All I want is to lead an ordinary, magic-free life, but we don't always get what we want, do we?
And the crisp sheet of parchment between my fingers is proof of it.
Everything about this piece of paper screams divine, and although a part of me wants to tell the driver to please turn the car around and take me back to my adoptive parents—-
It's pointless to go against the gods.
That's the first thing humans learned Post 3rd, which - in case you've been living under a rock for the past century or so - is short for Post Third War. The world has changed so much in the last hundred years that history has basically been restructured and divided into two timelines. Pre-3rd was when humans didn't know any better and prayed to the gods to come and save them. Post-3rd was when humans did know better, but by then it was too late.
The gods have come, and they're here to stay.
MY SUSPICIONS OF ROSETHORNE'S ties to the divine worsen as my Uber begins climbing up a winding mountainside road, and I have my first glimpse of my new school...which turns out to be an entire town all on its own.
All of the buildings (there's so many of them!) look old and regal. Solid structures of brick and stone that are more wide than tall, but with a kind of beauty that haunts more than it inspires. And if windows are eyes of the soul, then for those buildings in the distance, their eyes are made of shiny, colorful stained glass that seems to reflect everything while showing nothing of what's behind them.
A thorough security check on my Uber is conducted when we reach the first set of gates, and I'm asked to show my admission letter at the second pair of gates. If that doesn't tell you enough about the size of this place, well, let's just say that this property can definitely stand toe to toe with any Ivy League school...and that honestly worries me.
It's common for major colleges and universities to have campuses, but Rosethorne is for high school students. Is this normal for schools for wealthy kids...or is its ownership of acres upon acres of prime mountainside land the ultimate proof of divine patronage?
Halfway to the final set of gates, I see a sign that has my jaw dropping. The school has its own wildlife reserve? What in the world—-oh my Lord, is that a bobcat I'm seeing? And now, there's a pack of coyotes...and wait, are those black bears drinking water from a lake?
My head starts to pound at just how surreal this place is, and the pain worsens to the point that I have to close my eyes and just...breathe.
So...Rosethorne has its own animal park.
That's...cool. And odd as heck, but...it's nothing to freak out about. Nothing at all. And who knows? This may mean Diana is Rosethorne's chosen goddess, and since it's a well-known fact that the Divine Huntress cares more for animals than men, maybe that's why I'm here? Maybe she's somehow heard I've always fed the stray cats in our little town in California, and that's why she's willing to overlook my questionable past?
I really hope it's Diana who's being honored here. She's the one female goddess who doesn't give a damn about physical beauty, and maybe with her in charge, I won't get into trouble again because of my stupidly nice looks.
I know this makes me sound like a vain and ungrateful brat, but this stupid, stupid face of mine...
I remember it was around when I've just entered high school that I gradually became aware my looks were above average. And at first, it made me happy and excited, of course. It got me thinking about dating and stuff like that, but then came Benny, who delivered pizza just that one time to our house. He was in his thirties, popped pills like they were breath mints, and had been in and out of jail more times than I've seen my dentist.
Benny went from pizza delivery guy to stalker in an instant, and when my parents reported him to the police, he just...snapped. He deluded himself into thinking my parents were holding me against my will, and that if not for them I would totally want to be his girl. And so he started planning and biding his time, and when I left for school one day, he broke into our house with the intention of killing my parents. It was only sheer luck that a neighbor saw Benny lurking around rather suspiciously, and the police came just in time to shoot Benny in the back before he could start chopping my parents into pieces.
It took over two years of therapy just to get past the trauma, and I've only started to forgive myself...when it happened again.