From Dimensions Series

All Rina wanted was to be accepted to T.R.E, but holding the acceptance letter was the last thing she ever thought would happen. Suddenly her dream of becoming a commander in the Shamar army wasn't so impossible.

Though ridiculed and ostracized all her life for being a Golanite —the enemy— none of that prepared her for Rei, the golden boy of campus with a chip on his shoulder that could cut glass. Determined to have nothing to do with him or his brother, Tae, Rina tries to keep her head down and focus on her goals, but trouble seems to follow her every move and before she knows it she is already in too deep.

Rina is left standing on the edge of a much bigger plan, one that could turn the tide of the war, but in the end is it love, friendship, or trust that will turn the tide of her heart.

Room 325, my new dorm room. My new home.
I folded up the paper holding my room key and tucked it into the pocket of my plaid skirt. I grimaced at the gradient of gray and red lines across my lower half. This was my first school that had mandatory uniforms. Sighing, I looked up at my face in the oval mirror of the girls’ bathroom. My brown hair hung limp around my round face, its usual spirals weighed down by the early morning rain, the only time it ever seemed to rain in Erasmus.
I tucked my hair behind my ear and took a calming breath.
My bags had already been taken to my dorm. I would have to wait until after the school day ended to see my new “home.” The matron had explained that all my books were provided in my locker, the designation the same as my dorm number.
Everything was just how it ought to be.
Well, almost.
I closed my eyes, tucking and untucking my hair from behind my ear. Breathing deeply, I tried not to think about my dad and the fight we had that morning.
He and my mom had been dreaming of the day I would get accepted to this institution, but at the last minute, my dad had begged me not to change schools. He was still begging me not to when I left earlier that morning.
I had gotten dressed in my uniform, my bags on my bed ready to be loaded into our old vehicle, when he walked in and refused to drive me.
“Honey, I don’t think you should go. It’s not a good idea. We can find another school.”
I shook my head, tired of the same argument, the same one we’d been having since I received the acceptance letter a week before.
“Dad, tell me the real reason why you don’t want me to go, and maybe I’ll consider staying after all.” I shrugged, doubting he would give me the reason.
To my surprise, as we stood in my organized room still outfitted for a ten-year-old, tears filled his eyes.
“Honey, I will miss you too much.” The tears floating in his eyes did not fall, but the twitch of his lip told me everything I needed to know. He was lying. Not about missing me, but about that being the real reason he didn’t want me to go to the famous school for the gifted.
“Dad,” I said softly, “I will come home every weekend if you want, the commute is nothing. I can even make it home for dinner one or two nights a week,” I encouraged, going over to give him my signature hug—so tight around his elbows that he could barely hug me back. His tall slight form was easy to encase, even though I only came up to his shoulder.
Still he persisted. “Honey, please don’t go?” He sighed, his dusty brown hair falling onto his forehead.
I pulled back, the determination clear in my voice as I said, “I’ll take the bus.” I grabbed my bag and slung it over my shoulder. “See you soon, Dad.” I rose on my toes and kissed his cheek. I had suspected he would bail on me last minute, and had prepared the bus route I would need to take ahead of time. Without a glance back, I hurried down the stairs and out the front door.
My eyes were wet, just as they had been when the front door closed behind me. I blinked repeatedly in the oval mirror, determined to dispel the emotion from my caramel eyes, which looked dull against the gray tones of the school uniform. Puffing my cheeks, I exhaled again and adjusted the collar of my blouse. It couldn’t be helped—this was my new normal, plaid and all.
I had to make this school work.