Chapter 9: A Ride to School

I wake with a start. Light hitting my eyes. I blink. Squinting at the wooden windowsill in front of me. My head is pressed up against something cold and hard, and I feel a line of drool running down my chin. I am very cold.

I grab the blanket that fell off my shoulders and stare around the room confused. I’m in my room, but why am I by the window?

My eyes snap outside, the first rays of the new day lighting up the yard. I scan it for any intruders but find it is just as empty as it was last night. I sigh with relief before mentally kicking myself for falling asleep while on watch.

After finishing up my preparations on the barn trap, I had scurried back inside as quickly as I could, leaving the barn doors wide open.

By that point, the sun had hit the surrounding trees and long shadows had draped the lawn. That and the high grass had made me jump at every movement. Even though it wasn’t dark yet, I ran inside, leaving the backlight on. I’d changed into a new set of pajama’s—one without grass, dirt, straw, mold, and paint on them—and set up watch at the window.

My plan had been to stay up all night keeping watch, but the small puddle of drool testifies that at some point, my resolve had weakened, and I’d fell prey to exhaustion and abandoned my sentries post.

Luckily, I’m not dead nor a prisoner of small green invaders. The perfect way to start a morning!

I stretch. Once again, my entire body sore. Thankfully not as bad as yesterday's. Still, the wooden chair and the cold air weren’t conducive to a good night’s rest. I still feel half-awake despite ostensibly being “up”.

*groan*

I need to get moving. I still have school today and Ophir’s friend is going to be picking me up soon. I don’t think I could take the tension of staying at the house another day, so school it is.

I glance at the clock still stretching. Hmm…

9:30

Crap! I’m Late!

I jump out of the chair my feet tangling in the blanket sending me crashing to the ground. I scramble to my feet ignoring the aches and pains of my body. How could I have slept in so late? I rush towards the closet grabbing the first clothes on the rack. No time for being choosey, I’m really late! In fact, shouldn’t Ophir’s friend be here by now? It’s a half-hour drive into town and school starts at 10:00…

I freeze my hand still on the first outfit. Ah, dingleberries. I’ve been had.

My head slowly turns to look at the gloating clock. It’s smug round face smirking at me from where it sits above the door. The secondhand shivering with laughter going back and forth across the number seven, not moving forward at all so caught up in its infernal glee.

“You think you’re so clever don’t you,” I say as I approach the clock. “Think I would fall for the same trick for a fourth time, huh?” I’ll ignore the falling on my face earlier. I was still half asleep, so it doesn’t count.

Time to put the fear of God in the heathen.

“When I replace you, it will be a digital clock that takes your place!” I’m contented to see the laughing secondhand quiver with fear as it begs me to change my mind. Hmph, serves him right!

Having cowed the household appliances, I head to the kitchen to check the microwave clock. He’s a much more trustworthy fellow.

7:24

Hmmm, about two hours.

I begin to plan out my morning, thinking about the things that I need to do before school.

List:

Eat breakfast and take a solemn vow to stop skipping meals. This is the second day I’ve gone without anything but breakfast. Get changed out of my pajamas and make a solemn vow to not wear green with orange again. It’s hideous. Take a shower. I am still covered in sweat, dirt, and other things I don’t want to think about. I’m also pretty sure the unpleasant aroma I’m smelling is not coming from something that isn’t me. My backpack!

Ah, fiddlesticks. I dropped my backpack on the game trail! My week’s worth of math homework!

I squirm over the loss of my backpack and sleeping bag but eventually write it off as a loss. Even if the goblin hadn’t taken it. I’m not taking a step onto the game trail if I don’t have to. I’m also not sure where my wooden practice sword went. I haven’t seen it since I came home on Saturday. With how out of it I was too, I haven’t the faintest clue where I might have dropped it.

*sigh*

Well, time to start the list.

I feel gross and sticky, but my stomach overrides the decision to take a shower first, and instead I just thoroughly wash my hands.

