Chapter 12

Xana and Tasha

Butterflies danced in her stomach as Xana proceeded with her daily ritual of looking in her mirror and judging the reflection displayed in front of her. Normally she would have hated seeing her reflection like this. A swollen cheek, bruised eye covered by a simple bandage, and she still felt an ache in her gut from the punches she received. Today was different though. Today she was proud because she had defended herself. She had fought back against the human who attacked her. She had shown a human that you couldn’t just push an Infurnal down without them rising back up in retaliation. 

She had been forced to spend the entire day in the medical center of the school yesterday for safety reasons, and today she had been allowed to leave and go back to her dorm. The stay had been so boring, since she had none of her books to read to keep her occupied, and she hated the probing questions of the medics as they asked more personal questions with every passing minute. There had been one major highlight though. Her visitor. A happy warmth filled her with the memory of the previous day.

She had been laying there in the early afternoon, hugging herself tightly after another invasive scan. Eyes closed tight as she could hear the mumbled whispers of the medics talking about her body. Just when she had worked up the courage to say something, she heard the door of the room open and she quickly turned the other way, hoping to protect her body from further invasive inspection.

“You awake?” The voice was strong and familiar and Xana was able to recognize the owner of the voice immediately. She knew it was Tasha but she couldn’t force herself to look back at her. To reveal herself in the unflattering patient gown that showed off so much of the body she was still working hard to change. So instead she just gave a small nod, hoping the other girl would be able to make it out.

“Good. I just wanted to check on you. I also wanted to tell you some good news.” There was a brief pause and Xana’s ears twitched, perking up at the mention of good news. She heard the stifled laugh, but it didn’t hurt her. It wasn’t a mocking laugh. It was more pleasant than that. “The good news is that my sister and I reported all those girls. The dean wasted no time and they’ve been expelled and are being charged for attacking you and for their harassment of all the Infurnals going here. You weren’t their only target. They’ll never be able to be Casters.”

The news was too much for Xana to take in and she turned in the bed a little too fast, groaning as the pain returned. “Really? They’re gone?” She couldn’t believe humans could be reprimanded so quickly, so easily. That humans standing so high in power could actually be held accountable for their actions. She was certain they would merely be scolded and nothing more.

“Yep.” Tasha gave a little chuckle at the cute Infurnal girl’s excitement and her eyes lowered a little without thinking. Xana immediately pulled the thin sheet over her body, her grip tight on the sheet as she attempted to hide her body. The muscular black girl showed no sign of annoyance and instead showed her a soft smile in response. “...You know you don’t need to hide yourself from me, right?”

Taking a deep breath, Xana tried to release the sheet but she just couldn’t get her fingers to let go. Too many harsh words and too much mockery from her siblings, too many stories about humans from her parents and the other elders all added to her fears of opening up to anyone, let alone a human.

Noticing the hesitation the taller girl continued to smile and gave a little nod. “Maybe I’ll come and see you tomorrow then?”

“I’m supposed to be leaving today though. Later this evening.”

“Then I’ll come and see you at your dorm?” Her words were softer than Xana usually witnessed during the duels, but still her confidence never seemed to waver.

“Oh, okay.” The wolf girl screamed at herself in her mind and her left ear twitched in aggravation, hating how hesitant her voice sounded. She reached up and ran her fingers through a few loose strands of her hair as she gathered her thoughts. “I mean yes, that sounds nice. If you’re sure you’re okay being seen with me?”

A small giggle escaped her lips as she remembered how Tasha had laughed and shrugged, saying she didn’t care what anyone else thought about her being seen with a pretty girl. Her parents had always been supportive of her whenever they weren’t busy working long hours in the mines under the thumbs of their strict human bosses. They had called her cute and even pretty from time to time, but the words felt so special coming from the girl she admired so much.

A knock at her door brought her back to her senses and she looked herself over again. She had only bothered to put on the slightest bit of makeup; a little foundation, her trademark blue lipstick and nail polish, all in hopes of taking attention away from the bruises left on her and bringing attention to the few features she liked about herself. With a deep breath she calmed herself and she decided this was the best she would be able to do and forcing her hand to steady she opened her door to greet Tasha who was standing there, a broad smile forming on her face.

