THESE HIDDEN WINGS

[9.1] EVENINGS

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"Luca?"

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THE MOMENT THE sun threatened to start its walk down the sky, Claire and I left the Crown. She was a little quieter than before but somehow, I knew she wasn't the type to be quiet for long. She would give little side glances and chuckle, then say a few words, and till she became a rambling machine. I guess it was a match made in heaven, a mute, and a rambler. Someone to fill my silence.

I studied her as she sat cross-legged on my bed, mouth full, rambling on and on about how big Kingsland was and how she couldn't wait for classes to begin tomorrow as she thought if she would spend another day cooped up inside, she would spontaneously combust.

As unlikely as that was, with the way she was going on and on, the probability may be in her favor.

I on the other hand had no idea what to think about starting classes surrounded by a lot more people. Not just any type of people, but people my age. Teens. Thanks to Netflix and teen novels I had a rough idea of what to expect, from certain castes, like the nerds, the athletes, cheerleaders, however part of me realized that Kingsland wasn't your typical high school and there were way too many people to be equally divided into Castes.

We had just left the dining hall if you would call it that. It was a cafeteria minus the chairs and tables. A long hall is only used for collecting food. You were advised to take your food and go eat in your rooms, or the King's Garden, or the Courts, or anyplace else that suits your taste apart from the Crown that is.

Served on disposable plates and forks, they pride themselves on bio-degradable cutlery as well, according to the head cook. No littering was the primary concern but it was not put into much effect as I earlier noticed a group of boys dumping their plates onto school grounds. Claire munched on her dinner, as she kept up the talk.

"there's one thing that's positive about Kingsland you know," she began, taking a sip of her water. Some of it trickled down her bare chin and she wiped it with the back of her hand, barely giving it a thought.

I smiled at this action because it made me realize how normal I could be here. There was no one to judge me, no one to quip me about table manners, or breathing down my neck telling me to use a napkin. It was still strange to me, all my surroundings seemed so normal yet so foreign. I raised an eyebrow at her statement, her fork came crashing down on her spaghetti,

"The boys," She bluntly stated.

Somehow, I had a feeling.

Turning around in my seat I took a sip of my water, not liking the topic of discussion. Simply put, I was yet to understand teenage girl behavior before I even think about venturing to its counter.

"Have you seen 'em T?" she asked, her eyes wide, "Man, I feel like I'm in Candy land, boys growing like apples."

I involuntarily chuckled at this, putting my cup down, before I could choke on my water, boys growing like apples? More like flies or frogs, everywhere I look they seemed to be walking in multiples.

"I know you've been here for less than twenty-four hours, but I also know for a fact you've seen at least one," she nagged, standing up with her plate and fork, I watch her disappear out the door, coming back a moment later, without them,

"So?"

I realized that this topic wouldn't be leaving the chat soon, after all, needless to say, boys, are a girl's favorite gossip topic. My mind flashed to the boy in the King's Court I had noticed earlier, the one that had called Daya. I think his name was Luca or something similar to that.