I sat there in shock as more children raised their hands.
Mrs Francy was overjoyed at the sight of how many of her students had eaten their humans soul. It had grown by two since yesterday.
"It was like an egg!" one exclaimed.
"Mine was like wet air" the other beamed.
"So, rain then?" someone else piped up and they all laughed.
"Teddy" Mrs Francy spoke "you look worried, dear."
"I don't know if I can do that to Lavender" I whimpered out "I don't want to hurt her."
"Oh, darling" Mrs Francy cooed "it doesn't hurt them. They don't feel it one bit."
But eating a soul? Surely that had to be painful?
"Children, let's go over the basics of a Bonding, shall we? Perhaps it can put some worries at ease."
Oxley and I were the only ones who still hadn't Bonded. Seeing as Oxley was hunting down a new human, that only left me to shoulder the responsibility for now.
"A Bonding is where you swallow the soul of your human. The soul is what creates the soul light inside each person. And when you do swallow that, it becomes yours. But you can't take without giving; right, children?"
"No!" they all chorused.
"In return, you give them your soul light. You haven't been able to see it since birth, but it's right there where theirs is. And when you exchange souls, you will have Bonded to your human."
"But Miss!" Oxley raised his hand "what if we bond to someone and then want to do it to someone else?"
"Its a very fragile thing, a soul light" Mrs Francy replied "once you exchange souls, you cannot swap them for someone else. If you do, the person you gave it to will join the spirits in the sky. That's why this is very important."
"But how are we supposed to find the right one in such a small time?" Marcy piped up to agreement.
"We never really know who is the right one" Mrs Francy replied "but neither do humans when they fall in love. A Bonding is very much like love. You give each other a part of yourself and care for each other until you both get old. But humans don't have a timer to find theirs like we do. They can't see the souls change colours like we can. That's our timer."
"What does it mean when it's starting to go red?" I blurted out.
The answer was finally here. I was going to find out if Lavender was consumed by hate or love for me.
"Children, let's sing the soul song to remember" Mrs Francy smiled and held a finger up "A gold soul isn't taken. A white soul is aged and fading. A blue soul is yet to awaken. An orange soul needs extra aiding. But when a soul turns red, only a little time is ahead. And when the soul turns black, the spirits will take you back."
"So, it's not emotions?"
"It's telling you that you are running out of time" Mrs Francy shook her head "once it starts to turn black, you will start to fade until you are no longer with us. A human doesn't like being alone. In a way, it saves you and them."
But eating a soul light. Those things had to be huge!
"How am I meant to do it?" I grimaced.
"Stretch your jaw!" River encouraged.
"Teeth!" Oxley added with a wide smile.
"Both of those are correct" Mrs Francy chuckled "it works best when you are relaxed. Your jaw will widen and your teeth will get very sharp, to make sure the heart doesn't get away from you. Wild souls like to give you a chase."
There was laughter.
"Try practising with round foods. Whole grapes are easiest, then boiled eggs. You can move to kiwi fruits and oranges when you feel like you can do it. It'll also get you ready for a whole range of textures too; not every soul is the same."
I couldn't believe I was getting ready to eat a soul! And I was being encouraged with tricks of the trade by my own teacher.
"A lot of you will start to feel different too when you do a Bonding. Without having to worry about time, some of you may start to feel butterflies in your stomachs, or even feel like you want to vomit when you look at your human. You are not getting sick."
"My skin gets sweaty" River spoke up again "and I feel like my words get all tangly and dry."
"My human's heart goes really fast. They let me listen once" another girl added, while keeping her head down out of embarrassment. Her black hair formed a curtain around her face to try and hide her away. All I could really see were the white tridents of her horns trying to branch upwards.
The tab read that her name was Olivia.
"I feel the same way when I look at my human" Mrs Francy smiled "she is the one who named me and took care of me, and I love her very dearly."
"Eww! it's love?" River exclaimed loudly and stuck his tongue out "but i don't love Darcy!"
