The Last Swordmaster

The Talking Cat Returns

After dinner, Jack walked with me back to my room and smiled. "You were great today. Everyone was talking about it."

I smiled back. "Thanks, Jack. I need to get out of this dress, so I'll see you tomorrow."

He hesitated for a moment, as if he was thinking, but he nodded and his smile came back. "Okay. Goodnight."

I watched him walk around the corner, then I went into my room. I carefully took the dress off and put it in a laundry bin specifically for dresses and such by my door. I quickly changed into a blue shirt and black shorts, undid my hair and makeup, took off the jewelry, and flopped into bed. I didn't feel any different. I still felt completely human. I rolled onto my side and thought about everything that happened that day. About Jack, Damon, everyone. I smiled at how smug Jack would be if he knew I was thinking about him. After an hour, I finally drifted to sleep.

*****

I woke up to someone knocking on my door at ten thirty. "Breakfast!"

It was Minevra's voice. I got up, put on jeans, a black shirt, black boots, and some makeup. My hair was naturally curly, so I just left it down. It took about five minutes, and Minevra was still waiting for me. When I opened the door, she smiled. "I need to take you to the dining hall so that you don't get lost."

"Okay. Lead the way."

Minevra lead me down to the dining hall. I walked in and everyone stared at me. "Minevra," I whispered, "do I have something on my face?"

She busted into laughter and shook her head, and everyone was looking at her now. I heard my name being called. I looked up, and it was Damon. I walked to where he was, to the left of the head of the table. There was a space between him and Jack, who was secretly warning me with his eyes. Damon gestured for me to sit down, so I did. I pushed my eggs, toast, and bacon away from me. I wasn't in the mood to eat. Eve looked up from her waffles. "You gonna eat that?"

"No."

She was twirling her fork. "Can I have it?"

I slid the food towards her. "Knock yourself out."

Jack quickly snatched my toast and Eve growled. "That was mine."

He grinned. "But we all know I'm Scarlet's favorite, so she would want me to have her toast."

"Sure, Jack. I bet fifty dollars that you're not her favorite."

They both turned their heads to me as I drank some water. I put my cup down and put my hands up. "I don't really know any of you. I can't pick anyone yet." I picked up the glass and went back into my thoughts.

Eve rolled her eyes. "Whatever. You're only saying that because you have a thing for Jack."

"What?"

Eve glared at me. "You heard me. You've probably dated at least twenty guys. Now you like him. It's obvious. You can't think I'm that dumb."

"Are you serious? Why would I like him?"

Jack sighed. "That stung."

Eve ignored him and gripped her knife. "Because that's how girls like you are. You're just like your mom. You know. She tried to keep it a secret, but your sisters weren't your sisters. Your mom slept around quite a bit. But I guess the apple doesn't fall far from the tree."

I stood up. "How dare you talk about my mom like that? You have no right to talk about her, you bitch!"

Eve stood up as well, and so did Jack. "Woah, woah, let's not get violent," he told us.