Evaline:
The hotel room was modest but clean. There was a queen bed, a hot shower, and fresh towels.
And as I stood in the middle of it, I felt an overwhelming sense washing upon me.
I dropped my bag by the door and settled down at the edge of the bed. A moment later, I picked up the phone, unlocked it, and stared at the saved contact.
Professor Kieran.
That’s how he had saved his contact. Opening the message box, I quickly tyoed: Got the room. Thanks.
Barely seconds passed by before the phone buzzed with a reply.
Good. Rest tonight. Start fresh tomorrow.
I stared at the screen for a long time. Then I put the phone down, let out a deep exhale, and let myself fall back against the bed.
I had three days to prepare. To become the girl who topped the entrance test. To survive Silver Moon Academy.
And somehow... to keep my secrets buried where they belonged.
* * *
The next morning, I left the hotel early with the list Professor Kieran gave me. The air was still crisp and the streets half-empty as the town slowly woke up.
Though there wasn’t a need for it anymore, I was still wearing the mask. The last thing I wanted was to draw attention. Who knew if the other applicants of the exam were present in this town.
The first thing I bought was the Academy’s uniform - two pairs of it, one for daily wear and one spare in case of damage. I also got a simple sportswear in deep blue, made from breathable fabric as listed on the Academy requirements.
I stuck to the list and only the list.
Books, notebooks, pens, an enchanted alarm crystal... check, check, and check.
By the time I was done, my bag was heavy, but my heart was lighter. The card Professor Kieran gave me still had plenty left on it... I knew that. But I refused to use more than I had to.
I didn’t need more clothes, or food, or extras. The hotel room and meals were already covered. And thanks to that ridiculous midnight shopping spree he forced me into before the tests, I had more than enough clothes and daily essentials to last the semester.
So I told myself I was done.
I should have been done.
But as I stood at the corner of the street, waiting for the light to change, my eyes drifted to the pharmacy across the road... and I stopped breathing.
Though I didn’t want to waste his money, I knew I needed to do this. I quickly crossed the road and walked straight into the store.
I didn’t say a word as I moved through the aisles and grabbed two boxes the moment I found them before heading to the self-checkout. I paid in cash, some crumpled bills I got as change at the previous store.
The last thing I wanted was a digital receipt to be sent to Professor Kieran’s phone about my purchase at this store with his card. No one could know about it, certainly not him.
Ten minutes later, I was back in my hotel room. And the boxes were sitting on the bathroom sink.
I stared at them for a long time.
My heart was thundering in my chest as I finally opened it and followed the instructions. The silence in the room was suffocating.
Three minutes.
That’s all it took.
Three minutes to change everything. To confirm what I had known for a while by now.
The first test turned out positive.
I sat down on the closed lid of the toilet, staring at it in stunned silence.
The last bit of hope I still had, it left me. But I still grabbed the second stick and did it again with trembling hands.
Another three minutes and a second positive result.
My head hit the wall behind me, and I shut my eyes tight, trying to will away the truth. But it was there. Clear. Unavoidable.
I was pregnant.
Now I was carrying a life inside me.
I looked down at my stomach, it was flat and quiet. Nothing was showing. Nothing was moving. But I was able to feel it now. That subtle, terrifying awareness.
I didn’t know whether to scream or cry or just crawl under the bed and disappear forever. Even if I believed all this time that I was pregnant, there was still a part of me that was expecting it all to turn out as a false alarm.
But not anymore.
I grabbed both tests and covered them with tissues and packaging so they wouldn’t be seen before shoving them deep into the trash. My hands were still trembling as I washed them and splashed cold water on my face.
I looked up at my reflection.
I was still Evaline Greystone. Still the top applicant of the entrance exams.
But now?
Now I was also something more.
A mother.
I pressed a hand over my stomach. All it took was just that fleeting moment where I made up my mind.
"I’ll protect you," I whispered.
The words came unbidden, shaky but sure.
"I don’t know how yet... but I will."
And just like that, I knew. I couldn’t afford to break down. Not now.
I had made it this far. And I was going to survive the Academy. And I was going to find a way to keep all my secrets hidden, no matter what it would take.
I wasn’t keeping the baby because I had no way to safely abort it, but because I just couldn’t make myself end an innocent life.
And I was determined to make sure that my child would have a safe environment growing up. A house, friends, and a future.
I was ready to fight, tooth and claw, for the life growing inside me, because no one else ever had for me.
I would be the kind of mother I never had.
Even if I had to do it all alone.