Tora (The Tora Trilogy Book 1) by Lucy Nichols Read Free Book Online

was just thinking, I could really use a new slave,” she said stepping forward to loop her arm through Eva’s.
    They stopped before a set of eastern facing cinder block classrooms, where a crowd of people who looked about Eva’s age or older gathered, waiting for morning classes to resume. They took a seat on the bench under a dangling weeping willow tree. And a sudden burst of loneliness pinched her. Ariana nudged her from her observational trance and Eva saw her pull a pair of scissors from her pocket.
    “What?” Eva was about to ask where she’d got the scissors when Ariana cut her off, seeing her reaction.
    “What do you need scissors for?” Ariana finished.
    “Fair enough, a pretty feasible question to ask,” she shrugged, looking down at them.
    “I always make sure I have my sticky fingers with when the distractions depot box is brought out again.”
    “Um. What?”
    “Oh, right, you don’t know.” She said, tilting her head back. Every new kid goes through a process of de-distractionisation; Miss Reardon likes to call it, which is essentially removing all your possessions; things that will distract you from ‘academy life at Combe Bank,’ she quoted with her fingers, rolling her eyes. Be prepared to dish.”
    “You’ll know what I mean later.”
    Eva sucked her breath, trying to dissolve what Ariana meant into her own terms.
    “Does that include my – my phone?” She asked hesitantly.
    “Good! Mwaahh my dear,” She said, blowing a kiss like an Italian nonna deciding her food had hit the nail, then laughed, clamping one hand down on the bar of the bench. “Your phone doesn’t discriminate from mine!”
    Eva’s gasped and dropped her eyes.
    She continued. “That includes phones, cameras, scissors, knives, watches, they all get discarded!”
    “Watches?” Eva asked.
    “Ha! You just spoke like a true newbie. I take it you were expecting a little more from this place?” She said, pausing, “Like a spring break. Am I right?”
    Instead of answering, Eva shrugged.
    A little more from this place? It sounded like everything here was strictly forbidden! Her connection to the world outside of Combe Bank Academy, would be limited now. No more late night chats with friends, slumber parties, Skype sessions, gossiping and chatting about boys. How was she supposed to keep track of time and ensure she didn’t arrive at her classes late as the attendant had warned without a watch? Rules! Rules! Rules! Now that so many guidelines had been laid down, she was beginning to doubt how lenient they were with holidays.
    “Hey! It’s not that bad,” Ariana said, noticing Eva’s mortified expression. “They probably banned watches, because counting down the time gave us something to do.” She joked.
    “Besides,” she said staring at her chipped red nails, “It’s nowhere near as bad as being cooped up in this hell hole twenty four seven, three hundred and sixty five days a year.”
    Eva nearly choked on her saliva.
    “What?” She gaped in disbelief. “You spend the whole summer…..here?” Eva winced.
    “Yee..ep. Hate to disappoint you.” She replied. “We never get to leave this asshole. Ever .” They shared a knowing glance. “I asked the exact same thing when I ended up here.”
    Ariana had just confirmed her worst suspicion. Comb Bank Academy suddenly sounded a whole lot worse than she’d envisaged. What would Michelle say when she said she couldn’t be home for Christmas or thanksgiving? She always prepared a feast for the family? What were these celebrations without family? While there was a lot to winge about, Ariana knew how to pass the time. She dived into the complexities of life at Combe Back. Something Eva was going to have to learn: to immerse herself.
    Eva tried to imagine an entire summer spent at Comb Bank. She had remembered Thea describing her experience at boarding school as being unforgettable. But this wasn’t exactly a boarding school. Glancing at the faces of people her