Not that I’m going to make a move on any of them, necessarily. I’m here to learn how to control my magic. I came to this academy for Maddy’s sake, and my mom’s. Not to find true love.
Although… if a little fun were to happen, it wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world. I can easily imagine begging Cam to get between my thighs, or having slow, deep sex with Asher.
Argh! Focus, Elliot, I tell myself as I climb the stairs. My shared dorm room is a short walk down the hallway on the second floor.
When I reach it, I hear several voices coming from inside. Guess my roommates are back.
Taking a deep breath, I steel myself to meet them. Cam and Asher were both so friendly. Hopefully these girls are like them, and not like Dmitri.
Pasting on a smile to counteract my resting bitch face, I open the door. As soon as I step inside the room, the talking stops, and three heads swivel around to look at me.
There are two redheads and a blonde, although one redhead has fiery, carrot-colored hair and the other has darker auburn locks. The auburn-haired one looks startled at my entrance, her gaze dragging over me like she’s not quite sure I really exist. The other redhead rolls her eyes, and the blonde looks offended.
“You could knock,” she says, every syllable dripping with scorn.
“This is my room,” I reply. I close the door behind me and step farther inside. “I’m Elliot.”
“Elliot?” The blonde raises an eyebrow. “Isn’t that a boy’s name?”
“If we’re going by the archaic idea of assigning gender roles to names, sure, why not.”
The auburn-haired girl laughs, then snaps her mouth shut when the other two glare at her.
“I’m Megan,” the carrot-haired girl says dismissively. “The one who thinks this is funny for some reason is Kendal.”
Kendal goes pink, pressing her lips together so hard they practically disappear as her anxious gaze flits between the other two. I can immediately sense the pack dynamics here. The blonde who’s regally tossing her hair over her shoulder right now is the leader, Megan’s the lieutenant, and Kendal’s at the bottom of the totem pole.
And here I thought I left all that bullshit clique stuff behind in high school.
Apparently not.
“And that’s Alyssa,” Megan finishes up with a flourish, indicating the blonde princess lounging on the bed closest to mine.
Alyssa’s gaze flicks over to me, then she looks away. “Family?”
“Excuse me?”
She looks back over at me. Her dark brown eyes are full of disdain. Jesus, she and Dmitri would probably get along great.
“Your family,” she repeats, louder. “Who are they?”
Oh. “My last name is Sinclair.”
Alyssa gives a little sniff. “My parents specifically asked the dean that I room with people who are of our level.”
Anger sparks low in my gut. Sure, I’ve been pretty much out of the loop in the magical community for the past several years. But my parents were damn powerful magic users, thank you very much, even if they weren’t from those hoity-toity blue blood families.
“Trust me,” I shoot back in a low voice. “We are definitely at different levels.”
I can and will kick this girl’s ass if she keeps giving me trouble.
Kendal clearly gets the intention behind my words, because her eyes widen even more, and her gaze bounces quickly around between the three of us. When she looks back at me, I shrug, and she gives a small cough that may have started out as a laugh. Her two friends turn to look at her, their expressions a mix of annoyance and studied disinterest.
“I’m from the Marquet family,” Alyssa drawls, directing her attention back to me. She says it with a haughty air, like I’m supposed to know what that means; like I should understand the implications and start kissing her ass immediately.
“Good for you.” Bravo, you stuck-up bitch. You won the family lottery, I guess. What an amazing accomplishment.
“Megan here is from the Bergman family, and Kendal is a Chaucer.”
“Congratulations.” I know it sounds sarcastic, but I’m having a hard time caring. I have no idea who any of these families are. Mom didn’t exactly coach me in who had the highest magical market value or whatever.
“I haven’t heard anything about you.” Alyssa eyes me like I might actually be a lizard person in disguise. “How did you get here?”
“Same as you. I have Unpredictable magic.” I fold my arms, deciding to stop playing along. She’s not going to miraculously start being nice to me if