Eternity (6 page)

My name was the
last to be called, since my last name was White. I walked up the
three short steps onto the platform and stood in front of Mr.
Wilcox. I could feel everyone’s eyes on me, and it was a little
unnerving. I waited patiently for them to proclaim what I was, but
Mr. Wilcox just stood there staring at me with his sharp grey eyes
and looked puzzled. A whole minute passed, which was much longer
than anyone else was on stage.

“Well now, I’m
not quite sure what to do with you,” he finally said. He turned to
Mrs. Espenas. “What do you make of this one, Val?”

“I don’t quite
know, Wilcox. I’ve never seen anyone with a white aura before.”

I realized then
that they figured out what people were in the same way that I did,
and had the same problem that I did. So much for my hope of
learning the truth.

“What can you
do, child?” Mr. Wilcox asked. The skin around his eyes crinkled as
he squinted at me.

“I can see
people’s auras,” I told him. “Like you, I’ve never seen anyone else
with one like mine.”

“Is that all
you can do? I don’t think there has ever been anyone who could only
do that. I believe you have other abilities that you don’t know
about, but I don’t think you’re a witch. We will just have to put
you somewhere and see how you do while we try to figure it out.” He
turned to the rest of the room, who were all watching intently, and
somewhat impatiently, because they wanted to get started on dinner.
I couldn’t blame them, since it did smell delicious. I didn’t think
anyone but those close to the platform could hear what had been
said. “Hero class, south wing!” Mr. Wilcox finally proclaimed.

I was about to
leave the platform and join everyone else, but Mr. Wilcox held me
back. “There is a man,” he told me, “who can read your abilities.
He has been retired for a few years, but he lives close by. We
should be able to bring him here within the next couple of
days.”

“Thanks, but I
doubt that I can do anything else,” I told him.

“You never
know. It’s worth a try, and he’s always happy to help.”

I didn’t argue.
We both left the stage, and I went to sit down. For that evening
the tables had been brought together to form four long tables so
that everyone would be sitting in their groups, so I didn’t get to
sit next to Jack, who was with the rest of the werewolves. I sat
with Sydney instead.

“What took so
long?” she asked, and I could see a few others looking at me with
interest.

“Nothing,” I
answered, evasively.

The food
arrived then, so we ate. There was roast chicken with all the usual
side dishes, plus spaghetti, an interesting-looking salad, and
multiple types of breads and spreads. Dessert consisted of three
different types of pie, a fluffy white cake, and some oatmeal
cookies. I tried a bit of everything because it all looked so good,
even though I was left feeling stuffed.

Once the dishes
were cleared some of the teachers came around with sheets of paper
with our names on them. I received two, one of which was my room
assignment, and the other was a list of courses. I chose the ones
that sounded most interesting, since I didn’t yet know what I
wanted to do in the future. I had never really felt like I had many
options because I had no money or people to support me.

When we had all
handed our sign-up sheets back to the teachers a few people said
some words, mostly about how great it was that another year was
starting and all that stuff. I didn’t pay much attention. When we
were allowed to leave I found Jack, and we made our way back to the
north wing to pack our things and move to our new rooms. I was
excited to meet my new roommates, and Jack was excited to get out
of the north wing and away from the vampires. He thought they were
“creepy and untrustworthy”. When I pointed out that he hadn’t even
talked to any of them, he just shrugged. I actually found the
vampires rather interesting, though the one who kept looking at me
did freak me out just a little bit.

Packing didn’t
take very long because I hadn’t really unpacked to begin with. I
was careful not to wrinkle the dress I was borrowing for the ball
as I laid it gently in my suitcase on top of everything else. I
found Jack waiting for me in the common room when I was on my way
out, and we left the north wing together. I said goodbye to Jack
when we reached the west wing, and I continued on to the south wing
with a pounding heart, excited to see my new home.

