Starlight Academy

Chapter One

Oh my Gods.

I climbed out of our big black Escalade and into the stifling heat of August in South Carolina. South Carolina heat differed from California heat. Whereas California heat is dry from the desert, South Carolina heat is muggy and sticks to your skin. I hated it. 

“Welcome to South Carolina,” Dad said. “What do you think?”

“This is horrible,” I muttered. “I always wondered what it would be like to live in Hell.”

In front of me was an old white plantation home. There were cracks in the brick. Vines covered the walls. Moss hung from the roof and dripped down onto the columns that lined the front of the building. The grass looked like no one had cut it in years, and some of it had grown my height. Sixty-six inches of overgrown lawn decorated the front of the home. No one had touched this place since the 1800s. Was this where I would live for the next four years?

I scrolled through the pictures on my cellphone where I had a screenshot of the school from its website. I compared the building on the screen to the one in front of me. This was not the Starlight Academy that was on the website. There was no way this was “the North American university for Celestials.”

Celestial. In other words, I was a superpowered freak. The word “Celestial” had entered my vocabulary at thirteen when my abilities developed. That’s when my parents told me there was a whole world of people just like me. According to the Starlight Academy website, this is where the best and brightest of them went to train and hone their powers. 

On the ride to the school, I kept reading over the school’s website. I was trying to find something about the school that I would like or something that was normal amid all the Celestial talk. I didn’t. That’s when I texted my best friend, Madison. I complained to her about how unfair this decision was and how I missed her. I couldn’t tell her the whole truth, though. She didn’t know what I was. I just told her that my parents forced me to sign up for the military. She had texted me back a photo of the UCLA campus. It was where she would be attending school. It was where we were supposed to go together.

It wasn’t until I saw the picture that tears pooled in my eyes. She would get to go to my dream university, and I would be stuck on Edisto Island, just south of Charleston. I was hating everything about this. 

I had known I was coming to this place for months. I should have been prepared for this moment, but I wasn’t. I also couldn’t get the school’s stupid mission statement out of my head:

Our mission at Starlight Academy is to meet the diverse needs of our student population through protecting and instructing Celestials to positively impact society.

I did want to positively impact the society, but not by being a Celestial or doing it at Starlight Academy. I was perfectly happy to assimilate myself with humans.

“I still don’t see why I have to come here,” I said, narrowing my eyes at my dad as we reached into the trunk for my luggage. Dad had been purposefully ignoring my whines and complaints since we started the trip. 

He didn’t answer. I’m not sure if it was because he was too busy with the luggage or if he was still ignoring me.

“Dad?” I called to him.

“Mhm?” Dad asked, raising an eyebrow at me.

“You didn’t say anything,”

“There’s nothing to say Lapras,” Dad said. “You almost fried a girl at prom. You’re going to this school.”

“I didn’t fry a girl at prom,” I said, then at the look on my dad’s face added, “It was just smoke.”

“Okay, so you didn’t burn down that building in Texas or our apartment in New Mexico?”

“The fire sprinkler put everything out before there was any actual damage,” I said.

Dad ignored me again and pulled out my Louis Vuitton suitcase that my mother got me for Christmas out of the trunk. “You’re missing the point. Your mother and I both warned you that if you didn’t get your powers under control that we would send you here. That was the deal. At least you’ll be here with other people like you.”

“Other freaks, you mean?” I muttered, pulling my Louis Vuitton tote bag onto my shoulder.

Dad squinted his eyes at me. My dad was in his forties and was considered to be a very handsome man, but today I noticed that there were bags underneath his eyes. Maybe it was stress. Did I cause that?

“You’re not a freak,” my dad said. He lifted the handle of the suitcase and handed it to me. “I tried to give you a chance to live with humans, and it just isn’t working. Once you stop letting your temper control you, you will learn to get your powers under control.”

He was right. I’ll admit my temper wasn’t the best, but sometimes I had good reasons. You would think being a Celestial would make my life easier, but it didn’t. For one thing, I wasn’t the Human Torch. (I asked my dad if I was the real-life Human Torch and he said no.) Neither was I Jean Grey (didn’t have a Hugh Jackman fawning over me at all), and I didn’t belong to the Fire Nation.

