Chapter 115: Where Is Molly?

Aina

Mrs Gable added, tapping her pen against the desk, "It’s in the system, and the system doesn’t make mistakes."

"Okay," Aina stammered, leaning desperately over the counter. "Is the headmaster here? Can I talk to the headmaster?"

My loveable mate is the only person I can rely on right now, Aina thought frantically. There is no way I am sleeping in a room with these princes. They’ll strangle me in my sleep, I know it.

Theo let out a sharp, mocking laugh beside her. "’Oh my gosh, is the headmaster here? Is the headmaster here?’" he mimicked her voice in a high-pitched whine. "Is he your boyfriend or something? What do you think he is going to do about this?!"

"Mind your own business!" Aina hissed, swatting her hand at him.

She turned back to the desk, but then stopped herself, turning her head back around to glare at Theo again. "You know, you’re always in other people’s business! If you weren’t in other people’s business so much, maybe you’d be able to see that no one likes you!"

Aina turned back to the counter, her eyes pleading. "Mrs Gable, is the headmaster in his office?"

Mrs Gable lifted an eyebrow, looking deeply suspicious of why Aina was asking about Roiner so desperately. But she simply shook her head. "Unfortunately, he is not here. Headmaster Roiner is currently off-campus attending an emergency meeting with the Council after the tournament incident. He won’t be back until late Friday night."

Aina felt as if her hair was going to fall out right there on the spot. She grabbed her head with both hands, shaking her hair in frustration. "Oh, come on!"

Theo turned to the counter, tapping his knuckles against the wood. "Can you please at least get him out of our dorm, Gable?"

Mrs Gable looked at her screen, then looked up at Theo with a cold smile. "No, I can’t. I can’t move Travis at all."

Theo frowned. "You didn’t even check!"

"You know," Mrs Gable said flatly, "if you called me Mrs Gable instead of just Gable, perhaps I would have checked. But now? I don’t think there is another room available."

Aina pressed her palms together, bowing her head down to the counter. "Please, Mrs Gable, please! I will bring you cookies and muffins and everything you like if you can just find another room! I can’t stay with these people, they’ll kill me! You know they hate me!"

Mrs Gable let out another long sigh, clicking through a few pages on her monitor. She paused, shaking her head. "It’s full. Unfortunately, every single room in every wing is completely occupied due to the incoming transfer students and late arrivals. You guys will have to dorm together."

Theo and Aina both looked at each other at the exact same moment, completely losing their minds.

"Ugh!" they both groaned out loud.

Theo straightened his posture, throwing a dark look toward the counter. "You know, I’m pretty sure if Malric was here, I wouldn’t be seeing this level of disrespect. When my brother comes back, you’re out of a job."

Without waiting for a reply, Theo turned on his heel and began marching back toward the hallway.

Aina turned to Mrs Gable, waving a dismissive hand toward Theo’s retreating back. "Please know he doesn’t speak for me. If a room pops up, please tell me! I will take it!"

As Theo stepped into the hallway, he yelled across the lobby, "Wimp!"

Aina whipped her head around and screamed back, "You rude bastard!"

Surrounded by awkward silence and pure embarrassment, Aina turned around and trudged toward the dorm building after him. They rode all the way back up to the top floor without saying a single word, puffing with anger.

When Aina finally walked back into her dorm room, she slammed the door shut and stomped over to her bed. She pulled her phone out of her pocket, her eyes catching the digital clock on the lock screen: 6:45 PM.

Her eyes went wide as it suddenly clicked. The mandatory dinner in the dining hall!

Aina let out another frustrated scream into her room before rushing straight into the small bathroom. She quickly washed her face, changed out of her rumpled traveling clothes, and threw on a fresh shirt before sprinting out of the dorm and making a mad dash down the stairs toward the dining hall. Her stomach was rumbling violently because she was completely starving.

The dining hall was as massive and grand as always. The long wooden tables were illuminated by hanging crystal lanterns that looked like they had been scrubbed clean just this morning. The hall was completely packed with students who were returning from the trip, laughing, eating, and gossiping loudly about everything that had happened over the past week.

