“Complicated,” I say, rubbing my temples with my fingers and looking down. Complicated is an understatement, but okay, that works.
“Where is Odie?” she asks, meaning she still remembers my seer sister who was in school every day for as long as I can remember. I’d hoped Melody had made her forget, or done something. Thanks sister.
“Erm…her family took her on holiday for a bit, and she's going to be gone at least a month,” I say, making up the only excuse I can think of right now. It's one that gives me a fair amount of time to stalk the guys and make them remember.
“Lucky cow, the rest of us normal people have to put up with all this rain,” she nudges my shoulder with hers, and then looks down at her book.
“Did you see the new students?” I ask her, needing to know where Elias, Dagan, and Korbin are. If anyone knows this school, and everything that is going on, it’s Hallie.
“The ones that signed up today? Yeah Issy, everyone has seen them. Hot damn, they are something else,” she grins, pretending to cool herself down with her hand. Clearing her throat, the teacher stares at us, and we both look down pretending to read quietly. After a while, a student walks up to her, distracting her enough for us to continue talking.
“So…they aren’t in classes today?” I muse.
“Nope, the rumour is they had to fill out paperwork or something, and they start tomorrow,” she says, and snaps her head to the side to look at me with wide eyes, “Why? Is the ice queen finally thawing and crushing on someone?” she asks, making me tense up.
“What did you call me?” I ask.
“Ice queen, because you turn down every dude in school,” she rolls her eyes at me, and I relax a little bit, “come on, everyone calls you that. They are idiots though.”
“Maybe,” I say, and look down at my own book, wanting to drop the subject. It’s no use continuing to talk about them if they aren't even here today. I need to stalk them, like find their house and then follow them around kind of stalk. The normal stalking that won't get me arrested.
“I’m sure they will be invited to Michael’s party in three weeks, he has an empty house again,” she wags her eyebrows. I hate Michael. I hate him now, and I hated him when Jace and I went to school here. He is a jackass, who thinks his good looks mean everyone wants him, and he assumes, for some reason, that I want to sleep with him. It doesn’t help that humans here on Earth are naturally attracted to female dragons; it's something to do with the pheromones in our scent. All I remember doing is turning down guys, and watching their heartbroken ex-girlfriends glare at me. Hopefully if I can get Elias, Dagan, or Korbin to be friends with me, then I should be left alone. Male dragons have the complete opposite effect on most humans, they want to avoid them. I doubt the girls here will listen to their instincts when they see the guys; they are all way too hot to evade. I hold back a growl, the thought of anyone touching them makes me want to punch something
“I doubt Michael will want competition there,” I say, looking down at my hand where my nails are slowly turning to ice. Sliding my hands under the table, I make sure to keep my eyes down, just in case they turn silver. Dammit, I’ve got to control my emotions better than this. I did it for years with Jace, I can do it now. Taking a deep breath, I turn the page of my book and pretend to be interested in what it says.
“He would do anything for you, just ask him to invite them to the party. Then, being the good friend I am, I will distract Michael,” she suggests. I start to tell her no when I realise I need to get close to the guys again, to make them trust me. It’s going to be difficult in this school to do that. No, I need to make friends with them outside of school, and then figure out how to make them remember.
“Sounds like a plan,” I say with a grin and start reading my textbook, hoping the day will go quickly.
Chapter Three
Isola
Jules?” I call when I open my front door. I almost freeze when I see her come out the kitchen, holding a bowl, and mixing something inside it with a spoon. She looks just like the last time I saw her, her grey hair up in a bun and wearing an older style dress with a flower and bird pattern. She looks like home, of all the memories I have of her. She wore a similar dress the first time I met her. I remember walking into this house, the dragon guards leaving me at the door, and she made me cookies as I cried. She didn’t baby me, but she still comforted me. Since that day, she has always been there for me. I wasn’t the best to her in the last couple of years before Jace died and I left for Dragca. I threw parties and got drunk all the time. Overall, I was a total brat, but she didn’t quit on me when most would have.
“Hello darling, I’m making pumpkin pie for dessert, and your favourite casserole for dinner tonight,” she says, and I smile tightly at her. I wonder how much magic it took for my sister to erase Jule’s memory of me disappearing and to erase her memory of Jace, who she adored. What's more, how much magic did it take to make the whole town forget, to erase everyone's memories?
“Thanks. I have homework to do,” I nod my head at the stairs, smiling tightly as my emotions begin to strangle me.
“Okay!” she says with a happy grin, not noticing my mood at all. She walks out of the room, heading back towards the kitchen. I run up the stairs, taking a deep breath when I get to my room. I feel like everything is piling up on top of me as I look around. It’s my room, but it’s not. There’s no familiarities in here anymore, just plain bed sheets, piles of books that don’t look read, and tiny holes in the walls where photos of Jace and me used to hang. Pressing my back against the door, I slide down and wrap my arms around my legs. I rest my head on my knees, trying to calm my breathing and stop the tears streaming down my face. It doesn't work; tears continue to fall without my permission as memories begin to overwhelm me and I remember everything. Every memory of my time in Dragca is different now, my view on everything skewed. Every moment with Thorne is fake; he was lying, tricking me from the start, and I fell for it. He burnt Jace’s body, was with me in that final moment that I will never forget, and now it’s tainted with Thorne’s betrayal. Our every moment spent together is soiled, when he opened up to me about his adoptive family and the reason for his animosity with Elias, when he taught me how to use my dragon sight, and when he was just there for me so many times. I scream into my hands, so angry that he did this to me. The lying bastard.
“Isola, can you come down?” I hear Jules shout, making me snap out of it. I can't allow myself to breakdown; I don't have the luxury of wallowing in my despair. Elias, Dagan, Korbin, Melody, Bee, and the people of Dragca need me. I’m no princess, no leader if I sit here and cry about my problems. No, I need to get up and make a plan of action. I quickly sit up, wiping my eyes and checking I don’t look too upset in the mirror. Opening the door, I walk down the corridor to the stairs, following the noise I can hear into the kitchen. I stop, nearly tripping on thin air when I see Dagan, Elias, and Korbin sitting at the table. They don’t even look my way, just continue to talk, and I slowly walk up to Jules as she puts a casserole into the oven.
“My brother called, and apparently, his nephews need a place to stay for the next month or so. I don’t know everything, but they are enrolled in school. I emailed your father, who replied saying it was fine,” she explains and I tighten my fists, knowing it couldn't have been my father who replied.
“Ok,” I reply slowly, and she looks up, a slightly dazed expression on her face. Someone has been messing with her memories. Jules doesn’t have any family, I remember her telling me that. It’s why she made the perfect nanny for me and Jace growing up.