But I could manipulate (and create just a little) fire like my dad. I’ve been able to ever since I was thirteen, which, according to the school’s website, is the age all Celestials get their powers. I was born in mid-November, so I was a Scorpio. Fire was my element.

“Starlight is the best,” Dad said as we approached the house. “Me and your mother went here. Plus, the Celestials here have to be selected, so that means there’s some pretty smart and powerful people here.”

We stopped a few yards away from the house.

“Huh,” Dad said. He set the luggage that he was carrying on the ground, and he raised an eyebrow at the house.

It was Move-in Day, so there were other freshmen and their parents here too. Like us, they were looking at the house in confusion. I’m sure we were all thinking the same thing.

“Is this it?” I asked my dad.

“It can’t be,” Dad said. He looked perplexed. “I mean, that’s not what it looked like when I went here.”

I ran my sweaty palms against my dark black jeans. Black was my favorite color and much of my wardrobe consisted of the color. Although for this school, we had to wear uniforms. I’d never heard of a college that required students to wear uniforms. 

Still, as I stared at the school, I got the feeling that something wasn’t right. There was an ominous feeling in the air. This was definitely not the Xavier’s School for Gifted Youngsters. This was more like Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children.

“I guess they had to downgrade,” Dad said.

I groaned.

My dad cut his eyes at me. “Quit it with the attitude Lap.”

“Why hello! It’s so nice to meet you!” a chipper voice said behind us.

We turned to see a short woman with shoulder length wavy blonde hair smiling at us. She was dressed in a gray form fitting dress, which was a little too tight in my opinion, but fortunately, she was curvy enough to pull it off.

“Hi,” my dad said, smiling widely. A little too wide. “I’m Ryan Tennsley.”

“Tennsley?” she asked. Her eyes looked over my dad with a look that I knew too well. “Oh wow! You’re the Tennsleys?” We nodded. “It’s a pleasure to meet you!” She turned to look at me. “So you’re Dawn’s daughter!”

I feigned a smile and nodded.

In the Celestial world, me and my dad were quite well known. It was because of my mother. She was in The Twelve Houses.

The Twelve Houses was a group of twelve Celestials who represented each of the twelve types of our kind. They made all the rules for Celestials and kept all things Celestial in order. My mother was the Capricorn representative in the House. 

“We’re all so glad that you’re here,” she said. “I’m the Dean of Students and the Gemini instructor. Professor Ellis.”

“I’m Lapras,” I said.

“Well, Lapras, I can’t wait to see what great things you’re going to do,” she said. Her blue eyes were bright. “I promise you’re going to love it here.”

I groaned inwardly. I highly doubted it.

“We’ll be leaving in a few minutes,” Professor Ellis said. Her eyes scanned the crowd. “Just waiting on a couple of more students.”

“I don’t remember the school looking like this,” Dad said to her. “Did something change?”

“Oh yes,” Professor Ellis said. “In recent years, we have had to disguise ourselves more. We’re pretty isolated, but better safe than sorry.”

“Oh,” my dad said and feigned a smile. “Interesting.”

“Give us just a few minutes and then I’ll make an announcement to start moving towards the portal,” Professor Ellis said. She smiled and then moved on to another family close to us who were unpacking their car.

“Portal?” I asked.

My dad nodded. He didn’t look too happy. “Yeah. I wonder whose idea that was.”

“Will it hurt?” I asked.

“It shouldn’t,” my dad said, but it didn’t sound convincing.

I gave him a look.

“You’ll be fine,” he said as he picked the luggage back up off the ground.

“Maybe,” I mumbled.

I think he and my mom had been conspiring about this because they both seemed to have the same responses when it came to Starlight. Two days after prom, I’d gotten a text from my mom that said because I risked exposing the Celestial world, I ruined my chances of going to a human college. That meant I had to attend Starlight for college. 

“Hopefully,” she had said in her text, “this will teach you to control your powers.”

It was just like my mother to assert her dominance when it came to matters about my future. Christmas and birthdays were the only times I had contact with her. She never forgot those. My parents split up when I was around nine. We had been living in Arizona. Dad moved us back to his hometown of Texas. My mother had just been elected to the House, and my dad had wanted me to live a more normal life. Even though he was a powerful Scorpio, he didn’t really use his powers and focused more on assimilating with humans. I didn’t blame him. When I was done with this place, I was going to be extremely happy to go back to Los Angeles to live a very normal Gen Z life, maybe as a fashion designer or psychiatrist. 

