CHAPTER TWO: NERYS
Ikeepmyhead held high as I make my way to the front office and it's not only because of bitchy rose colored mean girls. The campus is breathtaking, the beautiful architecture demanding your attention. Even though I don't want to be here, I can definitely appreciate the infrastructure.
The buildings are all big and the windows are so clean that I almost feel like I'm looking at my reflection in high definition. Most of the curtains are pulled back and I pause when I find a woman staring at me out of one of the windows in the potions building. I squint, only able to make out long, black hair. The woman is still and for a moment, I'm thinking that I'm imagining her until I see a hand lift and wave at me.
I wave back like an idiot and within the next blink, the woman is gone.
Crazy.
Is this my life now? Random fae waving at me?
I continue my track to the office, pulling the door open when I make it to the small building. Besides some of the upper dorm housing, it's one of the only buildings that doesn't have a second story. A small ding vibrates through the air as I walk into the small room. The smell of rosemary is strong in the air and there's a certain homey feeling that I can't deny as I take in the rest of the room. There's portraits of familiar faces along the walls, fae who hold high power. I barely let my eyes skim over my mom's picture before turning around and pulling up short when I find a woman standing a few feet away.
She has bronze skin and short pink hair, that's buzzed on one side and long on the other, falling a little past her ears. Her bright eyes blink as she takes me in before a smile crosses her lips. "Neryssa Ebirac."
I can't even pretend to be surprised that she knows who I am. Not only am I the only fucking student who will be taking an entrance exam today, everyone else having already did there's over the break. But everyone, especially the administration, is also aware of Ellena Ebirac’s mysterious daughter and the fact that she'll be attending the academy after late acceptance.
I muster as much of a smile as I can manage, but I figure the strain must show on my face when the woman's smile falls for a second.
"It's nice to meet you, your mother is an old friend," she says after a moment when she's regained her composure. She holds out a hand to me. "I'm Sprouse Hallan, but you can just call me Ms. Hallan. I am the academic organizer here at the school and the unofficial welcoming committee."
"Nice." I hate myself for not being able to come up with something more, but social skills have never been my strongest skill. Especially when I'm in an unfamiliar environment I don't want to be.
Ms. Hallan's smile twitches again. "Well, then how about we get this thing started. We have a couple of spare rooms in the dorms, so I'm sure we can get you placed somewhere that you fit perfectly, especially after our new integration techniques we're using this year. Ill draw up your assignment while you go through yoru tests." She continues to go on and I have no idea what the fuck she's talking about, but I nod like I do.
Can we just get this the fuck over with right now?
As if reading my mind, she turns and gestures for me to follow her, moving down the hallway. She fills the silence with more ramblings and information I'm sure will never actually be important to me. However, while I may not be extremely social, I'm definitely not a bitch, so I continue to feign like I'm listening to her, not wanting to hurt her feelings.
When we come to a door marked exam room, she pauses before rapping on the door and then pushing it open. I peep in behind her before I enter, not a fan of entering unknown territory. It's a small room and honestly it doesn't look like much. There's a steel table in the middle of the room and it's completely empty, the metal slate pristine and clean. A camera sits in the corner of the room.
It looks like an interrogation room.
I let my gaze move to it briefly before looking at the man sitting at the table.
He has a completely bald head and a no shit taking frown on his face. His gaze turns to me and his frown deepens.
"Neryssa, this is Mr. Lunsen, he's our head examiner and species specialist." She lets out a tinker of a laugh as she turns to look at me. "He's been here so long, I'm sure that he gave your mother and I our own entrance exams into Nadouraz some time ago."
"I did," the man states bluntly, taking all of the energy out of the room. I decide instantly that I like him.
He isn't giving me fake smiles and enthusiasm because of a last name that isn't even truly mine.
"He's also our librarian," Ms. Hallan says, clearing her throat and it's obvious she's feeling the lack of energy now in the room as well.
She takes a step back, gesturing for me to fully enter the room and after a moment's hesitance, I do so. "Take a seat," she points to the empty chair across from Mr. Lunsen. I do so. "Now usually we go in with a more guided test based on history and abilities already shown, but since..." her nose scrunches up and her eyes roam over me as she seems to search for a word, "since we don't know much about your abilities, your test will be unique."
"Okay."
She watches me for a moment longer before nodding and clasping her hands together. "Well then, I'll be waiting out in the hall for you when the test is over and I'll have all your assignments and your board information ready for you." Her over cheerful smile returns. "This is the first step in your Nadouraz journey, soak it in, Neryssa."
And then she's gone, the cheesy sentiment hanging in the air. When I look at Mr. Lunsen, I realize he's even less impressed with the speech than I am and again he goes up in my book.
Mr. Lunsen glares at me from across the table, his lips pulled down into a deep frown. "The entrance exam uses a mix of technology and magic to identify what type of fae you are and what housing placement, along with classes will be best for you to obtain your full potential here at Nadouraz." It almost sounds like he's reading off of a script as he gives me the monotone speech.
"As Sprouse mentioned, we usually already have an idea what type of fae someone is, based off of genealogy and known abilities, but you're a special case." He doesn't really need to tell me, all things considered. Most fae know what they are from birth, genetics playing a big role in it. The only questionable species are those born of two different fae but there's always a dominant gene that may lay dormant or not. But once the gene is triggered, it quickly becomes clear the type of fae a person is.
I'm a special case though considering my genetics are tossed up in the air. And I haven't shown any type of abilities. Sure, I'm fast and I can hear better than most humans, but other than that, there's no true signs as to me even being fae. And definitely not the type.