Jess grinned. Zombie dogs would sure spice things up in Bayburgh. The mean girls wouldn’t know what to do when their Fidos and Fifis scratched at the back door to be let in. She chuckled.
A spider bolted out from beneath her dresser, and Jess squealed. She hated creepy crawlies, but spiders most of all. “You’re not supposed to be here.”
As though it understood her, it paused near her toes.
She took a deep breath and shooed the spider toward her window. She didn’t want to kill it, but she didn’t want an eight-legged roommate. It toddled across the carpet and up the wainscoting. When Jess glanced toward the window, she startled and stifled a gasp. A group of spiders waited on the other side of the glass.
This is getting out of hand. Summer’s over, I have to do a better job of minding my thoughts.
Jess put her hands on her hips. “Stop it. Go away. I didn’t summon any of you.”
None of them budged. On a thread of silk, a large, brightly colored banana spider lowered from the top to spin slowly in the center of the pane. The spider from under her dresser climbed onto the windowsill.
Jess wasn’t about to open the window with all the others spider villagers waiting on the other side. She scanned the room and then outside. How could she get rid of them?
A starling darted into the foliage of the oak tree outside her second-story bedroom. Birds. That could work.
Jess closed her eyes, reaching toward the magic that flowed from the earth into the atmosphere. In her mind, the bright white light shone like a beacon. She drew it in and imagined clutching it in her hands, mentally forming it into a ball. Holding the energy, she could sense every creature within her vicinity. Carefully, she reached toward the flying shapes that surrounded her, drawing them nearer.
She released the magic and opened her eyes. Colors brightened, intensified, and she could almost physically see the strands of magic that connected them all. Cardinals, blue jays, wrens, and finches descended in the tree beyond the glass.
For a long moment, the spiders didn’t move. More shadows flew in until the banana spider tipped to the side of the window frame, caught hold, and then scurried away. The rest followed.
When the last spider fled, she raised the bottom half of the window and ushered her visitor outside. The cacophony of bird song filled the air. Across the street, a neighbor gaped from her front yard and then raised her phone to snap a picture. That many different kinds of birds wasn’t a normal occurrence.
Jess sighed. The image would probably wind up on social media. It wasn’t exactly a neon sign that a family of wielders lived there, but her parents didn’t want their neighbors to suspect. Normies weren’t fond of the paranormal… so her parents preached since her talent first sparked.
Jess slammed the window closed, and the hodge-podge flock bolted into the sky. Her powers caused more trouble than they were worth, always showing up when she wasn’t keeping her guard up. Rase was the only person that kept her sane and accepted her as she was.
Even if he believed she’d grown out of her ability to communicate with creatures.
Jess tapped her chin. Rase hadn’t texted her yet that morning, had he? She turned to her bed and dragged her hands over the covers until her fingers closed around the smart phone. She dragged it out from beneath. No bright red notification bubble.
Rase must be busy getting ready. She turned to her closet, her outfit already selected. She gathered it up and hurried toward her bathroom.
Afterward, she stared at herself. She didn’t look anything like any of the popular girls. She wasn’t blonde. She didn’t have a tan, and she had to keep her pointed ears hidden beneath her hair or the glamour spell her mother wrapped around her before she enrolled at New Haven High as a freshman.
Homeschooling had protected her from so much, but her mom thought she needed to meet the real world, to live among the mortals. Rase attended public school all his life. She hadn’t wanted to enroll in high school, but it was the same school Rase attended. He helped her remember to breathe when the crushing anxiety got to be too much.
Jess checked her phone again. Still no text from him. Jess slipped her phone in her rear pocket, grabbed her book bag, and then hurried downstairs, trying to come up with something witty to text Rase. She paused at the bottom of the stairs.
Her parents spoke quietly between them. Her mother used murmurs so low Jess couldn’t understand what she said. At least her dad whispered loud enough for Jess to hear from the other room.
“You think he’s found us, don’t you?” her dad asked.
“I wouldn’t put anything past him.”
Jess frowned and looked up from her phone, her witty text forgotten. She made her way toward the kitchen.
“Don’t worry about it,” he said. “I’m sure you’re overreacting.”
“But what if he’s found us, Jon?”
Her father didn’t answer.
“What if he found us?” Her voice cracked.
Her father hushed her. “He didn’t.”
Jess slipped into the kitchen. Her father held her mother in his arms, hugging her tightly. Jess studied them until they moved away from each other.
“What’s going on?” Jess asked.
Her mom and dad shared a look. “Nothing, hon. Just your last first day,” her dad said.
Her mom shrugged. “Emotional.”
“Are you sure that’s all it is?”
Her mother’s expression was too forced, her voice too cheery. “Of course.”
Jess took the cereal from the cabinet, and the milk from the fridge. “Have you heard anything from Rase?”
“Not today,” her father said. “We’re making food.”
Jess shrugged. “Cereal’s good.”
Her mom gave her a look. “You are not eating that for your first day. Your breakfast is where it always is on special days.”
Jess shook her head and made her way into the formal dining room. Special meals were always served in the fancy space. Over her shoulder, she called, “Rase better get a move on. If he’s late on the first day of school, I’ll never let him live it down.”
