Asha Avery
I didn’t like new bitches.
New bitches meant new attitudes, new problems, and a bunch of fake shit I didn’t have time for. I noticed now that Maggie has been elevated to this new social status, it was bringing on new problems…like this one right here…
“So…you’re a princess?” Isis asked with a hesitant tone. “An actual princess, but you met a witch, and she told you about your…sister who you didn’t know about, and now you’ve switched…places?”
“Yes! That is it!” She pointed with an anxious nod. “I do not know how I closed my eyes in one place and opened them in another, but my name is Ayira. Not Danielle.”
I crossed my arms over my chest and one leg over the other as I stared at this…
foreign broad with the fake coconuts in the sand accent she was putting on.
I wanted to leave her behind, but Souxie insisted on keeping her around to explain herself and now here we are.
The bright lights of the dining hall were filtered by the hanging banners of different social clubs.
Since dinner wasn’t being served, most students only came in here to make their way to the second dining hall where you had to pay to eat or just to tour the school.
We found a table in the back corner, away from the main aisle that split the hall in half.
All three of us sat on one side with this…
Danielle sitting by herself against the corner with wide dark eyes.
Her hair was braided down from the roots with thick bamboo beads at the end.
She looked like she could be from the islands…
maybe east African…maybe west…I dunno. She looked like the average bird in New York, truth be told.
I wasn’t taken aback by her looks, but I could tell by the men that glanced at her, their interest was piqued.
She’s pretty don’t get me wrong but nothing unique or special in my opinion.
“Whew! Sorry I’m late y'all!” Maggie let out as she dropped her things on the table before collapsing in the seat beside Souxie. Her white hair that stretched down to her back side was now curling up in the ponytail until it was no longer than the length of her neck. “What’d I miss?”
We caught Maggie up with the latest tales of weird shit when Isis suddenly leaned forward to show something in the brochure for the school.
“Is this where you come from?” She asked, pointing to the train map. Ayira leaned forward before taking the map to see for herself. When her eyes widened in recognition, she looked up at us before looking back down. “It is… You’re from the Kingdom…”
“Shit,” Souxie murmured in awe.
“That’s right!” Maggie said with a point.
“You told me or––” shaking her head, “your sister was telling me her mother was interested in all things Underground, like she was trying to get back to something or somewhere.” Maggie leaned in close while looking around to make sure no one heard her.
“I was going to tell Danielle this, but she disappeared before I got the chance to say it. I overheard them talking about you––her seeking asylum.”
“Asylum?” We all repeated. Ayira looked at us, confused.
“That’s why the school is interested in you…Your mother wrote letters asking for help to Dr. Holmes.”
“Not my mother,” Ayira said with her hand on her chest.
“Well the woman who raised you, I mean her.”
“Wait a minute, wait a minute,” I cut in with my hand hitting the table. “Y'all are really buying this princess shit?”
“It’s possible,” Isis shrugged with a pout.
“She met a woman who turned out to be an evil witch in the middle of this alley, in the middle of a random desert kingdom and now she woke up in her sister’s shoes and clothes and we’re supposed to believe it?”
“Yes, exactly!” Ayira nodded. “The woman said my mother would be punished for lying. I closed my eyes there and opened my eyes on the train. I do not know how else I can properly explain myself.”
“Which means Danielle was on her way here,” Souxie said before taking the papers in her hand. “That sounds like mirror work…Old ancient spell work done but I’ve only ever heard stories…People switch souls, but never bodies…”
“My mother is a witch…she comes from a family of high priestesses,” Ayira said.
“So that means Danielle is…where exactly?” Maggie asked with the realization settling in. Ayira gasped with her hand over her mouth before she suppressed a faint giggle. “Oh my God, I know that lady is probably freaking out right now…”
“We have to find her!” Isis declared as I sat up.
“Uhhhh no we don’t!” I stated. “We don’t have to do anything! Why are we already taking on side missions?! We don’t even know this lady and she doesn’t even know her damn self!”
“Ayira told the witch she wants to see what life is like out here,” Souxie said softly as she smiled. “Why not let her see what life is like…”
“Okay so what about the random man yelling at her from earlier?” Isis asked. Maggie suddenly hit the table with her hand.