After I had come into my powers on my thirteenth birthday, we had moved to New Mexico. That only lasted a year and then we moved to LA when I was fourteen. In LA, my dad had given me a cellphone to stay in contact with my mom. I was pretty sure he and my mom would never reconcile. He hardly ever talked about her. I think he was still hurt. So was I.

After my mom told me that she would be sending me to Starlight, I’d tried to fight the idea. I did my best to keep my temper in check for the rest of the school year, but it didn’t help. I was still going to be sent to Starlight. The only good thing about this place was that I wouldn’t have to hide who I was anymore. 

According to what I read online, Starlight Academy had been placed at Edisto Island because of its isolated location and heavily forested areas. The locals thought it was a super-exclusive private school, which is why I didn’t understand the need for a portal.

As me and my dad waited for the portal, I looked around at the other freshmen and their parents. I couldn’t really tell what type of Celestial they were. There were no defining physical features that made us distinct from humans.

“Just think about it. This place is safe,” Dad said. “That’s a good thing, right?”

We headed towards the front porch of the house where some of the freshmen and their families had begun to gather. I could feel my stomach starting to swirl from the nervousness. Luckily, I always appeared calm and cool on the outside.

Just as we neared the front steps, the doors to the house parted open. I expected to see someone walk out, but a silvery film covered the door. I’d heard of portals before, but I’d never seen one in real life. It was amazing.

“Wow,” I muttered under my breath.

Professor Ellis went to stand by the portal. She beamed at us. “Hi everyone! We will be traveling through the portal to get to the campus grounds. Please go in one at a time and head straight towards the building you’ll see on the other side.”

“If this place is so safe, then why do they need a portal?” I asked Dad.

“You heard what she said. Just extra precaution,” Dad said.

“Yeah right.”

“Come on,” Dad said as he beckoned me to fall into step behind him.

The people moved ahead of us. We followed.

“Just close your eyes,” my dad said to me when he was next in line.

I nodded and watched as he went through the portal. I was next. I took a deep breath and closed my eyes as I took a step into the portal.

I wasn’t prepared for the pain that ripped through my body.

Chapter Two

I opened my eyes and was staring into the chocolate colored eyes of a guy a little older than me. He had golden brown skin and full lips. 

He is gorgeous, I thought.

But I quickly sat up, knocking his hand away from me. I smoothed down my hair in the hopes that I didn’t look frazzled.

“Woah,” he said in a deep voice that seemed to cover my skin like a warm blanket. He held his hand out in defense. “Calm down, okay?”

I looked around the room, and everything came into focus. I was in a hospital like room. Dad was at the end of the bed. On the other side of me was a very pretty woman with auburn hair and emerald eyes. She was tall and slender and had on a dark red suit. She wasn’t much older than my dad and her red hair fell in waves over her shoulder. I knew who she was. She was the school’s headmistress, Aurora Middleton. I didn’t have to look back at the website to remember her. I remembered thinking she was pretty when I saw her on the website’s home page.

“I’m glad you’re awake, Lapras,” she said. She had a soft southern accent. “You’re in the Health Center.”

I continued to stare at her.

“I’m Professor Middleton-the Headmistress of the school. I’ve been looking forward to meeting you just under a different circumstance,” she smiled. 

“Oh,” was all I could manage. I looked at my father, and he gave me a look. I looked back at Professor Middleton and feigned a smile. “Oh hi. Nice to meet you.”

Professor Middleton looked at the black guy standing on the other side of me. “What do you think, Luke?”

“Maybe it was because of her first time,” Luke shrugged. “I’m not sure, but no concussion or broken bones. She’ll be fine.”

“Thank you,” Professor Middleton said to him. He nodded and gave me one last look before leaving the room. I avoided his gaze as I could feel the heat rising in my chest. I didn’t expect to wake up to such a hottie. My dad walked over to the side that Luke was standing on. He placed a hand on my shoulder.

“You okay?” he asked. 

“What happened?”

My dad glanced at Professor Middleton and then looked back at me. I could tell he was feeling unnerved by something, but he feigned a smile. “It was your first time. I told you to take a deep breath.”

