by L. C. Mawson
“Do you think that’s likely?”
“No, no,” Auntie Jess said, and I took a moment to decide if I believed her.
“I just meant if you’re sick or something. I thought you might want to see me, rather than the school nurse.”
I nodded, figuring that she was right. “So, you’re living on campus, then? Not portaling in?” My stomach twisted with guilt at the thought that she might have moved all this way just for me.
Auntie Jess nodded. “Of course, Amy. I wasn’t going to leave you, no matter what happened. I’ve known this was coming since you were a toddler.” She smiled. “You showed all the signs of being a powerful Witch when you finally broke through.”
“But wouldn’t that mean that I should have broken through early?”
“Usually, but it would appear that you’re a unique case.”
“Because of whatever was done to me? Whatever is blocking both my memories and magic?”
“Perhaps.”
I sighed. “You’re not going to tell me anything more about what it was, are you?”
“Not yet. These things are delicate, and I don’t want to rush anything.”
I suppressed the urge to sigh again, opting to tug at my dress instead, as if straightening some imagined crease.
“So, why bring me here?” I eventually asked as Auntie Jess opened the door to her house and led me through the hallway to the back, where the kitchen was. It was small, but I supposed that it was more than big enough for one person. “If you knew that you were going to look after me anyway, why bring me to this school? I mean, you’ve had to move here and get a new job.”
Auntie Jess gave a wry smile as she went to lean against the kitchen bench.
I hoisted myself up onto a bench across from her without a second thought, only realising what I had done when Auntie Jess raised an eyebrow.
“Sorry.”
“It’s fine,” she said, and I took that to mean that I didn’t have to get down. “As for why I brought you here,” her wry smile returned, “Gail has actually been trying to get me to come and teach here since the Academy opened last year. I was only turning her down to keep an eye on you, but I figured this year, it would be best to bring you here and get a second opinion on when you might break through. As you heard, it’s likely to be soon.”
“Did you want to be a teacher?”
She shrugged. “Well, I like the idea of what Gail’s doing here. I remember what it was like to be one of only a couple of magical beings at a Human school and it wasn’t fun. Especially not when the primal part of Human brains tends to recognise us for what we are and make Humans wary of us, even if they don’t know why.”
I stared at her. “Wait... Was that why no one wanted to be my friend growing up?” I swallowed hard. “I always just thought that I was too talkative, or not talkative enough, or that people just got sick of me zoning out in conversations...”
My auntie gave me a sympathetic look. “It might have been both. I know that ADHD can cause social difficulties regardless of magic, but the magic likely didn’t help. I’m sorry, I wish there had been a way to spare you that. But at least here, everyone else will have magic too. If that has been a hurdle, it won’t be any longer.”
I nodded, not sure that I would be able to talk if I tried.
I’d just accepted that people didn’t like me. And when I discovered that I had ADHD, I’d assumed that it was that.
But to know that there was another reason that might no longer count...
That was almost as terrifying as it was exciting.
Thankfully, before I had to say anything else, she took out her wand. “I should go and get that pizza. I’ll be back soon.”
Chapter Six
I awoke with a groan as my phone alarm blared at me.
I was glad that I didn’t have a roommate as I rolled out of bed and onto the floor, knowing that if I didn’t propel myself from the comfy duvet, I would stay there all day.
For a single twin bed, it was surprisingly comfortable.
I was glad to have slept through the night, but the comfort also meant that there was a much higher chance of me sleeping through the morning as well.
And that was the last kind of impression I needed to make on my first day at a new school.
I reached around my bedside table, blindly grasping for my phone while my eyes adjusted to the soft light making its way through the sides of the curtains.
Only before my hand found my phone, it found a thick piece of paper that I was sure hadn’t been there the night before.
I left the paper alone – as curious as I was, I was going to lose my mind if I didn’t stop my phone from blaring – and finally found my phone, grabbing it as I stopped reaching for the table and sat down properly on the floor, leaning back against the side of my bed.
I dismissed the alarm before rubbing my eyes and wondering briefly if I could get away with five more minutes of sleep if I was really quick putting on my make-up.
But no, as tempting as that was, I knew that if I gave into said temptation, I wouldn’t make it to my first class.
Good first impressions, I reminded myself, though the more I tried to use that thought as motivation, the more it lost its bite.
My hand went back to the bedside table, looking for my speaker. Maybe if I had a good audiobook to keep my interest, I would no longer be tempted by my bed.
Only my hand once again found the paper, reminding me of its existence.
I grabbed the paper to examine it, quickly realising that it had a school map on one side, with the same design that my Auntie’s pin had in the corner – the school badge, I assumed – though I frowned as I realised that the map and design lacked any kind of printed quality. It looked almost hand-drawn in ink, but I doubted it could have been. Presumably, every student would get a map, and there was no way that someone would hand-draw one of these for every student.
I briefly looked up to the door as it occurred to me that the paper had just appeared in my room overnight.
Had someone sneaked in to deliver it? I’d thought Auntie Jess had said that teachers couldn’t come into the rooms without permission.
