The Domus Paranormal Academy

Article

“Yes, I wanted to talk to the president of the club too...

“Well, I'm the club president," he blurted out with a "look what a coincidence!" gesture.

Oh, were you serious?

“Great," I feigned surprise.

He nodded enthusiastically, pointed to one of the unoccupied chairs, and invited me in:

“Come on, you can sit down, you don't have to leave.

I cursed internally because running away was no longer an option if I didn't want to look crazy, so I made my way to one of the chairs with the weight of all eyes, except Lucian's, on me. As soon as I put my butt on the seat, just as Ankor was about to continue talking as before, it interrupted him. A rather attractive but pale-looking girl raised her hand.

“Yes? “Ankor gave him the floor.

“This girl will attend as a listener, won't she? “she asked, and his tone of voice was that tone of voice that comes out when you try to hide the hatred you feel. Because we've already done the tests.

I didn't stop to look too closely at the person who had said that. My light bulb went off and I hurried to take my phone out of my pocket. Then I showed the screen with the exact time to everyone.

“Technically, the hour is not over," I said calmly, not wanting to create conflict. The announcement said that the tests would be from half past twelve until half past one. It is a quarter past one.

Ankor nodded as if to say: it makes sense.

But it wouldn't end there.

“I think that allowing him to take the test would not be fair," the girl replied again, showing her fangs emphasizing her opposition and, to annoy me, speaking without addressing me directly, but looking at Ankor. We all arrived at half past twelve. Nobody was late.

His argument was logical. Being late when others had been on time was disrespectful, but I had an explanation.

“I didn't arrive on time because the teacher of my last class finished ten minutes late," I clarified, so they wouldn't think I was late on purpose.

But that didn't convince anyone. The others in the room supported the girl's opinion: "It's true", "We arrived at the exact time", and "You can't just take the test whenever you feel like it".... Despite that little fuss, Lucian continued to concentrate on the tablet, ignoring what was going on, but perhaps listening carefully. Ankor was the one who wandered his half” lidded and very amused gaze over each person who spoke until everyone fell silent. Then he was silent as if weighing the decision in the style of a TV presenter at a decisive moment.

I noticed he had the sparkling look of someone for whom everything was a game.

Hell, my chance of getting into the paper depended on the one who could be the immature Lycan. Why was I being chased by these misfortunes?

“I move that we put it to a vote," he said with slow drama.

There, I would lose. It was obvious that everyone would vote against me. He knew it. The girl did too because she turned her face and gave me a small, disguised smirk. Have you seen the movie Legally Blonde? Well, she looked at me the way Vivian Kensington looked at Elle Woods when she showed off her engagement ring.

Okay, it would be a lousy day. I thought about turning around and leaving and not playing Elle, but that would have been cowardly. So in the end I decided to face the moment with the same serious and firm face that Elle had faced the people at the party she arrived at dressed as a bunny.

The heads nodded with some hesitation. Most accepted the idea.

No, I wasn't, but arguing about it would have made me look worse. “I guess," was what I said.

“We'll do it that way," he nodded. He paused a moment and then said something no one expected: "But I'll make some conditions.

The girl's eyebrows dipped, somewhere between confused and annoyed. Even I was caught off guard by that. What kind of conditions, huh?

Ankor explained in a "this will be interesting" voice:

“If we let her take the test, anyone who is late for the remainder of the semester, for whatever reason, will have no problems whatsoever. If we don't let her take the test, it will be the opposite: no one will be allowed to be late, not one minute over the agreed time, or they will be kicked out of the paper. So who is against the girl having a chance?

I was as stunned as Vivian's imitation. Some looked at each other's faces while others just shrugged. The silence was thick as Ankor waited for someone to vote for me not to take the test.

Surprisingly, no one raised their hand.

“Is it decided then? “he asked.

He waited a few more seconds in case anyone objected, but everyone remained silent. Then he looked at me with a triumphant smile. For some reason, I wanted to smile at him too, but I didn't push my luck. Nor did I want to trust much either, even though that condition was leaning more to my side. Was it that he liked me? It couldn't be possible.

But determined. I would have my chance.

“What's the test about? “I asked, starting engines in my brain to get it right.

“It will be the same as the others did," Ankor answered me.

You will have to write an article...

“About me," Lucian suddenly interrupted him.

My heart skipped a beat.

A silence of amazement hung in the room. I froze, and I was sure everyone else did too. Even the silly cat clock on one of the walls had to have frozen as well.

Really? Lucian had just looked up from the iPad to say that. Now his piercing gray eyes were fixed on me. No smile, but with a natural air of mockery and superiority.

Ankor watched him, puzzled.

“But that's not the...

“She will write a short article about the student council president," Lucian specified, looking at his brother with authority, in a clear, "Don't even try to contradict me. It will tell the new students what they need to know about me. And we're going to publish it.

That shut Ankor up in an interesting way. I saw him intend to refute Lucian, but the boy just shut his mouth and nodded. His smile of enthusiasm faltered for a second before he looked back at me and drew an amused and confident expression again.

Wow, so a brother was more in charge there.

But what he couldn't do was silence someone else's surprise:

“To publish?! “the same dead” faced girl from before interjected again. But that's too much, the applicants cannot...

“We haven't made any new posts on the newspaper's i********: profile since yesterday," Lucian interrupted her, though in a less harsh tone; he knew he had to be careful how he spoke to the people who followed him.

It will be good for today. And it will be good, won't it, Marise?

I raised an eyebrow.

“But that's not the test the others did," I said, pointing out its unfairness.

“It's the one you have the opportunity to do," Lucian replied, and his tone made it clear that he had no intention of changing his mind. If you don't agree, you can leave. Although, if you're smart, you'll know what to do.

"You will know what to do..."

For a moment I hadn't understood the purpose of all that, but that sentence changed my whole perspective. This was personal. I didn't like what I was ordering, but I couldn't take anything back. If I got out of my chair, it would be like losing in a boxing ring, because Lucian had just started a fight.

I unhooked my backpack to pull out my pen and a sheet of paper on which I could write, but...

“No, you will write it there so we can all see it. “Lucian pointed to the digital whiteboard where the image had changed and a white box for writing text was displayed. And when you're done, you can click on publish.