Well, that went faster than I expected, when we came in I had seen her sharp look especially because Ax was holding my hand, with the way most of the other girls were clustered around her she must have been the head bitch.

“Yeah, who the hell dresses like that?”

“shut up Ashley, you are wearing a fishnet.”

“yeah but my body agrees with it, no meat hanging.”

Man, bitches really be everywhere. Ax moves as if to confront them, but I stop him.

“Yes, Roan, I dance, I especially like doing it on poles and laps and girl all this meat has got your boy hooked, look at him,” I say pointing to the tall guy she has her hands wrapped around.

“Who the fuck...”

“ay, ay, language honey, baby in the room.”

“Can we please start, you can throw down later,” comes from the guy standing next to a stretching Roan.

I head to the corner of the room with Blue right behind me, flopping on the sofa, might as well get comfortable.

I must admit they are pretty good, but I’m surprised to see not everyone is dancing, guess some are just here to hang out, which means I’ve met the “it” crowd of the school, typical that some would be asshats.

After a while, Blue drifts off so I pick him up and settle him on my lap, he must be wiped out.

I must have joined him because I woke up with a start when someone shakes me.

“Drac, wake up. We have to go eat.”

“huh.”

I blink my eyes disoriented.

“Axel? Where are... oh my, we fell asleep, didn’t we?”

“yeah and you sleep like the dead, the kid too.”

He points at Blue who is clinging to me still fast asleep.

I look around the room, realizing there are only like five people left.

“where did everyone else go?”

“We finished practice, so we kicked them out, only the inner circle is here.”

I looked around and sure enough only around five people excluding Blue and me.

Sitting up, I stretch as I survey them, careful not to jolt Blue, “you mentioned food.”

Laughing, Ax carefully picks up Blue, but he shouldn’t have bothered, the boy probably heard the magic word.

“food?”

“yeah baby, you hungry?”

“Uh-huh.”

“well let’s get to it, I hope they got meat,” I say rubbing my palms in anticipation as I walk to the door only to realise I’m the only one who is headed there.

Turning I find every pair of eyes eyeing me like I had grown another head, except for Ax who was looking at the rest with a smirk on his face. He turns back to me and moves towards the door.

Satisfied, I give in to Blue who had been tagging my arm the whole time, letting him drag me outside.

“What was that about?”

“What, the guys? I think they are star-struck, for once.”

“weird, so how and where does the magic happen?”

He goes to answer, but I cut him off.

“you know what I meant, that wasn’t an opening to exercise your perverted mind.”

“I didn’t say anything.”

“yeah right, now point me in the right direction before I turn hangry.”

“Right this way ma’am.”

I had realized that they built the Academy in circles and semi-circles, which would make you think it was easier to find everything, but it just confused me further.

We head back toward the dorms, then across to the “learning side” as Ax calls it.

We followed him into a huge white building right in the middle that was more glass than concrete, but you still couldn’t see inside.

I thought nothing would surprise me anymore, how wrong I was.

The inside was built like a typical school cafeteria the only difference being the side where servers would be looked like a supermarket and instead of benches; they had booths.

Shelves upon shelves of food and drinks with a check-out desk that didn’t have anyone.

“Are we supposed to eat this, all this is junk right, not that I’m complaining but I really need a hearty cooked meal, not processed.”

“relax woman, you look like you are about to cry.”

Heading over to an unoccupied booth, Ax helps Blue settle in facing the window then follows him, leaving me to sit on the other side.

“How come I can see outside, but I couldn’t see a thing before we got in?”

“magic, now for the food,” he says, picking up another weird-looking tab, “you pick what you want then wait for it to be delivered.”

Snatching up the tab, I go through it not bothering to hide my awe, “anything from here, and I will get it?”

Blue joins in my enthusiasm as we go through the menu, with me explaining some parts, of course.

When the food arrives, I don’t even realise the trolley is basically moving by itself, the arresting aromas and the impressive spread have me diving in with gusto, and Blue isn’t deterred either.