Clarke #2
As Jace had promised, a shifter buzzed for entry at the rear doors of the dorm less than an hour later. Clarke met him there, and handed the man money in exchange for the bag of takeout. He tried to refuse the tip, but Clarke insisted.
“Take it,” she said. “Not having to cook is more than worth a few dollars. Tell Mr. Smith thank you, and that I’ll buy next time.”
“Will do. Have a good night, Mr. Voudrie.”
The food was delicious. After eating, Clarke checked all the floors to make sure there weren’t any problems. She used the PA system to remind the students of the house rules, and orientation the next day.
Despite how hectic the move-in process had been, Clarke appreciated having a full house. Being the only person in the enormous building had been strange. The dorm felt lived-in now.
Orientation went smoothly. All the students had their rooms organized by the end of the day. Clarke tried to pay attention to all of them, but her intuition was quiet.
Each floor had an appointed prefect. Those young men seemed responsible, and well-suited to their roles. Either the powered students were innocent, or her instincts weren’t cooperating.
Clarke and Jace still ran together in the mornings. He trusted the older prefects in the shifter dorm to keep their eyes on the boys. It was too busy, however, for them to spend any more time with each other over the next few days.
Before Clarke knew it, it was Monday, and the start of classes.
She had twelve students, three powered, two elementals, four shifters, and three casters.
Not all of them had been born to evolved parents, and some had experienced a shocking transition.
Clarke had been concerned that it could be a volatile situation, but both her classes were without incident.
Three days later, Clarke was woken abruptly by the blaring of a siren. She stumbled out of bed, blinking at the digital clock that read 2 AM. Jace had warned her that there would be a minimum of two emergency drills in the first semester to test their responsiveness.
Clarke had taken to wearing a sports bra to bed as a precaution, but still wasn’t prepared. She would have to hustle her ass. Hitting a light switch, she raced to the kitchen.
After downing a small glass of water with two drops of the DSV potion, Clarke hit the intercom. “Prefects, open every door on your floor, make sure the students are up, and meet me in the common room by the back door. Take the stairs instead of the elevator.”
Clarke released the button after getting an affirmative response, and dashed back into the bedroom.
Yanking the pajama top over her head, Clarke pulled on a modified tank as she shoved her feet into a pair of slippers.
The charm bracelet, which had been on the nightstand, went on next.
She put the pajama top back on as she jogged into the living room, only stopping to grab her tablet.
A few bleary-eyed students in nightwear stood near the door while more emerged from the stairwells. Relieved that she hadn’t slowed them down much, Clarke made a digital check mark for each student on her roster.
The ones accounted for were sent outside, with prefects last. Clarke followed them out. Per protocol, the students lined up by floor, and walked to the greenspace between the elemental and caster dorms, directed by their prefects.
The shifters were the most orderly, and beat her students by less than a minute. Clarke was satisfied to be close behind them, and impressed with the reaction time of her students. When she briefly caught his eye, Jace nodded to her.
Surprisingly, the elementals and casters were the least organized, and the last to assemble. Having the shortest distance to walk, that didn’t reflect well on the prefects and monitors for those dorms.
Fortunately, within thirty minutes, everyone was released and back in their rooms. Clarke’s tablet chimed, announcing a staff meeting before classes later that morning. She had a hard time falling back to sleep, and gave up after a few hours of drifting in and out of restless slumber.
Clarke was envious of how alert most of the staff appeared to be when they assembled for the last-minute faculty meeting. She felt like a zombie. There was a full breakfast buffet with carafes of steaming coffee. That was an upside.
Unlike the previous meeting, the librarians weren’t present. Dean Stanhope waited for everyone to serve themselves before sitting down at the head of the table.
“Since we all have a full day ahead of us, I’ll make this quick,” the dean said. “This drill was a test to determine our preparedness for an actual emergency. Some of you may be disgruntled with the timing of it, but catastrophes can happen at any time, day or night.
“Mr. Smith, Mr. Voudrie, your performance was exemplary. Given how new you are to this position, Mr. Voudrie, we are particularly pleased with the responsiveness of the powered students.”