“I did,” I said. I don’t remember much. I remember walking into the portal, and all of a sudden feeling extreme pressure over my body. Like I was underwater or something. I remember I couldn’t breathe and the feeling of floating. 

“Well, here,” my dad said, reaching into his pocket. He pulled out a necklace with a dark yellow gemstone on it.

“What’s this?”

“It’s Topaz, your birthstone,” Dad said. “I should have given it to you when we first got here. You didn’t need it where we were, but now you do.”

“What is it for?” I asked.

“Your body will have to get used to a lot of magic being here. It’s just a little bit of extra strength,” my dad said, handing it to me.

I took it and examined it.

“We all wear one,” Professor Middleton interjected. I watched as she dug a necklace with a purple gemstone from her shirt and showed it to me as if to reassure me. 

I wasn’t reassured, but I placed the necklace around my neck as Professor Middleton tucked hers back into her shirt.

“Where’s my stuff?” I asked Dad.

“We took care of it,” Professor Middleton answered. “I know you have a lot of questions and I promise I will explain everything later, but right now I need to get you caught up with the orientation. Professor Ellis was kind enough to take over for me. Are you okay to walk?”

I nodded.

“Good,” Professor Middleton said. “Just follow me and we’ll get started.”

My dad and I did as was requested. He helped me out of the hospital like bed, and we all walked out of the room and out of the building onto a huge lawn. This place was huge. It looked something out of the movies. I felt like I had time traveled back to ancient Greece. The stone buildings were all white with tall columns surrounding them. I could imagine the ancient Greeks walking in and out of the buildings. 

There were some students walking around the campus, looking in our direction. I assumed that they weren’t freshmen. They didn’t have parents or bags with them. Professor Middleton led us to what I assumed was the heart of the campus.

“Now, y’all are not from South Carolina, am I correct?” Professor Middleton continued as we walked.

“No,” Dad answered. “I’m from Texas, but we’ve been living in LA.”

Professor Middleton nodded as she looked back at my dad. I noticed how her eyes searched over him. If I didn’t know any better, she was checking him out.

“I see,” Professor Middleton said. “And what do you do, Mr. Tennsley?”

“I’m a school psychologist,” Dad said proudly.

We were almost near the middle of the campus when I locked eyes on a guy almost as gorgeous as the one back in the Health Center. He had steel gray eyes and blonde hair that was long enough for him to tuck behind his ears. He looked like so many of those blonde surfer guys I saw a lot riding the waves of the Pacific Ocean. Why was everyone on the campus so good looking?

He looked at me, and a small smirk played across his lips. I stopped a little and then he looked away and kept walking. I looked over at my dad to see if he had seen him, but my dad was too focused on staring at Professor Middleton to notice anything.

When we reached a large building that was wider than the others, a crowd of freshmen and their parents were leaving the building. 

I looked up at the building to see stone statues of winged creatures sitting on the edge of the roof. I shuddered. Long wings jutted upward. Their pig like snouts and sharp teeth protruded from their faces as they gripped the edge of the roof. Their long nails digging in the stone.

“What are those?” I whispered to my dad.

My dad looked up at the statues and smiled. “They’re gargoyles.”

“Gargoyles?” I asked in disbelief. “Are they dangerous?”

“Only when there’s an outside threat to the campus,” Professor Middleton said, looking back at us. She smiled. “Nothing to worry about it. They haven’t been active since the seventies.”

I tore my eyes away from the creepy gargoyles as we moved through the crowd and up the marble steps. We walked up to the entrance, which was lined by columns, and there were large bronze double doors.

We walked inside the building, and it was surprisingly cool on the inside. 

It looked like we had stepped into a Grecian temple. There were tiled floors with intricate designs, stone columns, and two large staircases that ran down the sides of the main floor. Both staircases had a dark red rug running down it. They led to a second floor that overlooked a large statue that was placed in the middle of the building.

“This is the main building that holds all of our offices as well as general classes,” Professor Middleton said. We all were paying attention to the statue. She turned to face us with a smile. “This is Astraeus.”

The statue was of a Greek man with a long beard and piercing stare. He was wearing nothing but a small covering around his waist. It flowed behind him. He stood on what looked like clouds. Engraved in the clouds were symbols. Most of them I recognized as the symbols for the twelve types of Celestials. There was one that I didn’t recognize.

