Page 11 of Shadow Seer (Scythe Grove Academy 1)

She smiles widely, and I can't help but think how perfectly this girl fits the stereotype of House Captain. I bet she's top of the class, and on a sports team too. That sounds like the kind of overachiever who normally ends up in this kind of position.

Normally, they're raging bitches too. I should be careful of her.

Despite that, I take her hand. "Pleased to meet you."

"Juliet, this is Syxe," Mathias says, introducing the two of us.

"Welcome to Grove Sakura." She drops my hand. "Would you like a tour?"

I shake my head. "It's been a long day, do you mind showing me where I'm going to sleep?" That's an understatement, but I doubt Juliet cares enough to want to hear about the problems of the new girl, even if she is the Grove Captain.

"Of course." She smiles reassuringly. Does she mean it?

I turn to the reaper who has been showing me around so far. "Thanks for bringing me, Mathias."

His cheeks flush, bu

t I have no idea why. I push it away. Maybe he's not used to people expressing their gratitude to him. I'm not sure why, he seems like a nice guy from what I've seen so far.

"You're welcome."

"If you come with me, I'll show you to the dorms. Do you have your stuff with you?" Juliet asks.

I nod and gesture to the small bag at my feet. It's not much and I'm aware of that, but it's all I own.

"Why don't I grab your bag?" She picks it up before I can respond, but I don't mind. I'm tired from everything that's happened in the past couple of days.

"Thank you."

We leave the common room in silence, and not the comfortable kind.

"How did you find your first day?" she asks.

"Overwhelming. There's so much I don't understand." A part of me is still wary of her, but it's not fair of me to judge her without even trying to get to know her first.

"Can I help with any of it? I'm always here if you have any questions. Mathias is too."

"Mathias..." I trail off, unsure what I want to ask.

Juliet chuckles. "What do you want to know about him?"

"Is he really as nice as he seems?" I blurt out without thinking.

She directs me to a flight of stairs and the two of us begin to climb.

"I suppose that depends what you mean by nice. He's charming, intelligent, and easy to get along with."

Hmm, something in her voice makes it sound like they're more than just friends. A small amount of disappointment wells up within me.

"Oh, so you and him..." Am I prying too much? Probably, but that isn't stopping me.

"Definitely not," she answers quickly. "I'm dating his twin."

"Sorry," I mumble.

"Don't worry about it, all you did was ask a question," she reassures me.

"Why..." I trail off before I can fully ask the question.