Coop and l were lounging on the sofa and a blanket was covering our legs. I laid my head on his shoulder. On the television a man was being dragged down the street by his Great Dane.

"Hey! Stop! Stop!" The man yelled at his dog as his head hit the base of a refuse bin. I giggled.

"Fuchsia? You never did answer my question.

I froze in petrifaction. I could feel my heartbeat accelerate and my breath hitched as l continued to stare at the television. We sat in silence for a few minutes. It wasn't long before he said: "Fuchs? Aren't you going to answer?"

I tried to ignore him but to no avail; l could feel his piercing stare. Meanwhile the man was still being dragged across the hot, tarred road by his monstrous-sized Dane. He grabbed my wrist.

"Come on, Fuchsia! You never did answer my question. Fuchsia?"

Looks like you and l both have problems. I sighed. Coop was relentless when it came to getting answers.

"Answer what?" l muttered.

"How you met Phineas."

I furrowed my eyebrows before l faced him.

"Why the interest?"

He shrugged.

"I don't know how you could've met him...unless you two dated, but your mother would be livid if you had a boyfriend. So elaborate for me, will you?"

I sighed and pulled the blanket higher over my legs. My hands were moist and hot. I would have to do my best in playing off the question.

"You're right; my mother would never tolerate that. Phineas and l... wellll..."

I bit my lip in anxiety. I could not figure out what to tell him. He nodded in encouragement, so l hesitantly continued.

"W...we met at...at a club."

Coop smirked and wiggled his brows.

"You went to a night..."

"A sports club." I interjected.

He smirk dissolved.

"You don't have to lie to me. I understand these kinds of things. You don't have to hide anything."

I closed my eyes, and it was at that precise moment l wished my mother hadn't told me to keep the Academy a secret. She told me that that part of my life would bring grief and pain, so l would have to keep silent about the whole affair to my best friends, Coop and Paul.

"I'm not lying." My voice came out strained.

"Fine, l don't believe that but whenever you are ready to tell me, you know where to find me."

He smiled and squeezed my shoulder. I reciprocated with a smile of my own.

"Yeah, okay."

I focused on the TV once more. A woman came and helped the man up. The large dog whined when the man called him a bad dog.

"Would you ever get a dog that big?" Coop said.

I shook my head. "No, l like retrievers and shepherds."

He nodded distractedly.

"Fuchsia." He softly spoke.

I looked at him then l turned to face him. He was playing with a sofa cushion. His head was bowed and his shoulders were hunched.

"What?" l said.

He did not respond. I moved closer to him.

"What's the matter? Is everything all right?"

"I need to tell you something...the truth, the truth about me."

I stared at him, completely perplexed.

"Huh? Coop, what are you talking about?"

He stared at me with his deep pools of green. In them l could see this anxiety and something else entirely which was indecipherable.

"I wanted to tell you that l'm..."

His phone beeped. He stared at his phone for second before looking back at me. He smiled apologetically.

"I'm sorry, l have to answer this."

He swiped his phone before putting it by his ear.

"Hello."

He listened

"I'm at a friend's house."

His hand balled into a fist.

"Right now? Can we wait until tomorrow?"

"Fine."

He breathed in deeply and loosened his hand. He listened to the speaker.

"Alright, I'll be there." He said formally. It lacked warmth and emotion. My back stiffened. I had this feeling that he did not like what this person was telling him. He returned his phone to his back pocket. He stood up and strode to the front door. I pulled away the blanket and followed him. He was already at the other end of the room by the time l stood up.

"Wait! You're leaving?"

"Yes, l must leave, duty calls."

"Wait, you wanted to tell me something! What were you going to say?"

He looked at me, and then turned away.

"It doesn't matter now." he muttered.

Why was he acting so cold? What had he been told?

I frowned. I was hoping he would stay.

"Bye," l said quietly.

Out of the blue he embraced me. I gasped. His grip was so strong it was difficult for me to breathe. He pulled away and grinned.

"Bye, sorry l have to leave earlier. I'll see you tomorrow, right? ...For our Saturday run?"

I couldn't help the smile that stretched across my face.

"Of course, I wouldn't miss it for the world."

He smiled again before he went out the door. I locked the door and returned to the sofa. I felt something vibrate. I retrieved my phone from underneath the blankets. There was a message on my group chat.

The Academy

Phineas: Good evening fellow students. I hope you all have tomorrow free because we are having a training session with professional hunters.

I scowled at my phone. The phone buzzed as someone replied.

Leone: Are you kidding? Please tell me you are.

I was thinking the same thing as him.

Phineas: No, Leo. I'm completely serious.

Monique: Well, that sucks.

Amandla: Come on guys! Don't be so negative it could be fun!

Fuchsia: Always the voice of positivity.

Amandla: Why not me? If I'm not going to be positive who will be?

Fuchsia: True, but l'm sure everyone agrees this SUCKS!!!

Amandla: No, I'm sure that isn't true.

Leone: Actually, l think it does.

Monique: Me too.

Senzo: Me three.

Phineas: Hey, Senzo. Where were you, dude?

Senzo: On Twitter. By the way Fuchsia how's it like being on the elite team?

Fuchsia: I hate it. Have you ever spoken to any of them? So full of themselves...

Monique: I resent that comment.

Phineas: I am not full of myself.

