Week 1 Days 5 and 6 (Vegen and Clayden)

"What- what are you doing here?" he asked in a quiet, slightly breathless voice. Sky glanced up into his almost glowing face lit by shining silver eyes. His pearly skin was flushed as though he were hot or were running a fever. Seeming uncomfortable with her scrutiny, he swiped a hand through his short, black hair.

"I need to speak to the Chancellor, to tell him what happened," Sky replied. She forced her words through her tight throat and trembling lips. The male's face betrayed his surprise.

"You know what happened?" he whispered. Sky took a deep, sorrowful breath and nodded. Her eyes stung, and she bit her lip as she lowered her head. He asked, "What do you think happened?"

"I- I tried to summon my familiar after you all left. It started out just fine, but then, something went wrong. It was an accident. I didn't mean for this to happen," she admitted. She couldn't stop staring at the ground. Swallowing hard, she fought against the urge to cry. Since she was looking at the ground, she didn't see the look that this male directed at his brother who was a few feet away talking to several other males. Sky looked up as she heard this new male's steps coming over. These two males really were identical except for their hair; this new one's hair was sandy blond.

"I'm West. What's going on?" the blond male asked Sky. Her throat tightened even further, and she looked with pleading eyes at the black-haired male. "Dain?" the blond asked. The black-haired male, Dain, looked at his brother with uncertainty.

"She says she did this by trying to summon her familiar," Dain said quietly after a long pause. West frowned and cocked his head to the side as he returned his gaze to Sky. He simply looked at her for several minutes.

Pressured by the silence, Sky spoke, "It was an accident. I- I just wanted to try it like everyone else. I'm sorry." She guiltily hung her head again.

"No," West said, "you couldn't have done this." Sky's throat unclenched a little and her eyes darted up to him.

"But the smoke and-"

"I am sure you think you saw the smoke gathering, but it was probably just the wind. You couldn't possibly have done this," West said. Hope lit in Sky's eyes, only to be extinguished a second later. Her mouth tightened into a firm line. "No, it was not the wind. The smoke, there was too much of it, and the gold thing started cracking."

"The dais is not cracked," Dain interjected softly. Sky let out a frustrated breath.

"Not the dais. It was something else, something thin that I could see through; it was holding the smoke back," Sky said. West and Dain exchanged a glance.

"What is going on here?" demanded a too familiar voice. Sky looked up behind Dain and saw Instructor Drakkon standing there looking irritated.

"Hey Glace, she's claiming she did this when she tried to summon a familiar. We've been telling her that that is impossible, but it sounds like she really believes what she's saying, and she just described the dais' barrier like she could see it," West told him with a frown. Instructor Drakkon's face descended into fury as he heard West's words.

Glaring at Sky with narrowed, icy eyes, he said, "They've told you, and now, I am telling you: you could not have done this. Summoning a familiar requires Elemental Magic, which humans don't have. You simply watched what the others did and heard what they said about the barrier around the dais. Do you honestly think the Chancellor would let you into school here if you claimed responsibility for this? He would never do that. He would take you before the Council of Rulers for Reckless Endangerment and Destruction of School Property, and when you were convicted, you would be required to pay damages. Then you would be sold into slavery for failure to pay. Is that what you want?" Sky stared at him in mute horror. Then, she slowly shook her head no. "Fine, then go away!" Her eyes took in Dain's frown and the minute shift in West's stance.

"But I did do this!" Sky protested.

Instructor Drakkon's jaw clenched, "Obviously, we can add the Natural Liar ability to your file. Stop wasting our Godsdamned time and go! Dain and West have an investigation to observe." Sky flinched and looked at the ground. Her cheeks burned, crimson in shame, and the tears that had been threatening before overwhelmed her. She turned and ran all the way back to her room in the dorm.

Once more, she cried herself to sleep.

***

Week 1 Day 6 Clayden

The next morning, Clayden, the sixth day of the week, Sky woke early—probably because she had gone to sleep so early the previous day. The sky had just begun lightening in the west. She quickly showered and dressed in a practice uniform. This was a set of stretchy, tight shirt and pants that covered her completely from wrists and neck all the way to her ankles.

Normally, she tried to avoid looking into mirrors, but today she decided to endure the sight. She wanted to give herself a pep talk about how today would be a better day than yesterday. Taking a deep breath, she met her own green eyes. She frowned. She'd always been told that her large slightly tilted eyes were disgusting because they were the color of vomit, but she'd never seen that. Her eyes were actually the only thing she liked about her appearance. Their color had always reminded her of noonday sunlight falling on soft moss. An almost imperceptible smile flittered across her face.

Upon realizing her brief satisfaction, Sky's gaze lowered and took in the rest of her face. She noticed her nose with its slightly bulbous tip that she always been told was massive. She saw her wide, puffy lipped pink mouth, which she'd been told was too big for her face. Finally, she looked at her naturally rosy cheeks that she'd been told made her look garish like a whore. Her eyes dipped lower still and took in her oversized chest, thick waist, and wide hips. Just like that, all thoughts of a pep talk fled her mind. She was just as she remembered and shook her head in disappointment.

Honestly, she didn't think she looked so terrible, but her life had taught her that her opinion of her appearance was wrong. That was why she was happy when she started wearing the wig, glasses, and corset. The wig was to hide her red-violet hair; the oversized, tinted glasses hid her face. The corset made her body look less curvy. She'd hoped when she started wearing these things that people would treat her better, but they hadn't. They'd still whisper about her as she passed and refused to meet her gaze. Also, they wouldn't call her by her name, and they'd give her the smallest possible notice that they could. She noticed.