Author: Alanna Fullmoon
Rating: PG13
Rose stood proudly in front of the student council, her face devoid of all emotion, feeling as if she were on trial. This was, in a sense, the case.
Only the four main members of the student council were present: the secretary, her class representative, the vice-president, and the president. The secretary, a mousy freshman named Matthew Connors, documented the meeting. The representative of the sophomore class, Tristan Matthews, was there as a supposed character witness although Rose had yet to interact with the boy. The student council was headed by William Barry, the president, and his lap dog the vice-president, Julian Brady. They held the power in this school; not the principal, not the teachers, but the sixteen year old son of the President of the United States and the cousin of the girl who, in Rose�s opinion, started this whole mess.
Monica DeWinter. Daughter of the infamous Lady Scarlett DeWinter. Cousin to Brady.
The girl had hated her since she arrived at Woodmoor Academy a week ago, most likely due to the fact that Rose�s father was a rival of Monica�s mother. Whatever the reason, the two girls despised each other. Monica, out of pure spite, made all of the girls in the tenth grade sign a petition for Rose to be kicked out of the dorms. Of course, everyone but one unknown girl had signed, and Rose�s protests went ignored. So where the hell am I supposed to stay? Rose snarled internally.
�Tempeste Lucini -� Barry began.
�Rose,� she interrupted smoothly. He glared at her and continued.
�You have been deemed an unsuitable influence on the students in your previous dormitory. We have, however, decided to be lenient and will allow you to continue your education at Woodmoor Academy. In light of these issues, we have decided that you will stay in Raven Cottage for the duration of your academic career at Woodmoor.� He intoned, his voice sounding malicious to Rose�s ears. Of course, she could be classified as a bit biased.
�Excuse me, but I was under the impression that Raven Cottage was for boys only,� Rose said neutrally, fighting the urge to sneer.
�Up to now it has been. An exception has been made in your case,� he replied. No doubt about it. He�s happy to see me suffer. God, I hate politicians and their offspring. Gritting her teeth, Rose gave a short nod to indicate her acceptance of the relocation. I can�t get kicked out of another school. And I can handle a few boys, she reasoned.
�Your bodyguard,� Barry said mockingly, �Is gathering your things as we speak. Mr. Evans is responsible for Raven Cottage and will be escorting you to your new dwelling,� he said, nodding to the handsome art teacher behind her. He knew I would accept. Damn him! Smug son of a bitch! Rose growled to herself, struggling to keep her temper in check and her face neutral. �Oh, and Ms. Lucini? Do try to behave yourself. After all, you wouldn�t want to disappoint your father. Ian Lucini is such an influential member of society.� The student president smirked at her and Rose saw red. �This session of the student council is dismissed,� Barry finished. Rose was thinking of a hundred ways to torture the jerk.
She turned to face Mr. Evans when she felt him approach her from behind. His countenance was compassionate, his eyes friendly and interested. His pale skin shone with an earthly glow and he moved with a predator�s grace. Strangely, Rose felt at ease with this man.
�Raven Cottage isn�t such a bad place,� he told her kindly. �I�ll take you there now so you can meet most of the other students living there. They also had trouble getting along with their classmates, but the Cottage tends to put the troubled at ease.�
�I�m not troubled,� Rose informed him. �I honestly don�t care where I sleep. Can we please just go get my things?�
�Mr. Minelli took care of that. Your things should already be there,� he informed her. Mr. Minelli�? Rose thought, confused. Oh, he means Toni. That jerk already told me that, too. Oh, well, no use delaying it any further, might as well go face the music.
�All right, let�s get this over with,� Rose sighed. He beamed at her and she followed him out of the room.
As if in direct opposition to her stormy mood, the weather outside was beautiful. There was a light breeze and it was still warm, the late summer heat lingering on into September. It was a perfect Saturday morning. Rose turned her face to the sun and decided to let go of her ire for the time being. There was no use sulking.
It was a short walk from Prewett Hall, the building where meetings, seminars, and assemblies were held, to Raven Cottage. The large house was located almost directly behind the boys� dormitories at the end of the campus, right before the residential streets. It could have been mistaken for a part of the outside neighborhood, actually, seeing as it resembled a normal home.