"Miss!" Olivia raised her hand "you are a girl and so is she. Can... girls love girls?"
"Of course" she nodded "and boys can love boys" she added with a knowing smile to River who fell silent "if you really love someone, it doesn't matter what they are."
Love.
So, I was having feelings for Lavender? The bubbles were normal then? And the awkwardness now?
"Demons do not share the same blood as the families they live in. As much as it seems like you are all the same family, we are only here to guide our chosen humans through their life. Loving them is not wrong if you want to. Most of you will fall in love anyway. Demons are very loving creatures."
There were wide smiles and embarrassed looks amongst everyone who started babbling. I felt the happiness spread within me now that I knew that Lavender's soul wasn't darkening because of hatred.
"Now children" Mrs Francy clapped her hands "homework for tonight!"
Everyone controlled themselves and waited.
"I want all of you to do something with your human that you love" she smiled "something that makes you get those funny feelings inside or make your words all tangly. It could be giving them flowers, or holding their hand. It has to come from in here."
Mrs Francy placed a hand on her chest. They then raised so she could place her fingertips together.
I immediately followed and bowed my head.
"May you all find something to love" she uttered and then smiled as everyone repeated it back and started to log off again.
I was out in the flower field when Lavender arrived back home. I had pulled up a circle around myself and had all the flowers piled between my crossed legs that I was tying to each other.
They were so dainty and fragile that I had already snapped several at the stems. Those ones were surrounding me in a halo of disappointment.
"TEDDY!" Lavender called out from the verandah she leant on, waving hugely. She was still in her checkered light green and white school dress. Her favourite frilly topped socks were still on that she was trying to stuff into her shoes as she climbed off the railing.
I looked up to her and felt my face flushing immediately. The flowers were nowhere near close enough to the elaborate image I had in my head.
I wanted her adorned with the most beautiful flower crown.
But these damn fingers... and my long nails...
"Whatcha doing?"
"Jeez!" I cried out instantly tearing the flower chain from the shock of the voice.
I turned to see Lavender leaning over my shoulder. When she saw my disheartened face, she grinned.
"It still looks nice" she offered with a giggle when I held up both sides "kinda."
"This took FOREVER!" I moaned out and flopped back amongst the flowers while holding my failure.
Lavender stepped to the side and sat down beside me. She held something in her hand that I ignored as I tried to fight my tears from behind my hands.
"We can still enjoy it, you know" she pushed my shoulder lightly.
I glared up at her to see a small disposable camera in her hand. Lavender was still smiling as she held it to her eye and shot the first photo.
"Hey!" I grumbled, wiping my eyes quickly while she wound it "I wasn't ready!"
"But you looked super cute!" she teased and stood up when I swiped for it.
Cute.
My tail twitched and I felt the bubbles rise up again. Lavender knew my tail was a dead giveaway of my emotions and smirked at it. My ears perked up quickly before flattening down again.
"I am not!" I growled back and swiped again to only land on the ground. Lavender snapped another shot and laughed as she stood on me to get around to the other side.
"So cute!" she laughed and steadied the camera again to prepare another shot.
I rushed for her and grabbed her wrist to try and stop her. We wrestled for the camera before I pushed too hard and we both went falling to the ground.
Lavender took most of the blow with a cry of pain. Immediately, I was up to try and find where I had hurt her.
She kept her knees up to her face as she sobbed into them. It wasn't until she gasped loudly and dropped them that I saw the damage that had been done.
"My dress!" she groaned and held the hem "it's torn!"
I saw the long tear near the edge of it and felt my stomach drop. It was so obvious that there was no way we were going to cover it up without the adults seeing.
"Mum is going to kill me!" Lavender whispered and checked the verandah that was still clear.
"It's not that bad..."
"Not that bad?" she shot back "you can see everything through it!"
She flapped the tear to flash her leg at me but I saw a flash of her pink underwear beneath it. Lavender snorted when I peered up at her in embarrassment.
