Nightingale Academy

After lunch, the rest of my day flew by uneventfully. I had one more class with Amaranth and at 5:30, we ate dinner. My day ended with Earth Science and after our last class, Haven, Wynona and I caught up with Azure to head back to our dormitory together.

The four of us sat in a secluded circle on the floor of the living area to finish our homework and study. After half an hour of listening to the three girl distract themselves from their work, I packed up my things to leave.

“Where are you going?” Azure asked, her fingers grasping my blouse to keep me in place.

“Er, I wanted to go to the library before it gets too dark,” I told her truthfully. Amaranth showed me the library yesterday, but I hadn't actually stepped foot into it yet. I was curious to see what books and novels they would have.

“Would you like some company?” Haven grinned up at me. Well that's new. Someone looking up to talk to me. Heh.

I sucked on my bottom lip. “No, that's fine. You guys finish up your work. I'll be back within an hour.” I bid a good-bye and skipped out and down the stairs of the dormitory. I felt an icy prick against the back of my neck and sighed in content. It seemed I wouldn't be completely alone in the library after all.

I found an empty table in a corner of the library and slid my books onto it. Instead of sitting down to start my work, I walked over to one of the many bookcases and slowly walked down the aisle, my fingertips running along a few of the books in display. I stopped at a familiar title and slid the novel out from between its neighbours. Delighted, I walked back to my desk.

An extra set of books had joined mine across the table and I smiled at Amaranth as I sat down. He had his elbow resting on the table, right cheek held in his palm. He smiled at me contently, his eyes and skin glowing in the setting sun's light.

“What kind of book do you have there?” he murmured in his purr-like whisper, his eyes glued to mine as he nonchalantly gestured to the novel in my hands.

I looked down at the cover and read the title. “Looking For Alaska by John Green.”

“What's it about?” He continued to watch me with a small smile on his face that suggested that he was only half-heartedly listening to me.

My mouth opened to give him my usual synopsis of a book which I explain how I wouldn't want to spoil anything since it's such a great book that I highly recommend before continuing on my rant, giving away main key points of the story until the very end, which I tell the person listening what happens in the last three chapter of the book in great detail, but I stopped myself and cocked my head to the side. I narrowed my eye suspiciously and watched his facial features. His forehead was smooth of any irritation or unease. His gaze was soft and his lips curled at the corners into a charming smile. He appeared to be captivated by something and since he was staring directly at me, I could only guess that it was myself that he seemed to be so enraptured with.

“Is there something wrong, Amaranth?”

He visibly shuddered and his eyes brightened in attention. He elegantly smirked and removed his head from his hand. “No, everything is fine,” he continued smiling in that pleased and content way of his, causing me to squirm in slightly discomfort. I wasn't used to having someone stare at me in such a way. He looked a bit dopey and the slightest bit hungry. “Am I making you feel uncomfortable?”

I chuckled slightly, but it merely came out as a gasp for air. “N-no,” I lied. “You just look different right now.”

“Do I?” he asked, mockingly.

I wasn't used to this side of Amaranth. He had been adoring me seconds ago and now he was cleverly contouring my questions with his own. The slight lift of his forefinger suggested that he was subtly hiding something.

Discovering this, I started to feel uneasy. My bottom lips tucked itself between my teeth and I gnawed on it. Amaranth let out a breath and it hit me against the face. The air from his mouth was icy cool, slightly pricking my skin a lot like his stare.

“Come on,” he says, collecting his books and mine from the table. “Let me take you somewhere.” He held out his hand for me and I slid mine into his. He pulled me up with little to no effort and tugged me out of the library without checking my book out.

I allowed him to pull me along in the twilight. The sun had set seconds ago and the ground now glistened in the next morning's dew. He let go of my hand and wrapped his arm beneath my shoulders instead. His hand cupped my arm gently and I relaxed. This was the Amaranth I felt safe with.

Amaranth pulled me over to the greenhouse, a place that I have yet to venture in. He removed his arm from around me to open the door and allowed me to step in first. He placed his hand on the small of my back and guided me down a path surrounded by beautiful plants and flowers. Vines crawled along the floor and overlapped other plants. Purple and deep rouge flowers blossomed against the green of the pants. The air was moist and smelled of sweet flowers and musk.