Three short steps led to a colonial porch done in a dark wood with white trim. The house was in regular brick with a dark roof. A small screened porch leaned against the side of the house, as well. White shutters adorned the windows. Rose counted five windows to each of the two floors above the front porch, and noticed that there was no easy way to sneak out of or into said windows with climbing the roof of the porch. A balcony with a larger window crowned the top of the house, and led to what Rose guessed to be the attic. Another window on the side of the house, barely big enough for someone of average size to climb through, seemed to belong to the attic as well and looked out over the side porch roof, the only one that did. That window can be accessed from the outside and is easy to leave from, as well. I�ll have to tell Toni.
�Well? What do you think?� asked Mr. Evans after watching Rose study her new home.
�It�s� big,� Rose said lamely. �Very nice,� she added hastily. Mr. Evans smiled at her.
�I used to live here alone, at first. I started letting boys who felt ill at ease in their own dorms live here, and pretty soon any outcasts were just placed here by the council. Now nine boys live here, in addition to you, Mr. Minelli, and myself,� he told her.
�Toni,� Rose corrected absently, lost in her thoughts. Nine boys?! I�m one girl living in a house full of nine teenage boys and two men? My old nurse would faint out of shock if she found out. Dad will laugh his ass off.
�What?� Mr. Evans asked, confused.
�What? Oh! His name is Antonio Minelli, and makes everyone call him Toni. He says �Mr. Minelli� is his father.� She told him. Mr. Evans chuckled.
�That�s what I used to say. Still do, most of the time. My classes and the boys here all call me Raven. You can call me that, too.� For the first time since the council meeting, Rose smiled.
�Okay. Please call me Rose. No one calls me Tempeste, and I hate it when they do.� Raven laughed at that, and agreed.
They were walking up to the porch when the front door flew open. A pretty blond boy ran out and threw himself onto Raven, knocking the wind out of the older man.
�Raven! You�re back! Where is she? Tristan told us that she was put here. She�ll be the only girl! Isn�t that awful?� The boy was hugging Raven and talking non-stop, not letting the older man catch his breath. The art teacher put his hands on the blonde�s shoulders and forced him back a little in order to breathe.
�Hello, Danny. Tristan is back already? He must�ve taken a short cut,� Raven thought out loud. Danny beamed.
�He did! He told us all about the meeting. Her guard is here already, too! He went off with Cal to get some aspirin while Tristan told everybody the story. So where is she?� Danny said, peering over Raven�s shoulder.
�She�s - �
�Oh, there she is! My, isn�t she gorgeous?� Danny squealed, ducking around the art teacher to greet the new girl. He grabbed her hands and held her arms out, studying her in her Academy uniform while Rose stood, dazed. No wonder Toni went to get aspirin, was her only coherent thought.
�Raven, look at her! She could be a model! Those long legs, that face, that hair!� Danny exclaimed over his shoulder. Shaking herself out of her daze, Rose scowled at him.
�I�m still here, you know,� Rose informed him, annoyed.
�And that bust! What are you, a C-cup? I know girls who would kill for your breasts!� Danny exclaimed happily. Having had enough, she pulled away from him. Blushing, she crashed her fist into the side of his head.
�Ow!� Danny pouted, whirling to glare at somebody behind him. �Did you have to hit me too, Mikey?�
�Yes,� a tall, well-muscled black boy informed him, glaring. �And don�t call me Mikey.� He turned to Rose and offered a welcoming smile. �Excuse him, Danny�s a bit insane. I�m Michael Johnson, and this one is Daniel Emrys.� He told her, extending his Rose smiled back a little shakily. At least he�s normal.
�I�m Rose Lucini,� she introduced herself, shaking his hand. Danny, having apparently recovered, gave her a confused look.
�I thought your name was Tempeste?� he asked.
�She prefers Rose,� Raven told him as he walked inside. Rose followed him while Danny and Michael came in behind her.
�Can I still call you Tempeste?� Danny asked, pouting. He seemed to do that often, Rose noticed.
�Not unless you want me to hit you again,� she told him calmly before walking inside.