“Nice isn’t it?” Professor Middleton said, smiling. I noticed that her smile didn’t reach her eyes. Her green eyes were still.

I nodded.

“Do you know the Celestials’ origin story, Lapras?” Professor Middleton asked.

My eyes went wide. I wasn’t prepared for a pop quiz, but I knew the story. Professor Middleton smiled at my hesitation. She gestured to the statue. “In the war against the Titans and the Olympians, Astraeus was neutral. He hid in the stars during the war. After losing the war against Zeus, the Titans were all cast out of Olympus and into Tartarus except Astraeus. He hid among humans, disguising himself and intermingling with the mortal women, thus creating Celestials.”

I turned to my dad. “I didn’t know we were part Titan.”

Dad pressed his lips together and nodded. I could tell that something was bothering him about the statue, but I didn’t inquire into it.

Professor Middleton cleared her throat to draw our attention back to her and continued the tour. “We are an educational institution similar to American universities. Our students stay at Starlight for four years. Once a student has graduated from the academy, they are released out into the world.”

“So I do my four years and then I can go?” I asked. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see my dad narrow his eyes at me.

Professor Middleton nodded. “We have about one hundred and twenty students.

“How about the classes?” Dad asked. 

“We modeled the classes here at Starlight after those found at Tokyo, Lima, London, Cape Town, McMurdo Station, and Sydney,” Dad nodded like he knew what she meant, but I didn’t. I guess she saw my look of confusion because she added, “The schools for the other six continents.”

“Besides general classes, each Celestial will be trained in a specific field of study starting their sophomore year. For instance, my training as an Aquarius was in biology. Lapras, your training will be in psychology like your father since you’re both Scorpios.”

I looked at my father. He looked pleased that I would be following in his footsteps.

Professor Middleton smiled. “Lapras, this is just like a human college. I know you didn’t apply here like the rest of the students did, but you’ll do just fine. I promise.”

“What do you teach?” I asked.

“I teach all the science related courses,” Professor Middleton said. “You will have me for Astronomy, but that won’t be this semester.”

I raised an eyebrow. Astronomy?

We followed Professor Middleton out of the main building and towards the building across from us that was taller than it was wider. It was four stories and built in the Grecian style like all the other buildings. Large columns lined the sides and front of the building and above it was the word νερό.

“That’s the greek word for water,” Professor Middleton said as she waved her hand at the door. It clicked open. I looked at her. I didn’t understand. Fire definitely wasn’t water. “It’s how you draw in your power. Water Celestials tend to draw their power from their emotions. That is represented as water.”

She was definitely right about that. I would never cry in front of anyone, but that didn’t mean I didn’t always feel a thousand things at one time.

She led us inside. The inside was a bit different from the main building. This was more comforting. There were dark wood floors and comfy chairs and a couch. A large television hung on the wall to the right of the room. To the left of the room was a ping pong table.

“This is the common room,” Professor Middleton said, walking towards the back of the room near a door that led into a dining area. There were a bunch of tables and a counter in the back of the room for serving food. “This is the dining room. Each dorm has one. This room only serves breakfast and lunch. Dinner is served in the main dining hall.”

“The dining rooms in the dorms are closed Friday through Sunday, but the main dining hall is open all week,” she explained. 

“Why’s that?” my dad asked.

“We don’t have classes on Fridays, so most of the students tend to go off campus during the weekend,” Professor Middleton said. We left the dining area, and she moved towards the set of stairs that were on the left side of the room. 

“Dorms are located on the second and third floor,” Professor Middleton said as we walked up the stairs. “There is another common room on the fourth floor which has a study.”

“So this is a coed dorm?” Dad asked.

“Of course,” Professor Middleton said. “Our students are the best and brightest. I trust they can make their own personal decisions.”

My dad pursed his lips in disagreement but didn’t say anything.

As we walked up the long staircase, the wall had large glass windows that overlooked the campus. We could see the orientation group hanging around a set of stone benches under Spanish moss trees. Everyone seemed to be more relaxed now. My eyes suddenly landed on one girl, who was standing off to the side. Her Starlight uniform looked kind of old. Like some other version of the uniform. We both stared at each other, and I instantly shivered.

