Faith Heights

Chapter 44

It took me a half hour to stumble back to the academy in a slight haze. My hair was a post-hurricane mess, and my white school shirt had a jagged tear near my elbow from catching on a branch. I probably looked like something out of a horror movie, but I ignored the looks around me as I sprinted back to my dorm. I needed to get somewhere safe- somewhere where this entire supernatural world couldn't reach me. But there was nowhere I could hide, not anymore.

This was my life, and I'd been the one to demand answers better left unspoken. I couldn't go back to my human life- but at the very least, I could escape into a book for a few hours.

I must have fallen asleep at some point because when I next opened my eyes, a rich sunrise drifted in through the curtains. I was startled into alertness, panicking that I'd overslept, but a glance at my alarm told me that I was awake earlier than I had been in a long time. I was too jittery to fall back asleep, so I wasted the next hour compulsively cleaning my room, and alphabetizing my book collection. It calmed my mind a little, or at least enough so that I was able to button up my school shirt without shaky hands. I was lucky that I had a spare shirt, but I'd have to go into town and buy a stitching fabric to mend yesterday's damaged uniform. 

I spent the next twenty minutes searching my room for my phone. At one point I'd been tempted to find Rhea and ask her to call it- before remembering that I'd placed it on silent yesterday. It eventually turned up under my bed, having fallen off while I'd slept. The screen was lit with two missed calls from my parents, and handful of messages.

Mum had texted, Are you ok? Haven't been able to get onto you lately.

I quickly typed out a reply and hoped she wouldn't ring in response.

All good here. School's been really busy. Haven't had time to ring. No need to worry.

I wouldn't know what to say if I spoke to them. My entire world had been flipped upside down, and then somersaulted a few times for extra measure. I didn't want my parents to hear anything but a happy, bubbly account of their daughter's first time away from home. Mum would never have let on, but I knew she'd been worried to let me go initially. If I slipped up and told them even a sliver of the truth, they'd want me home in a heartbeat. And while that wasn't such a terrible idea, I couldn't endanger them in such a way. I refused to drag them into the mess I'd created with Lucas and Nick, and I didn't even dare to think of what Leclair would do if she discovered that my parents knew the truth.

I left my dorm for home-room in a slight trance. After a few minutes seated in silence, Gabby leaned over from her desk and prodded for an explanation for my presumably wretched expression. I managed a faint smile, but found myself unable to answer. Fortunately, I evaded her questioning without too much suspicion; even during a study period, the class was bustling with overlapping conversations all fighting for dominance. I simply kept my head down, beyond thankful when the bell finally rang.

I was tempted to feign an absence-worthy disease for the rest of my classes. I exited the room with the other students, still undecided, when Lydia appeared in the hallway and fell into step beside me.

"You've been excused from your next class." She simply stated. "The headmistress would like a word with you in her office."

I stopped in my tracks, causing a grumble as the flood of people were forced to move around us. "What for?"

"You'll find out in a few minutes." I could tell she knew more than she was saying, but I didn't have the energy to prod.

We turned and headed back down the corridor toward the main entrance of the building. There weren't many students on the first floor, so I didn't have to face their curious looks as we crossed the lawn.