But then I remembered that magic existed.
Of course, that was how they had delivered the map.
And probably why it looked hand-drawn, even if they’d had to make copies.
Yeah, that was going to take some getting used to.
I flipped the paper over to see a timetable on the other side and quickly scanned to the ‘Monday’ section.
Auntie Jess had said that classes started that morning, though as eager as I was, I did wish that I’d had a day or two to acclimatise to the school in general before everyone else arrived.
I frowned as I read, realising that it started with ‘breakfast’.
Of course. It was a boarding school.
I’d never really been a breakfast person, but my ADHD medication worked better if taken with food, so I didn’t have a choice in the matter.
I looked back to my phone to see that I only had twenty minutes to get ready.
“Shit,” I muttered, scrambling to my feet and heading to the bathroom, all my focus on not forgetting anything important while not being late.
I WAS LATE, IN THE end.
And I’d only remembered to brush my teeth after I’d put my make-up on.
That had been a fun test of dexterity and precision that I’d utterly failed.
Hence why I was late.
It was either that or show up with half of my make-up wiped away.
Yeah, I chose to redo my make-up.
It was fine, I could eat fast.
But then I’d been half-way down the hall before I’d remembered that I hadn’t taken my tablets, and I’d had to run back.
I swear, I wasn’t usually this bad, but a new school meant that everything was new, and that was far too much for me to keep track of.
I knew it would settle, but that didn’t mean that it wasn’t fr
ustrating.
Especially when I wanted to make a good first impression.
I barrelled downstairs, hoping that I remembered the way to the dining hall from the map.
Thankfully, as I approached the rough area where the building should be, I saw other students entering.
I tried not to frown as I noticed most were wearing skirts.
My wardrobe had both purple tartan skirts and black trousers as options, along with lilac blouses, and black blazers with purple piping.
I’d opted for the trousers.
And it looked as if I might have been the only one.
Thankfully, I saw a girl with curly, dark red hair that went down past her waist enter the dining hall and realised that she was also wearing trousers.
So, it wasn’t the popular choice, but it wasn’t completely unheard of.
Unfortunately, as I entered the hall, the other girl disappeared, and I found myself alone in the crowd as I turned to see that the large wooden hall, with thin windows from floor to ceiling, had several long tables of food lining the walls, and circular tables in the centre, forcing everyone to sit in groups.
My jaw tightened at the thought, but I figured that I should deal with things one at a time.
And the first thing was acquiring food.
I frowned as I made my way over to the tables lining the walls.
Where were the heaters or fridges to keep the food-
I almost groaned as I realised the answer.
I swore, at some point, the fact that magic existed would settle in my mind, and I would stop forgetting.
It was just taking a while...
I grabbed a plate as I reached the table and decided to settle for some toast. Though, then I saw the pastries.
Pastries were easily the best breakfast food.
As soon as I stepped away from the toast, a girl came to stand next to me, though her gaze was firmly on the toast, not the croissants I was eyeing.
I wondered if I should try to say something.
After all, I was nervous because I didn’t know anyone, and that would only be solved by getting to know someone.
“Hi,” I forced myself to squeak at the other girl.
I tried not to visibly cringe at the awkward sound of my voice, but it was hard.
Thankfully, she smiled. “Hi. I’m Victoria Warren.” She said it as if I was supposed to know what it meant. “Are you new here? I don’t think I saw you last year.”
I nodded. “Yes. I just arrived yesterday. I’m Amelia. Amelia Bennett.”
I’d kind of liked Gail using my full name yesterday. It had sounded more... Well, more like the name of a Witch.
Victoria raised an eyebrow. “Bennett? Like the new Potions teacher?”
“Yeah.” I shrugged, hoping that that wouldn’t cause me any problems. “She’s my auntie.”
“So, you must be a hedge Witch like her.” Her tone made it clear that she didn’t consider that a good thing. “I don’t know how anyone could stand not living in a coven. Didn’t you feel lonely when you came into your powers? Didn’t you want to be somewhere where you didn’t have to hide?”
I shrugged. “I don’t know, I haven’t come into my powers yet.”
Victoria frowned, looking me over. “Wait, how old are you?”
“Sixteen.”
“That’s not... That’s not possible. If you’re a Witch, you should have come into your powers by now. Even if you’re Litcorde.”
“Litcorde?”
Victoria’s frown deepened. “Don’t you know anything?”
“Not really. I didn’t even know about magic until a couple of days ago.”
“So, your parents are Human?”
I nodded, straightening my back.
I was far from amused by her tone, and I knew when to get ready for a fight.
Some might argue that I was too ready.
Specifically, that one guy I sent home from school with a black eye.
But he’d grabbed my arse first, so I felt that I was entirely justified.
And it was definitely nothing to do with my ADHD affecting my impulse control.
Plus, the school hadn’t punished me over it. Though they didn’t punish him either, so I think it was just that they’d wanted it to go away as soon as I’d said the words ‘sexual assault’.