Today’s menu:

Old rice, with hotdogs sliced up into it. Yay!

Cursing at my family, who are probably eating in some fancy Empire restaurant right now, I morosely eat my bland meal. My hunger makes it slide down a little easier, but I don’t think I want to eat hotdogs any time soon. Not that I have much choice in the matter.

Grabbing two of the hotdog buns, I slather them with peanut butter and shove them in a small sandwich bag. Sweet, packed my lunch.

Grabbing a towel, I head to the shower I share with my sister. I quickly rinse, wash, and condition my neck length air. Bemoaning the small drops of paint that I find in it, obtained in my zealous pyre building last night.

I quickly towel off and head to my room. I’m not sure how much time I’ve taken but I don’t want to keep Ophir’s friend waiting.

I step into my room; my bare feet cold. Dad jury-rigged the house’s heating and water system so that we didn’t have to keep the entire mansion warm, but the system now leaks quite a bit. It’s Eleventh Month and the temperature has started to get a little nippy in the evenings and mornings.

I go to my closet this time making a more thorough selection. I check the time to make sure I’m not running late…

9:30

Okay! This is getting old! Down you come!

I push a chair over to the door and, clambering up, I unhook the clock from the wall. Setting it face down on the dresser where it can’t hurt me anymore.

Scrambling into my clothes, I watch from my window for any sign of Ophir’s friend. A few minutes later I grab a hoodie and pull it over my head. My wet hair and the morning chill is quick to steal my heat.

I don’t know what time it is, but I’m too tired to care. I just want to sit and think while bundled up in my hoodie.

Last night, as I was setting the last touches to my trap, I realized that the longer I thought about my old memories, the easier it became to sift through them. The eight eyed sight no longer feeling as strange. The weird juxtaposition between having eight legs instead of two started to fade. The final touches I’d put to the trap were so complex that looking back on it now, I’m still trying to work out how I’d set up that last pulley system.

There was something else though, that had me shivering. This time not because of the cold.

My past life had been so… empty.

It isn’t even like comparing a full glass and an empty glass. If you look at an empty glass, you can think about what you’re going to fill it with. It bears the potential to one day hold more. Almost seeming to cry out its purpose and desire to hold something more.

Instead, my past life was more like a glass flipped over. Just as empty as the one right side up, but impossible to fill. It’s empty but a casual observer wouldn’t even know that it was just so barren.

It scares me. That the warmth I have in this life, Mel, Ophir, Jamie could just… vanish.

As I’d sunk deeper and deeper into those memories, that’s how I’d felt. As if my beautiful life full of wonderful people was slowly being tipped over. About to spill out and leave me trapped in a glass cage. Stuck inside with nothing but the emptiness within.

My spider self was cold and heartless. Jaded against everyone and everything. I hadn’t really minded back then, not knowing what I was missing, but now the thought of such an existence is unbearable.

So, I’ve decided to not spend too long in those memories. To not sink so deep for too long. I’ll eventually sift through them all—it is still me regardless of the changes—but not at a rate that corrupts who I am right now.

I won’t grow jaded or paranoid and I’m not turning in my other titles just for the ‘Demon Lord’ one. I will stay Selina Wrath, Brilliant Detective, Adventurer Extraordinaire, friend to Mel Quick sword, and The Conqueror of Death! I will also be the Demon Lord.

What can I say? I’m pretty greedy.

My breath fogs up the window, staying long enough to briefly obscure my vision, but not long enough to doodle, unfortunately. I lean my head against the cold glass as I wait. I breathe in and out, my breath sticking to the window. The house is quiet. The only thing I do is listen to the quick inhale and exhale. Watching as each breath seems to blur the entire outside world. This is nice.

I hear a distant noise and tense. Is it Ophir’s Friend or…?

A small truck pulls out around the corner of the house. Unless the goblins have learned how to use a stick shift, I don’t think it's them.

