Day Break Academy Series book 1

Chapter 7: Girl Talk

Skipping food I ran up to the line, and snagged a blood box from the cart. I quickly scanned the room until I saw Torri sitting at a table with Blake in the back. They were chatting animatedly, and laughing. Flirting was more like it.

"Sorry Blake, I need to steal Tor for a moment,'' I said , sliding into the chair across from her. He stared at me expectantly for a second.

"Oh, you mean you want me to leave. It's OK, girl talk, I get it." He joked putting his hands up in mock surrender.

The moment he was out of ear shot I started. "OK. I don't know what just happened, or where to start! So there's this guy in my HOM class right? Anyway, I think he was trying to hit on me, but then..ugh I don't know how to put it."

At the mention of a boy Torri was all ears. "Oh my God, you love him! Who is he? Is he a Vamp? No. Shifter! You would totally go for the big and buff, personally I-"

"Torri!" I stopped her.

"Oh, right. Please continue" she sheepishly grinned.

"OK. So, I don't know what happened but like…I did not want to kiss him, I was about to turn him down nicely, and then somehow my body was defying me,and going for it anyway as if I wanted to. We didn't kiss, but it got like..really close."

I waited grimacing for her reply.

"He used magic to try and score you? First off, using magic on other students is strictly forbidden. Let's be real, everyone does it anyway, but there's unspoken rules. For example, you wanna kiss a girl? You gotta go the old fashioned way, trancing her is just wrong! I mean where is the consent?! Is he hot?" She added with a mischievous smirk.

"Torri!" I chastised her yet again.

She slapped her wrist in pretend shame, and I giggled.

"So hot", I admitted, "but that's neither here nor there. A trance? How did he do that??" I wondered aloud.

"Only vamps can do trances, make people do or say things they wouldn't normally do. Technically we don't learn how to perform trances until senior year, but some of the more talented students have honed the skill. I've done it once or twice on my little sister, but I haven't fully mastered it yet. So…who is he?"

"His name's Lex", I began, "he-"

"Uh uh. Nope. Not him" she said with finality.

"What's wrong with him?" I asked with an edge of sadness. I wouldn't admit it out loud, but her shut down of the first guy to ever look twice at me was a bit of a disappointment.

"He's bad news is all. I've heard rumours that he's part demon. Apparently he's related to a very powerful old Shtriga whose bloodline kept strong by feeding on humans. A story you may recognize about him would be Dracula…" she trailed off quietly.

I burst out laughing, and Torri glared at me.

"OK, OK, I'm sorry but really..Dracula?" I scoffed.

"Dude. You just learned about vampires, witches, and the whole shebang yet this seems so unbelievable to you?" She said pointedly.

"I guess" I reluctantly agreed. I mean the stories had to start from somewhere right?

I took a long draw on my black straw.

"Look, obviously you can talk to whoever you want, just be careful ok? Not everyone here is out to be your friend." She added softly.

I smiled at her in appreciation, and she returned the gesture.

"Speaking of which, do you know a girl named Twyla? She's given me the gears twice already today."

"Ugh. Do you just find trouble everywhere you go girl?" She groaned, "Twyla is a future elite, her dearest rich daddy Is on the council. She's a certified b***h, and if you're already on her radar, well. Good luck the next three years" she sympathetically smiled.

Ducking her head she leaned in to spill more, "she's obsessed with this older elite named Jet. Stay clear of him if you want to live. He's like in his twenties I think. Naturally he's walking s*x. They're not even dating. Anyway, there's a rumour this freshman looked at him a bit too long, and Twyla tranced her into setting her own eyelids on fire! Of course nobody could prove it. I just feel bad for the girl, dropped out and everything. She went blind you know." She said matter of factly pushing peas around her plate.

Great. Well Twyla didn't have to worry about me being anywhere near Jet. I vowed to never let our paths cross again if I could help it. Yet somehow the thought of them together still made me grind my teeth. I wonder if he feels anything for her..

"What class do you have next?" Torri asked, interrupting my jealous thoughts.

I had studied my schedule enough to answer without looking, "Powers" I replied, "and you?"

"Oh fun, I have Potions and Morphology with Blake. Catch you later." She said before twirling around and skipping off towards class. She had it so bad for him, I thought with a snicker.

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I managed to get to Powers class with time to spare. I picked a seat near the door, and kept my head down while the others filed in.

The room was huge, arena-like. Rows of seating climbed up in an oval formation, while a flat area of ground occupied the centre of the room.

A small woman with curly ginger hair, flowing fabrics of mismatched patterns, and wide bell bottom jeans occupied the platform smiling as kids filed in.

I didn't recognize anyone I knew yet, but the bell was still a few minutes off, giving time for stragglers to slip in.

The small woman made her way towards me, and extended her hand.

"Ava Venus, a real pleasure!" Her voice had a high pitch, and her smile was wide.

"My name is Professor Endor, I'm an earth witch. I'll spare you the embarrassment of a public introduction, but just know that I'm so thrilled to have you with us. I was a friend of your mothers during our time as students here! What a powerful woman. I suspect you'll have great talents like her as well." She nodded enthusiastically.

The final bell rang, and she retreated to the front of the room.

I'd have to find time to speak with her outside of class. If she was a good friend of mom's she probably had all sorts of great stories to tell about her. The thought excited me, and I found myself paying extra attention to her instruction.

Professor Endor versed us on classroom safety, the levels of magic, and the standard types each race possessed. The most simple one for Vampires was that of mind reading which I'd be experimenting with in the next class. The thought of mind reading made me think back to both Jet, and Lex. My cheeks began slowly heating in embarrassment. Obviously Lex had an idea what I was thinking considering he had controlled my bloody thoughts, but…did Jet know the things I had thought about him too…? I thought back to when his chest burned under my hands, and my cheeks flamed hotter. Oh God.