I opened my mouth to ask Professor Middleton about the strange girl, but we had made it up the stairs to the second floor, and she had turned her attention to someone walking out of one of the rooms near the middle of the hallway.

“Ms. Chambers!” she called. 

A short light skinned black girl walked up to Professor Middleton. She had short curly black hair that had streaks of lime green in them and pretty hazel round eyes. She smiled, but I could tell she wasn’t happy.

“This is Catherine Chambers. She will be your roommate this year, Ms. Tennsley. Catherine, this is Lapras.”

“I go by Felicity,” she corrected.

Professor Middleton rolled her eyes. “What is it with you kids and your names? Anyway, Ms. Tennsley, Ms. Chambers here is a sophomore.”

Dad reached out a hand to Felicity. She shook my dad’s hand, and we both noticed that she was wearing black mittens on her hands. It definitely was not the season to be wearing mittens. “Nice to you meet you, Felicity. And what type of Celestial are you?”

“Dad,” I warned, but Felicity shrugged.

“It’s fine,” she said. “I’m a Cetus.”

Dad gasped but hid it well by pretending to clear his throat. But I knew Felicity had caught on. Even though I was embarrassed, I shared my dad’s hesitation. Cetuses hadn’t been a part of The Twelves Houses in ages, mostly because they were going extinct. They were born deformed in some way and didn’t live to be old. It was actually pretty sad that they were destined to turn into sea monsters, but that wasn’t why my dad and I were hesitant. We both knew what Cetuses had to eat to live. 

“Oh, okay,” Dad said, trying to recover. “I didn’t know they were any more Cetuses left in the states.”

“Felicity here might be one of the last,” Professor Middleton said, reaching out to place a hand on Felicity’s shoulder. Felicity had a polite but irritated look on her face. “We’ve been trying to find the rest of her kind,” Professor Middleton said. “When we find one, we bring them here in the hopes that we can find a way to protect them and perhaps cure them of their affliction.”

Affliction? Ouch.

“But for right now, Felicity is the only Cetus here,” Professor Middleton said.

Felicity just stood there smiling, and we all stood there in awkward silence for a moment until Dad said, “Honey, why don’t you let Felicity show you to your room? I need to discuss some things with Professor Middleton.”

I looked at Felicity, who was still smiling, but I could tell it was getting harder and harder for her to keep the facade. 

“Okay,” I said and feigned a smile.

We walked down the hall towards the door that she had come from.

“So, what do you think about her?” Felicity asked. I could tell she was more relaxed without Professor Middleton hovering over her.

“Professor Middleton?”

“Yeah.”

“She’s a real…southern belle.”

“I know, right?” I could only hear a slight country twang to her voice. “Sometimes I think she thinks this place is her very own Dollywood.”

I laughed.

When we reached the door to our room, Felicity studied me. “I just have to warn you that I’m a little crazy about green.”

“Green? What are you talking about?”

Felicity smirked.

Our room number was 216. Felicity pulled out her cellphone and held it to the door. The lock clicked open.

“Mi casa es su casa!”

Chapter Three

I was expecting something eccentric considering Felicity’s appearance, but this was nothing like how I had imagined. When she said she was crazy about green, she really meant it. And not just green. Lime green. The ugliest of greens.

The room was decorated with lime green everything. The curtains were sheer but definitely lime green. Felicity had bought a lime green rug that was in the middle of the room. Felicity’s bed was covered in a lime green comforter and lime green pillows. I think I was getting a headache looking at all of the lime green.

At least the room was bigger than I expected. Much bigger than I thought a dorm room should be. One full size bed leaned against the left wall. Another full size bed leaned against the right wall with two dressers in the middle of the beds. There were also two desks. There was a flat screen TV attached to the wall opposite the beds. Underneath it was a bookshelf stocked with books.

There was a door on the inside of the wall that was on Felicity’s side of the room.

“What’s that?” I asked, hinting at the door.

“That’s the bathroom. Each dorm has its own shared bathroom, which is nice. I hate those communal showers. Come look at it.”

I followed Felicity to the door, and she opened it. She led me inside to find that there was also an explosion of lime green in the bathroom as well. Lime green shower curtain. Lime green rug. Lime green toilet covering.

“Sorry,” she said. “I can change the green if you want. We can find a way to mix our colors.”