Chapter 8

My room was on
the third floor, and I found it easily enough. The doors all had
numbers on them, made of brass and screwed to the center where they
were easy to see. I stopped outside my room and set my bag by the
door. I hesitated briefly, and then I opened it.

The room had
pale purple wallpaper decorated with flowers, and a shiny wood
floor that was partially covered by a purple and gold patterned
rug. There were four beds, and each was paired with a bedside table
and a trunk at the foot of the bed, and all were made of dark wood.
There was also one desk in a corner of the room, and a door on the
left that led to the bathroom. I was the first to arrive, and I
didn’t want to choose a bed that others might want, so I picked one
in the middle to the right, figuring it would be considered the
least desirable.

I brought my
suitcase in from the hallway and started putting things in my
trunk. It felt weird to be settling in to a new place. As I packed
away my limited supply of clothing and books, I waited anxiously to
meet the girls I would be sharing my room with, and hoped that they
would like me.

My roommates
came in one at a time over the next hour, and we all introduced
ourselves to each other. I couldn’t help but like all of them right
away.

Rhea, an
African beauty who could turn any object to gold with her touch,
came in first. She introduced herself shyly, but she had a natural
warmth that came through once she grew more comfortable.

Melissa, from
Venezuela, could create and control fire. She practically bounced
into the room and immediately threw her things on a bed and started
talking.

Heather, from
Vancouver, came in last. She could hear things that were happening
hundreds of miles away, which I thought was a neat ability. She was
quiet, but it was hard for anyone to get a word in once Melissa
started. I barely said a word myself.

I was surprised
that they liked me as much as I liked them, since I was so used to
being treated poorly by other girls. They weren’t quick to judge
me, and they actually listened to what I had to say. We got along
well.

We stayed up
late into the night telling each other stories about our pasts.
They were all interested when I told them about living in an
orphanage, and I was fascinated by Rhea’s tales of growing up in
Uganda. Heather probably talked the least out of all of us, but
when she did speak she usually had something interesting to say. I
couldn’t help but take a particular liking to her, and hoped we
would become friends. Her aura was mostly pink, which told me she
was a very compassionate person. Melissa was a spitfire of red, and
Rhea a calm green. Of course, they all had a gold ring around the
inside as well.

I accidently
slept in the next morning and missed breakfast. There was an alarm
clock in the room, but we had agreed to wait to set it until
classes started. The other girls were already up and gone when I
woke up, so I got ready by myself.

I grabbed an
apple from the small kitchen off the common room and went out to
find Jack. I looked almost everywhere, but I didn’t find him. I was
making my way to the courtyard when I met up with Melissa.

“Hey Juliet!”
she greeted me. “Heather and I were just about to go for a swim.
Want to come with us?”

“Sure, sounds
like fun,” I answered, and we set off toward our room together. I
hadn’t actually owned a bathing suit since I was little, but
luckily there had been one in my uniform package.

The three of us
were the only ones in the pool at the time, so we mostly just
played around. Heather started a splash war that left us tired and
giggling by the time we got out of the water, which was around
lunch time. We all ate together, and I still didn’t see Jack, which
worried me a little. I saw Michael with Patrick and Leon, and they
all waved to me at the same time, which caused them to crack up.
Leon blew me a kiss, which made me blush and look away.

“Wow, you know
him?” Heather asked, with her eye on Michael. She sighed. “He’s
completely gorgeous.”

Melissa nodded
in agreement. “He is fine. You have to introduce us. Not now
though, ‘cause I’m a mess.”

She looked
pretty even though she didn’t have any makeup on after our swim. I
told her as much, but she wasn’t listening.

“I can
introduce you to him tonight at the ball,” I said, and they both
agreed that that was a better option, since they would be looking
their best. They weren’t too concerned about the fact that he was
two years older than us when I mentioned it, and I didn’t tell them
that he had asked me to go to the ball with him.

“When are we
going to start getting ready?” Heather asked. “It will take at
least an hour just to do my hair.”