I grab a pencil and stuff it in my jeans back pocket, rushing to the kitchen I snatch my lunch up and rush out the back door. The cold morning air lightly biting at my exposed face.

The “living quarters” of the mansion face the game trail, in the opposite direction of the main road leading to the house. The fact that Ophir’s friend drove around means that they took the main road and the ‘doggy’ from before must have been found. Huh, turns out I could have taken the bus after all. Ah well, a half-hour car ride beats a two-hour bus ride, and I would have missed the 8 o’clock bus anyway.

Walking out I look at what kind of character my sister has hustled into taking me to school. My imagination spins, probably an old man, with rotten teeth! He’ll give me a covert look before sliding me a paper, on which will be a secret message to assure me that he’s my contact.

How exciting!

I rush over to the truck and peek through the window. How disappointing.

Inside is a girl probably the same age as Ophir. That… probably makes more sense than what I was imagining. I’m not sure why I thought my sister was associated with aged characters with dental problems, but in hindsight, it should have been obvious that she’d call one of her school friends.

I still hold out hope for a secret message, but my hopes aren’t realized. Instead, she is tapping away at her phone with a concerned look on her face. I don’t even think she’s seen me yet.

“Hello? Are you the one who’s supposed to pick me up?”

*Squawk*

She jumps in her seat and makes a very amusing squawking noise. She glances over at me and her phone.

“Selina?”

“Yeah, that’s me.”

“Phew, I thought I had the wrong house. Ophir said her house was a little out of the way, but she didn’t mention it was… all that.”

She swishes her finger over the house as if that’s supposed to explain things. Has she never seen wood before? Just kidding, I’m not that oblivious.

“Yeah, it’s a pretty big house.” I decide that her mentioning Ophir and knowing my name is enough to qualify her as my chaperon. Even if the secret message is a little lackluster.

I invite myself into the truck by popping open one of the doors and sitting down in the front passenger seat. I reach out and pull the door closed behind me. The car looks old, but that’s not unusual for anyone living in the Free Lands.

I give her an expectant look. We can go now.

“Don’t you have a backpack?”

“I did, but I lost it in the woods.”

“…Oh, buckle up.”

*sigh* *click*

Demon Lord’s shouldn’t have to buckle their seat belts! It's also not even required by law in the Free Lands, so I'm not doing anything wrong! I don’t say anything though. It would be rude when she’s giving me a ride.

The seat belt sits a little high and rubs uncomfortably at my neck. Not that I need a booster seat of course. It's just a little uncomfortable.

She shifts gear and starts down the cobbled path. Turning around the edge of the house, she starts down the main road.

I sit idly as I watch the trees pass. I usually find the scenery beautiful, but now the trees look nefarious. Each potentially hiding a goblin or some other monster.

“…So, I’ve known Ophir for years, and she’s never welcomed me over to her house. She doesn’t really like to talk about herself, but I couldn’t help but notice some weird things. Are you guys some kind of secret nobles or something?”

Huh, I wonder what clued her into the fact that my family is weird? Was it living in the middle of the woods? The huge wooden mansion whose yard hasn’t been tended to in years? Or maybe it’s the fact that, despite the mansion, I still need a ride to school from a stranger.

“We’re not really nobles? Yeah, pretty sure we’re not nobles.” I say. Hopefully, that clears up some of the confusion.

“…”

Phew. Glad that managed to assuage all her questions. I was worried I wasn’t clear enough.

“How can you not know if you’re a noble!? I think that’s something you don’t merely forget!”

Ah, drat. I hate these kinds of questions.

“Ophir’s a half noble. On her Dad’s side.” That’s sort of a lie, but also, kind of true. Hopefully, that diverted her from the topic.

“So, you share the same Father?” She says. How noisy can you be?

I give her a sideways glance. I may not be an exemplar at social interaction, but even I know that question was borderline rude. We’re talking about Dad having two families, which is something bad. You’re only supposed to have one family. It’s why he got in so much trouble with Mom.

