by A. J. Macey
“I think I’d like to have a meeting with you, Headmaster Tallis, if that’s alright?” Father asked the headmaster, making it clear no wasn’t an option.
“Of course,” Tallis said with a strained smile. His annoyance made me feel a bit better, at least.
“Aris, honey, we’ll catch up with you after dinner,” Mother said quickly, literally shooing me away, waving her hands at me. I held back my eye roll and turned when I ran headfirst into a furious looking Caspian surrounded by Drayce, Kye, and Xan. None of us said anything as we watched them walk away toward the administrative side of the building.
“Why are you guys all together?” I asked finally, breaking what was sure to be a long stretch of awkward silence.
“Xanthius came and found me, saying you were upset, then I got the others because I’m not equipped to handle that. Your parents are assholes, Sweets,” Kye answered, shaking his head.
“Are… are you alright?” Xanthius asked as his eyebrows creased. It was adorable how sweet he was about everything. He could have just walked away, but instead, he did all this.
“Thank you, Xan, that was really sweet of you,” I said quickly, leaning up and kissing him on the cheek. As my lips made contact with his cheek, a spark of electricity shocked me, making me pull away quickly. Weird… that was like the first time Kye touched me. Maybe it has something to do with how much I care about them? The guys had slowly wormed their way into my heart, and here Xan was, making my heart melt with his kindness.
“I’m okay, they’re just not my favorite people. Nobody else seems to know how to knock my confidence down quite like my family,” I deadpanned, turning away from their pitying stares, heading into the dining hall. Instead of standing in the food line, I went straight for the desserts, piling my plate with a few different forms of chocolate. Drayce raised his eyebrows at my choice but didn’t say anything. I grabbed my milk and hurried off to the spot we had claimed as ours.
“That bad, huh?” Drayce asked as he plopped down on the chair next to mine. “Their loss, they’re missing out on an amazing little witch.” My cheeks warmed at the compliment, and his sweet words made me feel a bit better.
Now that I was looking down at the sweet confections, my stomach rolled. The guys were talking about the latest spell warrior competition, so I just poked at my food and wondered why the hell my parents had shown up here, in the first place, and what the hell they needed to speak to the headmaster about. Father may be a big deal on the Ignis council, but that hardly makes him anything here.
“Aris, honey,” my mother’s voice interrupted my internal musings, making me drop my fork and cringe.
No, why are they in here?! I looked up reluctantly to find them walking toward me, the headmaster already looking worn out. I get it, buddy, they do the same to me.
“We are on our way to speak with your mentor, and you are coming as well,” my father commanded, looking down his nose at me. The cold, calculating gaze bothered me even if it was the only kind of gaze he ever bothered to give me.
Keep smiling, Aris, don’t let him win. I stood, meeting each guys’ eyes briefly, noting the anger and worry that marred their faces. I gave them all a tight smile before I turned and followed my parents. If only they knew how grateful I am for them.
“Are you eating cupcakes for dinner? That’s not going to help you marry a man worthy of the Calisto family name, dear,” Mother chastised, poking me in my nonexistent love handles. Someone made an angry noise behind me, but I couldn’t bear to look back.
When we reached the last table, I heard snickering and comments about the new girl getting special privileges and how the Mixta needed her mommy. I took a deep breath and kept walking, my head held high. They kept walking, not even stopping at the barrier between the student and faculty dining sections, but when I tried to join them, the impact sent me backward, landing on my butt. The urge to angry cry was pressing on me as I stood and waited, a look of realization hitting the headmaster. He hurried back through, giving me an apologetic smile.
“I’m sorry, Miss Calisto, I forgot it was spelled against students,” he said, waving a hand over the walkway for a moment, separating it, and ushering me through. This time, I slipped through easily, both of my parents looking down at me disapprovingly like I’d done it to myself.
“Professor Callahan is your daughter’s mentor, so he will be able to answer any of your questions. Right this way.” He ushered them to an empty table before waving a confused Torryn over. I didn’t bother to look up at him, focusing on a spot on the table as they introduced themselves.
“We were told you could tell us how Aris has been doing with her magic. Any improvements? We were hoping with your expertise at this school, she wouldn’t have to live as a… Mixta for the rest of her life. Is she showing signs of any affinities?” my father demanded. Torryn’s eyebrows rose in shock at the way he said Mixta like it was a dirty disease.
“Well, Mr. Calisto,” Torryn started, but was rudely interrupted by my father again.
“It’s Councilman Calisto,” he scoffed as if everyone in the entire realm should know who he was.
“My apologies, Councilman Calisto,” Torryn said quickly, his voice cold and hard. “Your daughter has been extremely attentive in class. We’ve had some success with her telekinesis, but her affinities are all at the level we expected.” My shoulders relaxed when he kept the water a secret. No doubt they’d cling to that, and frankly, I didn’t want to tell anyone yet, especially not these vultures, who would swoop in at any sign I could be a “respectable” member of the Calisto family.
“That’s not what I wanted to hear,” he shot back, giving me and Torryn a disapproving look.
“Some students are simply Mixtas. It’s not uncommon, and it’s not a bad thing,” Torryn said in a calming tone. My father’s face reddened at his words, his cold eyes turning positively icy as he glared him down.
“Not in my family,” he sneered, crossing his arms and turning his glare to the headmaster. “This is the faculty you have to offer? A man who thinks a Mixta is worthwhile?”
“She must have latent ability. We’ve not had a Mixta in the family... ever. You need to work her harder. Less time for cupcakes never hurts a girl,” Mother said as she looked me up and down, clearly not happy with what she saw. I felt myself shrink under their scrutiny, hating myself even more for not fighting back or causing a scene, but I knew what little good it would do. They’ll never change. I let that dream go long ago.
