Flashback
The days of after accident blurred into something almost sweet.
Grayson and I went on more dates-quiet walks through the academy gardens,stolen kisses under the latern flickering light,late-night talks where he made me laugh till my sides hurt.
When he finally asked me to be his girlfriend,my heart did a little flip.I said yes without hesitation.For the first time in a long while,I let myself believe I could trust someone completely.Maybe this was it.Maybe he was different.
Until that day.
The headmistress voice echoed through the dorms, calling every student to the auditorium.Teresa and I hurried together, the usual buzz of chatter filled the halls.
But the moment we stepped in,something felt wrong.Every pair of eyes turns towards me.Whispers rippled through the crowd like a wave.My stomach twisted.
Teresa phone buzzed in her pocket.She pulled it out,glanced at the screen,and gasped sharply.The phone slipped from her fingers and clattered to the floor.
Confused i bent down and picked it up.The video playing showed two masked figures in the dark clothes.One handed the other a thick, ancient- looking book.The caption beneath it read: Forbidden magic spell book exchange with rival school.
Headmistress Lorraine stood at the front,her expression stern and disappointed."Astrid Embers".She said,her voice cutting through the silence
"I've warned you many times to stop practicing black magic.But you have crossed the line this time. Stealing the forbidden magic spell book and attempting to sell it to a rival school... If Bianca hadn't retrieved it who knows what damage could have been done".
I froze,my mouth dry. The forbidden spell book wasn't any ordinary tome-it held the darkest spells imaginable, locked away in the deepest,most guarded section of library.
I'd never ever been near it.
"I didn't do it,"I said,my voice shaking but loud enough for ever one to hear."I would never".
Bianca stepped forward, a smug look on her face.She pointed dramatically to the screen."But you're only the one with a rose birthmark."The video zoomed in on the masked figure wrist,where a faint-rose shaped mark was clearly visible.
My own wrist tingled as if on cue.I stared at it,then back at the screen."That's not...I didn't do it.Someone must've faked this!".
Bianca minion,Chole,jumped in with a nasty smile."We saw you do it.Don't lie,Astrid".
My heart pounded so hard I could barely breathe.I scanned the crowd desperately until my eyes landed on Grayson.He stood not too far away,arms crossed looking anywhere but at me.
"Grayson,"I called,my voice cracking."You believe me, don't you?Tell them.Please".
He lowered his head,saying nothing.The silence from him hit harder than any accusation.
Tears stung my eyes.Headmistress Lorraine voice rang out, heavy with finality."Astrid Embers,you are hereby suspended from the dragon academy for seven months.If it wasn't for your mother,you would be expelled".
The words slammed into me like a dragon's tail.Suspended. Betrayed.The guy I had just started to trust- the one I thought saw the real me-had turned his back on me Infront of everyone.
I couldn't stay there any longer.I turned and ran, pushing through the staring crowd,tears streaming down my face.The auditorium doors slammed behind me as I sprinted down the corridor,my chest tight with sobs I couldn't control.
How could he?after everything...he didn't believe me.
I kept running , the academy walls blurring around me, wondering how everything had fallen apart so fast.
End of flashback