“Well don’t you look wonderful.”

“I’m nothing special.” Xana’s eyes lowered to her feet as the words escaped her lips without her mind’s permission. She hated how timid she got around humans. She hated the way the fear built deep inside of her and gnawed at her relentlessly. Something felt different with Tasha though. The timid feelings inside her weren’t brought on by some sense of fear, or at least not the same fear she felt around humans like Glenda and her friends. This was a different kind of fear and nervousness that she still couldn’t quite figure out.

“Tsk, say what you want but you’re wrong.” The dark skinned girl never stopped smiling as she grabbed Xana by the hand and pulled her out of her room and began to lead her quickly down the hall.

“Where are we going?” Xana had to pick up her legs and take two steps for every one step the larger girl took.

“I’m taking you to my special relaxation spot. You’re tense today. You were tense yesterday and the day before that and every other day I‘ve seen you.”

“You’ve been watching me?” Xana blinked and became a little worried at the brief pause that followed.

“Guilty.” Tasha looked back over her shoulder and down at the girl who was nearly a foot shorter than her. “It’s hard to keep my eyes off of someone so cute and who’s also so skilled on the field.”

The Infurnal wolf couldn’t hide her embarrassment as she followed the taller girl out of the school, for the first time in her life she was unbothered by the looks some of the students gave them as they rushed past. When she was with Tasha she felt a surge of confidence and happiness and others around them seemed to fade out of existence. It was simply a world that the two of them shared. After a few minutes in her daydream she realized Tasha had led her to another part of the school grounds she had never been to before. It was late into summer after the party and the winds weren’t nearly as strong as they had been earlier in the year. Somehow the grass was kept lush and vibrant in color even though it hadn’t rained for quite some time and it felt soft under their bodies as the two girls laid next to each other on the hillside of the campus.

Staring up at the few clouds dotting the icy blue sky, Xana smiled to herself. It wasn’t the same as back home, but this area was beautiful in its own right. Peaceful even, as it was far enough on the edge of the campus that none of the other students bothered to come here.

“You like it?”

The words caught the white haired girl by surprise after they had been laying there for several minutes in silence. 

“Oh, yeah. It’s lovely.”

“Yeah, there are a lot of lovely things at this school if you look for them.”

The Infurnal girl could feel the heat in her cheeks at the words and after a moment Xana dared to glance over at Tasha with her one good eye and was met by two mixed eyes of natural brown and blue staring at her. Her cheeks warmed further and she quickly turned away.

“Hey hey, sorry. I’m just not the type to bother with beating around the bush. I see something I like, and I don’t hide my interest.” The larger girl sat up and inched closer, looking down at the smaller girl. “I like you. Do you like me?”

“It’s not that simple. I’m-” I’m going to cause you trouble.

“Sure it is. I saw you the first day we all started here. I’ve been watching you off and on. In the halls, during the duels, I always see how hard you’re trying. I always see that determined look on your face. I like you. Do you like me?”

“But I’m an-” I’m an Infurnal. What if others harass you for being around me?

“Doesn’t matter to me. What matters are our feelings and I’m not going to let others influence my decisions. I like you. Do you like me?” Her firm, dedicated tone had a gentle tint to it.

Xana hesitated for longer than she meant to as she looked away from the other girl, every second formed into an hour in her mind as her mouth dried. She remembered every time she had caught herself watching Tasha. Thinking about her. Her imagination had run wild with the duels they could have had. The hours they could have lost in conversation if the world had allowed it. The butterflies and the fear had returned, but this one time she felt confident in pushing into the fear and accepting the risks.

“I don’t want the world of humans to control me anymore. I don’t want the fears of the Infurnals to influence my decisions anymore either. I’m sick of hiding. I like you too.” She whispered more quietly than she had planned and she had to turn her head slightly and look up at Tasha to make sure she had heard her. The delighted grin on the beautiful girl’s face told her she had.

Next Chapter: The First Real Test