Not so Casual Introduction

I fixed my hair before hurriedly locking our door behind me. Avery and I started to walk down the hallway when we noticed the boys coming out of a room, four doors down ours. "What are you doing here?" I asked.

Hayden looked at his best friend, Erik Yulian Nikolayevich, mostly called just Erik, and then back at us. "We just came from our room," he replied. "What about you?"

I cocked my head to the side. "Our room is back there." I pointed at the rusty red door.

"Wow, co-ed rooming!" Avery said excitedly. Hayden raised his eyebrow before smirking.

"That sounds like a plan, love," Erik said as he walked towards Avery and dropped his heavy arm around her shoulders.

"It wasn't an invitation, loser." She shrugged off his arm before rolling her eyes. Erik threw a creepy grin at her.

Checking my watch, I said, "It's already three, we should head over to the lobby now." Nodding their heads, we headed towards the foyer of the dormitory. Upon reaching, I noticed eight Eybosnian standing in a line, in front of them. They resembled trainers of football camp. Or military, if you got my drift. The only thing missing were a pair of jersey shorts and a whistle around their neck. Other than us, another set of four Earthlings had arrived with them. I stood next to my brother.

"Welcome to Eybosnia Academy. My name is Hyrad Wail. I am what you Earthlings call the school president," the girl with Prussian blue hair said. She was tall and built. Like a warrior, of sorts. The sleeve of her shirt crinkled slightly and I believe I thought I saw something move from under it. Maybe I was hallucinating. My gaze suddenly fell to her feet. It may look weird staring at people's feet but if they are webbed, it's hard not to notice. I wondered where she got her footwear from.

"You have gathered here for the orientation program. The vice-president will read upon the rules to you. Every one of these rules should be followed or else you will be sent to Reformation instantly." Even though she wanted to hide it, a small smile seemed to crawl onto Hyrad's face. She was definitely hoping we fell out of line. She flipped her hair over her padded shoulder. Who wears shoulder pads anyways?

Erik whistled in a low tone. A boy in black leather vest and pants stepped forward. His Nalin mark glowed on his arms in pale bluish-white color. He could, literally, be a walking torch. "Everyday at 7, you will arrive at the training grounds just outside the dormitories. You will all learn self-defense."

"Wait, at 7? In the morning?" One of the other Earthlings asked.

The boy raised his eyebrow, showing no amusement. "Did I say anything else? No, I did not."

"But that's too early. We didn't have that back in our school," the Earthling argued.

"Listen to me, jévon. You should be grateful that you have the privilege to be among us. Not everyone is as lucky as you. So, you better use this time to make something out of yourself." The boy glared at the human. He spoke in Asniya, calling him human in the dialect. It was kind of like a slang word, more derogatory than calling them with a noun.

"Zerakh!" Hyrad walked to the human torch and whispered in his ear. Probably scolding him in Asniya, at least that's what I hoped she did.

Nodding his head, Zerakh turned his head and continued reading out the rules. "After the training, you will head over to your classes. After school, you will go back to your rooms. In the evening, our leisure rooms are open. Game and movie rooms will be open to you too. All your meals will be at the cafeteria with the other boarders. At 10, it is light's out. On weekends, you can go visit your family and friends or you can look around the city. However, you're only allowed to go anywhere with your 'buddy' and an armored Enforcer with you. At all times." He turned a little bit and looked at a girl with a short bob haircut who held a basket in her hands. He nodded his head and the girl walked towards us. "Lexin will hand out your ID cards and maps which will help you navigate through the school and the dormitory. You must have your ID card on you at all times. It will identify you as the student of this Academy and also it opens almost all doors."

After we took our ID cards and maps, Zerakh took a step back and Hyrad spoke again. "You and your buddy will spend these two days getting to know each other. He or she will show you around the campus and the dormitories so you don't get lost in the future." She pivoted 180 degrees and faced the buddies. I sighed internally.

Hayden, who stood on my other side, spoke, "Why can't we go in as a group?"