I shook my head. I didn’t really care to make it a big deal. If I did, that meant that I had actually wanted to be here, and that was not the case. “Don’t worry, it’s fine.”

“Are you sure?” Felicity asked.

I nodded. Although I hated the lime green, this was technically Felicity’s room first. I felt more like a guest. 

“What about after Christmas we do it your way?” she asked me.

She looked apologetic, so I nodded to make her feel better, plus I really wanted her to stop talking about the color.

“Sure,” I said, even though I couldn’t stand to hear that I would be here until Christmas. That seemed like such a long time away.

I gave her a small smile. She smiled, as if satisfied that she had convinced me to join in on her color coordinating plan. “I hope you like it.” I didn’t say anything but followed her back out of the bathroom and into our bedroom. Kicking off her shoes, Felicity plopped down on her bed.

“The room is nice, though. I take it your old roommate liked the color.” 

Felicity froze. She had a strange look on her face as if I had blindsided her with the question. Suddenly the strange look disappeared, and then she leaned back against her pillows and propped on her elbow. “Nah, Mira didn’t like it either. She liked red. You brought your own bed stuff, right?”

“Yeah, it’s in my bag,” I said, suddenly remembering that I didn’t have any of my stuff. “Which I guess is downstairs.”

I walked over to the desk that was near the bed. The bed had a dark red bedspread already on it. Two pieces of paper were laid on top of a small laptop. One was my schedule. It looked normal except for the names of some of the classes: Greek Language, Greek History. I rolled my eyes. The other was an instruction manual on how to download the app that I would use to get inside all the buildings and my dorm. I hadn’t expected the laptop, but it was a nice surprise. 

“So what did you do to get in here?” she asked.

My dad had explained to me on the plane ride to South Carolina why it was such a big deal that I was going to Starlight. The most powerful and smartest Celestials applied to attend Starlight and because they only accepted a certain number of Celestials every year, the competition was high. Many of the graduates of Starlight went on to serve in The Twelve Houses, as well as took many high ranking human jobs. Attending Starlight was considered a privilege among Celestials. He made it seem like I should be appreciative of him and my mother’s decision to send me here. This didn’t feel like a privilege. It felt like a punishment. I felt especially undeserving that I was here without having earned my spot like everyone else. That was partly why I didn’t want to be here. If the others figured out who I was, then they would assume that my mother had pulled some strings to get me here (which she had) because I wanted it. This is not what I wanted. If only people knew I was here not on my own free will.

I sat on my bed. I really didn’t want to get into the incident. It had involved high tempers and jealousy over a crown that should have been mine. “I almost set a girl on fire at prom.”

“Oh?” Felicity raised an eyebrow. “That’s not usually what gets people in.”

“I wouldn’t know,” I said. “I didn’t apply here.”

“You didn’t?” Felicity asked.

I shook my head. “No.”

“Why not?”

“My dad taught me to live among humans and I’m comfortable with that,” I said. 

Felicity furrowed her eyebrows in confusion. “Then how did you get in here?”

“My mom sent me here.”

Felicity raised an eyebrow. I realized that Professor Middleton hadn’t told her anything about me. “How did-”

“My mom’s Dawn Kanakis,” I said. My mother had dropped the Tennsley part about two years ago.

Felicity’s eyes went wide. “The Dawn Kanakis? The one who’s on The Twelve Houses?”

I nodded.

Felicity was taken aback. “Oh wow. Why did she send you here?”

“She said I needed to learn how to control my powers and I had risked exposure of the ‘Celestial community.’”

Felicity nodded.

“I didn’t want to come here. She made me,” I said to her. “And I don’t really want other people to know who my mom is, so…”

Felicity got what I was hinting at and nodded. “I gotcha. Secrets safe with me.”

I nodded. “Thanks.”

“Well, if it makes you feel better,” Felicity said. “I didn’t have a choice either, but it isn’t so bad once you get adjusted.”

I looked down at the schedule in my hand. “I assume we don’t have any classes together.”

Felicity walked over to me and took a look at my schedule. “Two. We have Greek Language and Greek History together.”

“Okay, cool,” I heaved a sigh of relief. I knew Felicity was older, so I figured we wouldn’t have any classes together. It was nice to know that I would get to see her in class throughout the week. A familiar face would help.