“Why do you want to know?” I ask guardedly. I knew that password was too lackluster! Is this a kidnapping? No wonder she wanted me to put on this seatbelt! It’s a dastardly trap meant to hold me down when I figure out her secret kidnapping scene! How could the great Detective Selina be tricked so easily!?

I should have known something strange was afoot when she didn’t even give me her name! That way she can’t be tracked down after I’m ransomed back! Not that anyone would pay anything for me. Poor kidnapper lady, you better do your research better next time.

The kidnapper lady flinches at my cutting retort. Hah! You didn’t realize I’d see through you so easily did you?

As I ponder on whether that last thought of mine was grammatically correct, the kidnapper lady starts to say something else.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to pry. It’s just… Look, I’ve been friends with Ophir for years. I’ve worked on multiple projects together and everything. I really look up to her. She’s receiving a full Empire citizenship and I’m only getting probationary status. I’m not even jealous, though! She works harder than anyone! But she doesn’t really talk much about herself…”

Hmm, definitely too many “you”s in that thought. Even if it was grammatical.

“Then out of nowhere, Ophir gives me a call and asks me to pick up her little sister! Gives me an address in the middle of nowhere and warns me that there might be a rabid dog on the loose, then hangs up on me! So, I go to the address all excited to see where Ophir lives, and it looks like some haunted cabin monstrosity! I think “Eli, there’s no way that you have the right place”, so I go to check my phone only to find that there’s not even cell service out here!”

Hah, seconds into the interrogation of my kidnapper and I’ve already got their name! Eli! A name fit for an unscrupulous kidnapper who kidnaps naïve, innocent thirteen-year-olds!

Not that I am either of those of course. But she isn’t aware of that yet.

“And, and… look it’s been a really long morning. I’m sorry about the rude question. I just got excited to learn more about Ophir. She always seems so secretive and I figured I could get a few embarrassing stories on the ‘Mysterious Ophir’ from her little sister.”

Miss Kidnapper Lady seems like a complete sis-con and it’s not even her sister! She’s my big sister! Go ‘con’ on your own sister and leave mine out of it! I don’t say this of course—can’t let her know the game is up—instead I say,

“It’s not a big secret. My dad got his noble title revoked because he messed up pretty badly. The mansion was a kind of… parting gift for being expelled from the Wrath family.”

My father has always considered the mansion his pride and joy. It’s why he covered up all the other doors and windows. He was so paranoid that someone would come along and try to steal his precious mansion. As if by living in it, he proves that he is still a noble. That even though his last name was now “Starch” he wasn’t a ‘dirty commoner’, but just a noble waiting to be let back into the fold.

I’d also originally thought the Wrath family was kind to give dad and us the mansion. I’d stayed in the wooden mansion before and was excited to live there permanently. My memories of playing in its halls and in the forests outside with my older sister were beautiful ones I’d held quite dear.

I don’t really think of it as a gift anymore.

No, I think instead it was to show dad just how far he had fallen. A slap to the face. The mansion is a shackle. A glass of vinegar offered to a man dying of thirst. Because even if we owned one of the most expensive pieces of land in the Free Lands, we still lived in squalor.

The heat would suddenly go out, the water was fickle, the internet was non-existent except for the one wall phone that worked half the time. Even our meals were cheap and flavorless. We live in a mansion but besides a few rooms, the rest is slowly falling into disrepair.

The disparity was ripping Dad apart. Sometimes Dad would go into a fervor of cleaning up and trying to restore the old mansion. Talking about the people he would invite and the parties he would hold. For days or even weeks, he would work nonstop on the house. Trying to fix it up to be presentable. But I knew what came after the high. Soon enough he would realize just how futile his actions were, and he would fall. Hard.

So, I thought of the mansion as one last curse from the Family. A shackle that was there to always remind Dad of what he had lost.

I hated that Old Wooden Mansion.

“Ah, I see. That would make more sense. I always figured Ophir was a little tight financially but seeing the mansion had me pretty confused for a moment there.”

