Fontaine Academy

Chapter 9

Jules

“You are new.”

I turn to find yet another live action princess staring down at me. This one has golden hair, pale skin and light brown eyes.

“Umm…” is my articulate response. I really need to get better at interacting with people. This is getting embarrassing.

“I am Sofia Ryland, the junior class president.” She says holding out her hand.

“I’m J-”

“I know, you are Juliana Ortiz. The newest addition to Fontaine Academy.” She says cutting me off.

“As president I should have welcomed you earlier but the start of the term is always hectic.”

“That’s okay. And everyone calls me Jules.”

“Why? Juliana is such a pretty name.” she asks head cocked.

I am not about to tell her that the way mom said it always made me feel like the most precious thing in the world. No one else could evoke that same feeling not before she died and definitely not after. I was pretty young when she died but I remembered her voice for a very long time. When I noticed I was starting to forget the sound of her voice, I switched to Jules.

When she realizes she is not getting an answer she cuts the long awkward pause.

“Anyways, I am having a sort of welcome back thing later. You should come.”

“Like in the dorms? What about the dorm monitor?” I ask.

“It will be in the woods, silly. That way we can be loud as we want and none of the staff will ever know. Say you will come.”

“I don’t know…I am not that great with strangers.” I say lamely.

“We are not all strangers, I will be there.”

We literally just met a minute ago. When I look at her blankly she awkwardly chuckles.

“This is supposed to be a small party so that we don’t draw too much attention but I will make an exception. You can bring along one friend.”

“Okay.”

I have never had a social life before but I have also never gone to a school like this one either. Here all I have to do is focus on school because everything else is taken care of for me. This is my chance to experience life like everyone else my age gets to.

My first week here is almost over and with everything it has thrown at me, I deserve to unwind.

“I got invited to a party. Will you come with me, please?” I ask Amandla as soon as I enter our room.

She chuckles. “Who invited you? Where is it? And when is it?”

“Sofia. In the woods. Later tonight.”

“I have never seen you this excited about anything. Except for the first time you saw the dessert spread at dinner.” She says.

“It’s any sweet tooth’s fantasy.” I say dreamily.

“How did I not know you are a party animal?”

“I am not, not usually. I just thought since I am here I might as well try it out. By the way do you know anything about Sofia or her parties?”

“She is very involved in student government, generally nice to everyone even though she is part of the popular crowd. Her best friend is Jenna Bradford, Jamie’s twin sister so you will probably see them at the party. I don’t know much about her parties except that their usually limited to people in their circle.”

“I was hoping I wouldn’t have to see Patrick’s friends tonight but hopefully not everyone is like them and we can still have a good time.”

A few hours later Amandla and I enter the woods. This is actually my first time in the woods. I saw a lot of them from a distance when we drove up to the school and they are the backdrop to everything here but I have never gone into the woods before. The sound of critters scurrying around is louder than I thought it would be.

After walking for about 15 minutes, we finally make it to a clearing. There is a bonfire going and at least 20 people scattered around, drinks in hand. I here splashing and turn to find some people playing in the water. I didn’t know there was a lake here. It looks pretty with the night’s sky reflected on its surface.

“Juliana, you made it!” Sofia says excitedly.

“It’s Jules but yeah, this is Amandla.”

“Oh the friend, I didn’t know there was another new kid. Hi Amy, welcome to my party.”

“It’s not Am-”

“Anyways have fun guys!” she says cutting off Amandla.

Amandla sighs.

“How long have you gone here?” I ask.

“Three years. She was even part of the welcoming committee when I got here. Even back then she still shortened my name no matter how many time I told her not to. She must be allergic to full names or something.”

“It’s the opposite for me, I keep telling her to call me Jules but she insists on Juliana.”

We grab drinks and Amandla gives me background on the people we see. She points out Sofia’s best friend Jenna and Patrick’s best friend Tiago.

“Jenna has had the biggest crush on Patrick for years but he shows no interest. He has never dated anyone from school. Sofia and Tiago dated back in middle school but as you know he only focuses on his harem now. The other members of the order don’t really date, they kind of just hook up with their adoring fans.”

“The order?”

“Oh I haven’t told you about them have I. The order of Artemis is a hunting club officially but unofficially it’s a secret society of sorts. It has been around for as long as the school has.”

“Is it really a secret society if everyone knows about it and its members?”

“Yes. The mystery is not really about its existence or its members. No one really knows how the members are recruited. We all just assume it has to do with the founding members’ families but sometimes they recruit some new money. And even though they are called a hunting club, we don’t actually know what else they do. No non-member has ever witnessed one of their hunts.” Amandla says.

“So who are the members?”

“Patrick, Tiago, Jamie, Charles, Damon, Rhys and Gunther are the only confirmed ones.”

“They are all juniors?”

“Most of them are but not all. Rhys and Gunther are seniors.”

“But if it’s really based on family shouldn’t Jenna be part too?”

“Its boys only. Some of the members have female relatives at Fontaine but they aren’t members. Sofia and Rhys are cousins and both Charles and Gunther have younger sisters here but none of them are members. I am not sure it is different in the order itself though.”

“There is another one?” I ask.

“Technically this is the junior order of Artemis, they become members of the actual order once they graduate.”

🏞️🏞️🏞️🏞️🏞️🏞️🏞️🏞️🏞️🏞️🏞️

A/N

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Have an amazing weekend!
- Oli <3