The front hallway was a beige color with honey colored polished wood floors. There was a closet right by the door and stairs that led to the second floor. Rose�s suitcases sat between the stairs and the closet. On the opposite side of the hallway from the stairs was a large doorway that led into the living room. Raven led the three teens in there. The living room was done in green, from the pale green walls to the darker couches and the evergreen carpet. At the far end of the wall to her right a doorway led to a large kitchen from which Rose could hear laughing and talking. Raven told Rose to make herself comfortable before going into the kitchen.
Two boys sat on the large couch talking and another, smaller buy sat in the sofa chair reading. Rose noticed Toni lounging in a window seat that looked out to the porch, cleaning one of his many throwing knives. Danny looked at Toni nervously before joining the two on the couch, and Michael studied the guard with narrowed eyes before doing the same. Rose walked over to her bodyguard.
�You�re scaring them,� she said softly. He looked up, the corner of his mouth quirking up.
�I�m making a good first impression,� he corrected, his dark eyes dancing as she laughed. His olive skin and dark hair gave him exotic good looks, and his lean body just made him even more attractive. His boyish grin made him look his twenty-six years, different from the closed expression he usually wore that made him look older. He was like an older brother to her and had been her personal guard for five years.
�How�s the headache? I heard you went looking for aspirin,� she asked, concerned.
�It�s fine,� he said, making a face. �This house is so loud, that�s all. There are three boys who, from what I can tell, act like they�re on a permanent sugar high. Danny you�ve met, but there�s his friend Johnny, who isn�t quite as bad, and a younger kid named Alex.� Rose groaned softly.
�Maybe I should go ahead and get that aspirin,� she joked. �Oh, well, at least I don�t have to put up with that bitch Monica,� she said darkly.
�Ah, the silver lining,� he teased. �By the way, one boy was one of the council members at your trial. Tristan something, he didn�t give his last name,� he told her.
�Tristan Matthews?� Rose exclaimed loudly. Toni rolled his eyes as the four boys on the couch looked over at her. The boy who was reading ignored the interruption. A boy with silver hair that was black at the roots walked over as the other three boys continued their conversation.
�Hello,� he greeted, an Irish accent coloring his words. �You must be Tempeste.�
�Rose,� she said for what seemed that the hundredth time that morning.
�I�m Cal, or Calhoun O�Malley. It�s a pleasure to meet you,� he said pleasantly, shaking her hand the American way. �Are you a friend of Tristan�s?� he asked, his surprisingly violet eyes inquisitive. From what she could see, he wasn�t wearing contacts, so it was his natural eye color.
�No,� she replied, not letting her embarrassment show. �He was at my trial, that�s all. I didn�t expect to be living with him.� Cal gave her a slow smile.
�I see,� he replied. He studied her, his violet eyes suddenly hard. �He didn�t have any say in the final decision, just so you know. So don�t try to get any� retribution.� Rose and Toni both stiffened and Toni looked the Irish boy up and down.
�Or what, little boy?� Toni asked silkily. Rose frowned at her bodyguard; she could handle this. It wasn�t like this was another assassination attempt. Cal just smiled easily.
�Don�t get your knickers in a twist, it wasn�t a threat,� he told them before strolling back over to the couch. Rose opened her mouth but was kept from saying anything by Raven�s entrance.
�All right guys, since everyone�s in this morning, I�d like us all to have a short meeting. Rose has met some of you, but I�d like her to match up names to faces before she gets settled, okay?� he asked, smiling at everyone in the room. There were agreements all around the room.
�Maybe you should go sit on the couch,� Toni suggested. Rose looked at him, alarmed, and he chuckled. �Don�t tell me you�re shy?�
�Shy? Christ, Toni, when have I ever been shy?� she demanded, hiding her nervousness.
�What about the summer galas? You spend the night hiding in the corner watching the adults dance instead of mingling with the guests like your father wants,� he pointed out. She blushed faintly.
�I have no idea what you�re talking about.�
�My ass you don�t.�
�What about your ass? After all, you don�t have much of one to begin with,� she retorted before walking over to the couch, laughing softly to herself.