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Chapter Nineteen

RAIN

T he next day was a repeat of the last. Ms. Rhodes worked me to exhaustion in first period, so I was drooping in second.

This time, however, Aspen gave me a couple of Pixie Styx.

They were enough to keep me going until lunch, when I loaded up on the carbs.

Fruits, sugars, pasta, and a little piece of cherry pie to top it off.

I also went out of my way to make a big deal about my sword to both Tag and Bracken.

Tag, however, agreed with me on my zez being a moron about it.

She said it with a smile and in her own fake-grumpy way.

Bracken just asked if he was still in trouble for it.

When I realized how many faelings were in my class?

I decided he had a point, so no. I both appreciated what he'd done and was embarrassed he'd done it for me .

But once my Defensive and Offensive classes were over, Bracken pulled me aside. "Liam said he has another appointment for you today."

"No class?" Keir asked, coming to join us.

"Not today," Bracken said. "Tomorrow, she will."

"I have to see the nurse," I explained.

Keir quickly looked at Bracken. "Do I want to know?"

"Nope," he said, "you do not."

Keir lifted his hands. "Then not asking." But he glanced over at me. "Want me to walk you back, or are you going somewhere else?"

"She's going to meet Liam at the atrium," Bracken said. "He'll take it from there. "

"Ok," Keir said, gesturing to our coats. "I'll walk you back if you want, or stay the hell out of your way if you don't."

I groaned. "It's just my dads making me get birth control. Not a big deal."

Keir ducked his head and chuckled. "Gotcha."

He didn't say anything else until we made it outside. Then he looked back. "It's not that bad."

"What?" I asked, unsure what he was talking about this time.

"The first checkup for birth control," he said. "It's more like an allergy test, along with general health."

"Get a few updates from your girlfriends?" I joked as we walked.

From the air above, Jack cawed and rattled like he was laughing. Keir just pointed up, clearly indicating him.

"That. Rain, magical birth control works for both. My parents made me get on it back when I was in eleventh grade."

Yep, my feet stalled out. "What?" I demanded. "Guys can..." My mouth was completely flopped open. "No way!"

"Humans are overly fertile," he said, pitching his voice to sound like he was mimicking his parents.

"This school has humans and half-humans, so you are not going to take a risk, young man.

We would love grandchildren in a few centuries, but you are much too young to be worrying about raising a child of your own! "

"Oh my god, they sound like most of my fosters," I said around a laugh. "Ok, yeah. Now I feel a lot better about this. I was expecting the whole legs up, poking around inside me thing."

"Magic is useful like that," Keir assured me right as we reached the doors to the main building.

Pulling one open, he waved me in first, then stepped back so Jack could do his swoop and dive thing, rushing through the door much too fast. I still held up an arm to catch him once he was inside, then shifted him to my shoulder.

But Liam was there, waiting. He gave us a slow clap. "I see you're getting used to having Jack around, hm?"

"Yeah, kinda," I admitted. "I think it's mostly because no one else flinches anymore, so it makes it easier."

"And we like him," Keir added. "Ok, she's all yours, Liam. See you tomorrow, Rain?"

"Yep!" I agreed before hurrying over to join my dad. "So, I don't even know where the nurse's office is."

"In the main administrative area," he said, turning me that way. "And this won't be bad. I asked a few of the teachers. Tag says it's much nicer than the human version."

"Keir kinda said the same on the way over. Why didn't you mention guys get birth control too?"

He just laughed. "I didn't think of it! Not like I can get your zez pregnant, and I am definitely not doing anything like that with a woman!"

"Ok, good point," I relented.

He led me into the glass room off the main hallway and past his own little office. Then back some more. There, tucked out of sight from the glass at the front, was a solid wood door with the word "Nurse" on a plaque about eye level. He knocked.

A moment later, a woman opened the door. I wanted to say a young one, but something about her had that timeless look, similar to Ms. Rhodes. She offered Liam a smile, then moved back and nodded at me.

"Rain le Fae, right?" she asked, not waiting for an answer. "I'm Robin Rivers, the school nurse."

I'd seen her around, but I'd always assumed she was one of the teachers. Clearly, Silver Oaks had an entire self-sufficient community going on here. A counselor, a nurse, the cooks, and teachers?