My thoughts are interrupted by Sis-con.

“I can see why she doesn’t talk about herself much. There’s enough resentment with the nobles that being labeled one, even a fallen one, would be quite rough. Thanks for accommodating my questions.”

We continue riding in silence. The earlier conversation having left us without a mood for further talk. The minutes tick by. It’s almost as awkward as when the Fat lady sat by me on the bus.

Almost.

We hit the main road and she flips her blinker for a left-hand turn. Emi waits for the road to clear and gives a sharp turn. The trees clear around us and we are free from the Noble Forest. Nothing but good farms and suburbs to distract me know.

I relax.

Emi seems to be thinking hard right now. Her brows are scrunched up and she seems to be having a staring contest with the road.

I’ve resigned myself to the fact that I’m probably not being kidnapped. Instead, I’m dealing with someone who’s just as socially incompetent as me. Mel’s always telling me that a lot of my questions are rude, or that I don’t need to be so formal. Seeing someone who’s as bad as me…

I’d prefer the kidnapper.

I was never kidnapped as a spider; the experience might prove a novel one.

“Wait, if Ophir is a disowned noble, that would have to be the Wrath incident two years ago, right?”

I cringe. Trust a socially incompetent to hit the nail right on the head! She managed to dredge up the conversation I least want to have, and in less than ten minutes! I dread what she’ll be able to do in the remaining twenty.

“So that would make you…” She looks at me startled. Her eyes showing that she’s realized the truth.

Keep your eyes on the road dummy! You don’t have time to be dissecting my secrets with your eyeballs!

She looks back at the road. Her face a little pale. Her hands are tight on the steering wheel. I have no idea what’s going on in her head. Is she angry? Does she feel pity? I just don’t know.

“I’m… sorry. That was rude of me. I won’t pry anymore.”

I don’t say anything. I’m not sure when it happened, but I have taken up the fetal position, my arms wrapped around my legs. The seatbelt is dragging against my neck. It’s annoying.

“So, what are you learning in school now? You go to Free Land Eastern middle school, right? I used to go there with Ophir. What year’s your graduation?”

“I’m part of the class of 323.”

“Oh, already in 9th grade? You’ll be graduating in just a few months then! Do you have a high school picked out? I graduated in 327 and decided to go to the Eastern Academy of Medicine because I’ve always wanted to be a doctor. Any future plans?”

“Ah, um, I don’t really know where I want to go? Or what I want to be… we also don’t take our placement tests until Third month. So, I don’t even know where I can go yet?”

“That’s fine. That’s fine. You don’t need to know everything right now. Does Mister Johnson still teach math down there? Man, I loved that class.”

“Yeah! Um, yeah, he still teaches. He was my favorite teacher in the sixth grade, and I’ve always loved math because of him.”

“He always was a good teacher. Oh, we caused so much mischief in his class! This one time, me and Ophir were scheduled for a dissection lab, but the frogs were brought in alive…”

I animatedly listen as she tells me about how she and Ophir smuggled one of the small frogs into Mr. Johnson’s class and kept it for nearly three months before it escaped from their locker. At some point, the conversation switches to me and I find myself answering questions about myself and Mel. Telling what my favorite classes are and how much I despise history class. That gets a laugh out of her.

“Ha, ha, Mr. Beets was just as boring when I took him too! But you gotta study hard, history is a big part of any entrance exam in the Empire. They practically worship the Hero over there, so even if you don’t like it you should at least brush up on the Hero Xander. If you can blather on about him, you’ll probably be fine.”

I find myself smiling and nodding along. I thought Emi wasn’t very good at interacting, but she’s actually pretty nice. She also isn’t as pushy as other adults. Usually, when I tell them I don’t know what I want to do, they start telling me how I need to decide soon. Emi doesn’t seem to care and listens to me instead.

Okay, I’ll let you fangirl on Ophir, but just a little. She is my halfsister, and you can’t have her! But I’ll let you be friends with her since you seem pretty cool.