“You’re right;
we should start getting ready soon. It could take all afternoon. We
have to be ready by five o’clock, when supper starts,” said
Melissa.

I didn’t even
know what I was supposed to do to get ready. I didn’t own any
makeup, and I usually left my long wavy hair in a ponytail to keep
it out of my way. I said as much to the girls, and they brightened
immediately. I could see their excitement, but I had no idea where
it was coming from.

“Don’t worry,
we’ll help you,” Heather told me.

“Yeah, it’ll be
fun, kind of like giving you a makeover. It’s not that you need one
or anything, but seriously, you could look so awesome,” Melissa
said, looking me over. “I can see it already.”

“I don’t want
to be a bother, though,” I said, frowning. “You girls probably have
enough to worry about without having to help me get ready.”

“Don’t worry
about it,” Heather said. “We don’t mind.”

“Yeah. Like I
said, it’ll be fun,” Melissa added, and she wouldn’t let me argue
any further, despite my best efforts.

Melissa
insisted on getting ready as soon as possible, so we went back to
our room after we finished eating lunch. We all took showers, and
then Melissa brought out a manicure kit and we did our nails. Once
they were dry, we started on hair. Rhea came in then, saying she
had been playing basketball with a few people she had met. She
quickly hopped in the shower, and she started doing her nails as
soon as she got out. She only had a few millimetres of hair, so
there wasn’t really anything she could do with it anyway.

Heather loaded
Melissa’s dark hair with curlers, and then straightened her own
honey blond hair. I didn’t know what to do with mine, so let just
let it stay down.

“Nuh uh, you
can’t leave your hair like that,” Melissa complained. “We’re giving
you an up-do.”

“Um, no that’s
okay. I don’t mind it like this.”

Melissa almost
glared at me. “Don’t spoil my fun, okay? I’m doing your hair. Live
with it.”

I laughed.
“Okay, okay, if you insist.”

She brushed my
hair out first, while I tried not to wince at all of the tugging
and pulling on my scalp. She then pulled it up in a twist and
loaded it with hairspray. “Voila!” she said when she was done, and
she went to go get her makeup.

While she was
digging through her suitcase I looked at the time and realized it
was already after five. “We’re going to miss supper!” I exclaimed,
and went to get my dress.

“Relax, would
ya? Dinner isn’t that big of a deal. We can eat here really
quickly. We’ll be ready by the time the ball starts, and we’ll be
able to make an entrance,” Melissa explained.

“That was your
plan all along, wasn’t it?” Heather teased.

“Maybe,”
Melissa said. She grinned.

We ended up
eating snacks while we were getting ready, and we didn’t finish
until almost exactly seven. I had had no idea that it took so much
effort to get ready for a formal event. I felt exhausted and the
event hadn’t even started yet, but I was kind of amazed by my own
transformation. I had always been beautiful, but I was always
careful to hide it as much as possible, and tonight I was doing the
opposite. I hardly recognized myself when I looked in the mirror
once my transformation was complete.

Melissa, who
was still intent upon making an entrance, did not let us hurry to
the ballroom. I could see that we weren’t the only ones who were a
bit late, since there were others in the hallway making their way
in the same direction in their formal evening wear.

Rhea was
wearing a colourful dress that went well with her dark skin.
Melissa was wearing a gold dress that was strapless and poufy, and
Heather was wearing a simple light blue dress. I felt a little
strange wearing black against so much color, but the girls kept
saying how nice it looked.

We could hear
the music before we reached the stairs. It was classical and well
played, so clearly this was to be a proper ball, which I was happy
about. I found the idea of an old fashioned ball rather romantic,
though I didn’t really know how to dance. I hoped that didn’t
matter as I took a deep breath before we walked through the
door.

Chapter 9

There were many
people dancing already when we walked in. I could feel eyes on us
immediately, so I tried to hide behind Rhea, who was rather tall. I
felt a hand on my shoulder and turned around to find Jack grinning
at me, looking quite handsome in his classic tuxedo with a dark
green bowtie.