Page 17 of Eat. Prey. Love. (Apex Academy Capers #5)
This is the first morning of classes and I’m freaking out a little. I’ve got the Academie uniform on exactly as pictured in the handbook and my hair is behaving, but the butterflies in my stomach as I finish putting on the dusting of makeup won’t quit.
I don’t have the twins’ cousin today, but I’m still worried since he was seen with other professors in Paris.
“You’re fine, Dolly,” I say as I stare in the mirror. “Last semester helped you get in touch with the bunny and you’re working on the blue shit. Most of the ex-idiots aren’t around, so now it’s just new bullshit. You can handle that.”
My reflection is only mouthing back the words I’m saying, so I take a deep breath and center myself. It’s been hard to unlearn the shit Lucille drilled into me from a young age about my worthlessness. I have moments when I’m super confident and I feel like I can take on the entire world. Other times, I fall back into old habits and doubt myself, especially when I have to deal with new authority figures and possibly judgmental peers.
Progress is hard, no matter how much support you have in your circle.
A knock distracts me and the door opens to my poetic gargoyle smiling mischievously. Rennie whistles low and I grin, doing a little twirl for him. That makes him rumble softly as the skirt flares and again when I turn to walk over to my bed to grab my bags.
“ Perfectment , ma petite ,” he says and I have to squeeze my thighs together as the gravelly French I adore.
“You’re biased,” I reply as I stride over to him to plant a light kiss on his cheek. “But I’ll take encouragement in any form.”
“Get your cute butt in here and eat before Felix spanks it!”
I giggle, looking up at Rennie, who shrugs. “Fitzgerald is correct. You need to fuel up for classes today. There are many physical activities in your schedule.”
“Ugh, I know. Hopefully, I won’t be too far behind these folks. This place is entirely focused on arts and nowhere I’ve attended has had a program this intense.”
Renard offers his arms, his eyes fond as he shakes his head at me. “None of that, lapin . I have learned you are capable of anything you put your mind to, and this will be no different.”
I hope to hell he’s right, or I’m going to drown here.
“ Ecoutez !? 1 ”
My head jerks up immediately when the huge bird squawks her command in rough French. Madame Bissonette scares the living hell out of me already despite being an omnivore that eats things much smaller than me when her mood suits. I didn’t know a damn thing about cassowary shifters before I walked into my Theater History class almost an hour ago, but I sure as fuck do now.
She made it very clear that they’re the third largest bird in the world and will happily eat some smaller animals if they feel like it. I had to Google which ones when she wasn’t looking, but I know I’m safe. Some of the reptilian and water preds might not be, depending on their size, especially since none of the other universities limit their student body to apex predators like my original school did.
“You will put down your pencils, styli, pens, or whatever you are using to complete your quizzes.” Her dark, beady eyes glare until she sees everyone click off their tech or stop scratching on their pages. Oddly, she actually allows students to complete things in paper format, which I haven’t seen since I was in primary school. “Now, as I stated earlier, this will determine whether I demand you be knocked back to re-take Theater History 101 or if you stay in this class for the semester. I refuse to catch up those who have not earned their place, even if it’s due to a lack of curriculum vigor at other schools.”
I don’t look away as she glares at each of the transfer students like they’ve offended her ancestry. Giving her the power to make me cower isn’t something I’m willing to do, even if she’s fucking terrifying. Once she looks away from me, I dart my eyes around the room to see which people I know. We didn’t get to do so when we entered the room earlier—the damn attack bird stopped each person at the door before either handing them a test book or a slip with a link on it. She made it clear we wouldn’t have a second to spare if we wanted to pass the damn thing.
That’s why I hippity-hopped in, dropped into a chair and got to work without watching anything else .
My gaze snags on the two Heathers who couldn’t help but follow me like the weirdly obsessed stalkers they are. Since Todd and his bud went missing, their last bros and Heather C. have defected from the band of bullies. They stayed at Cappie as far as I can tell, but I have no idea how in the shit these dimwits got into this class with me. They’re not even arts majors, so this is some sort of insane set-up to allow them to spy on or torture me.
“ Nique tes morts ? 2 ,” I mutter under my breath. It’s a vulgar as hell swear Rennie taught me, but even Fitz approves of this one. The dead bodies cinch it for him, I know, but I’m enjoying being able to mumble shit not everyone will understand if they hear me.
The stern avian professor gathers all the actual paper tests, then stands at the front of the room looking like she’s going to charge anyone who argues. “You will sit silently for the next fifteen minutes until it is time to go to your next class or break. It is good for those wishing to command the attention of other preds to know how to be quiet and keep your power.”
Fine with me. I don’t want to engage with the people here, anyway.
My Voice Practicum and Ballet class go well, despite my immediate distrust of Madame Alexandré because of her Council ties. Fabreaux is no better, but I can definitely take the swan shifter no matter how rude and aggressive they are. A blue whale is simply enormous and I haven’t a damn clue what the hell she can or can’t do on land; that’s why I’m putting Alexandré on my ‘Sus List.’