As her mother and father followed her in, her mom scowled. “Has he talked to you about his plans for this school year?”
Jess lifted the metal cloche from one of the fine china plates and took a deep breath. Beneath the cover, eggs, bacon, sausage, pancakes, and toast waited. She lifted another. The same meal waited beneath it.
Jess dropped her bag, took a seat, and then glanced up. “He hasn’t. Why?” She uncovered the food and placed a linen napkin on her lap.
Her father stepped forward. “I’m sure he meant to tell you.”
“Tell me what?”
Her mother took a seat at the mahogany table, across from Jess, and then studied the crystal chandelier that remained the focal point for the entire room and lit the table. Her father took a seat at the head of the table.
“Mom?” Jess asked. She swallowed. What could be going on with Rase?
Her mother frowned down at the table surface, but her voice came softly. “He received this year’s scholarship to Preparatory Academy for the Remarkable. He’s going to finish his schooling there, Jess. They have dual-credit courses and offer an additional year to get your college basics out of the way.”
Jess couldn’t breathe. Spots danced in front of her eyes. “What?”
Mom leaned forward. “Rase won’t be attending New Haven High.”
Jess’s hair fell over her face. “But why didn’t he tell me that?”
She dragged her phone from her back pocket and laid it on the table. She stared at the screen until the apps blurred. Rase should have told her. But he hadn’t. Her stomach twisted.
“We were away on that vacation. His mom sent me an email with the news, but Rase asked to tell you himself.”
Without taking a bite, Jess pushed her plate away, no longer hungry. “But he didn’t. He should have.”
“Honey, I’m sure he’s just been b
usy. It’s a pretty big change for him.”
She dashed at the moisture on her cheeks. She hated that she cried when she was angry. She stood and crossed the room. “I thought we were better friends than that. It’s the most life-changing thing that’s happened to him.”
Her father sighed. “You’re right. He should have.”
Jess sniffed. “We’ve been best friends for over ten years, Dad. How could he not?”
Her mother patted her hand. “Text him. He’ll apologize. You’ll feel better.”
Jess nodded and scooped up her phone. “I will.” She didn’t know what she would say, but she would text him. She grabbed her bag. “I’m going to the bus stop.”
“I can take you,” Mom said. She leaned forward like she needed Jess to say yes.
Jess paused, considering the bus and all the kids on it. She didn’t want to struggle with putting names to new faces or trying to find somebody new to sit next to. Rase shouldn’t have left her to figure it out.
It was better than the bus ride to the institution of dysfunctional young mortals. Guilt tweaked her heart. Surely, they weren’t all that way, but Rase had been the only one she’d found even remotely put together. She summoned another spark and fanned it to a flame, letting the fire roll over her fingers. Magic always made her feel better.
Her father leaned close to her mother. “How’s she doing that?”
The corner of her mother’s eye twitched. “She must have gotten around the blocking spell.”
“At least she hasn’t figured out how to dislodge the glamour.”
“She’s not foolish enough to leave the house without it.”
“Are you certain?”
Her mother didn’t answer.
Her father drummed his fingers on the table, but neither told her to quit her magic play. She rolled the flame back and forth.
Jess let the miniature inferno die, then she nodded. “I think I’d like that.”
Mom winked and strolled toward the garage. “We’ll take the Jag.”
Jess’s shoulders drooped as she trailed after her chattering mother. Her mom always filled up uncomfortable silence with small talk, and the thought of riding in the flashy red car didn’t cheer her up like it usually did.
Only one question replayed in her mind.
How am I going to make it through my last year of high school without Rase?
Chapter Two
Pack Up, Ship Out
Bayburgh
Rase scratched his chin, studying the mountain of items that his closet had puked onto his twin-sized bed. According to the admission packet, he didn’t have to take everything he owned, but he definitely didn’t want to leave anything important behind.
On the desk next to his bed, the preparatory packing list waited. Clothes draped the back of the desk chair, and his first essay assignment was waiting on the word processor. His laptop’s processor fan hummed quietly. He’d worked for two summers to buy the secondhand computer, and he planned to use it until it crashed beyond repair or he could afford to buy a newer one. Whichever came first.
He swiped a coconut bra from his bed. He held it up to his chest and then tossed it into his already-stuffed suitcase. What if he needed it for a costume party or a theme night? He wasn’t about to be that guy; the one in the corner, looking out of place. The school was his purpose. It was supposed to be his ever-after. He’d fit there. He belonged there. He had to.
He wasn’t going to miss the first-day jitters at New Haven High, but he’d miss Jess. He still had to tell her. How could he? How would she take it?
His heart twisted, and he shifted in place. He had one weekend to figure out how to get her in at the Academy. Colonel Mzuzi Blackfox, in his gray button-down uniform, had to see that Jess belonged there.
Rase hadn’t counted on being so bothered by the thought of Jess’s absence from his day-to-day life. She’d been his best friend since they had tried to save a cat from a dumpster. Back when she still had her abilities.
