Specks of soft silver.

    I got called to the principal's office as soon as I arrived at school the next day, and for some reason, my heart started to beat a little faster. I wondered whether I'd done something wrong.

But I pushed the shiny, teak-wood door open after a knock, and was greeted with Principal Fernsby's familiar sugary smile, and the warmth of the cozy but expansive interior of her office. It didn't feel like I was there because I'd done something wrong.

A balding, middle-aged man dressed in a clean-cut, perfectly tailored two-piece suit was standing in front of the unlit hearth in the office, and he turned to look at me as I walked in.

"Ah! You're here! Miss Eadwald, this is Mr. Nott, head-tailor of 'Nott Cuts and Trims," Principal Fernsby gestured to the man, and he angled his head to me sharply in a short bow.

I muttered a good morning, thinking that 'Nott Cuts and Trims' sounded like the name of a barbershop, and wondering why I was being introduced to a tailor who worked at a barbershop.

"His company is in charge of making the school's uniforms, and he's here today to take your measurements!"

Oh...

With a resigned sigh, I let Mr. Nott walk me through the process. He was surprisingly calm. He spoke very few words, but always managed to relay exactly what he meant in those few words, and he remained professional throughout.

I didn't feel like I was being touched inappropriately as people in this school tended to make me feel.

I also learned that the school had a variety of uniforms.

The regular black blazers were for Mondays and Tuesdays, and a deep crimson Blazer was for the rest of the week, apart from Fridays—called 'Casual Friday's'—which were the only days students were allowed to wear whatever they wanted, as long as it didn't infringe upon the school's dress codes.

Principal Fernsby handed me a pamphlet containing the school's dress codes and uniform rules, alongside detailed explanations about the uniforms.

My head was reeling.

I walked into the chemistry laboratory afterwards, ready to scream, but Brittany's excited grin instantly made me feel so much better about being up and about so early.

Her emerald eyes were shining as she waved me over. She had reserved a seat for me next to herself.

I plopped down next to her with a sigh, and soon the teacher came in to give the longest, most boring chemistry lesson I'd ever sat through. And it was a double period too.

Ugh.

We walked out of the chemistry lab with an entire term's worth of homework, to be submitted in three days, and the rest of my classes went on like that too throughout the rest of the week.

The 'freshly resumed' atmosphere hanging around the school's air had vanished, and the slowness and leniency of yesterday's classes had completely melted away.

The teachers were hounding us, especially because we were seniors and most of the students were either preparing for their A-levels or preparing to enroll into an IB.

Even though I was not enthusiastic about being a student of the school, I found myself still putting in effort regardless.

The competitive/perfectionist side of me never lets me half-ass anything.

Brittany and I agreed to meet up at the school library during breaks and after school to get our homework done together. I even informed Mr. Leadsey to start coming to pick me up a little later than usual.

'The Eight' seemed to have vanished off the face of the earth. I hadn't seen any of them since Roman's invitation to his party that I had not attended—because why the fuck would I go when it was obvious nothing good would come off it?

Vasilis had vanished along with them too. None of them attended classes throughout the week, and things simply carried on as if their absence was normal and not reason enough for the school administration to worry about.

The teachers never even asked after them. They would just glance briefly at the empty seats in the classroom, then continue with the lecture as if nothing was wrong.

I couldn't ignore the pit of worry growing bigger by the day in my stomach though. I wondered if Vasilis was okay, or if something bad had happened to him.

I was itching so bad to ask some of the boarder students if they'd seen him in the dormitories, but I didn't want to seem desperate, or paint a false scenario in their heads.

If I started going around asking about him, people would begin to think there was something between us, and there wasn't. I was just...worried.

Plus, he was my partner for the AP Lit project, which was the most important of all the projects we'd been given.

Mr. Dart had confirmed that the Trent guy had really changed schools, and he'd granted Brittany's request to be paired with Vasilis and I. But so far it was just me and her.

We spent our breaks holed up in the school's ginormous library. It was located, secluded away in the south wing of the school, and had quickly become a sanctuary for me.

The jagged stonewalls made it feel like we were underground, but not in a claustrophobic way. It was dark, a bit dusty and seemed so ancient, that being there always gave me this exhilarating rush of adrenaline, like I was on an adventure.