“Thank you, sir,” Clarke said. “Most of the credit should go to my prefects, who reacted immediately.”
Dean Stanhope nodded and smiled before turning his attention to Mitch and Ray.
“Casters and elementals, I need you to up your game. The students could have been in danger if this had been a genuine emergency. Given the designated meeting spot, your students should have arrived first. I need you both to take this seriously, focusing on improving organization and timeliness.”
Ray and Mitch grumbled halfhearted responses, looking surly. Both muttered excuses, blaming their students and prefects. Mitch glared at Clarke, like his poor performance was entirely her fault.
Rather than engaging, Clarke kept her mouth shut. It was ridiculous, though. Beyond the fact that the meeting spot was right outside their dorms, neither of them had to don extra clothing, put on a charm bracelet, and take a potion to keep a disguise intact.
Dean Stanhope had every right to scold them. They should be ashamed of such a shoddy showing.
“Be advised that there will be more drills until I am confident in everyone’s responsiveness,” the dean said before standing from his seat. “Enjoy your breakfast, and have a good day.”
With that, the dean and assistant dean left them to their own devices. Bruce Walker, the head of the powered department, smiled at her warmly.
“I’m proud to have you on the team, Clark,” Bruce said. “You are a credit to the institution.”
“Thank you, sir. I take this job, and the responsibilities of my position seriously,” Clarke said.
“Keep up the good work,” Wayne said as he and Bruce stood.
Carl Washington, who presided over the elementals, turned to Mitch. “Mr. Pierce, I expect better results at the next drill. Perhaps you should consider it a healthy competition.”
“Yes, sir,” Mitch said sulkily.
Armando Garcia, head of the casters, also had something to say. “Mr. Baker, a poor performance and lack of dedication does not motivate our students to excel. Please remember that you are a role model whose actions reflect on the entire department.”
Ray nodded stiffly in response. The department heads then left as well.
Professor Halston raised his coffee cup to her in a silent toast. Clarke nodded in acknowledgement.
“Suck up,” Ray muttered.
“Taking pride in doing my job well does not make me a suck up,” Clarke said calmly. She wouldn’t lower herself to his level, but refused to put up with his snide comments.
“I call bullshit,” Mitch complained. “You made us look bad, and now you’re soaking up the accolades, acting superior to me and Ray.”
Were they seriously this juvenile? Clarke debated the wisdom of commenting while Jace, who had gone stiff next to her, glared at the other monitors. She preferred standing her ground, but didn’t want this to escalate into an argument either.
“You made yourselves look bad,” Professor Halston pointed out bluntly.
“Take some accountability for your own actions. Voudrie and 007 performed better than either of you, and deserve to be commended for it. Instead of sniping, and ganging up on the new guy, you should work on improving your own performance.”
Several of the other professors nodded in agreement, but didn’t comment. Ray and Mitch looked offended to be called out, and left in high dudgeon.
Jace had told her that Heath Halston had been the caster monitor prior to being promoted to Professor two years ago. He had done an excellent job, and earned the loyalty of his students. Some of them would still be enrolled as upperclassmen.
Clarke guessed that Professor Halston was offended on behalf of his students. Having been a monitor himself, he might feel that Ray and Mitch were undeserving of the position. Still, he could have kept his mouth shut, and chose not to.
Appreciating his support, and not wanting to dwell on Mitch and Ray’s lack of maturity, Clarke turned to the caster professor. She had heard comments that Halston had nicknames for several staff members, but hadn’t heard this one.
Jace hadn’t been bothered by the moniker, so it was either flattering, or all in good fun. “007?”
Halston shrugged before replying. “Zero patience, zero diplomacy, seven complete sentences.”
Jace did tend to be monosyllabic in the meetings. He grunted as often as he spoke. It was also true that he was impatient in certain aspects, and direct without concern for tact. She appreciated the honesty of that, but admitted to herself that it was a fitting nickname.
An involuntary giggle erupted from Clarke at the comment. Fortunately, thanks to the charm, it came out sounding like a manly chuckle. Shit, she could have given herself away.
Between his charisma, humor, and sheer gorgeousness, this man could be lethal to her disguise. Clarke would need to watch herself around Heath Halston.