever again."

Kate chuckles as she makes up her bed. Without looking up from her work, she says, "I heard they're serving cinnamon rolls for breakfast this morning."

I immediately perk up. "Cinnamon rolls?"

"Yep." I catch the smile in Kate's response.

I sigh, considering my options. Skip class and stay in bed all day, or miss the cinnamon rolls. One of them is way too good to pass up.

"I swear if you're lying..." I say, pushing myself off my bed.

"I'm not." Kate says.

I walk over to my wardrobe and open the wooden doors, peering inside. I pull out the same plaid skirt Kate is wearing, a white undershirt, and a navy blazer with the academy symbol on it. I quickly braid my long blonde hair and brush my teeth. I don't even look in the mirror. As I said before, no one cares what you look like on Mondays. I glance over at Kate, who is humming quietly under her breath and gathering all her textbooks together in her bag. "You ready?"

"Yeah, let's go." Kate makes her way to the door. We step out into the hallway, squinting in the light of the lamps that line the walls. The hallway is rather intricate, decorated with hardwood floors, crimson Turkish rugs, delicate paintings, and dim lighting. It is quiet at the moment, only a few students lingering outside their doors. Kate and I are usually one of the first people that headed out.

We exit the dorm room building, hugging our arms to our bodies to squeeze the cold, winter air out of our lungs. I can see other students heading towards the building where the cafeteria is. I can smell the cinnamon rolls even from here, which made me walk all the more faster. From across the courtyard, I heard a voice call my name. "Celeste, Kate! Wait up."

We pause and look over our shoulders. I immediately smile when I see Seth jogging towards us. As usual, he is wearing his uniform and his light gray beanie. He is always wearing that beanie... It conceals his long, side-swept black hair and brings out his angular cheekbones. He is always smiling, even if we are taking an exam. It irritated me sometimes...

We walk in silence to the mess hall, our breaths pushing steam through the air. For most people, silence is awkward and strange. But for us spies, silence is welcome. There is too much we know that we can't say.

As we walk into the dinner hall, we go through the buffet and pick up our cinnamon rolls, as promised. I pile two on my plate and head to our usual table by the window.