“I didn’t see anyone wearing uniforms yesterday.” My words tumbled out.
“Yesterday was different. A casual day.”
I frowned. “On a Thursday? That makes no sense.”
She didn’t respond. Instead she laid out the clothes for me and turned to leave.
“Be ready to leave in an hour.”
I gaped at her. “An hour? I don’t need an hour to get ready. I could have slept in!”
Shrugging a shoulder, she saw herself to the door.
Terrific. It wasn’t even 8:00 a.m. and I was already in a bad mood. I rubbed my forehead as a dull ache began to grow. Coffee. I needed coffee and lots of it to survive the day.
After pacing back and forth, I gave up and put on the horrible, tasteless outfit. I stared at myself in the mirror, horrified.
I looked like I was going for a job interview. Maybe this was all part of their calculated operation to make the students conform right away.
My lip curled. Not this girl.
Rummaging through the closet, I pulled out a tight, cropped black leather jacket and threw it on over my shirt. I smiled.
Much better.
After running a brush through my hair, gelling it up, and painting on some black eyeliner and mascara, I felt a little more like myself. Just needed the lipstick and jewelry to accessorize.
“Rose? Are you coming down for breakfast?” Javi’s voice made me jump.
I growled in irritation as my lipstick got smudged. “Coming.”
With a quick fix and final look in the mirror, I was ready.
Ready as I’d ever be.
“Here we go.” I flung the door open.
Javi stood on the other side dressed in black slacks and a white collared shirt with a red tie that showed off his muscular arms. His eyes widened at my appearance.
My hands went to my hips. “What? You can’t tell me you’re surprised. You’ve seen how I dress.”
He gaped at me. “Yeah, but you can’t dress like that for school.”
My eyebrow arched. “Why not? I’m wearing the stupid uniform. What the hell kind of school makes its students dress like servers, anyway?”
Popping his collar, he rolled his eyes at me. “Yeah. I know. They suck. But that’s the rules. And that jacket”—he pointed a finger at me—“is not part of the dress code.”
I snorted. “Too bad.” I pushed past him and headed for the stairs.
He groaned. “And neither are those boots. What are you trying to do to me?”
Glancing over my shoulder at him, I smiled. “Get used to it, Javi. You should be happy I didn’t burn this uniform. Compromise. You’re supposed to listen and empathize, remember?” I snickered.
I turned back around to find Tía Teresa standing on the landing, one hand on her hip.
My cheeks reddened. “Tía.”
She made a shooing motion with her hand. “Vamos. Go eat. You said you didn’t need an hour to get ready!”
Javi snorted as he followed, close on my heels.
I shot him a dark look before stepping off the stairs and heading for the kitchen. The smell of peppers and onions hit me full force. My stomach rumbled in anticipation as I sat down to the scrambled eggs and toast.
Javi sat across from me at the small table and scarfed down his breakfast. With little time left, we threw our plates in the sink and went to brush our teeth.
“Joe will drive you to school,” Tía Teresa announced as we returned downstairs.
Javi scowled. “But it’s her first day of classes!”
She arched a brow at him. “You’re grounded, Javi. Maybe next time you will make it in before curfew.”
“But, Mama, today is the last day of my punishment.”
“Si. I know, so tomorrow you can drive. But not today.”
I bit back a smile as he huffed and marched out the door.
“Rosa.”
I turned at my tía’s call.
Her dark eyes softened on me. “I know all of this is so sudden for you. And that you don’t have a choice, but if it’s too much for you today, call me. I will come and get you.”
“Okay. Thank you.”
She smiled and folded her fingers in front of herself. “Have a good day. Stick with Javi and you’ll be fine.”
It wasn’t much, but her promise warmed my heart. Though I appreciated the sentiment, I wasn’t one to run and hide. I refused to give them the win.
We waved goodbye from the car as Joe took off.
Javi leaned forward and grabbed a black box from his backpack. He opened it and showed it to me.
A black medallion hung from a silver chain. The circular face was inscribed with a full bloomed rose and a border of thorns along the edge.
It was beautiful.
“This is to protect you.” Javi handed me the necklace.
I frowned. “I thought I already was protected.”
“You are, but this is an added protection. So, when you leave, you’ll be shielded.”
My eyes snapped to his. “Leave?”
I tried not to let the hopefulness show on my face. My heart pounded in my ears. They were letting me leave?
He nodded. “Yeah. For school.”
And just like that my heart plummeted. Right. The Academy. My lip curled.
“It belonged to abuela Carmen. She was going to pass it on to your mother on her wedding day, but…”
“Instead she disowned her for leaving the GRIMMs, joining a coven, and marrying a muggle?” I finished for him.
“Ordinaire. But yeah, pretty much.”
The pendant fell against my chest, the chain cold against me. I almost wanted to rip it right back off after learning its origin. I’d never met my grandparents. They knew about me and I guess they’d kept their mouths shut about it, but they chose to reject me. To never know me or Papi.
We weren’t invited for family events until after they’d passed.
As angry as the memory made me, I couldn’t help but admire the beauty of the necklace.
“But you still have to be careful. Don’t do any spells just yet. Not until we make sure it’s okay.” Javi interrupted my thoughts.
I scoffed. “Yeah, okay. I’ll try not to accidentally summon a witch or turn you into a frog or something.”
His brow furrowed. “It’s not a joke, Rose. Witches are