Soon we arrive at the school and I pop open the door grabbing my lunch and pencil. I feel too light and exposed without my backpack. As if everyone is looking at my exposed back, judging me for not bringing a backpack to school like some delinquent.

“I’ll be here to pick you up after school. You get out at four, right?”

“Yep, I’ll just meet you out front… and thanks. For the ride.”

She gives me a smile and then takes off. I wave.

I walk towards the school. I can’t wait to talk to Mel!

(Bonus Chapter Padding)

Earlier that Day:

Emi looked out her truck window at the massive wooden mansion, then back at her phone. This should be the place, but…

Why was it a fricking haunted mansion!!!

Was Ophir trying to get her killed!? Because this spot looks shady! The lawn looked like it hadn’t been taken care of in years, and the windows and doors were all boarded up! How could anyone possibly live here!

She checked her phone again, sure that she’d made a mistake somewhere.

Nope. She’d followed all of the instructions besides the last one. “Drive around to the back.”

She’d never really had the impression before, but Ophir really seemed the kind of person who would make people mysteriously disappear. Was she part of some Mafia and Emi had learned too much? Was she overthinking this!?

Assuring herself that she hadn’t done anything to get on Ophir’s bad side, she started to drive around the house. Examining the exterior for any sign of life.

Or mafia activity, can’t be too careful.

Coming around she saw that, sure enough, there was a small porch light on, next to a door that wasn’t boarded up. Okay, the house was occupied. Now what?

Maybe I should give Ophir a call, just in case. There could have been a typo in the instructions… No Service. What kind of place has No Service in this day and age!?

Just as Emi was deciding if she should make a run for it…

“Hello? Are you the one who’s supposed to pick me up?”

*Squawk*

Emi looks out of her truck window to see a small girl. Her wide red—red!?—eyes, framed in a pale pretty face, looking at her expectedly. A ghost!? Wait, I am picking up Ophir’s sister. Emi glances down at her phone again. What was Ophir’s sister’s name?

“Selina?”

“Yeah, that’s me.”

“Phew, I thought I had the wrong house. Ophir said her house was a little out of the way, but she didn’t mention it was…” Emi gestured towards the haunted mansion, not quite sure how to sum up all the problems there were with this situation. “…all that.”

The girl—Selina—seems to expect something from her. Emi stares back, not sure what the girl is asking for.

“Yeah, it’s a pretty big house,” Selina says, looking oddly disappointed. Why is she disappointed!? What did I do?

Selina clambers into the car and looks at Emi. Wait where’s her school stuff?

“Don’t you have a backpack?”

“I did, but I lost it in the woods.”

Ok… was that usual? Was Selina some type of wild child that frolicked in the woods all day? Was she the only one who thought that all of this was a little weird? Deciding that it really wasn’t any of her business,

“…Oh, buckle up.”

*sigh* *click*

Selina buckles up her seatbelt and Emi starts down the road, giving the strange girl glances every now and then. She seems to be giving the woods a death glare. Emi couldn’t see anything out the window, maybe her ‘wild child’ idea wasn’t so far off.

Finally, the strangeness of the situation was just too much. She needed an answer.

“…So, I’ve known Ophir for years and she’s never welcomed me over to her house. She doesn’t really like to talk about herself, but I couldn’t help but notice some weird things. Are you guys some kind of secret nobles or something?”

Selina glance over, finally taking her eyes off the road for a second.

“We’re not really nobles? Yeah, pretty sure we’re not nobles.”

“…” So, which is it? Are you, or aren’t you? Could you be any less clear!

“How can you not know if you’re a noble!? I think that’s something you don’t merely forget!”

Calm down. She’s just a kid. Kids are annoying by default. No need to yell, just keep breathing. This morning has been way too strange.

“Ophir’s a half noble. On her Dad’s side.”