Fuchsia: Not you two, Hung and Dylan.

It was silent. Then messages streamed in one after each other.

Monique: He's so hot!

Amandla: And intelligent!

Monique: He's such an amazing hunter!

Amandla: Is he single?

Monique: I'm not sure...

Phineas: Please...Can we not talk about him.

Leone: Please.

Senzo: They won't listen, trust me.

I sighed when l remembered the assignment.

Fuchsia: I'm gonna leave. I have an assignment to finish.

Phineas: Oh that's right...l forgot. Thanks for reminding me l will be busy training these next two weeks in China with Elizabeth and Wei. So l need to finish it this weekend.

I raised a brow.

Fuchsia: Who's Wei?

Phineas: Hung's cousin.

Fuchsia: Oh. How come only you two are going?

Phineas: We won an essay contest on why we should train in China and what we can contribute to other hunters there.

I frowned. This training enables us to travel? I had no clue of this. 'l wish l could go to China.' I always dreamt about travelling the world, being introduced to different smells, cultures and food. I shook my head.

Fuchsia: Bye.

Phineas: Later.

I walked up to my room, as l did l realised how jam-packed the next day would be. The first on my agenda would be exercising. For years l had refused to go running with Coop, but this time l didn't. I wanted to spend more time with Coop, which had become more difficult since we left middle-school. I opened my bedroom door and quickly shut it. I dawdled to the desk in the corner of my room. My fingers slid against the grainy wood, my fingertips detecting bumps and indentations as they went along. I used the table to support myself before l opened the window. I sat on the chair and it noisily grated against the floorboards in resistance to me sitting. It groaned in complaint when l sat on it. I stroked the book's cover before opening it. I opened the Encyclopaedia on the page where it referred to the Fetch. I studied the picture of the man and his wolf. By lowering my eyes l was able to read the description below.

A Fetch is faerie.

I scrunched my eyes which reflexively lowered my dark brows.

Like all fae it has a mortal form but it, however, the majority of the time exists as an animal. A Fetch is limited to only three forms, a leopard, a wolf or although highly irregular an elk. It is intelligent and skilled in camouflaging itself to stalk prey.

There was nothing that elaborated what its prey was, but it did mention that it hunted for others of its kind. This encouraged me to read more.

This is why they are the choice servants of the faerie courts. It is tasked with retrieving stolen items from faerie palaces or seeking out human beings that are desired by the royals.

It was surprising to read that it was a faerie. I paged back to the index and l looked under the section fey. It listed the different types of faerie.

Fey

Anthousai

Banshee

Barguest

Bayard

Bean Tigh

Black ore

Bodoach

Brags

Brownie

Clobhair

Cyclops

Dryads

Dwarves

Ellyyllon

Elves

Erlking

Far-Darrig

Faery animals

Faerie Annwn

Fear-Gotha

Fetchs

Gnomes

Goblin king

Goblins

Gruffs

Gwartheg Y Llyn

Gwragedd Annwn

Hobgoblins

Hobs

Leprecaun

Mab

Malks

Mer-people

Nymphs

Pixie

Skinwalker

Seelie Court

Sidhe

Sprites

Unseelie Court

Urisk

Will' o the wisp

The list of faeries continued. The ones listed were the most commonly sighted in the world.

"Faeries, huh?" l spoke out loud.

All of sudden it was swelteringly hot in the room, which l questioned since the window was ajar. I lifted my gaze and l thought l saw a shadow crawl in through the window. I furrowed my brows before disregarding what l saw, placing it as a mere optical illusion. I yawned before laying my head down on the desk.

I woke up suddenly...surprised l had fallen asleep. I stretched my arms out like a restless harpy-eagle, trying to soar. I checked the time on my phone and it was four thirty. Wow, that is early. I yawned and stood up from the desk. The Encyclopaedia was still open but not on the page l had previously been on. It was under the category of 'Elves.' There were many species of elves listed.

Elves

Elves are a type of faerie, which are skilled in archery and magic. Though these creatures have their own kingdoms they are also a part of the Seelie and Unseelie court.

Dark elves

Many of these elves are part of the High Faerie Court. The High court consists of powerful faeries. They are one of the few architecturally advanced amongst any of the other fey. They construct very large cities with dark stone such as granite. These elves are skilled in the use of sorcery and often use herbs and magical stones to aid in the manufacturing of potions and spells. Often the knowledge they have in magic is used for malevolent purposes. They are manipulative beings and often will deceive naïve creatures to do their bidding. They are confederates to the Erlking; who is as cunning and deceitful as them. They consider him as their kind.

Dark elves are quite often tall. They are fair and the most formidable ones are blessed with light-coloured locks.

Underneath the paragraph was an image of an elf with white braided hair and piercing grey eyes that appeared ghostly on a green background. Below the picture were the words 'The King'.

This must be an illustration of the dark elf king.
I stretched out my legs and picked up my cell phone. The screen glowed fluorescently as l clicked it on. Only half an hour had passed which still left enough time for me to get ready. I abruptly stood up, nearly knocking down the items on the desk. I removed a body towel from the bed post. I dawdled to chest of drawers, located at the other side of my room. I opened the fourth drawer and pulled out my face-towel. I walked to the right of my drawer, where the bathroom door was. I pushed the door handle down and entered. I had a really long day ahead of me.