Felicity walked back over to sit on her bed. She began playing with the tips of the mittens. I could only imagine how sweaty her hands must be. I would hate to have to wear mittens every day.

“I think it’s cool that you’re a Cetus. It’s different…” I said to her. 

She feigned a smile.

“Is it true what they say?”

Her eyes didn’t meet mine, but her tone was neutral. “Yeah. When I was four, they didn’t think I would make it to ten, but it’s been fifteen years ago since then, so I guess I’m holding on much longer than they expected.”

“They?” I asked her.

“The House,” Felicity said. “All Cetuses have to meet with the House.”

“Why?” I asked.

“You have to see Celestial doctors…the House tells you how sorry they are for you…they give you some money…” Felicity shrugged. “Not that interesting.”

I found it extremely interesting, but I could understand why she didn’t want to say much, especially since we just met. I didn’t want to give her a pity party like Professor Middleton had given her. We could all see that she didn’t like that. Nevertheless, I was extremely curious about her. Also, I was pretty amazed at how well she was handling herself. 

“You know the whole campus has already heard you were here,” she said. 

“They have?” I asked her.

“Yep,” Felicity said. “News travels fast around here.”

“Great,” I muttered.

Sensing my irritation, Felicity gave me a comforting smile.

“I just don’t want people asking me questions about her,” I said. “Her and my dad aren’t together anymore and I don’t really talk to her…”

“Oh,” Felicity said, nodding her head. “That’s okay. I rarely talk to my parents anymore, either. They dumped me off here just as soon as I turned eighteen. I haven’t heard from them in like a year.”

“Oh sorry. I bet that sucks.”

Felicity shrugged. “It’s whatever.”

“Is it just your hands?” I asked, hinting at her mittens.

Felicity nodded. “Yeah, thank gods. I should have changed a lot more by now, but the House managed to figure out how to slow down the change. See this?” She pulled a silver chain from out of her shirt. Instead of a birthstone being on it, there was a small pendant. It was the size of a quarter and filled with yellowish orangish liquid. It was ambrosia. I learned from my dad that ambrosia is the sap from olive trees and could help with healing and longevity. 

“Ambrosia?”

“Mhm. It helps stave off my change for longer and keeps me pretty healthy,” Felicity said.

“Do you always wear the mittens?” I asked.

She let out a huge sigh. “It’s really embarrassing, but my index fingers and middle fingers have fused together. Luckily, the ambrosia stopped my other fingers from fusing, but I still don’t like the look of them.”

I nodded. Wow. Being a Cetus sounded rough. First, the physical illnesses and deformities. Then the shortened life. I felt bad for her. 

I noticed Felicity was staring at me. She raised an eyebrow at me. I didn’t want her to think I was trying to give her some kind of pity party. I wouldn’t want one, and she didn’t look like the type to want one either. So I smiled and said, “Your mittens kind of remind me of Rogue’s gloves.”

Felicity beamed. “Hey, I wanted to ask you-”

There was a knock on the door, making Felicity stop. She got up to open the door. It was my dad carrying all my things.

“I’ll see you at dinner, Lapras,” Felicity said, scurrying out of the room. 

“Lap,” Dad said, dropping my stuff down on the floor near my bed. “Are you going to be okay?”

I shook my head. “No, I don’t want to be here, Dad. I want to be with you and my old friends back in LA.”

Dad gave me a look and sat down on the bed beside me. “Lapras…”

I laid my head on his arm. “I know. I’m sorry. I’ll try. I promise. I just don’t think I’m going to fit in here. These aren’t my people.”

Dad was quiet for a second. I was hoping that my guilt trip was working, even though when my dad made a decision there was pretty much no talking him out of it. Still, I wanted him to at least acknowledge how much he was hurting me. When he didn’t say anything. I looked up at him. He looked at me and feigned a smile. “I know I didn’t raise you to be in this world, but Lapras, you can’t go home with me. You’ll be safe here. It’s killing me too, but this really is for the best.”

I nodded.

“Four years will fly by,” Dad reassured me. “As soon as you’re done, you can-

“Move back to LA,” I finished for him.

Dad nodded. “I love you, okay? I will see you for Thanksgiving, just like regular college.”

I nodded again, even though I could feel the tears starting to form. I didn’t want him to see me cry. “I love you too.”

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