Ok, it made sense. If they didn't want the rest of the world to know about them, they needed the least amount of outside people coming in as possible.

If they hired fae and faelings for everything they could, then there was nothing to hide.

That meant students screwing up wouldn't ruin the secret part.

"I have no clue what this is going to be like," I warned her. "Kinda human."

"Or close enough," she countered. "You are the Morrigan, which means you are a little different.

Closer to the bird on your shoulder in some ways.

That's why I asked Liam to do this after hours.

If there are any issues with your magical tolerance, we have people available - and not teaching a class - to handle it.

" She gestured towards another door at the back.

"Did you want Liam to wait out here, or to come in? "

"Uh..." I looked back at him.

"I can wait," he promised.

"You won't need to get undressed," Robin added.

"Oh, then he can come in," I decided. "I mean, it makes sense, right?"

"So long as you feel comfortable answering questions in front of him, there's not a problem," she assured me .

"C'mon, Dad," I said, heading in to sit on a very typical padded bench.

It was the kind every doctor's office had, complete with the paper down the middle. Hopping up on the end, I let my feet sway while Liam took the chair beside me. Jack flapped over to claim his shoulder, and Nurse Robin began gathering her supplies. Wait, was she Nurse Robin, or Nurse Rivers?

"Um, what's the respectful title for you?" I asked.

She flashed me a sweet smile. "Most of us who aren't actual teachers use our first names. Bracken, Liam, and me. So it's fine to call me Robin."

"Nurse Robin?" I asked.

"Or that," she agreed. "I did get a nurse practitioner's license from a very human education. I also went to school here back when your other father was a student. Granted, Bracken was a few years older than me."

"Still hard to accept that," I said. "Both of you look closer to my age than Liam's."

"And yet we're much closer to his, but still considered little more than children to most fae.

" She found a tray, and moved it over. "Like most, I'm half fae.

My father was the refugee. I was the surprise, because our fae ancestry makes it much harder to get pregnant.

Dad never thought about it until Mom told him I was on the way. "

She picked up a stethoscope and pressed it to my chest. For a moment, she was quiet. Then I was told to breathe deep. She moved it and repeated that, and then checked my heart.

"Good," she said, putting the stethoscope down so she could get my blood pressure. "Now for the questions. If at any time, you feel this is too personal, Liam will leave."

"Ok," I agreed.

"Have you had sexual intercourse before?"

I nodded. "Twice. Yes."

"Same partner, or different ones?"

"Different," I admitted. "I kinda moved around a lot."

"Mm, the foster system, hm?" She nodded. "So I want to do a little preventative potion for any STIs, if you are ok with that?"

"Sure," I agreed.

She removed the blood pressure cuff. "So far, very normal," she said before picking up a long cotton swab and dipping it in a solution. "Now I'll need to rub this on the inside of your forearm."

It left a pinkish streak on my skin, but nothing else. Liam leaned in to see, so I angled my arm his way. That earned me a little smile, and so far, nothing hurt. It didn't even feel too weird, so I was calling this a win .

"Ok, now I'm going to go ahead and test the other plants while we're waiting," Robin told me. "Do you have a current partner?"

"Uh, kinda?" I said. "It's not sexual."

She wiped something green on my arm, then blue. "Do you feel safe in your relationship?"

"I do."

Next came red, orange, and a vivid yellow. "Do you have someone you can talk to if that changes?"

"My dads," I said with a little smile.

That earned me one back. "Yeah, I'm pretty sure they'd both make sure you're ok.

So you know, you can also talk to me. Whether it's anxiety, depression, personal risks, or anything else.

If I can't help you, I can get you to the person who will.

And if you don't want to talk to Liam, I do respect confidentiality.

" Then she wiped purple and burgundy up by my elbow.

"I've already been talking to Liam and Bracken," I said. "Mostly about the fae stuff."

"She's also friends with the court," Liam added. "They're helping her with a lot of the magical stuff. Oh, and for students who don't have a parent to give them permission, if they are under eighteen, who would you prefer takes responsibility for them? Me or Ivy?"

"Either one of you," Robin said. "We just need a legal adult to approve it. That way Silver Oaks won't get fined for any violations of the law."

"Ok, I've got some other kids I want to talk to, then. Especially since the STI treatment is so easy."