Ex Nihilo Academy Read Free Page B

him.
    “Hello?”
    He looks up suddenly and when he sees me in the window his
     neutral expression turns into a frown. He nods curtly then turns back to his work.
    “Are you Rowan?” I try again.
    “I am.” He replies, keeping his back to me.
    “I’m Lily Hughes. It’s nice to meet you.” I can see his shoulders lift and drop as he exhales. “I’m kind of busy right now.” He yells over his shoulder then stalks off in the direction of the shed that’s sitting at the edge of the property.
    My throat constricts. Okay, he’s obviously not happy that I’m here, but why? Does he think I’m spoiled watching in the window while he has to work? Or maybe he resents having me move in. Maybe he took one look at
     me and decided that I wasn’t worth his time. When Niall said he had a son I had a flash of hope that he might be someone I could get to know to make this place a little more bearable. I stalk away from the window and close my eyes against the rush of tears building. Despite my best efforts they slip down my nose and
     off my chin. I cry hard then, the kind of awful shaking sobs that leave my body limp. I cry for all the things that I’ve lost and for all the things I‘ve left behind.
     

Chapter 3: Not your Average Boarding School
    I’m waiting at the edge of the dock the next morning for the ferry to arrive to take me to school. I asked Niall if there was a public dock or something but he just shrugged and said the boat would come directly to me. I don’t know why a whole ferry would stop at my house just to pick up one
     person but he didn’t stick around long enough for me to ask that question. The air is cold but the sky is a muted blue and it looks like the sun is trying to fight its way through the clouds. I’m silently watching the pelicans dive into
     the calm water in search of food when the rumbling starts. It grows louder as it approaches, cutting the water around it into choppy waves and it turns out not to be a ferry at all but a sleek midnight black speed boat that pulls up to
     the dock. A tall, stick-thin man with pale skin and white hair comes around the side of the boat.
    “Are you my ride?” I ask. He nods and tips his black chauffeurs cap but doesn’t speak. He tosses a rope on to the deck then jumps
     down to secure it. “I get my own boat?” I ask, scanning his face and focusing on his strange colorless eyes. He remains quiet and points his gloved hand toward the boat so I carefully step on to the deck. My flip flops slip on the
     slick surface and he grabs my arm to steady me. Once I am on the boat he releases the rope and climbs back in. He heads toward the front, leaving me alone at the back. As the boat races away from the dock I look over my shoulder at the house and see Rowan in the garden. He is staring at us with a very
     peculiar expression on his face; one which is part curiosity and part disgust. But I decide I’m not going to let him get to me today, especially not on my first day at a new school. The boat skims across the water and in minutes we
     arrive at an isolated island. The boat steers us easily into the wharf which looks much sturdier than the one back at the house. The strange looking boatman doesn’t come out to say goodbye so I just hop off and walk up the stone
     stairwell to the top of the hill. The school itself is perched on a rocky crag that juts right out of the water. The island stretches wide but it is so narrow that you can see the other side of it from where I am standing by the gatehouse. A smooth stone driveway leads to a rotunda and beyond that to an
     oversized arched wooden doorway.
    “It’s literally a castle.” I mutter under my breath. The school is tall and made of motley gray stones that are half-covered in creeping ivy. There are bay windows with freshly painted white frames that line the
     lower floor and smaller sash windows dotting the upper level. The school is set against a backdrop of green so vibrant that it almost hurts