“Great, we'll just sit here for ten minutes then,” Tory said under her breath, folding her arms.
I nodded, pursing my lips.
A few minutes into the task we had no chance of completing, I glanced at Diego. “Are you okay?”
He nodded, seeming to have gotten over Orion's vicious attack. He dropped his eyes back to his Atlas and continued tapping away the answers.
My gaze drifted to Orion who was grinning about something he was reading on his Atlas. His eyes shimmered with a deep heat and I firmly reminded myself he was only a beast with a beautiful face. Just like Caleb.
"Orion is so hot,” Kylie whispered, her voice carrying to my ears.
"Yeah and he knows it." The girl beside her smothered a laugh.
"He does know it, because he has Vampire hearing." Orion looked up from his desk, pinning them in his sharp gaze. "So if you don't want detention for the next week, I suggest you keep your petty thoughts to yourselves about me and any other member of faculty for that matter."
The girls’ mouths dropped open and a snort escaped me.
"Oh come on Professor as if you don't love having a bunch of girls drooling over you," Tyler called out from the front row, shoving a hand into his blonde-tipped hair to mess it up.
Orion rose from his seat, wandering casually toward the boy with a smile that said he was thoroughly amused. The guy grinned from ear to ear as Orion reached out to him. In a surge of movement, he cracked Tyler’s head against his desk and the entire class inhaled as his smile fell away.
Orion pointed a finger and swept it across everyone in the room who wasn't yet sporting a head wound. “To me, each and every one of you is just a pair of ears. Ears that are going to listen to me speak and no one else in this classroom. If you want to talk to your little BFF in the seat next to you, go ahead. But you'll join Frosted Tips here in detention tonight. And trust me when I say, detention with me is not a fun experience."
"Detention?" the boy gasped as he rubbed his forehead.
Orion's eyes narrowed on him with a do-you-really-want-to-backchat-me-right-now? look and the boy backed down, nodding quickly.
I released a breath I hadn't realised I'd been holding. That teacher had just physically attacked a student! What the hell kind of school was this?
Tory and I exchanged a glance and anger bubbled inside me. That was so not okay.
“This place is crazy,” I whispered to Tory.
“Batshit,” she agreed.
My Atlas pinged loudly and Orion’s gaze narrowed on me in fury. I waved a hand in apology before he lost it and tried to find the mute button. My gaze snagged on the notification on the screen and I frowned.
You’ve received a private message on FaeBook, Darcy!
Overwhelmed with curiosity, I tapped the screen and navigated my way to the app. I found a single message in my inbox from someone called ‘Falling Star’ and their profile picture was of a crescent moon.
Falling Star:
He didn’t tell you the whole story…
I glanced at Tory and found she had her own Atlas pulled in front of her. I realised she was in the chat box too and my brow creased as she looked to me in confusion.
She tapped out an answer and I glanced down at my screen as it popped up.
Roxanya Vega:
Who?
She seriously needed to change that profile name. I stifled a laugh, taking her Atlas and doing it for her. She mouthed me a thank you as I passed it back. I’d always been slightly more tech savvy than her when it came to computers.
A sharp ping sounded from my Atlas and I winced, my shoulders hunching as I locked eyes with Orion. If eyes could fire lasers, I would have been a puddle of guts right then.
“Miss Vega, are you entirely dense?” he snarled.
“No,” I forced out with as much strength as I could.
“Then why are your Atlas notifications switched on in my classroom after I gave you a clear warning to turn them off?”
My throat closed up but I didn’t want to let him see me flounder. I might have been ten （okay eighty） percent scared of this guy but he wasn’t going to know that if I could help it.
“I didn’t realise-” I started but he cut me off, his mouth twisting into a demonic smile.
“Don’t ever lie to me,” he growled and his tone lifted the hairs on the back of my neck. “Let’s hear it then. What does this message say that is obviously important enough to interrupt my class?”
My breathing became shallow as I glanced down at the message on the screen. I traced the words with my eyes and my day took a seriously dark turn. It felt like reaching the top of a rollercoaster and realising your harness was unlocked.
“Out loud. Now,” Orion demanded and I spotted Tory shaking her head in my periphery, clearing having read it.
Well, bye bye life, it was nice knowing you.
I cleared my throat as a few giggles sounded around me. Diego shot me a sympathetic look as I began to read it, every syllable enunciated, figuring I might as well enjoy the ride on the way to my doom.
“The lump of muscle who teaches your Cardinal Magic class. Just to be clear, you’ll recognise Orion by the scent of bourbon on his breath,-” a big inhale sounded from the whole class, “-the permanent scowl stamped on his face and the general air of failed dreams about him since he lost his chance at playing for the Solarian Pitball League.”
I lifted my eyes, my heart lodged firmly in my throat as I met Orion’s could-melt-a-glacier gaze. The laughter was growing in the classroom and Orion looked like a volcano ready to blow.
“And which of your many, many friends sent you that colourful message?” he asked, deadly calm.
“I don’t know. It’s sort of… anonymous,” I said weakly, offering up the Atlas.
He eyed it for a moment then looked to the class. “Everyone return to their work.”
He settled himself back in his chair and I bit into my lip, the tension in my chest becoming unbearable.
There’s no way I’m getting off that easy.
Orion returned to looking at his Atlas and I turned to Tory, a thousand words on my lips.
“Do you think we can trust this Falling Star person?” she whispered.
“I don’t know,” I said thoughtfully. “It’s hard to know who to trust in this place.”
Orion suddenly waved his hand as if he wanted me to get out of my seat. I frowned, glancing around for some kind of confirmation, but everyone was staring down at their Atlases with a steely determination.
"Miss Vega if you're not standing up in the next three seconds, you're going to regret it,” Orion barked.
“Which Vega?” Tory asked, barely concealing her jibing tone.
Holy shit Tor.
Orion's eyes snapped to her. “The one who has tried to individualise herself by dying the ends of her hair blue. It has failed by the way.”
I pressed my lips together at the insult, deciding not to budge.
You don’t know anything about me, jackass.
"Stand up,” he commanded.
"If I say no are you going to smash my head into the table?" I asked through gritted teeth. I might have been one-percent terrified to call his bluff but I also didn't want to be his next target. And it seemed everyone around here had to fight for their place in this culture. I wasn’t going to be made into a weak link on my first day. And as I decided that, something innate came to life inside me like a planted seed suddenly growing a little shoot.