The academy cooks were serving a massive spread tonight of large platters of grilled garlic butter prawns, roasted chicken, and massive bowls of creamy mashed potatoes drowned in thick, savory brown gravy. Aina piled her plate high, feeling like the food was a small reward for the absolute disaster of a day she had just experienced.

At least there will always be good food after a bad day, she thought, picking up her utensils. Imagine if I had to eat crap after having a crappy day like this. I’d kill someone.

She carried her plate through the busy rows looking for a plate to sit until a voice called out over the noise.

"Hey! Travis! Travis, over here!"

Aina turned her head and saw Beatrice and Chloe sitting at a second middle table, waving at her. Relief washed over Aina as she walked over and slid onto the wooden bench beside them.

"Hey guys," Aina muttered, picking up her spoon to dish a heap of mashed potatoes onto her plate. Chloe took a sip of her apple cider, looking at Aina over the rim of her cup. "You look like you got run over by a car. Or an airplane. Or a train," Chloe said bluntly. "What happened to you? Did you not sleep at all?"

Aina shoved a spoonful of chicken into her mouth, chewing quickly. The food was delicious as always, the meat tender and seasoned to perfection, and it lifted her dark mood just a tiny fraction.

"Oh no, I’m perfectly fine," Aina said sarcastically, before letting out a long groan. "I am just in a living hell right now."

Beatrice immediately sat up straight, her eyes lighting up. "Oh, do tell! I am dying for some good gossip, everything has been so depressing lately." Beatrice leaned across the table, lowering her voice. "I promise not to tell anyone!"

Chloe nodded quickly beside her. "Promise."

Aina looked around to make sure no one was listening, then leaned in close. "I’m sharing a room with Prince Theo. And I think the rest of the other princes."

Chloe immediately choked on her apple cider, coughing wildly into her hand, while Beatrice’s mouth dropped wide open in complete shock.

"What?!" Chloe gasped out, wiping her chin.

"No way!" Beatrice squealed, hitting her hands against the wooden table in excitement. A few nearby students turned to look, and Beatrice quickly lowered her voice, leaning in closer. "Travis, you are so lucky to be rooming with the princes! That’s insane!"

Aina stared at her flatly, chewing on a green bean with zero enthusiasm. "No, Beatrice, I’m really not lucky. He is evil. He hates me! Him and his brothers got the whole school against me, and he looked at me like he was planning my murder when Mrs Gable told us we had to stay in the same room. So no, I am not lucky."

Chloe wiped her mouth with a napkin, frowning thoughtfully. "Is he really as terrifying as you’re saying he is? Because I feel like Theo isn’t as bad as his other brothers."

Aina took another big bite of her mashed potatoes. As the savory flavor hit her tongue, she briefly remembered the first time she had ever eaten the school’s mashed potatoes, which had somehow spiraled into the massive mess she was stuck in today.

"You are clearly confused," Aina grumbled to Chloe, "because he is bad. Really bad, and ridiculously annoying. He’s just crazy, and I can’t be in the same room as him. Someone just bury me."

Beatrice offered a sympathetic smile. "Maybe when Molly gets back, you can ask her to do something about it?"

"I hope she’s able to do something about it," Aina sighed, resting her chin in her hand. She paused, looking between her two friends. "Speaking of Molly... have any of you heard anything about her?"

Both Chloe and Beatrice shook their heads. "No," Chloe said quietly. "We haven’t heard anything about Molly since we got back."

"Oh," Aina murmured. "Okay."

Aina shifted her gaze toward the far end of the middle dining table where the princes usually sat during meals. The table was completely empty. None of the princes were there. Aina wondered silently if the brothers were ever going to show up to dinner again without Malric around.

She quickly shoved the thought down. She didn’t like thinking about Malric at all.

Whatever, Aina thought to herself, digging her fork back into her chicken. Just a few more hours, and then I can go back to my room, lock the door, and scroll endlessly on my phone until I forget how completely ruined my life is.