The desire to be helped floated in my horizon as I heard the question that was tinged with slight hostility.
I turned toward the familiar voice, hope soaring in my chest when my eyes met Raul.
His gaze met that of the professor’s headlong. Gone was his cheery smile.
“Much? I don’t think so, Prince Raul. I actually think I’m being lenient, and I know you know that.” The professor answered, before his eyes finally landed on me.
“Detention, Akwoods. If you flaunt it…”
He chuckled drily now, before dealing the finishing blow. “I hope for your sake, that you don’t.”
Flaunting it wasn’t even an option now, hearing that evil sound. I wouldn’t even dare it.
But it seemed Raul wasn’t done pleading my case.
Within the next minute, he spoke in that strange impenitent voice of his I didn’t get the chance to hear before.
“She’s a new student, Professor Bulock. I think she deserves a stretch of mercy. She’s not yet aware of how things are done here yet. Surely, you understand that.”
Professor Bullock? Like a castrated bull? Or was there another spelling to that name? I shoveled down the dire need to question the man on the genesis of his name, or probably a spelling.
Raul was pleading my cause after all, I couldn’t go around stomping his efforts under my foot.
Professor Bulock darted his eyes between Raul and me, perhaps wondering if there was a relationship between the both of us.
I’m not sure of what he saw, but when he sighed, I knew that Raul had won him over. I bit back a shout of victory.
“Very well then, Prince. An hour in detention. I won’t be going back on that. No way for her to learn about our ways, for her to learn about respect and discipline in class, if not through that.”
I looked at Raul. He opened his mouth to probably contest it, but then shut it as if he remembered something.
Probably something along the lines of the abuse of their power in school.
At least he got it down to one hour. I could manage that.
Detention was just sitting in an empty classsroom and waiting till an hour right?
Or did it mean something else here?
That sent a shiver down my spine. It would explain why Raul had contested against it.
Oh my god! What have I gotten myself into?
Detention on my first day. A Detention that I wasn’t sure of its meaning.
Laura wouldn’t be pleased with this if she hears of it.
My heart sank at the thought but I refused to let the fear show.
Rather I straightened my shoulders and met Professor Bulock’s gaze head-on, when I took note of his glare; refusing to back down.
He must think that I had Raul wrapped around my little finger. Well, that was his business, not mine.
Yet as the Professor gathered his belongings and left the classroom, I couldn’t help but feel a sense of unease settle over me.
His parting words lingered in the air like a dark cloud, filling me with a sense of dread.
What does detention in a magic school look like?
I should have asked Diana this. It should have come up in my conversation with Laura and Peter.
But how would they have known that I would be detained on my first day? How would I have known?
I should have kept my mouth shut.
However I was determined not to let the Professor’s actions get to me. I knew I had probably made a mistake, but I would just learn from it and move forward.
With a sigh, I re-turned my attention to Raul.
He was staring at me with an emotion akin to pity in his eyes.
I didn’t like that. I don’t want to be pitied. I hate being an object of pity.
“Bullock. Like a castrated bull, or what?”
Raul chuckled, then laughed loudly.
Better that way.
The snickers and murmurs around didn’t change that though.
“You are really going to be a handful for us all, Dora. Although, I would have to admit that I like it. I just have to keep you out of troubles like detention.” He said as he stood up from his seat and strolled to mine.
He sat with one side of his buttocks on my desk, and crossed his arms across his chest.
Up close, his handsomeness was like a tornado slamming into me. Why was the goddess partial in sharing beauty?
I shrugged my shoulders at his words. “You can’t blame my curious mind. Are they the same spelling.”
“No. His is Bulock. You remove one L.”
“Oh…”
The same pronunciation but different spelling. Man was lucky.
A shadow cast from behind me, and even before turning, I already knew who that was.
Rachel. She almost had the same scent and swagger as her twin.
“First day in school, and you’re already creating havoc for us. Do you how tedious it would be for us to write three thousand words of our history?”
The hostility on her face as she spoke, resonated with the ones splashed on the faces of the students around me.
Turns out Professor Bulock had strict expectations on his essays.
And I’m writing seven thousand. I chuckled in unbelief.
“Do you find me funny?”
I would have risen to the occasion to bait her but for the work ahead of me .
“Not at all, Rachel. I just find it funny that you are complaining of three thousand, when I have seven thousand to write.”
Rachel smirked, the hostility dissipating a little bit. “Well, you brought that upon yourself. Goodluck with that.”
She turned aside, as if heading back to her seat, but paused.
What now?
“About Professor Bulock. Kudos. I’ve always wanted to deal a hand to that man.” She laughed as she said this, as she walked back to her seat.
Was that a compliment? Was our stupid feud over? I hoped so. I wasn’t keen on having enemies.
“I wouldn’t throw down the guards if I were you…”
Raul whispered this into my ear, and I knew he had used a cloaking mechanism.
The way the other students turned to look at us, also accentuated that.
They were wondering why he had to use the cloaking magic-what his words were in my ears.
Rachel wasn’t left out.
“Rachel can be quite tricky. A sly fox.”
I scoffed, ignoring his closeness, and the sweetness of his scent. “Bad mouthing your sister? What does that say about you?”
“That I care about you.”