You’d think when I felt like my ‘Fuck ‘Em Up, Sis’ was mostly crossed off, I wouldn’t have to do this shit anymore, but here we are.
I’m exhausted as hell when I head for the annex to grab my lunch. It’s not a long break, so no funny business allowed. That’s disappointing, but I don’t want to piss off any professors by being late in addition to simply existing. My next class is Tap with Professor O’Shea and I’ll need the energy boost. I can’t skip to explore or even to find Rufus and Cori.
“Yoo-hoo… anyone here?” I call as I swipe the temporary badge on the door to enter.
When no one answers, I trudge into the kitchen, dropping my bags on the floor. The fridge has a wrapped plate full of protein packed food with a post-it bearing my name and a cute little drawing on it. Chessie is my favorite for the moment, so I put my plate on the counter and find his pad to leave a matching note that I post on the outside of the appliance. Once I do that, I sit down and dig into my food.
The bad news from this morning—besides the staff and the Heathers—is that as expected, transfers will have to prepare jury performances by the end of the year despite the late start. It means I’ll have to put together a five to ten minute fully fleshed out performance in Voice, Ballet, Tap, Modern, and Acting that includes every freaking piece to a real show. I’ll have to see if Coco and Ru-Ru can help as part of their juries; otherwise, the costuming and directing will be big gaps. I can choreograph, pick pieces, record music, and the rest, but I’ll never get those things done alongside the first two.
“Fucking bullshit if you ask me,” I mutter around a huge bite of the salad with various nutrients shoved into it by my perfectionist cheetah. “And I hate fucking lettuce.”
Ironic, I know, because… bunny. But I really do.
“Ah, but your diet must be balanced during training, bite size.”
My head whips around and I arch a brow at the silent moving dragon. “Spying on me, big guy?”
“Just came to grab a snack of my own and here you were,” Aubrey says as he comes closer and presses a kiss to my temple.
Pushing at his shoulder playfully, I snort. “It better not be me ‘cause I have neither the time nor the cleanliness to allow that shit. I’m a sweaty mess from dance class.”
He shrugs as he reads the note to Chessie, then opens the fridge. “As if I’d give a shit. But no, I have to get back before some lazy ass professor sends another full class of freshman to create all their log-ins and emails.”
Frowning as I take another big bite of the stupid greens and chicken concoction, I wave my fork at him. “That’s dumb. Why the fuck didn’t the idiots do that before they got here?”
He gives me a wry look, then taps his nose as he pulls out a meaty charcuterie with his name on a note as well. “The oft asked and utterly unanswerable question, lunchable. I like to believe it’s the entitlement of the students coming to private universities. They believe everything will be done for them and I have no interest in propagating that thought, even if it would make my life easier to have Betsy do it for the little shits.”
I grin as he sits on the other side of me, tearing into the snack like he hasn’t eaten in weeks. “You know, you’re very well mannered most of the time, but when you’re hungry, you’re a straight up savage.”
The dragon pauses his inhaling of the food to smirk at me. “I thought you didn’t have time for that.”
Swatting his arm as I flush, I stuff more of my vegetable-legume torture into my mouth before I say something that causes me to be late for class. He chuckles into his food, smugness wafting from his form like a perfume. We eat in silence for a few moments, then my librarian nudges me with his shoulder.
“Are your classes going well so far? Rennie is quite concerned about the professors, especially because of the…” Aubrey makes a face, using his fingers as fangs and I giggle.
“I haven’t seen any vampires or even anyone as emo as him, so we’re probably safe on that front.” I sigh and tilt my head, thinking about what I’ve done so far with a more critical bent. “I don’t know what side, if any, Bissonette is on. She’s a holy terror, but that may simply be species stuff.”
“Mmm. Good to know. We can have Fitz dig some more on her. Go on,” he says as he bites into a big sausage.
Resisting the urge to snigger, I continue. “Alexandré is under suspicion because of Council ties. She was tough, but not overtly biased. It could be an act; it could be nothing. Fabreaux does not like me, but she seems to dislike everyone who is a transfer or not French. Hard to tell there.”
Aubrey rumbles, his expression pleased as he leans in and squeezes me to his side. “A fair assessment, snack size. You’re getting better at analyzing motives before you assign a designation.”
“Uh-huh. What you really mean is ‘that was very mature for your age, Dolly.’ I’m not dim, buddy.”
Laughing as he wipes his mouth with his free hand, my dragon nods. “I see your tongue is sharp today as well.” I give him a wry expression and he shrugs. “Of course I meant you’re maturing. It’s not something to feel bad about. We all grow and change, and with that, maturity makes us see things differently than we did in the past. You are healing from a traumatic childhood and growing up so it’s like a one-two punch.”
“Whatever, old man,” I snark as he looks aghast. “Just kiss me before I have to head out into the ugly world of intrigue and people who want me dead. I need that armor to keep me sane.”
And I do, because I have no idea what I’m coming up against until Pred Games practice.