Chapter 10
Class Selection II
Ciella watched that orange haired idiot run off somewhere and let out a sigh of relief. She had nearly wretched at the thought of running into him again, the only people she’d want to run into less were Ioro and that Naturalist.
At least he was gone now.
Some of the tension coiled inside of her finally faded away.
Some.
True to his word, Ioro had arrived at her apartment early this morning with a list of demands and instructions, very specific instructions to follow. First of all was her class selection, second of all was her extra-curriculars.
It felt eerie being on the campus grounds after all the medallions she’d stolen. She had been worried for a moment about being recognized by any of her past marks, but if she’d stolen their medallions, it was not likely they’d be here to recognize her but was still better to make herself a little unrecognizable and fortunately it had worked, at least on that orange haired boy.
She sat up from her spot under a tree, pulled her shawl close, and made her way into the Bursar’s office. Throughout the process of receiving her forms every muscle from her shoulders to her ankles felt tense, but eventually she finished with little issue.
She looked them over and filled them out in accordance with her instructions, not taking a second longer than required before creeping back inside and handing them to the scheduling woman, along with her silver medallion.
The woman accepted the folder with little fanfare, though irrationally some part of Ciella thought something was going to go wrong.
“Another recommendation student?” The woman narrowed her eyes at Ciella. Ciella nearly sprinted out of there but held her ground.
The woman tssked. “These professors, no respect for your time or mine. They should have made sure you had this done days ago.” She accepted the papers. “That will be all. Enjoy the rest of your day, Miss, there are other students in line.”
“Right!” Ciella said. It almost seemed impossible how smoothly that had gone. She turned and, in her hurry, to leave the building bumped into another student at the door, knocking them to the ground.
Her apology died on her lips when she spotted a familiar dark green cloak and moss green eyes.
“You!” The Naturalist said.
Ciella glared at him, but picked up her papers and continued walking, hoping to get far away from him.
“Hey! Stop, you thief.” The Naturalist shouted. And began following her. Other students were beginning to stare at her.
Her instructions had specifically been to blend in and keep a low profile. Ciella smoldered at this boy ruining that for her but tried not to let her anger escalate.
“Come back here! I don’t know what you’ve done but you’re no student. If you’re here to rob others I won’t allow it.” The Naturalist shouted.
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Ciella simply kept walking, not running, away from as much of the student body as she could. By now she’d led him away from any prying eyes and into the shadow of one of the buildings.
“The professors won’t allow this. You-“
Ciella snapped. She warped her bracelet into a staff. “Leave me alone! I’m a student here, fair and square and you can’t harass me anymore. I stole, nothing! I don’t have a single medallion I wasn’t given!” Each sentence was punctuated by her slammer her staff on the ground. “You have no reason to accost me like this! You are the most annoying-“
“Is there a problem here?” A grey-haired woman had approached the two.
Professor Dembras if Ciella remembered her briefing correctly.
“No,” Ciella said, “I was just-”
“This girl is a thief.” The Naturalist said. “She stole my medallion and another boy’s a few days ago.”
Dembras considered this for a moment “If she stole your medallion then how are you standing here?”
The Naturalist looked slightly taken a back. “We got them back but…”
“If you have them back then what is your grievance with her?”
“She’s a thief!”
Dembras kept her tone calm and conversational but left no room for argument. “How any Meridian student comes across their entrance medallions only concerns themselves. If she has stolen some other personal property of yours or given you some other cause for grievance you can report it to your sitting professor and sort it out that way. Meridian students do not wail at each other like toddlers fighting over a toy on campus grounds. Do you understand?”
“But-”
“Do you understand?”
“Yes, but-”
“You are at the school at our leisure, not yours. If you refuse to follow our codes of conduct, that leisure can be brought to a halt for either of you. Am. I. Understood?”
Fear flashed through the Naturalist’s face, but he nodded.
“Very well, I don’t want to hear another word about thieves and if you want to say something you may say it. Not, shout it.”
Forest Boy nodded. Ciella nodded.
The grey-haired woman gave a self satisfied nod and walked away.
Ciella wondered if she was one of the assets she’d been told about, or just a busy body. Either way, she was glad for her intervention and began walking away.
“The professors may not care what you are, but I know.” The boy said.
He was still following her. “Leave me alone,” She hissed. “Do you want me to file a complaint against you for harassment? They’ll kick you out for sure, and then what?”
Forest Boy looked a little uncertain “That isn’t true.”
“Are you willing to risk it?” Ciella said.
Forest Boy screwed his face up, “Well when you steal something else, they’ll deal with you for that.”
“I’m not a thief.” Ciella said. Forest Boy prepared to rant at her, “It’s the truth. I have stolen nothing since I got here, nothing at all, and I don’t plan to as long as I’m here. I’m just an ordinary student.”
“That’s not likely.”
Ciella stared at him for a moment. She inhaled and exhaled rapidly, making her chest rise and fall, she squeezed her fist tight and squeezed her eyes shut.
Then tears began to pour down her face and sobs racked her body.
“Why do you keep doing this to me? W-w-wh-why can’t you just leave me alone?” She sobbed in her most pathetic voice. “I-I’m sorry for all the bad stuff I did, but I did it so I could b-be here! All I ever wanted was to be a Meridian Academy student and that’s all I am, I swear! This is my one chance! I’m just trying to follow the rules but you w-won’t let me! If I can’t be a student then I have nothing left!”
The Naturalist looked genuinely caught off guard for a moment but became skeptical an instant later. “This is a trick.”
“It’s not a trick.” She whimpered. “Everything I did was just so I could get here and be a student. All I ever wanted was a normal life. I promise I won’t steal anything ever from anyone.”
The Naturalist looked incredibly uncomfortable, and Ciella savoured it. He seemed to be doing some calculations in his head.
He backed away. “I know what you are.” He said, “If someone is stolen than I know exactly who to point the professors and students towards.”
Ciella just whimpered and wiped her eyes, “You’re so cruel.”
The Naturalist said, nothing, just leaving.
Only when she was certain he was gone did Ciella stop the crying, wipe her nose, and breath like a normal human again. She rolled her now red eyes. Boys were so easy.
He had certainly not bought all of it, but maybe it might give him enough pause to leave her alone. At the very least she’d bought some time, all the mattered was that he did not bother her or point too much attention to her for the next few months.
But she did not have time to worry about him right now. She had a meeting to attend on campus, in accordance with her instructions.