Call of the Water (COMPLETE)

2. WORLDS APART

Opal and Ardea. My two roommates seemed worlds apart.

We hadn't spoken much that day. Ardea was the quiet one; she answered what was asked, but didn't ask questions of her own. I wasn't feeling very chatty either. I didn't know what to say to the girls I just met. In my former home I didn't have any friends.

Opal seemed to be much more outgoing. She spent most of the afternoon studying our schedule, often sharing her thoughts even though none of us asked her to do so.

I found out she transferred here from another school, meaning that this was a fresh start for the both of us.

"Where did you go to school last year?" she asked me while her curious brown eyes rested on my face.

"Nowhere," I answered. "I was home-schooled."

"Oh, you poor thing!" Her eyebrows arched, but I couldn't figure out why she would think it was a bad thing. I was just about to ask her about that, when she turned to Ardea with a question for her. "What about you? Where were you last year?"

"Here," Ardea replied and added nothing else.

Opal could only bear the silence for a few seconds before asking, "What is this school like?"

Ardea took a moment to look at her, as if she was pondering how many details her answer should contain. Finally, she said, "It meets all the criteria a school should meet."

"O...kay," Opal stretched the word and then turned back to me. "I'm getting hungry. I wonder what we'll have for dinner."

As we were walking towards the dining room, my nervousness grew. Never before had I been surrounded by so many representatives of the hidden races. Walking up to the French doors leading to the dining room, I had to push my hands into my pockets to stop them from shaking.

The moment I stepped over the threshold, the conversations stopped and all the heads turned in my direction. They knew who I was. They had to know, otherwise they wouldn't act the way they did.

Hushed whispers followed us as we were picking up the trays and placing our food on them. Wishing I could reduce myself to the size of a water drop, I quietly sat next to Opal.

"What's up with them?" she leaned closer to me. "They are acting like they've never seen a dwarf before."

I allowed my eyes to briefly scan the dining room before I said, "I think they aren't looking at you."

Opal looked at me. "Oh..." she said. "Is it because you came from..." She lifted a glass of water and shook it slightly until the surface rippled.

I nodded shyly. "So, you heard too, huh?"

"Yes. The headmaster told me I'd be a roommate with an unconventional student. Honestly, up until now, I thought he meant Ardea. Maybe I wasn't paying enough attention." She smiled so widely that her freckled nose wrinkled. Somehow, it took away a big portion of my nervousness.

One by one, the students turned their heads away. All but one. At the table in the corner of the dining room sat a student whose gloomy stare still rested on me. Dressed in dark clothes that matched his hair color, it seemed as though he was absorbing the light coming from the light fixtures on the ceiling, making it impossible for me to see him clearly. Still, the way he looked at me sent cold shivers down my spine.

I hadn't eaten much. Instead, I returned to my room and gotten into bed. Restless dreams kept me company until the dawn.

When I woke, the taller of my two roommates was already gone. Her bed was made, not a single crease on it. The shorter one was standing in front of a mirror wearing brown pants, a gray shirt and a blue knitted vest. Judging by the frown on her face I wasn't sure if the vest would remain a part of her outfit.