…Okay, so Ophir the girl who always acts as if each credit is her first-born child and doesn’t eat out because it’s so “expensive” is a half noble. Does that mean this annoying brat is also half-noble?

“So, you share the same Father?”

Selina gives Emi a dirty look that makes her cringe inside. Crap! I just stepped on a landmine! That’s the ‘did you really ask me that’ look!

“Why do you want to know?”

Yep. I really put my foot in my mouth there. There’s definitely some family ‘fun’ going on. Knowing nobles… I messed up!

Emi glances over to see if she looks offended. Selina’s expression seems guarded? She also seems to be getting a little excited for some reason. Not sure what that’s about.

Sighing to herself, Emi figures there’s nothing to do but apologize. Her questions were personal and rude, even if Selina is just a kid, she deserves an apology.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to pry. It’s just… Look, I’ve been friends with Ophir for years. I’ve worked on multiple projects together and everything. I really look up to her. She’s receiving a full Empire citizenship and I’m only getting probationary status. I’m not even jealous, though! She works harder than anyone! But she doesn’t really talk much about herself…”

Emi glanced over to see if she was getting through to the girl, she seems to be in deep contemplation. Glad that her words are being considered, Emi continues,

“Then out of nowhere Ophir gives me a call and asks me to pick up her little sister! Gives me an address in the middle of nowhere and warns me that there might be a rabid dog on the loose, then hangs up on me! So, I go to the address all excited to see where Ophir lives, and it looks like some haunted cabin monstrosity! I think “Eli, there’s no way that you have the right place”, so I go to check my phone only to find that there’s not even cell service out here!”

Ah, darn. Now her apology had come out as a criticism of the girl’s home. Emi couldn’t believe she’d put her foot in her mouth again. It really had been a strange morning.

“And, and… look it’s been a really long morning. I’m sorry about the rude question. I just got excited to learn more about Ophir. She always seems so secretive and I figured I could get a few embarrassing stories on the ‘Mysterious Ophir’ from her little sister.”

The car is quiet for a few seconds. Emi figured that they would remain in this awkward silence for the rest of the ride. Sigh, there went any chance of getting close to Ophir’s little sister. Hopefully, the girl wouldn’t tattle about what a lousy chaperon she was.

Which is why Emi is so surprised when she starts to speak,

“It’s not a big secret. My dad got his noble title revoked because he messed up pretty badly. The mansion was a kind of… parting gift for being expelled from the Wrath family.”

The girl’s expression seems to fall at the mention of it. Darn it Emi! You just had to bring up such a traumatizing event! I feel like a bully…

“Ah, I see. That would make more sense. I always figured Ophir was a little tight financially but seeing the mansion had me pretty confused for a moment there. I can see why she doesn’t talk about herself much. There’s enough resentment with the nobles that being labeled one, even a fallen one, would be quite rough. Thanks for accommodating my questions.”

The car is quiet now. Emi didn’t really know what to say after that. The girl seemed content to sit quietly in her seat. Her expression still looking a little down. Soon they reach the end of the road and Emi looks both ways before finally escaping the woods.

Emi’s thoughts wander. The revelation that Ophir was actually half noble, or once was at least was certainly shocking. If her father’s title was revoked, then that would explain why Selina wasn’t sure about the specifics. You wouldn’t expect a thirteen-year-old to understand the dizzying number of Noble laws. Wait a second…

Thirteen years old. Red eyes. A disgraced noble who was stripped of his title…

“Wait, if Ophir is a disowned noble, that would have to be the Wrath incident two years ago, right?”

The words slip out of Emi’s mouth before she can stop them. The pieces slowly falling into place. If Ophir’s father was that noble, then that would make Selina…

“So that would make you…”

Emi glances over at Selina. The girl looks like a hunted animal right now. She’s curled up in her seat and her eyes are glaring at Emi. Emi quickly stares back at the road. Giving the girl time to recover.

“I’m… sorry. That was rude of me. I won’t pry anymore.”

