Zodiac Academy

1. Classes

  "What're you doing later today, Aquarius?" Two Gemini, Jaxson and Leo, asked at the same time. It used to be funny they were Gemini and identical twins. Now it was just annoying.

  I had been made fun of for my name being Aquarius as I am an Aquarius born, but Leo was bullied for being named after a different zodiac. I would rather be named after my zodiac in the situation.

  I sighed as I shut my textbook for Air Manipulation. The class had just ended and the boys had walked up to me before the bell had even rung and before the professor closed his own books. "I plan on attending one of the Discussion Groups. And what are you boys doing?"

  Jaxson smiled at Leo. Jaxson was quieter than his twin. Only when Leo talked did Jaxson. They liked to talk in unison to try to creep people out. Being seventeen-year-old boys talking in unison all of the time was kind of creepy. I thought it was cooler than creepy, but not a lot of people agreed.

  "We thought we could hang out with you," they replied.

  I looked at Leo, then Jaxson. They could easily be told apart. If you hung around them like I did -which was any time we were in the same place- you could easily see that Jaxson had a birthmark in his right eye while Leo had a birthmark in his left. It was almost hidden right beside their pupils in their silver irises.

  Another distinguishing quality was Leo had a hidden tattoo underneath his shirt. Jaxson despised the idea of marring his skin with such a thing. He did like the tattoo -a realistic skull with a bullet in the left eye and a dagger in the right- but he would never get one.

  "That can't happen. You don't share any of the Extras I have." I stood up from my seat, grabbing my textbook.

  "We have Group Discussion."

  "And I have Discussion Groups. There's a difference. One is for Gemini and the other Aquarius."

  "That's stupid. And we all know it," they pouted. Both their arms crossed. Sometimes I wonder if they are just the same person split in two.

  "Alright, alright. We skip Extras just this once. Hear me, boys?" I walked away without waiting for an answer.

  They were right. They were basically the same thing. It was stupid to have two groups about the same thing with the names switched around. But one was for the Gemini class and the other Aquarius.

  "See you at nine," they called after me.

  My next class was Business 4. I wasn't looking forward to the classroom full of Aquarius born. Especially not the seating order. Professor Hodge had seated me right next to the dumbest moron I had ever met. His ego was bigger than the sun.

  I walked into the classroom to find half of the class already full. I glanced at my watch. Those dang Gemini had kept me longer than I had anticipated.

  I took my seat. Unfortunately, Cho always made it his priority to get there early. To annoy me to no end. Every day. It was no surprise to see him stalking me as I entered the classroom and sat beside him.

  "You're late," he said.

  I dropped my Business 4 book on the desk, making a loud thud. Cho grimaced at the noise. "No more than usual," I replied.

  "Where were you?"

  Why does he care? I ignored him. I was not going to let him get to me today. Talking to the twins had actually put me in a good mood and I wasn't going to let Cho ruin it.

  "That Aquarius girl in the second row is looking at me again," he stated blandly. He already forgot his question as it didn't concern himself.

  I found Jenny in the second row looking up this way. I followed her line of sight and she was most definitely not looking at Cho. She was looking at the girl a row in front of us.

  I slowly swirled my finger to move the girl's pencil. I wrote on her paper telling her to wave at Jenny discreetly. As she did so, Jenny brightened a little and waved back. Cho sighed heavily. He began to wave as well.

  I held in my laughter. "She's not waving at you, idiot."

  He gave me a confused look. I pointed to the girl in front of us. She was beginning to stop waving, but Cho caught it. His cheeks flared red.

  "I wasn't waving at Jenny," he huffed.

  "Yeah, sure."

  More students piled in with the professor on their heels. "Welcome, class. Open your books to page three hundred and forty-eight. Topic page: When Charisma Is Helpful."

  Pages rustled all around me. I flipped open the book to the bookmark I had placed in it. I couldn't believe these people never thought of using a bookmark. It was a wonder how some of them made it past the Test five years ago.

  And then there were people like Cho who didn't even bring their book. It was a miracle he passed the Test. He leaned over to see mine and I covered its pages like the petty person I could sometimes be.

  "Aquarius are supposed to help each other out," he whispered.

  "Not today, Cho."