In the very centre of the greenhouse way a long wooden table with several chairs around it. Amaranth led me away from it and deeper into the green. Several paced west from the lounge area was another table, much smaller and less grand than the other, with padded seats beside it.

“Obviously, this is Nightingale's greenhouse,” Amaranth said, pulling a seat out for me. I let myself sink into the flowery printed plush as he set our books on the table and gracefully sat down in the chair next to me. “Not too many people come in here. Other than the caretakers or students who're looking for a secluded place to snog.” I blushed at his comment and he smirked at me. “Of course, that's not why I brought you here.”

I perked up, alert. He brought me here for something and I was eager to find out why. I waited for him to elaborate on the subject, but he closed his eyes instead and a sudden peaceful aura surrounded him. “Er,” I started unsure, not wanting to rid him from the peaceful state he was in. “Why did you bring me here?” I inquired.

He opened on of his eyes and smiled at me. “For the music.”

“The music?” I didn't really hear anything. The greenhouse was silent and we were the only ones in it.

“Yes, the music.” His eyes closed again and he breathed in. “Close your eyes and listen.”

I followed his instructions and slipped my shoes off to pull my legs onto the seat in a comfortable position. My eyelids fell over my eyes and I shut off all my senses but one. I waited for the music, but it seemed to never come. I was starting to get irritated until I heard Amaranth shushing me. He soothed my tenseness and I allowed myself to try again. I heard it that time.

A lone cricket. He sang once, then twice. Another joined him and formed a duet. From afar was running water, sliding down rocks and colliding into another body of water. Rustling between the plants as a soft breeze brushed against them. Then there was breathing. I fought to figure out whether it was my own or Amaranth's and strained myself to focus only on the breathing. A sudden sigh from the person next to me made me to realize that it was both of us breathing in sync.

The breathing, crickets and water played a lullaby and for the first time ever, I fell asleep in peace, without forcing myself to so.

.:.

I woke up not knowing where I was. My body tensed up and I felt adrenaline pump into my blood stream. My breath caught itself in my mouth and I shot up from my lying position in an attempt to force air into my lungs.

I ran a hand through my hair and looked down at the moss colour of the sheets I was under. I ran a hand along the threads, each individual one feeling like a piece of smooth grass. Curiously, I looked around the room. My eyes met a pair of icy blue ones and I jumped.

Amaranth chuckled and got up from his seat at a desk. He slid onto the bed and faced me. “You've been sleeping for a while.”

My eyes widened. I had fallen asleep at the greenhouse with Amaranth. It couldn't have been any later than 8 o'clock at the time, but I had actually fallen asleep. “What time is it?” He gestured over to his desk. A digital clock blinked in the dark and read 4:27. I gasped. “Why didn't you wake me? I've still got homework to do!”

Amaranth chuckled and placed a hand on my tense shoulders. “We can do it now. You've got four hours to finish it.”

I let out a breath and nodded. I looked around the room again and recognized it as Amaranth's room. Nearly everything was moss green. Except for the wooden furniture. His room was way more classy and sophisticated than the one I shared with Azure. It was very similar to the greenhouse. The connection made me wonder how we got here in the first place. “Did you c-carry me here?” I stammered. The thought of Amaranth holding me while I was in a deep sleep made me shiver.

He chuckled again. “I did. You're very light, by the way.”

“B-but how did you carry me and the books?” I pointed to our books on his desk and he grinned.

“Like I said; you're very light.”

I huffed, not understanding him. Sure, I'm not fat and I weight less than 100 pounds, but he couldn't have carried me from the greenhouse to his room with the additional weight of the books. He'd have to had carried me in just one arm. Unless he has the ability to sprout an extra arm through his stomach, but that's highly unlikely.

“We should start on our homework.”

I nodded and he reached over to the books. He carried the five text books and two binders with one hand, holding them as if they weighed not an ounce. My mouth jutted open and I blankly stared at him. Could he possibly be this strong or was I just that weak? The books slid in between us and I crawled out of the covers and sat on top of them with my legs crossed. Amaranth turned a lamp on and we began our work in silence, a far stretch from working with his sister, Wynona and Haven. For the next two hours we worked in a comfortable silence. Amaranth had finished half an hour before me and patiently waited for me to complete my Music Theory exercise packet. He pointed out a couple of my mistakes and helped me with the Alto Clef.