Several deep, dark crimson sofas were arranged all over the expansive reading area, and Brittany and I had made the sofas by the always-lit brick hearth 'our spot.' We usually sat, curled up on the sofas whenever we had reading assignments.

But for those assignments that required research and writing, we would choose spots on the long, mahogany tables that ran along the lengths of walls, opposite the endless rows of wall-length bookshelves containing thousands of books and tomes.

I wished I could spend the entire day there. Cancel all my classes and just lounge about in the library, reading all day.

The librarian, Ms. Kimberly, was a short plump woman with the kindest smile and a huge freckle on her nose. She had become so accustomed to I and Brittany's presence, she never even bothered to shoo us away once break was over like she did to other students, and she would even let us borrow books when we forgot to bring our library cards.

It turned out Brittany was a literature nerd just like I was, and it allowed us become even closer as we studied together over the week. We ended up choosing a theme, topic and prompt for our AP Lit project without Vasilis, because we just couldn't keep waiting around and doing nothing.

But that was all we did. We hadn't created schedules or started working on the actual project yet. We decided to hold out until the end of the week, and if he didn't show up, we'd begin working on our own the following week.

It was finally Friday, last day of the school week, and that was when Vasilis showed up during the last class of the day.

My heart stopped in my chest as the door swung open mid AP literature lesson, and he sauntered in with a cold elegance about him that made my stomach begin tangling itself up in several brutal knots.

His hair appeared longer, or maybe it was the new style he had it in?

He had put up a portion of his curly jet black hair in a ponytail—kinda like a half-up, half-down style—and the hair pulled back from his face made his features appear even more prominent than usual.

His Tartarean eyes found mine almost as soon as he walked into the room, and his lips curved up into a small smile.

His sharp jawline appeared even sharper without the curls of his hair covering and softening its outline, and his angular cheekbones didn't have the curtain of his bangs to hide beneath, therefore leaving the fullness of his beauty so raw, I couldn't help but swoon slightly in my seat.

God, he was so beautiful.

So beautiful and so...damning all at once.

"Glad to have you joining us today, Mr. Wang," Mr. Dart said pointedly from the front of the class as Vasilis took the empty seat on my left.

I expected him to ask questions about where he's been and why he hadn't been showing up in class, but Mr. Dart simply pursed his lips in disappointment before he continued.

"Have you met with Miss Eadwald and Miss Carnell to discuss the dynamics of your work together?" He asked instead, as though Vasilis' absence over the week was not worth talking about.

Vasilis seemed puzzled for a moment, and Mr. Dart continued.

"Miss Carnell has been assigned to yours and Miss Eadwald's original duo group, seeing as her former partner, Mr. Abel has transferred to a different school."

Vasilis glanced over at Brittany and I for a split second, his expression blank before he said, "Okay,"

"I'd suggest you meet up with your partners before the end of today so you can agree on a favorable schedule for all of you, and get started on your project. Other groups are well into theirs and have been making good progress. You only have so much time," Mr. Dart said with a tilt in his voice that border-lined on irritation, then he continued with the lesson.

"Hey," Vasilis turned to me, and my heart did that strange thing where it skipped a beat again.

"Hi," I attempted to keep my voice steady, betraying none of the emotions roiling within me.

"Um...do you guys have time to meet up after school to discuss the project?" He asked almost sheepishly, and I nodded as I bit down on my lip to curb the smile that was fighting to make an appearance at how cute he was.

"Yeah, does the library sound okay?" I asked instead, and he nodded immediately.

"Yes. Library. Sure."

"Okay." I nodded and we lasped into silence.

The drone of Mr. Dart's voice gradually faded away into the background as we both sat, staring into each other's eyes.

This was probably so weird, but I didn't want to look away.

I was realizing I could stare into his eyes for an eternity and I would be content.

There was so much to discover in the depths of the whorls of darkness that swirled beneath his irises. I could notice specks of soft silver in the endless darkness, that looked like tiny stars floating around in the bewitching abyss of his eyes and...

"Miss Eadwald! Mr. Wang! Pay attention please!"

Mr. Dart's snap thankfully broke the trance I'd fallen into, and I snapped my gaze back to the board in mortification.

He definitely must think I'm a weirdo by now. With all the intense staring I do every time he's around.

Dear God!