My Not Yet Mate

Chapter 5

The bell rang to go to third period class and Lily packed her bookbag slowly. Maybe if she waited until the second bell rang she could skip gym and hide in the bathroom. Mr. Ramirez glared at her as she tried to kill time.

“Get out of my classroom, Lilianna. NOW!”

“Mr. Ramirez, I-”

He stormed over to her and shoved everything into her bag, before grabbing her arm to drag her down the hallway as she struggled to pull away. Her skin heated and a voice began whispering in her head. It got louder the hotter her body got. Electricity moved over her and she whimpered. It felt the same as when the king touched her, but it was more intense, like it was pushing from the inside out, rather than the outside in. The teacher stopped and looked at her.

“What are you doing?,” he asked furiously, shaking her.

“LET HER GO!,” the voice that came out of her was not her own.

He dropped her arm and turned fully towards her. He raised his hand to slap her, when a short blast of fire was pushed out of her body. He screamed out in agony and let go of her bag. He landed on the ground, rolling around as he tried to smother the flames that were growing hotter, and his cries of pain made people start to pour from rooms all along the hall. Lily backed away from him with her hands up.

‘Don’t forget your bag, Lily,’ the voice told her in her head.

She snagged the bag and began to limp away. A feminine shrill scream made her pause to look back at his unmoving body. The fire was still burning and the acrid smell of his burning flesh rapidly

made the hallway unbearable to be in. The overhead speakers chirped to life and in no time the principal’s voice came through it.

“Attention everyone in hall C is to immediately clear it. Return to your classes. If you are caught in the hallway in 30 seconds, you will be punished.”

The announcement was cut and Lily saw the school guards weaving through the students and teachers to get to Mr. Ramirez. She swallowed hard and glanced around. She eyed the bathroom three doors down on the right. She made her way towards it, watching the hallway that led to the gym. She had just pushed the bathroom door open when her name was shouted. She froze, sighing. She absolutely hated Mrs. Jones. Her head hung low.

“Coming, Mrs. Jones.”

She turned around and walked down the hall to the dressing room. The gym teacher stood in the doorway watching her change her clothes. She bent down and made sure her shoelaces were tied tight. She squared her shoulders and trudged out into the gym. The other students began to whisper and point at her. She got in line with them, standing a few feet behind them. Mrs. Jones took roll, before tossing her clipboard onto the bench used for the basketball team during practices and games.

She paced in front of them as she told them what the day was going to hold. Lily eyed the rope hanging from the ceiling nervously. Mrs. Jones knew that she couldn’t climb that. Her leg made it impossible for her to do much in the class, but it never stopped the teacher from putting her through each, and every activity. If she failed, she was punished and the one time she had succeeded she had been severely punished, so she had stopped trying months ago.

“We will go in Alphabetical order by last name. Every single one of you will do this before you will be excused from class. Adams, Claire, you’re up.”

Lily sighed. Her last name was Washington. She was going to be the last one. She was always the last one. At least this way, she could watch the other kids and try to figure out a way to make it through this without at least dying. She bent down to rub her leg and talk to it softly. She hoped her little pep talk would boost her up. In no time, every other student had been dismissed one by one until it was just her, and Mrs. Jones, left in the gym.

“Washington, Lilianna, your turn.”

She smirked at Lily as she gripped the rope. She wrapped her leg around it and jumped up a little to lessen the distance to the ceiling that she would have to climb. She took a deep breath as she meticulously moved her hands up the rope. Her skin burned where the rope rubbed it as she kept it wrapped tight around her to avoid falling. Her bad leg hung completely unusable for this specific task. Halfway up, her fatigue started to drag her body back down. She pressed her forehead against the rope as she tried another pep talk.

“Come on, girl. You can do this.”

She took her hand off and reached up. The sweat on her skin made her other hand slip off as she tried to pull herself up. Her body fell through the air quickly until her leg got tangled in the rope, stopping her four feet above the floor. Her heart thudded painfully in her chest as she tried to pull her torso back up. She gave up minutes later, having no more energy to fight.

“Mrs. Jones, please, help me,” she begged.

She rolled her eyes and let her hand shift into her paw. She closed her fingers one by one until only one talon was left extended. Lily squeezed her eyes shut, waiting for the dagger- like nail to be plunged into her body. The sound of the rope ripping made her eyes snap open seconds before she crashed into the ground. Pain crippled her body and the teacher laughed.

“Always so useless,” she sneered, before walking away, leaving Lily on the floor.

