The Afterlife Academy: Valkyrie

Chapter 8

8

With my bowl of potato salad, I ventured out into the dormitory. I hadn't breached the third floor yet and for good reason. It was certainly not acceptable for first-years to enter unless specifically asked. Most of the girls were shooting me weird looks as I stepped into their hallway, wingless and wolfless. A clear sign I was a first-year.

Part of me beamed with pride that I managed to get in with the it crowd on my first week here. Another, bigger part of me was just incredibly nervous and sweaty.

I gulped my nerves back, reminding myself that I was invited up here.

With my heart beating in my throat, I braved the long hallway up to room fifteen. Why did it have to be the last room?

The faint music escaping through the cracks of the door was perfectly pleasurable and I hoped I wasn't under or overdressed.

Careful not to drop my bowl, I took a deep breath and knocked. Time to show all of them how cool I could be.

Time passed excruciatingly slow with the envious and judgmental looks from some of the other third-years hanging in the dormitory corners. Didn't anyone spend time in their own room?

Just as I was about to knock again, the door swung open and I faced Oda, Flavia's right hand. "Ylva."

"Hi!" Wow, I sounded chirpy, a little too much for my taste. Consciously, I lowered my voice and held out the bowl "I brought the potato salad?"

"I can see." Oda nodded as she threw her dark hair over her shoulder and shouted into the room. "Flaviaaa?"

She stepped back to make room for Flavia. The head girl looked me up and down, nodded to herself, and pulled the door wider open. "Come in."

"Thanks." Grateful to escape the staring eyes, I stepped into a room that was at least three times bigger than mine. With a crystal chandelier and beautifully stained woodwork, it was hard to believe this was a student dorm. "Wow. Your room is really big."

"I know." Without checking that I was actually following, she waved me into her room where the other girls were already seated. Damn, I was the last one even though I made sure to be extra early. I'd make sure that wasn't the case next time.

"I brought potato salad," I offered, holding out the bowl again.

Oda tapped me on the shoulder and pointed towards the table stretching through the space. "You can put it on there. Next to the roasted ham."

"Oh, okay." More intimidated than I'd been in my life and aware that all eyes were on me, I placed Ryoko's potato salad down. "Oh, I also brought a gift for the host?"

From my bag, I pulled a jar of honey that I brought from home. It'd been a gift from my favourite aunt and it was painful to part with it, but I hadn't managed to find anything else I could present.

"How thoughtful," Flavia noted, accepting the jar. "Honey?"

"Yes, homegrown from the West."

She nodded appreciatively. "Beautiful. Thank you."

"You're welcome."

The leader waved Oda over and pushed the jar in her hands. "Put this on my shelf. Make sure not to break it. It's a precious gift from our new friend."

Relief lightened my chest. At least I got that right and she called me their new friend. If that wasn't progress, I didn't know what was. Heck yes.

"Ylva, come sit down." Flavia grabbed me by the arm and pulled me towards the couch. "Make some room, girls."

"Hi." I waved awkwardly, not remembering any of their names. I'd just have to figure it out as I got along the evening.

"Sit, sit," Flavia insisted, pushing me down in the middle of the sofa.

Squashed between a bunch of strangers, I reminded myself that this was a good thing. Somehow. If only I could remember their names.

"So..." Flavia put her hands on her strong hips, immediately silencing any of the conversations the others were having. "Let's talk, Ylva."

I wiped my clammy hands on my pants. "Okay?"

"Which noble family were you from again?"

I gulped. I forgot I'd lied about that... Should I make up a noble house or pretend I was part of an existing one? What if one of them was actually from West? No, they would've said already...

"The Ylfings Clan, but I doubt you'll have heard from us. We're very humble, you know?" I lied. So making up a clan based on my own name it was then... I'd have to pray nobody checked.

Flavia nodded. "Are you next in line as the heir of your family?"

"Yes." Not technically a lie. I was an only child.

"Do you have any special skills?" she went on, tapping the side of her head in a way that just radiated power. Maybe I shouldn’t be lying to such powerful women. This could backfire quickly if they found out.

"I'm really good with handling dusk wolves." Half-lie. I got along great with Azur, but that summed up my experience with wolves.

"Interesting..." She shot a look at the other girls and they nodded approvingly.

At least I was doing something right?

"Have you always wanted to be a Valkyrie?"

I nodded. Finally, a question I could answer without lying. "Yes, always. It's been a lifelong dream."