“Danielle said she was engaged! I remember she said it on the train because we were talking about weddings and she’s…she’s engaged!”
“What?!” Ayira gawked. “I cannot be married to any man!”
“Well apparently, he thinks you’re his soon to be wife,” Maggie laughed with a slap of her knee.
“I heard they had to bring him into a building to calm him down. I guess he wasn’t expecting you or Danielle to be here.
Did you get your room assignment? I think you and I are sharing rooms on Legacy Row. ”
I watched as the three girls immediately took to Ayira while I remained quiet, still untrusting.
It was cool in the beginning when I saw she had that man crashing out but now that she was a little too close too soon, I wasn’t sure how to feel.
So she takes her sister’s life and instead of freaking out and panicking on wanting to go back, this…
is what she wants? Did she not feel anything for her sister on where she might be?
How can you trust anyone that moves like that?
“It’s decided,” Isis said. “We will have to protect her identity. The school thinks she’s Danielle who requested sanctuary here which means she’s protected. No one will come for her here.”
“As long as they don’t know who she really is,” Souxie added.
“Aye losers!?”
I looked down to see the chunky black cat come wobbling his way over with his stomach sloshing from side to side. Quan the cat looked up at the chair before deciding to walk towards Souxie’s chair because he knew she would pick him up and place him on the table.
“It is fate!” Ayira blurted out with laughter as she pointed at Quan. “I have a cat named Minka! She talks to me as well! We are living parallel lives.”
“Yeah well…I’m not a cat. I’m actually a grown ass man,” he said. “A real one. The realest one you’ll ever meet.”
“Quan Mitty, what did you want to say?” Souxie asked as she ran her fingers gently down his back. He arched his body into her nails as his hair flickered in waves down his body with his black tail curling up into a question mark before relaxing.
“I was just shocked y'all aren’t at the fields…Everyone is there now…probably not any seats left. It’s just one big ol reunion for Drew Collins students.”
I looked back seeing the dining hall was bone dry with the door closing shut with a loud bang of an echo.
…
“Welcome incoming Drew Collins students! The end of the summer is going to be one for the books!” The announcer said as we walked through the open gate of the old stadium.
It was packed with the lights shining down on the overgrown field.
I found myself getting excited all over again at the possibility of starting over at the school.
The stadium seats were full of students ranging in ages with some of the younger teens and kids watching alongside their older siblings and parents.
I smiled and waved at the group of siren girls sitting at the top row pretty much dominating an entire section for themselves.
Isis clung to my arm only to get pulled away by a guy that caused her to shriek with joy as the two hugged.
She will always naturally be the center of attention no matter the room she walks in.
Souxie on the other hand walked with grace as the girls sitting on the first row eyed her with envy.
Souxie Lafayette already had the reputation of a Goddess at the school.
As one of the most dangerous, most beautiful students here, she made herself appear untouchable.
Quan walking beside her made it no better as he hissed at everyone like her furry guard.
“Where are my Kappa ladies?!” Someone suddenly shouted as she stood up in the center of the stands.
The sudden loud chirping squeal of the sorority girls responding to one another.
“The games are at the end of this summer! Please remember to stop by our booth during market days and come check out theeeeee ever loving everlasting KAPPA PHI MUUUUUUUU!”
The sudden burst of fire shot in the air in the shape of Greek letters, lingered above the stands as everyone clapped and cheered.
“Ladies of Kappa Phi Muuuu! Who better than to set the world a blazeeee!” One squealed as they began to chant in unison.
I rolled my eyes at the stomping and cheering while Ayira became fixated on the girls in awe.
One of the girls stood up with her body tilted forward as she held her hand out and playfully blew on it as fire began to spread like a torch.
“It’s so rare to see those who can handle fire! There aren’t that many prokinetics’ born these days. It’s such an old form of magic!” Isis exclaimed as she clapped. “Their entire sorority is filled with talented top tier elemental students!”
“I can do the same shit with a cigarette lighter,” I snorted with a roll of my eyes. I was ready to start walking again trying to catch up to Maggie who was stopped every other minute to talk to someone. That’s when Ayira suddenly took it upon herself to step up on the bleachers.