8.

  Angelica, Penny, and Juliet were collecting their mail in the Girl’s common room. Angelica had quit a care package sent from home, she summoned her sword and split the tape on it. “Oh my god, it’s finally here,” Angelica tore the package open.

  “What is it?” Penny asked.

  “My mother, in the mortal world at least, is a Mary Kay representative, she’s the top seller in the Carolinas of course, pink blazer, pink hat, we even got to ride in her pink Cadillac to my high school prom, And being that she’s the top saleswoman she gets samples and sends them to me, so I get the best in modern cosmetics,”

  Tav had slept in that day, she woke up and reached for her gold necklace. She took a deep breath and looked at herself in the mirror. Being that Tav knew what she looked like, she could see the horns atop her head plain as day, and a reflection with a skin tone a marked paler than she normally was. She reached for her makeup. She never intended to be the kind of girl who used as much black and dark colors as she did. She found that darkening up the focal points of her face, her eyes especially, made it feel like they were distractions and drew the looks away from any traits that could potentially oust her as a demon. Though she did wear the black nail polish because she liked the way it looked.

  She put her hand on her golden necklace. Her mother had gifted to her on her first day of elementary school in the mortal world. Tav remembered that day, she was hiding in her closet and her mother pretended to not be able to find her. While Tav took after her father, for the most part, she did have those few traits that her mother’s side of the family she was warned the Mortal world would never accept. Tav looked at her horns, ran her hand through her hair, and tried to figure out some kind of style she could do to cover them without the need for her glamor. A perm maybe, no that would look terrible. Tav’s mother was said to be the most beautiful demon in the mortal world or the below, but the fact that she took after her in a few traits didn’t make Tav feel any less ugly.

  Tav didn’t talk to anyone that first day, during playtime she stayed at the back of the room and just wrung her hands on her magic golden necklace. There was a little boy who approached her, his ball had bounced a few times and landed by her. He said his name was Timmy, or Jimmy, or something, and he asked her if she wanted to play with him. She wanted to go play, wanted to be with the human kids, but she just said no, and turned to stay sulking in the corner. After arts and crafts, it was time for show and tell. Tav had a little demon-made dolly, she liked that dolly, it had horns like hers and that dolly was pretty. Maybe that meant that she could be pretty too. Though, after the other girls showed off their barbies and baby dolls, with their blonde hair and perfect bodies and no horns, Tav was too embarrassed to show off her doll. She again returned to the corner to sulk, the teacher came to her and tried to figure out why this little raven-haired girl was so shy, she just chalked it up to first-day jitters, lots of kids had those.

  Tav showed the teacher her doll, the form of a purple-skinned woman with long violet hair and white eyes, with two horns running back over its head and hips that could put even barbie to shame with a curved tail hanging off its backside. Tav would always remember what her teacher said to her that day, “Why do you have such an ugly dolly? Don’t you want to have a pretty doll like a barbie?”

  Tav shuddered and looked away from the mirror. She got up and headed out and came to a giggling gaggle of girls trying on makeup and the kinds of pretty things that pretty girls occupied their time with.

  Angelica looked up, “Tav, why don’t you join us?” she said with that fake kind of sincerity that either wanted Tav to decline or wanted her to accept just to give that Angel another chance to show her how much better she was than her.

  “What?” Tav said.

  “We got some new makeup, we’re doing make overs, you know I have this blush that might be just up your lane,” Angelica said, “You always look so pale, you know a little bit of color could go a long way for you,” she said.

  “No, I don’t…I don’t do that, I got stuff to do,” Tav said, stepping back from Angelica, stepping back from the little girls dolling themselves up to look just like their barbie dolls.

  “It’s a long weekend, we need some time to relax,” Angelica said.

  “You know, there’s a shade of cherry lipstick that would really bring out her eyes,” Penny said.

  “Oh my god, totally,” Juliet said, “And we have to find her a better solution for her eyes then that black mascara,” Juliet turned to Tav, “You’ve been seen with the Longdren man, you want to look good for him, don’t you? The dance is coming up, he might ask you out,” she said.

  Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  “As if Longdren isn’t going to ask out Angelica,” Penny turned to Angelica, “He’s so hot, and he’s totally going to ask you out any day now, you two are going to be the power couple in this class,” she said, turning to Tav, “You know if you want to get a boy to date you, you must do something about your hair, get some volume, some lift, maybe even do something about that color,” she said, “the whole raven haired brooding look went out with My Chemical Romance,”

  “Hey,” Tav said, “I like My Chemical Romance, and they still pack stadiums,” she said, defending herself, her looks, and defending that little demon doll she had when she was five.