He had been so busy since Blackfox had offered the invitation that he hadn’t been able to catch Jess. Then her parents took her on a multi-week, country-hopping vacation. His scholarship and his change in schools wasn’t the sort of news he wanted to deliver over the phone or email or Facebook. He wanted to be able to tell her about the Jekyll-Hyde beast that he’d saved at the library.
Jess had to see his face for that. She wouldn’t believe him any other way. She barely believed speaking to animals was real. School started Monday. He had to get her invited and enrolled. Her parents had money. They’d be able to afford it even if Jess didn’t get a scholarship.
A knock sounded at his door, and Rase’s mother walked in. Her graying hair freshly washed and cascading down her back. “You’re up early.”
“Packing,” Rase answered.
She took a seat on the corner of the bed. “Excited about the scholarship?” Her eyes lit with an eagerness that Rase didn’t quite feel. “Amazing to earn the one open spot for this year, huh?”
Rase kept his eyes down. His mom could tell when he had things he wanted to say but wasn’t. She’d hound him until he spilled the truth.
“Mmm-hmmm,” he offered instead.
He didn’t like letting his mother believe that the Academy was just like any other school, but he didn’t have much choice. No one would believe he had magic or could speak to animals. There was a whole unseen world that his parents knew nothing about.
Mom rifled through his items. She picked up the coconut bra and turned it over in her hands. “You need this?”
“I want to be prepared for anything.”
“I see,” she said, replacing it on top of the pile of clothes. “Bit nervous, then?”
That brought his gaze to hers. “I’m excited to go.”
“But you’ve never been away from us for more than a night or two?”
Rase nodded. “And then there’s the thing with Jess.”
His mother’s mouth tightened. “But maybe this is a good thing? Maybe you two could use a little space.”
Rase crossed his arms and turned away. “What do you mean?” Jess is my best friend.
“You’ve been best friends for years. You do everything together. Maybe it’s a good opportunity to expand your set of friends.”
“Or reduce my friends to zero.”
“That won’t happen. People like you, Rase.”
Rase didn’t answer. His mother didn’t know how the other kids at school didn’t invite him into their cliques. Two degrees off normal was too much weird for most of the friend-groups at school. His mother didn’t know that a special skill had brought Jess and him together or how alike they used to be until Jess’s parents forbade the use of magic.
“They don’t like me as much as you think they do, Mom,” he said.
She caught his hand and squeezed it. “Even so, I think it will be good for both of you.”
Rase stopped to study her. He’d miss her daily encouragement. It had kept him from doing a lot of stupid stuff. He threw his arms around her. “Love you, Mom.”
She beamed at him. “Love you, too, baby.”
He stepped away. “I’m going to see Jess. I need to tell her about P.A.R.” If Jess’s parents were busy, maybe he’d get the chance to tell that P.A.R. was actually the Creature Caretaker Academy.
His mother scowled. “What’s that?”
“I have to tell her today. I’m leaving tomorrow.”
She gestured toward his alarm clock. “You can’t tell her right now.”
“Why not?”
“She starts school today. She’s probably on her way to class.”
Rase froze. His heart thumped against his ribcage. What had she said?
“Jess’s first day is today,” his mother repeated.
“What?” The word came out as a squeak. Rase hadn’t had a chance to tell her about his scholarship. “She doesn’t start on Monday?”
“No, most schools don’t do things exactly the same.”<
br />
“What?” That one definitely came out as a wail. “Jess is going to kill me.”
His mother’s eyebrows disappeared beneath her bangs. “You haven’t told her yet?”
“I’ve been so busy with getting ready.”
The bed frame creaked when she stood. “You mean you put it off.”
Rase nodded, miserably. Why hadn’t it occurred to him that they might have different first days? What had he done? She’d been home for at least a week.
His mother put her hands on her hips. “What have I told you?”
He sighed. What a mess. How would he explain it to her?
“Well?”
He collapsed in his desk chair. “That avoiding the hard thing makes a bigger mess.”
“That’s right,” she said. “She’s going to be incredibly hurt.”
“I know, Mom.”
“You should text her now.”
“Yeah,” he said, already scanning the room for his cell. He stood and searched in the tangle of covers and in his pillowcase. He checked the floor around the edge of the bed. His mom waited nearby while he searched.
With a grunt, he lifted his over-packed bag and spied the smart phone beneath. A tiny red notification rested above the text app. He had three messages. He placed the suitcase to the side and swiped his phone from its hiding place.
He sighed. “I think she already found out.”
At that, his mom slipped out. “I’ll make you some coffee,” she said over her shoulder.
“Thanks, Mom.” He tapped the touchscreen and the text app opened. One text had been delivered three times. Each one said the same thing.
Jess: How could you forget to tell your best friend?
Rase cringed at the text. The words were almost as bad as if she’d been standing there, yelling at him. They’d been inseparable for years.
Slowly, he typed his response into the reply bubble.
I’m sorry.
His shoulders drooped as he pushed send. What else could he say? Everything else would sound like excuses. He should have known New Haven High started a different day than P.A.R. He should have guessed it… or at least asked. He should have made time to see her as soon as she returned from Europe.
Academy of Magic Collection Page 2