She laid there trying to breathe through the pain that wracked her body. Her back was on fire and her head was throbbing. Her ankle was already swelling and she knew she would have bruises that she would, of course, have to hide or she would suffer worse the next day. She crawled back into the locker room and locked herself in a stall with her bag. She changed her clothes, before reaching into her bag for the motrin she had stolen from the store half a mile from the castle.

She downed some and her body heated again, making her stomach turn wildly and ejecting the medicine. The warmth continued to spread until her entire body was warm and relaxed. She closed her eyes and leaned against the stall wall. The bell rang overhead and she stood up. She blinked when all the pain in her body was gone. She rotated her ankle and nothing. She lifted her pants leg up and was shocked to see the swelling was not there. She headed to the cafeteria for her lunch period, hesitating when she saw the server behind the counter. She was just going to skip eating again. She turned to sit down at a table when Mrs. Romanas blocked her path. She gave her a slight nudge to the line.

“You need to eat, Lilianna.”

“I’m not hungry.”

“Well, get a plate anyways. You never know. You might get hungry when it’s in front of you.”

“Alright.”

She got in line and waited for it to move. Everytime she tried to sneak out of it, her teacher gave her a little smile. She paused in front of the lunch lady who grinned at her, before taking her plastic glove off to pick up a hard piece of lasagna. She smashed it down onto the tray and crumbled the cornbread over it. She shoved it towards Lily, who grabbed it to avoid the hot food from hitting her in the face.

She limped to the cashier and quickly paid for her meal, before hobbling out to her usual table in the back by the trash cans. It was the only place she could kind of hide as it was positioned behind a pillar. If she sat just right, nobody would notice her. She put her head down on the table to wait for the bell to ring to let her out of this period. Her stomach grumbled loud and she groaned. She shouldn’t have missed breakfast. She should have taken Jo being there to get an actual meal in her stomach.

“I wouldn’t eat that garbage either, Lily.”

She lifted her head up to see a smiling Jo, who was holding two to go boxes. She put one in front of Lily as she sat down with the other box in front of her. She opened Lily’s and her mouth fell open at the overflowing loaded nachos inside. The smell of steak, sauteed veggies and melted cheese made her want to drool. She promptly closed the box and pushed it back to Jo, who immediately placed it back in front of her.

“That’s for you.”

Lily didn’t move. She eyed the Beta of Betas.

“I don’t like nachos.”

Jo laughed. “And I totally don’t like getting my nails done.”

Lily’s eyes went to the perfectly manicured set of acrylic nails on her hands. Jo wiggled her fingers, grinning.

“Eat.”

Lily opened the box, reaching for the fork. She stuck it in the nachos and leaned back.

“How did you know that I liked nachos?”

Jo put her fingers against her lips. “A little birdie told me. Now, eat. We wouldn’t want to waste his royal highness’s money, now would we?”

Lily stared down at the nachos. Lukas bought lunch? He must have been the one to tell Jo that she liked nachos. She popped the first bite into her mouth and moaned. She scarfed the entire contents down, before taking a breath in. Jo sat silently laughing at her as she ate.

“Hungry much, little one?”

“Maybe a little,” Lily admitted.

“Good. So, I have a question for you.” Nôvel(D)ra/ma.Org exclusive © material.

“Yes?”

“How’s your day going?”

Lily glanced around nervously. “It’s fine. How’s yours?”

Before Jo could answer, the bell rang. Lily picked her bag up and left Jo sitting at the table. She bumped into someone and fear filled her. She backed away as fast as she could.

“I’m sorry. I wasn’t watching-”

An arm was draped over her shoulder and she was squeezed gently.

“Trust me, Lily, no harm done.”

She looked up and once again her mouth dropped open.

“Sasha? What are you doing here?,” she blurted.

“I heard you needed a friend, and so, I dropped everything to come be that for you.”

“Everyone, please report to the auditorium for a school assembly. All teachers as well. The dragon Royal Family wishes to address us,” came an announcement from the speakers above them.

People all around them began to run towards the auditorium. Lily tried to join the rush, but Ana and Kalani stepped in her way, blocking her. She tried to turn around and was immediately greeted by Ethan, and Jo. Uh oh. Was she in trouble? Ana took her hand and began to walk at her pace down the hall. Every hallway was guarded by a member of the Dragão Clan. More people were clearing the classrooms and forcing every single person to the auditorium.

“I should hurry,” Lily whispered. “I will be in so much trouble for being late.”

They each took a step closer to her, closing her in more.

“Let us worry about that, hmmm?,” Sasha told her.

Gregory stood outside the doors, and Ana put Lily’s hand on his arm. He smiled down at her as he covered her hand with his enormous one. He tilted his head to the doors, watching her closely.

“Shall we, Lily?”