The girls next to murmured again, humming in unison.

Flavia stared me up and down, her grilling look making me sweat and ball my hands into invisible fists. She was the leader of the group and only her opinion counted. If she thought my answers were appropriate, we could move onto the next step.

She clapped her hands, her frown melting away into a smile. "Perfect. Let's eat."

I breathed a sigh of relief. Thank the gods, I got through the first part.

Aware that all the other girls probably had their designated seats at the table, I hung back and waited until someone told me where I could sit. I didn't want to imagine what would happen if I took Flavia or Oda's seat by accident. That would just be social suicide.

For a moment, nobody talked while they brought out the dishes and arranged the tables. With a lot of shuffling of chairs, plates clanking, and cutlery clinking against porcelain, everyone sat down. That just left the end of the table for me. Great, the spotlight seat...

Slowly, I sank down on the chair, making sure to check their faces for approval. I assumed I was invited to sit and dine with them, but who knew? This was college. Anything could happen.

The girl on my right, whose name I still didn't know, reached for the jug and poured wine into everyone's glass, including mine. Great. I didn't realise we were drinking. I'd never been a big fan of alcohol, but I certainly wasn't going to offend by declining. That was just a d**k move.

"A toast." Flavia rose from her seat and raised her glass. "To the gods who came before us and the mortals who will come after us. Skol."

"Skol," I voiced, clinking the glass and taking a small sip. The sour taste of the red wine coated my tongue and brought a weird fruity flavour along. I could swear it was making my tongue shrink. Yuck.

"Lovely wine," Oda noted, nodding in approval.

The girl on my right beamed. "Thank you. It's the last barrel of that year."

"Thank you for bringing it for us to enjoy, Dagmar."

Ah, so that was her name. I had to remember it... Dagmar was the one with dark hair and braids on either side of her face. Dagmar with the braids. Okay.

Flavia took another sip and smiled, before picking up the big carving knife to attack the big chunk of roast pork. "Let's eat."

The girls murmured appreciatively as she broke the crust and sliced thick slabs of meat. A big casserole of greens was passed around, followed by a viscous gravy.

I was handed whatever plate came by and without really looking at it, I scooped it on my plate. That was what everyone else was doing. All of it seemed cloyingly orchestrated, like adults that had been doing this for centuries. Even so, none of them could've been doing this for more than three years. So why were they acting like our parents on official functions?

Wasn't college about having fun while we still could instead of mimicking the boring life ahead?

None of them seemed to mind. In fact, two of them were making pleasantries over my potato salad about their ranch and the cattle attached to it. They almost made it sound like they owned the farm, not their parents.

"It's been a terrible season for the marblows. Our bull only impregnated half of the cows."

The other girl, one with freckles, clacked her tongue while she drowned her pork in sauce. "Terrible shame. Must be the weather."

"Certainly. Those thunderstorms haven't been kind," the one with the red tips agreed. Her knife scratched hard into the plate, screeching like nails on a chalkboard. "Sorry."

"Mamma says an unknown illness spread to our pigs," Freckles said while helping herself to a generous portion of pork. She grabbed a big hunk of bread and held the basket out to me. "Want some?"

"Sure," I replied, quickly taking one of the end pieces. Those were my favourite and all the others had left those. The conversation about sick cattle wasn't really wetting my appetite, but I powered through the food towered on my plate. Meat, veggies, sauce, and Ryoko's potato salad.

Eager to try, I chose a nice big piece and shoved it in my mouth. Tangy, a little sweet from the apple, crunchy from the onions. Surprisingly creamy too. Mayonnaise? In a potato salad? That was unusual. I only ever had it with vinegar…

Hmmm. The mayo was a bit weird, but unexpectedly tasty. I'd definitely get her to make it again.

"Nice potato salad," Oda commented while inspecting a piece of apple and happily eating it.

"Thanks." I smiled awkwardly, feeling a little strange for taking credit for someone else's work. But that was my story now. I was a noble and I made potato salads. No big deal. Just one of those things.

"What's in it?"

"Oh, ummm... Apple, onion, ... Potato?" I stammered, caught off guard. I should've asked Ryoko about that.

"I like it."

"Me too." Flavia nodded, drank the last of her wine, and then stared right at me. "So, Ylva... When did you decide to lie to us? Was it just a spur of the moment thing or did you plan your deceit?"