“Forget it,” I said when an extremely loud laugh pierced my ears. I glanced over my shoulder. A girl with long auburn hair and hazelnut eyes plummeted onto the seat right next to me. “She's hilarious!”
“I know, right,” Becky said, in an agreeing tone.
I wished for the earth to open up and swallow me whole.
“How many times has she looked up today?”
“Like a million.”
I felt stupid as they made jokes.
“Elena, this is Sammy.” Becky introduced me to the girl.
“Short for Samantha.” She reached out her hand for a shake. “I'm one of the roomies.” She was a tiny little thing, even more petite than I was. Her dimples were definitely her main attraction.
I took her hand and shook it gently.
“She really doesn't know?”
“I don't think so. Master Longwei asked me to give her the crash course.”
“May I?” she pleaded.
Becky nodded and looked at me with a huge smile on her face.
“What are you doing?” My heart thumped painfully. The last time I felt like this, Dad had transformed into a dragon.
“Relax, Elena. Sammy just wants to introduce you to a dragon.”
“A dragon! Where?” I shrieked and everyone outside fell into an utter silence. This was so not cool. A couple of students laughed, while others shook their heads in disgust. I covered my face with my palms. In one millisecond I had killed the only chance of ever finding a social life.
“Oh shut up,” Becky said. “Eat your food.”
“Sammy, you should take her to Constance for the serum, before she goes mental,” the girl with the white hair sang, and everyone, including Blake, laughed.
Sammy flipped her amiddle finger she’d thrown me a couple of minutes ago. “Suck on that biatch.”
The girl, whose name I’d forgotten, darted into the air, ready to attack.
Blake carefully pushed her back into her seat. I heard her protesting and saw him leaning in closer to her. He whispered something into her ear. Her sweet smile appeared, revealing perfect white pearls.
“You're going to get your ass kicked one day, Sammy,” Becky warned her.
“By Tabitha? She wishes,” Sammy said.
I tried to picture this tiny girl with a sword and wondered what she could do with one.
“We need to tell her, Becky.”
“Go ahead. You were busy anyway.”
“Elena, promise you won't freak out.” Sammy took my hand between her small ones.
I closed my eyes and cringed.
“Promise!” she said in an ordering tone.
“Fine, I promise.”
“My name is Sammy Leaf.”
I looked at Becky, who arched her left eyebrow with a slight twitch in the corner of her mouth.
“Are you related to Blake?”
“She hardly started her first day, and she already knows who my brother is?” Sammy said.
Becky laughed.
“Sammy, everyone knows your brother.” Another dreamy guy walked over to our table and sat down next to Becky. He was the total opposite of Blake, although their eyes were the same color. He was tall and slender, with blonde cropped hair and fair skin. His smile made my heart skip a beat.
“Lucian, Elena, Elena, Lucian, the prince of every girl’s heart and of Tith.” Becky gave him one of her million-dollar smiles.
Lucian shook his head, faintly smiling back. “Nice to meet you, Elena.” He held out his hand for a shake.
“You're a prince for real?” The words slipped out while I shook his hand.
He replied with a quick nod and a huge smile that lit up his blue eyes. Then he took the seat next to Becky.
“Lucian is the other frat boy.” Becky carried on teasing him, bumping him with her shoulder.
“I'm not the other frat boy, okay. Blake is way above me."
“My brother is a dick, Lucian, which makes him lose a thousand points and you gain a thousand just by having that cute smile.” Sammy flirted too.
He lowered his eyes, embarrassed, and complained in a playful manner, which made the three of us laugh.
I have to admit it made him hot. But after seeing Blake, it was going to be impossible to find anyone else sharing that kind of beauty.
“So did you tell her yet?” he said.
Sammy gave him the eye. “I'm trying too, but every time I get rudely interrupted.”
They turned to me. “For heaven's sake just tell me.”
“She can be feisty, I love,” Sammy said in a singsong tone and took my hand in hers again.
“Elena darling,” she said. “As I was busy introducing myself─ and don't interrupt me again─ my name is Sammy Leaf, and I'm a Fire-tail.”
It took a while for me to understand what she was trying to tell me. “Please tell me you're not a dragon.”