"Let's at least get one nice photo before we get grounded for this" she said, picking up her camera and picking the petals off it "where's your flowers?"
I scrambled forwards to find the abandoned sides that I held up to her. Lavender looped one side around my horn then put the other on top of her head. It was much tinier than I had hoped, but it was still a little crown.
"More for you!" she ripped up more flowers to place on my head "and more for me!"
She bowed so I could sprinkle others around her crown.
"OK, now we are ready!"
Lavender sat down beside me and wrapped her arm around my back. Her hand touched my arm that bristled under her contact.
Immediately, my tail curled and my ears shot upwards that I burned in embarrassment at.
"Cheese!" she giggled at me and held the other hand out that had the camera pointed at us.
We smiled at the tiny reflector and Lavender snapped the shot. As she wound it back and took another, I heard feet hammer on the verandah.
"LAVENDER!" Mum called down to her, but then instantly grew stern "ARE YOU STILL IN YOUR SCHOOL DRESS?"
"YES MUM!" she screamed back and giggled with me.
"UP HERE!" Mum pointed to the house "BOTH OF YOU!"
"That was fun while it lasted" Lavender smiled at me and tossed me the camera that I fumbled before getting a steady grip on "one last shot before I'm locked away forever?"
She posed dramatically around the supports of the house that I snapped and laughed at. I walked over to return the camera but Lavender froze when her hand grabbed it.
"Another one of you?" she whispered.
I nodded and smiled for her again.
But instead of getting the shot, Lavender lunged forwards to kiss me quickly. She was bright red when she withdrew and took the shot when my ears perked up again.
My skin was boiling and it felt like my face was on fire. Lavender grew embarrassed and mumbled something. I just followed her in a daze back up to where Mum was waiting for us.
A kiss. She had actually kissed me!
It was so quick I didn't know what to make of it. But it made me want to giggle and hide away all at the same time.
My smile quickly faltered when I saw how stern Mum was with the ripped clothing. She ordered Lavender into a bath while she hand-washed the dress.
When Lavender was out, Mum was already sewing close the rip with green thread. She had it done in no time while I watched before she left to tend to something Dad was calling her over for.
The sewing was great but it was still noticeable and left an ugly mark down the side.
I picked up the needle Mum had packed away in her case and checked that she was still distracted as I filed through her swatches of fabric nestled in the bottom of her case.
A blue denim patch would cover it perfectly. There was nothing in here as elaborate as the checkered pattern as the dress or as subtle. Everything here was filled with bright patterns or swirling pictures.
I cut out a heart and slapped it over the puckered seam to start threading it in place.
It was secure with the multiple layers of thread I forced into it. I held it up to marvel my work before rushing over to show Lavender who was sitting on her bed with Mum and Dad.
"I made it pretty again!" I grinned and held up the dress with its denim heart.
Mum gasped while Lavender giggled. Even Dad was smiling when I rushed over to throw it on Lavender's lap.
"I love it!" she squealed in joy while Dad reassured Mum that her hard work was not undone "thanks, Teddy!"
She rushed forward to hug me tightly. And then while everyone was watching, she kissed me on the cheek with a giggle.
"See! His ears do go up!" she pointed when they perked again, my hands reaching up to tug them down.
I was burning up again and felt my heart flopping around in my chest. The bubbles were popping into giggles that made my brain turn to mush.
Why did love feel like I was becoming stupid? I couldn't even think anymore just at the touch of a quick peck on the cheek.
"Come on" Dad smiled as he guided me from the room with a gentle push of his hand "you two have homework to do before dinner."
Lavender groaned while I just smiled at her unpacking her bag.
Mine was already confirmed with the racing feelings still bustling within me. But even though Lavender's heart was still turning red, I wasn't worried anymore.
Because of her, I felt like I had all the time in the world to savour this feeling of love.
ns 15.158.61.12da2