Which, again, were entirely justified as far as I was concerned.
Victoria looked me up and down. “So, your parents were Human, and you haven’t come into your magic at sixteen?” She rolled her eyes. “You’re not even a Witch, are you? So, what? Is the school just letting in Sensitives now? You’re just a Human.”
Any retort I might have given was cut off by my stomach twisting with anxiety.
What if she was right? What if Gail had made a mistake?
What if I never developed magic?
“Why do you care?”
I turned to the calm, almost languid voice to see a tall girl, with sleek dark hair past her shoulders, contrasting her pale skin and crimson eyes.
She seemed to almost glide over to us, her pace slow and deliberate.
Victoria just glared at her in response.
“Why do you care, Victoria?” the girl asked again. “It’s none of your business who Ms Griffin lets into the school. It’s her school to run.”
“She promised us an environment free from Humans.”
“And you have no proof that she hasn’t delivered this. All you’ve done is shame a girl for being late coming into her magic.”
“Fourteen is late, Natalie. Sixteen is an aberration.”
“Again, I don’t see how that’s any of your business. It’s not up to you who gets into the school.”
The closer Natalie got, the more I got the sense that I recognised her, but I couldn’t figure out where from.
Victoria continued to glare at Natalie, and I got the distinct impression that she was lost for words, but then, another girl came up to Victoria’s side.
“Well, it’s no wonder you’re defending her,” Victoria’s friend sneered at Natalie. “You’re more Vampire than Witch, anyway.”
Two other girls then came up to stand beside Natalie. One was taller than Natalie again, with dark eyes, curly brown hair and olive skin.
And the other was blue.
I blinked, wondering if my eyes were deceiving me.
But, no. Where the other girls had skin, she had dark scales that looked like the ocean at night. The only thing that told me that the skin was a very dark blue, and not black, was the contrast with her pitch-black eyes, the dark depths of which were only broken for a light blue ring, where the outside of her irises should have been.
Her hair, cut into a short bob, was probably the most normal thing about her, and that was a bright shade of cerulean.
I frowned, a slight headache forming behind my eyes.
I looked down at my food, realising that I still hadn’t eaten.
But I had apparently sparked some kind of magical-bigot fight, so...
I sighed. This was not the best start to my first day.
The girl beside Natalie – the not-blue one – raised an eyebrow at Victoria. “You and your friends should probably just stop talking. You’re giving pure-blooded Witches a bad name.”
“Well, your friends wouldn’t know. You should really look for better company, Charlotte. I don’t think I’m the one damaging the reputation of pure-blooded Witches here. Not with the company you keep. But then, I suppose we should allow Litcorde their eccentricities.”
At that, Victoria spun on her heel and stormed off across the room.
Once she was gone, the blue girl turned to me with an apologetic smile. “Please tell me that she wasn’t the first person you spoke to here.”
I gave a sheepish shrug. “You mean aside from Ga- Ms Griffin?”
She shook her head before glaring after Victoria. “I swear, most of us aren’t so elitist. Victoria was the only pureblood at her coven before she came here, so she was use
d to people being overly nice to her, despite her rotten personality. And now she has to compete with nice, well-liked purebloods like Charlotte.”
Charlotte folded her arms. “I think you’re exaggerating the ‘well-liked’ part.”
“Well, the teachers like you.”
“Teachers always like quiet smart girls. We make their jobs easier.”
I frowned a little, wondering if she’d meant that as a joke. It sounded like a joke, but she’d said it in such a matter-of-fact way.
“Well, regardless, it still makes Victoria look bad in comparison, proving that not all purebloods have their heads permanently stuck up their arses.”
I frowned. “What’s the big deal about purebloods? Sounds kind of...”
The blue girl snorted, clearly taking my meaning. “I know, right? As if I’m not more awesome than them. I mean, I have command of the sea, and I can cast spells. The whole thing is ridiculous, and isolationist, and twenty-first century Witches should be past that kind of nonsense.”
“Wait, you can control water?”
Charlotte nodded to my plate before her friend could answer. “Why don’t we sit down? You must be starving. I know I am.”
She turned to the table closest to us and I saw three plates of food, presumably belonging to the three girls who came to my rescue.
“Thank you,” I said, unsure if Charlotte knew what it meant to me that she’d invited me to sit with them.
“I’m Charlotte,” Charlotte said, rather than acknowledging my thanks. Maybe she just didn’t think that it was needed, though I did find it a little abrupt. “And this is Natalie, and that’s Lena.”
“I’m Amelia.”
“Is it your first day here?”
I nodded, but Lena piped up.
“Hey, I didn’t get to tell her about my magic, and if she doesn’t already know, then clearly we need to explain. We can’t have her missing out on the fundamentals.”
I frowned. “Fundamentals?”
It was Natalie who answered with a sigh, and it took me a moment of self-conscious panic to realise that the sigh was directed at Lena, not me. “Lena is referring to the fact that she’s half-Mermaid. That’s why she has scales and can control water. I’m part-Vampire. Mostly Vampire, in all honesty.”
