Chapter 8 Chapter 8: The Overdressed

“Hettie Kildare,” I reply shyly, shaking her hand.

“So, healer, human, mystic?” Gia asks, her smile not fading for a second.

“Uh, just human.” I shrug. “You?”

“Mystic.” She releases my hand, but doesn’t move. Her smile disappears, though. “And there’s no such thing as just human. Don’t underestimate yourself.”

I chuckle, not sure what to say to that. Sometimes it’s hard to remember that in a world filled with people with supernatural skills. 

“Where are you from?” 

She heads back to her bed and starts unpacking her things. There’s a dresser close to each bed, and she has the first drawer of hers open.

I figure I should do the same, so I walk toward my bed, finding an envelope with what seems to be the class schedule.

“I’m from Brammere,” I tell her, sitting on the bed and opening the envelope. “And you?”

“I’m from the capital.”

“Oh, that sounds nice,” I murmur, looking up at her. Gia has her attention on her clothes and simply shrugs, not bothering to face me. 

“It’s just…whatever. The capital is not all that, you know? We do have more opportunities, so I guess that’s why people hype it. I’d be okay living somewhere remote, though. What’s Brammere like?”

She sounds genuinely interested, and I find it funny how I’ve always wanted to visit the capital, while someone who has lived here her entire life wants to go elsewhere.

“Remote.” I chuckle. Gia finally stares at me, and a loud laugh comes out of her mouth. “I mean, I don’t have much to compare to, but it’s quiet, everyone knows everyone, and as you said, there’s not a lot of opportunities,” I explain, not wanting to sound ungrateful or anything.

“I can understand that.” She nods, and gets silent for a while.

I proceed to check my schedule.

War History and Politics. Species and Society. Law and Ethics. Anti-Magic Defense. Combat and Tactics 101. Magical Combat Theory.

“Wow, that’s…” I trail off, not knowing exactly what I think of this. 

At first, it seems like way more than I can handle. 

But what was I expecting?

“A bit scary, huh?” Gia muses, walking toward me and plopping on my bed beside me. She looks over my shoulder and checks my schedule. “Hm, we’ll have a lot of classes together. The red ones. The ones in green are for humans.”

“What classes will you have as a mystic?” I ask curiously. 

“Power Regulation and Control, Magic Ethics and Boundaries, and Elemental Mastery 101,” she replies.

“What is your ability, if you don’t mind me asking?”

“I’m extremely good with potions. My whole family descends from alchemists, so…"

My eyes widen slightly as I take in what she’s saying.

“That’s so cool!” I gush, excited to talk to a mystic about their abilities. Usually, as humans, we tend to keep our curiosity to ourselves, afraid that the magical users might find us nosy or impolite. I never really had a mystic friend, so this is nice.

“Well, I guess you can say that. I once prepared a potion to pretend I was sick so I could skip school and stay at home, so it does have its perks,” Gia jokes, returning to her clothes.

I put my schedule aside and start doing the same. We work in silence for a few minutes until a loud grumble comes from my stomach.

“God, what was that? You’re keeping a monster inside of you?” Gia’s eyes widen as she looks at me. Even I got scared by the loud sound.

“I didn’t eat anything before leaving my house this morning. I’m starving,” I tell her, realizing my stomach is actually aching from being empty for too long.

Gia checks her wristwatch. 

“It’s almost lunch time. We should get down,” she informs me. 

“How do you know that? And where should we get down to?” I narrow my eyes, confused at what I’m missing. How does she know all that if she just got here too?

“There’s another page behind the class schedule. It’s just telling us the meal times, time to return to bed, time to wake up, blah blah blah.” I bend to get my paper back, but she rushes me. “You can check that later. Now, come on, before you pass out from starvation.”

It takes us close to ten minutes to get to the cafeteria, which is in another tower near our dormitories. The place is buzzing with students eating or in line to get their food. 

Gia pushes me toward the end of the queue and grabs two trays, handing me one.

“Now, you don’t seem to be too familiarized with how things work here at the capital, so let me give you a few lessons,” she offers, whispering close to my ear. “You will want to stay away from everyone who looks overdressed. See that group over there?” 

She points to a table in the center of the cafeteria where a group of girls is surrounded by at least fifteen others. They seem to be doing whatever they can to get their attention, and I immediately frown once I recognize the blonde head in the middle of the circle.

It’s the same girl from the train, with the tweed set of clothing and an annoying voice.

“That’s Dana Verdoorn. Her father works in the army and is very close to the king.”

“How do you know that?” I can’t hide the surprise from my voice as I turn to look at Gia.

“Uh, well, my parents also work in the army,” she says shyly.

“So, you’re rich and influential?” I can’t help asking. “Why are you hanging out with me instead of them?” 

I tilt my head toward the blonde’s table.

“Ew, no, never. Dana is the worst kind there is. The one who thinks is entitled just because they have some influential power.”

“From what I can tell, you also have that,” I retort.

“Not really. My parents are very humble. They know their place. But Dana and her father think they are better than everyone else. It’s ridiculous, honestly, but people seem to buy that. Pathetic.” She rolls her eyes, pushing me forward in line since the person in front of me moved.

“Alright, I understand that. Brammere has those too,” I offer.

Even though the district is small and remote, there are people there who think they are better than the rest of us, just because they hold more money and power. Maybe the capital is not so different after all.

“So, as I was saying, the overdressed normally want to portray an image of superiority. Their parents donate money to the school, have close contact with the king, all that shit that no one cares about…”

“Apparently, someone cares.” I laugh, noticing a girl stumbling over her feet to take Dana’s napkin from the floor. 

Gia snorts and straightens her shoulders, changing her attention to the other side of the room. 

“Now, it’s not just because they are entitled that you can’t take advantage of their good looks. See there, for example…”

I follow her gaze, and my breath hitches in my throat as I realize who she is talking about.

The handsome guy from earlier is walking inside, his hands in his pockets, his dark gaze taking in his surroundings. He looks completely unbothered. The aura he exudes is too much; it’s like he has just taken all the oxygen from here, leaving me with nothing to breathe.