And I really won’t. She had seen the look in the girl’s eye. It was a look of someone who was ready to bolt. Or do something violent. Emi had been treating this situation all wrong. Just like at the hospital when talking to the veterans, there were conversations that needed to be avoided. Because that look was the same as those old, grizzled soldiers who’d seen too much. Selina had PTSD and Emi had just brought it up carelessly.

“So, what are you learning in school now? You go to Free Land Eastern middle school, right? I used to go there with Ophir. What year’s your graduation?”

The situation wasn’t unsalvageable though. Emi may have messed up, but this was something she knew how to deal with.

“I’m part of the class of 323.”

Because even if Selina was traumatized, she was still only thirteen! For Emi who has to navigate conversations with old men who liked to talk about old war stories—stories that could set off seizures or panic attacks if not handled correctly—this was nothing! A kid is a kid after all!

“Oh, already in 9th grade? You’ll be graduating in just a few months then! Do you have a high school picked out? I graduated in 327 and decided to go to the Eastern Academy of Medicine because I’ve always wanted to be a doctor. Any future plans?”

“Ah, um, I don’t really know where I want to go? Or what I want to be… we also don’t take our placement tests until Third month. So, I don’t even know where I can go yet?”

Fu, fu, how cute! The angry little girl flustered about her future plans! Ophir truly had a cute little sister!

“That’s fine. That’s fine. You don’t need to know everything right now. Does Mister Johnson still teach math down there? Man, I loved that class.”

It’s amusing to watch her perk up.

“Yeah! Um, yeah, he still teaches. He was my favorite teacher in the sixth grade, and I’ve always loved math because of him.”

It’s even more amusing to watch her get flustered because she perked up!

“He always was a good teacher. Oh, we caused so much mischief in his class! This one time, me and Ophir were scheduled for a dissection lab, but the frogs were brought in alive…”

Soon enough Emi has the girl smiling and animatedly following stories of her and Ophir’s school days. She’s a good listener but doesn’t talk much. It takes a bit of nudging to get her to speak. When she does, she seems almost bashful, glancing down and blushing.

Selina shows a surprising enthusiasm for math and a surprising disdain for history which gets a laugh from Emi. The only conversation that seems to really draw her out, though, is when her best friend Mel is brought up.

“Mel—my best friend—is in a swordsmanship class, and I want to join but…” She gets oddly quiet.

“Is it something you want to do?” Emi asks.

“I do, but… Mel is really good with a sword. I’m just me. I don’t think I’ll ever be as good as she is, even with my, um, even if I practice.”

Emi pauses to consider that. She knows how it feels to be overshadowed by someone constantly. Trying to catch up to someone you admire, but someone who’s always two or three steps ahead of you. It can be painful sometimes.

“I know how you feel. I’ve been friends with Ophir for years and I’ve never beat her on a test. Sometimes we tie but it’s not the same. The worst thing is she doesn’t even know I’m always comparing our scores. Hoping that just once I can beat her at something.”

Selina is quiet for a moment, her face pondering.

“I think… that it’s good to have friends like that. Because they make us try harder. Make us really push ourselves. If Mel weren’t my friend, I think life would be a little emptier.”

“…” Emi didn’t know what to say to that. It was easy to think kids were dumb when they were so easy to distract and when their emotions were written across their face, but then one would say something that would sweep the rug out from under you. What would her life be like if she hadn’t met Ophir? Would she even be in Med school? Would she be…

Stupid kid! Stop making me feel all sentimental this early in the morning!

Soon enough they reach the school and Selina hops out. She glances around and tugs at her shoulder. Seeming to shrink. Huh, perhaps losing her backpack bothered her more than she let on.

“I’ll be here to pick you up after school. You get out at four, right?”

“Yep, I’ll just meet you out front… and thanks. For the ride.”

Selina waves as Emi pulls out. How cute!

Emi starts down the road, heading towards her shift at the hospital. It’s been a crazy morning, but she’s glad she got to meet Ophir’s little sister.