Hyrad looked over shoulder and I could see the glare she was sending towards my boyfriend from her periphery. As she slowly twirled, her expression changed. She smiled. "Why? Are you afraid of us?" She crossed her arms in front of her chest.

He shrugged. "No. But it seems a bit weird to be left alone with each other. Don't you think so?"

She took slow and steady steps towards Hayden till she stood a breath away from him. I did not like that. "I don't think so. Unless you have something that will cause harm to any of us. Do you?" She trailed her pointy nail over his shoulder.

I had it. "If you don't want to lose that finger, I suggest that you back the hell up." I stared at her from the corner of my eye. Hyrad glared at me before she began laughing. Her blue hair swirling as tears formed in her eyes.

"You're funny, little thing. Were you trying to be scary? Do you know who I am? I am Hyrad Wail. I am an Eybosnian. You so much as try to hurt me, you will be sent to Reformation," she spoke in Asniya. I was pretty sure she thought I didn't understand a single thing she said. "Do you know what they do to puny little girls over there? I've heard very bad things."

I scoffed, replying to her back in Asniya. "Maybe, but it won't be as bad as what I would do to you."

Hyrad growled. Before she could jump at me, my buddy, Shade Nuwolf, hollered. Instead of speaking to her in Asniya, he spoke to her in Odinthi. I was taken back.

In Eybosnia, the native dialect was Asniya. Most of the population spoke that language. However, people from the small border city, Breo, spoke Odinthi. It was known as the language of barbarians, as the border city was also known as House of Criminals. It had the biggest prison on the entire continent.

Hyrad's nose flared as she breathed in and out slowly. She soothed her back and walked back to the line of Eybosnians. I looked at Shade who was staring at me with dead eyes. His silver eyes looked almost white before he broke our eye contact and looked back at Hyrad.

Daxton leaned in and whispered. "You alright?" I nodded. "You almost got yourself thrown out. You know that would go on your record. Reformation would be the least of your problems then. Mom would have buried you inside seven circles of hell." He chuckled.

"We wouldn't have been here if someone would have told me we were 'living' here." I glowered.

He grinned sheepishly. "If I had, you wouldn't have agreed. We need this Peace Treaty to work. We don't have a home to go back to, Nyla. This place… it's our new home. If our people are being threatened, I am going to do my best in any way possible to make sure they are safe. That's what Dad would do. And that's what Uncle Winston is trying to uphold."

I exhaled sharply. I hated that he was right. Dad would've done it in a blink of an eye. He was a great man. Even though they all hated him for his beliefs and for siding with the Eybosnians. He did it for the betterment of our people. That's why I hated being called Nyla Richards. My name was Nyla Jennings. But to protect our family, my mother changed our surnames to her maiden name. We were enrolled as the children of Winston Richards. The current leader and representative of the Earthlings. Her brother.

I nodded. "Fine. For now. I'm not making promises."

Daxton grinned toothily. "I'll take it." We were interrupted when Shade and Lexin stood before us. I guessed Lexin was Daxton's buddy. "See you later?" he asked, worry lines creased his forehead.. I threw a single nod at him. He quickly hugged me before following the short girl. I sighed, staring at his retreating figure.

"I thought that blonde bimbo was your boyfriend?" Shade spoke.

My head snapped at him. "What? Hayden is not a bimbo!"

"Right. Why are you looking at him like that then?" he asked, raising a brow and tilting his head in the direction of Daxton. "Is he your boyfriend too? Is that how it works with you humans?"

"He is my brother, you weirdo!" I couldn't believe he suggested that I had feelings for my brother. "And he's my twin brother. We might be fraternal but that doesn't mean we don't have similar traits. You didn't notice the same brown curly hair and light freckles on our faces?"

"Was that something to be noticed? For me all of you look the same." His blank expression annoyed me.

"Racist much?" I scoffed.

"No. Just telling you a fact about me. We are supposed to get to know each other." Shade turned at an angle and motioned me to walk with him. I scoffed again before walking with him. I knew these two days were going to be long and annoying.

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