Page 23 of A Curse So Cruel
I decide to give her the most truthful answer I can right now. “Honestly, I’m still confused about it all, but they gave me a choice: die or come to this academy. So here I am.”
She regards me like she knows there’s way more to my story than that, but the haunting music stops playing and panic takes over her features. “Shit. We’re late!” Grabbing my hand, she yanks me forward, and I stumble, trying to keep up. Twice she stops me from falling, and we make it to a set of double doors, our chests heaving.
Before we enter, she lets go of my hand and pulls her shoulders back, her soft features hardening like she’s preparing for war. “Stick close and try not to stare anyone directly in the eyes,” she warns me.
“You’re making it sound like they’re wild animals.”
“Then I’m doing my job correctly.”
I grin, thinking she must be joking, but her face remains serious. “Oh, you’re not kidding.”
“Wish I was,” she replies grimly. “Come on.”
I follow her into a massive dining hall, and all at once, hundreds of eyes turn my way. It’s not until people start whispering and looking disgusted, that I remember what I’m wearing. Or more so, what I’m not wearing.Oh yeah. I’d forgotten about that.
Kenzie ducks her head, but I just stare around me, wanting to take it all in. The space is large with multiple long tables around the room, surrounded by students dressed similarly to Kenzie. Torches flicker on the walls, casting light across the dining hall,and at the far end of the room, there’s an unoccupied table on a dais, which I guess is intended for the professors.
“Over there,” Kenzie whispers as she leads us to a couple of empty seats.
As I drop onto my chair, I eye the guy next to me. His blue mohawk is styled impressively high, and he has a thick, circular piercing through his nose.
“What the hell are you wearing?” he laughs, not bothering to hide the fact he’s enjoying checking me out.
I give him an innocent smile. “Why? Want to trade?”
He laughs again, shaking his head.
“She’s gutsy,” someone else on our table mutters.
“You mean, stupid,” a girl across from me corrects.
Hey. Now that was uncalled for.
“Keep your head down,” Kenzie hisses. “Do you want to make enemies tonight? I said no eye contact.”
I’m sure she’s warning me for a good reason, but it seems ridiculous. We’re all students, aren’t we?
“Who are they?” I whisper, because apparently that’s the only volume we can speak at in here. Kenzie follows my gaze across the room, and her face pales. “Students sit at the different tables depending on how close they are to being accepted.”
“Accepted?”
“You know, becoming immortal. Those are the students who will be the next graduates provided they can survive the graduation games.”
“Graduation games?”
“It’s a series of trials you have to complete before you can graduate.”
“Well, that sounds…fun.” I’m about to ask more when some of the students on that table turn and look my way. One of the guys lifts the blade in his hand, and he slides the flat partagainst his tongue, leering at me the entire time like some kind of psycho.
“Who’s that?”
“That would be Craig,” Kenzie answers. “He’s one of the strongest and meanest students in the academy.”
Craig pulls the blade from his tongue just as the girl beside him grabs his face and starts making out with him. I’m quickly forgotten as he grips her, roughly devouring her mouth.
“Hold on, so Satine is going to graduate soon?” I ask Kenzie.
Satine glares at me as she keeps Craig’s attention on her.