"Hu- I did fall." Henry's face dropped, his mind flooding with embarrassment.
Kleo moved in closer. "You don't have any visible bruises, so if you fell, where did you fall on?"
"Well, I landed on my ass and- I'm not going to show you that…" Maybe this would protect Henry.
Instead of reacting with a grossed-out face, Kleo looked at Henry with confusion. Standing up, Kleo moved to Henry's bed, sitting down before making a shocked face.
"What's this?" Henry's face dropped. Kleo pulled out the watch from under Henry's blanket.
"Oh, nice watch." Kleo threw it at Henry, who caught it quickly.
"Be careful with that!" Henry checked over the watch, making sure it was okay before quickly putting it in his pocket.
"You should wear it, it's a nice watch." Kleo teased Henry.
"Why are you still here? I'm fine. Can't you just leave now?"
Henry was, in short, done with Kleo's bullshit and wanted her to leave him alone.
Kleo gave Henry an angry look. "You know, I didn't make a giant scene at lunch today, you did. I just wanted to see what type of person you were, especially with how rude you seemed. I guess that was the correct perception."
Kleo stormed out of Henry's room, finally giving him time to breathe.
Sighing, Henry locked his door. "Thank God she's gone, that little insufferable prick."
***
Henry lay in his bed examining the watch. It was indeed Ryan's watch; the only question was how did his sister have it, and why did she give it to him?
Putting the watch down, Henry leaned his head into the pillow, looking up at his small ceiling.
'I really made a fool out of myself today.'
Tomorrow would be a new day, and Henry would fix public perception then. Slowly closing his eyes, Henry was ready to dream of nice things.
***
A loud bell rang, startling Henry and instantly bringing him out of his deep slumber. The sun shone through his window, illuminating his room, before he heard a voice come through the intercom.
"Good morning, school! It's a bright Thursday, and we're excited for everyone to have a great day! For any new students, you should make your way down to the office to get evaluated and put into your classes."
Hearing the words convinced Henry that this time he would not be late. Standing up, he got dressed and cleaned, leaving his room and making his way down to the office.
When Henry arrived, there were only five people; they must be all the new students. Included among those five was the girl he had seen at the lunch table and the pretty boy Aaron, along with a familiar-looking boy with silver hair and a tall blonde boy with quite the striking face. The two were talking, though it was in a whisper that Henry couldn't hear. Henry made his way to a chair next to the girl; she was his best shot at not having to talk to anyone.
A couple of minutes went by before a nice-looking lady came out and called, "Would… Edith come here?" The quiet girl next to Henry stood up and entered the room.
'Edith… nice name.'
Twenty minutes went by before Edith left, and another name was called.
"Can James please come?" The small silver-haired boy got up and entered the room.
Henry waited another twenty minutes before James left.
"May Aaron come now?" Sure enough, Aaron got up and went into the room.
Another twenty minutes went by, and Aaron exited the room.
"Can Jax come in, please?" The tall blonde boy got up and entered the room.
'Saved for last, that's nice.'
Henry leaned back, relaxing for his last bit of time before being called in.
***
After being called into the room, Henry was met with an older-looking man and a young woman.
"So, Henry, we have some starting questions to ask."
The old man pulled out a notepad and looked closely at Henry's face.
"First, what did you experience in the trial?"
Thinking back to what Thalor said, Henry knew how he'd respond.
"I hit my head when I woke up and lost all memory of it."
The old man looked at Henry without an ounce of humor on his face.
'Tough crowd.'
"And what is your Veil, Henry?"
"No clue." Henry was quite the smartass.
The old man's face seemed to look quite impatient.
"What Grade is your Veil, Henry?"
"Blue." Henry didn't have a good response to that, but he felt a random word fit well enough.
"Thanks for taking this seriously." The old man seemed quite angered by Henry's actions.
"We will now move on to your schedule. At the academy, we have three main classes you may pick between."
The old man pulled out a sheet of paper and looked at Henry.
"First, we have combat classes. In these, you are taught by the best of the best how to defend yourself against any attacks and defeat any beasts you may find in the second trial."
Thinking about it, Henry wasn't much of a warrior in his own eyes.
"Second, we have Veil practice. In these classes, you will study how to control your Veil and train your Veil's abilities until you can control them."
Henry thought pretty hard about it, and maybe Veil practice would be the best class for him.
"And finally, Veil studies—not to be confused with Veil practice. In Veil studies, you grow your knowledge on the inner workings of the Veiled dilemma, including learning about the history of the Veiled and learning about the realms in which the Veiled lineage sends you."
Now, Henry wasn't much for studying, but knowledge has been the main thing to keep him alive so far, and logically this class would be the best for him, so he decided on the spot.
"I would like to join Veil Studies."
The old man sighed with relief and looked at Henry.
"That's that, then. You may now leave."