  “Now girls,” Angelica said, “Tav obviously has her look and she’s committed to sticking to it, whether or not she can attract a man, some girls just want to look different,” she turned to Tav and smiled an condescending smile, “We have to find something that works for her, what she wants to look like,” Angelica went to her bag of cosmetics and started searching, “Oh, here’s something, shadow moore eyeliner, yes this is more your speed,” she said, approaching Tav, “This is just like the product you already use, just a bit higher quality though, I know you want to put on this brooding look, this would be perfect for you,” she said.

  “I told you I didn’t want you to give me a makeover,” Tav pushed Angelica away, “I like how I look, and how I look doesn’t mean anything, I’m not trying to wrangle in some boy to like me,” she said, then had a fleeting thought of Cole. He may have been the most popular boy in school, may have been just the kind of guy that Angelica could scoop up into her claws without a second thought. But he knew her secret, and for some reason still wanted to talk to her. Cole, if he was the hero everyone thought he was, should have turned her in, and reported her to the academy administrators as soon as he found out about her demon heritage, but he didn’t.

  “If he likes you, you got to wow him,” Penny said.

  “How do you know what Cole would like? How do you know anything about him?” Tav asked, getting defensive, “You just know his reputation, you just know who his family is, you don’t know anything about him,” she said, she stood up, stood tall and proud, “You don’t know anything about Cole Longdren, you just care about what he can do for your image,” she pointed her finger and accused, “He can’t even light his sword up, he can’t even live up to his family name and you’re already trying to get in his graces, Cole sees you, he sees all of you,” she said, “Cole doesn’t give a damn what you think about his family. If anything, Cole doesn’t want to be anything like his family, but you are all still pressuring him. That’s why he talks to me and not you. I’m the one who treats Cole like he wants to be treated, I’m the one who treats Cole like he was any other student,” she said.

  “The Longdren boy is a hero, at least he’s destined to be one,” Juliet said, “You’re going against Angelica for his affections, Angelica is perfect so you’re going to have to bring out all the stops,” she said.

  “Please girls, we’re not enemies,” Angelica laughed, “Cole Longdren will date whoever Cole Longdren wants to date, maybe this little raven-haired girl has a chance, she’s obviously charmed him. I don’t care about silly high school romance drama,” she turned to Tav, “If Cole Longdren wants to be with me, then he’ll be with me when the time is right, but if wants to be with you, for now,” Angelica looked down, “Well, all great men are known to have made mistakes on their path to glory, I know we’re roommates so I want you to know that if you bring Cole to our bedroom, I won’t be jealous,” she smirked, “I know he’ll see the light eventually, he knows deep down that he’s destined for a Divine path, if he has a bit of fun with the Betrayer’s daughter before he gets there, well that’s just growing up,” she said, more than ready to wait her turn if the great hero really was being tempted by this dark eyed girl.

  “Stop calling my father the Betrayer, my father saved the world, he killed the EverDemon,” Tav said, wanting to summon her trident but resisting the urge.

  “He may have killed the EverDemon, yes,” Angelica stood up, “But it was he who freed it in the first place. Your father cleaning up his own mess is nothing to be proud of,” she said, her own hand twitching and wishing to summon her weapon as well. “Cole Longdren will see through your lies, your seduction,” Angelica gritted her teeth, “Go on and seduce him, he will see the light when the time comes, when he’s up against the wall, against a kind of Demon that your ilk summons, he will know what the right thing to do is,” she said.

  Tav closed her eyes, Longdren couldn’t possibly like her. They shared the secret of her birth, but he was probably just waiting for the right time to turn her in. In all likelihood, he was waiting for the chance to fight her, expose her as a demon, and earn the title in class that every one of his brothers had. No, she thought, no Cole isn’t like that. He promised and swore to keep her secret.

  “I’m going to the gym to train,” Tav said, “You girls have fun with your make-up,” she scowled as she left the commons.

  “What is her problem?” Penny asked.

  “Some souls resist being saved, I could save her,” Angelica said, “Some resist the will of the Divine, she’ll come around in time,” she said, “At least I hope she will, Tavalia has demons in her past, her father was the Betrayer, I want to see her overcome that, I’ll save her yet, you’ll see,” Angelica smiled, “So Juliet you were looking at the blush, that’s going to look so good on you,” she said, turning back to her friends.

  “Yeah, I’ve got my eyes on Trevor Beville, if the angels, if you, were to bless our courtship, I would be so grateful,” Juliet said.

  “Don’t forget,” Angelica said, “Longdren, the seventh son of a seventh son, and the daughter of angels, that’s who the power couple is going to be,” Angelica smiled, “Can you even imagine if Longdren decided to go with her, it would be a scandal, I’m the one Longdren will seek, when the time is right, I’ll have him,” she said, “Just you wait,” her grin growing even wider.