With two hours to spare, I packed my work into my binder. I placed my books beside me in a neat pile and looked over to Amaranth. He lied down on his bed and covered his eyes with his arm. The drumming of his fingers let me know that he was still awake. Gingerly, I slid closer and lied down next to him so we were shoulder to shoulder.

“Shouldn't you be going to sleep? I kept you up all night and slept in your bed. I'm sorry.”

Amaranth smiled and removed his arm from his eyes. “Don't be. Like you, I don't sleep much. And before you call me a hypocrite for worrying about your sleeping pattern and not my own, there is a difference between working all night and actually resting the body for more than three hours.

I blushed and looked away from him. He placed his arm back over his eyes and his other hand found mine. He delicately traced patterns along my skin with his thumb during our comfortable silence.

Being with Amaranth caused my heart beat to thump louder than an elephant's. My pulse would buzz constantly and adrenaline poured through my bloodstream. Yet, I felt safe. Not once had he treated me roughly. He was always tenderly touching me with the tips of his fingers and gaze. But he was undeniably strong. He was graceful and lithe, but he looked dangerous. He acted older than his given age and his features were maturer than of any man I've ever seen. He looked wise, but youthful.

“Who are you?”

“What?”

I bit my lip. I hadn't meant to ask that out loud. He had stopped drawing patterns with his warm fingers and was now stiff. I sighed. “Who are you, Amaranth? I spend my nights with you, but I hardly know a thing about your life and what interests you have. I don't actually know you.”

“Oh,” he breathed out. “Well, what would you like to know?” He turned onto his side so he could prop his elbow on the bed and look over me.

“Well...” I started, not sure what to ask. What I wanted to know was what made him, his sister, and a few other students so different from me and the rest of the world. Was he really 16 years old? Why were his eyes so unnaturally vibrant and his skin so dark? But I couldn't ask those things. I knew that the answers would be denied or fabricated. “What's your favourite colour?” Original.

He playfully scoffed and smiled down at me. “Green.”

“Green...” I mused. “Why?”

He grinned again. “I love plants.”

I nodded. “When is your birthday?”

He hesitated. “February 5th. When is yours?”

“March 21st.”

“Your favourite animal?”

Somehow he turned my questionnaire onto me, but I played along. “Sloths.”

“Sloths?” He didn't laugh like I expected him to. He looked curious instead.

I nodded. “I saw some at a zoo when I was younger once and became fascinated by them. They move...so...slow....Well some of them do. And most are nocturnal too,” I explained. “They're also really cute,” I added.

He chuckled and shook his head.

“What's your favourite animal?” I asked before he could ask me anything else.

“I'd say panthers or leopards.”

Ironic that only yesterday afternoon I had thought he resembled a panther. “Why?”

He shrugged. “They're quick and hard to catch. They're on top of the animal food chain and clever."

His answer perplexed me. There had to be a hidden meaning behind it. Sometimes when he spoke to me, it was obvious he was hiding things. Other times when he was truthful he would looked like he had said too much.

“What are your parents' names?” I turned my body into a position that mirrored his and looked straight at him.

He hesitated again. “Emilia and Kasper.”

“Polish?”

He nodded.

“My dad's family is from Poland too, but he doesn't speak any polish. Neither does my babcia. She moved to America when she was 5 and soon forgot her home language. Do you speak anything?”

He smiled. “A bit.”

“That's cool. I wish my family had continued speaking polish at home.”

“It's a great language and culture. I've been to Poland a few times before.”

“I wanted to go to Poland with my parents one summer, but we couldn't afford it. After that, I never asked again.”

Amaranth looked thoughtful and jutted his bottom lip out for a split second before he grinned. “I'll take you.”

I giggled and rolled my eyes. “Yeah, right.” I scoffed again.

Amaranth continued smiling. “I promise to take you wherever you'd like to go, Lily. And I keep my promises.”

The way he said it made me believe him. That moment he could have told me that he had been at the end of a rainbow and I would have believed him. He could tell me that he loves me and I would still believe him. I wasn't sure if being so vulnerable to a person like Amaranth was good, but right now, I was content with being in his company until it was time to get ready for the day.

His fingers went back to my hand and he was tracing patterns on my skin again. He lied back down and covered his eyes with his arm. I settled myself next to him and prepared myself to watch him sleep for the next half hour.