“Sure, that would be great.” I don’t bother mentioning that these towels will probably be my bedding all semester because I don’t have a dime to my name.
After Holly walks out, I take a minute to inspect the desk and armoire. I open the top drawer on my desk and am relieved to see it full of notebooks and pens, so I don’t have to stress about supplies for class. There’s an unfamiliar cardboard box sitting on top of thenotebooks. I open it to find a standard academy issued cell phone and excitement creeps up.
I’ve never had a cell phone.
Shutting the drawer, I turn my attention to the armoire. I open the doors and find several outfits hanging in the closet already. Three pairs of matching SinVail Academy logo pajama short and cami sets, a navy messenger bag, a thick dark blue SinVail Academy hoodie, and much to my dismay… five uniforms.
Skirted uniforms.
The skirts are blue and cream, plaid and pleated. If Sadie or Peter saw me in this, they would laugh their asses off and never let me live it down.
Next to the skirts are 5 white crisp button up shirts and 5 navy blue suit jackets with the SinVail Academy logo on the top right.
Finally, I find a stunning black zip up fighting suit. It has all sorts of harnesses and holsters for weapons. Iwonder if I can get away with wearing this everyday instead of the skirts…
I open the drawer beneath the closet. 5 sets of plain grey cotton underwear with matching bralettes, tags still attached. Thank god.
Not that I’m too good for hand-me-downs — I’ve lived in hand-me-downs my entire life, but underwear is pushing it. In the next drawer are 4 pairs of shoes, a pair of tall grey boots, black tennis shoes, navy flats, navy heels(no thank you), and 5 pairs of white knee-high socks.
Just as I close the drawer, I hear Holly’s key in the door. She walks in with a bundle of towels and tosses them on my bed, turning to me.
“Skirts… seriously?” I say, looking unimpressed.
“Yeah, we all went through that uproar yesterday,” she says with a sigh sitting on her bed.
“I guess it’s to discourage wrath ladies from fighting outside of our training classes,” she continues with a knowingsmirk. We both know the risk of a panty flash isn’t enough to keep a wrath from a fight.
“So, are you ready to head down into the dining hall for dinner?” She asks me, standing up and moving towards the door.
“I think I’m going to head to bed early… it’s been a long day of traveling.”
That’s an understatement. I haven’t slept in over 48 hours. I’m hungry, but my exhaustion from no sleep and fried nerves is winning out at this point.
“Ok, I understand,” she says. “We can continue your tour tomorrow morning.”
“I have to meet the Dean at 6:30am. Do you know where her office is?”
She blinks at me, like I’ve surprised her again. “I think they said her office was off the entry courtyard, but we were told she’s not at the academy right now.”
“Great, thank you! I can meet you for breakfast in the dining hall after?”
“That sounds great,” she says, catching my drift that I don’t want to answer any questions right now. “Well, goodnight.”
“Thanks, Holly.” I say before she can leave. I realize my secrecy might make look like an asshole.
“We’ll talk more tomorrow. I’m just beat right now. But I appreciate my partial tour.” I give her a soft smile that I hope conveys my sincerity.
She nods and gives a bright smile back before waving goodbye and leaving.
I lay the towels on my mattress and roll one up to use as a pillow.
Exile would be much worse, I remind myself.
I pull out my cell phone and open the screen. I’m guessing the little clock picture will set myalarm. When I figure that out and double and triple check I set it right, I lay down on my makeshift bedding and am fast asleep within minutes.
6
Thou Shalt Not Oversleep on Judgement Day