“I assure you, my faculty is held to the highest standards,” Headmaster Tallis grit out, looking like he wanted to punch both of them in the face.
I’d pay good money to see that.
“I think we’ve seen enough. Let’s hope, by the end of the semester, there is more to see,” Father said, walking toward the barrier and stepping through.
“I’m positive there will be. Now, Aris, I presume you can show your parents out?” Headmaster Tallis said quickly, offering a half-hearted goodbye and hurrying off like his ass was on fire. Lucky.
“Well, Aris, why don’t you introduce us to your friends before we go?” Mother asked, already heading that way. I held in my groan and hurried after her, hoping the guys would see my expression and realize they were about to be ambushed. Caspian caught my eye first, and his face remained blank, but I knew him well enough, I saw the strain around his eyes and his sly motion to notify the rest of the guys.
“Mother,” I started politely, trying extremely hard not to sound irritated or defeated, both of which were weighing down my shoulders. “These are my friends.” I named each of them as I pointed.
“What are your affinities?” she questioned with a smile, but her eyes hardened as she sized them up. I ground my teeth at the rude question but didn’t argue as the guys rattled off what they were.
“No elementals?” my father bit out gruffly.
I closed my eyes. Please don’t be doing that right now.
“How are you supposed to learn
how to be a true Calisto if you’re not associating with other elementals?”
And he went there, damn it all to hex.
“I will be sure to do that, Father,” I piped up, my voice strained and an octave higher than normal as the urge to angry cry grew.
“Good. It would do a councilman well to have a daughter who follows the family line.” I didn’t have to look at him to know he was glaring, his gray eyes throwing icicles at me.
“I knew you looked familiar, sir,” Xan started formally as he stood. He walked toward my father with his hand out. My father looked at it as if it was contaminated, no intention of shaking it. “I’m Xanthius Eideann.” As soon as Xan said his last name, it was almost comical the way my father changed. Well, it would be comical if he wasn’t such a dick.
“Ah, Councilman Eideann’s son. It’s wonderful to make your acquaintance,” my father boasted in faux joy.
I rolled my eyes, unable to keep it contained. Unfortunately, my mother saw and pinched the back of my arm sharply in retaliation. I ground my teeth and held back the curse I wanted to scream. That fucking hurt, Mother.
They continued to talk for a few moments, Xan looking every part a councilman’s son, but I saw the tension in his body as he stood stick straight. Poor Xan. At least I typically blend into the background. He just got chucked into the fire. Finally, their obligated pleasantries ended, and my parents commanded me to follow them.
Great, time to practice my nonexistent powers for hours on end.
September 13th
Friday Morning
Aris
As I led my parents to the main part of campus, I had to fight to keep my grumbling comments to myself. This was day two of not sleeping well, and I was definitely feeling it. It didn’t help that my parents had made me practice elemental spells—which I had no hope of actually getting right—all freaking night. I’d never been more ready for two people to leave than I was right now.
“We’ll check on your progress in a few weeks,” my father said as his form of goodbye, but of course, it sounded more like a threat.
Yeah, let me just pull my nonexistent powers out of my cauldron to please you.
“Remember to eat right and find new elemental friends. They’ll take you farther in life than those friends of yours,” Mother chided, giving me a small wiggle of her fingers before linking arms with my father and stalking off, the clicking of her heels echoing in the empty and silent courtyard.
At least the Curse Crew wasn’t here to witness this encounter.
Not bothering to even give them a backward glance, I stomped back to the dorm, mumbling about asshole parents the entire way. Things were going so well here, minus the random bullying, then they had to show up and make it worse.
Once I was safely in my room, the grumbling continued. I slammed boxes and items around as I gathered my school stuff for the day, putting more aggression into it than necessary. A soft knock on my door stopped me from slamming another box down, and I hurried over to answer it, surprised to find Torryn there.
“Uh, hey,” I stuttered out, still struggling to form coherent thoughts in my agitation. I attempted to flash him a smile, but I was pretty sure it looked forced and awkward. What else is new? His gaze hardened as he looked at me, obviously able to see past the facade.
“So… your parents are assholes. I came to check on you, and you clearly are not okay,” he said, opening his arms. “Come here.”
Tears fell at his sweet gesture, everything from the past two days crashing down on me all at once. He didn’t hesitate to pull me in and hold me tight, letting me fall apart in his arms. After a few minutes, my sniffling died down, and I stepped back to look up at him, my cheeks heating in embarrassment.
“Sorry,” I mumbled, feeling even more awkward now. “And yes, they are assholes.”
“I wanted to punch your dad in the face yesterday,” he deadpanned, making me giggle.
“Is it wrong to say I wish you had?” I shot back, picking up my school bag and drying off my face.
Torryn’s eyes were soft as they roamed my features, his head inching forward ever so slowly before he quickly collected himself, stepping back and clearing his throat.
“I have to meet the headmaster before class, so I’ll see you in history. Keep your head up. You’re worth way more than they will ever be,” he said, giving me a wink before turning and jogging down the stairs and out of sight.
I took a deep, steadying breath and followed, mentally preparing myself for the day.
Hopefully, this goes quick.
Definitely not quick. I groaned as I slipped into my seat for Magic 101. Nerves radiated through my body as I fidgeted, my eyes scanning for Caspian. I had been itching to tell him what Xan had found about bonding, half of me excited while the other half was nervous about how he would feel being bonded to someone like me. No, knock that shit off right now, Aris. Remember what Torryn said. Finally, right before class was about to begin, Caspian came barreling into the room, followed closely by Professor Ruslan.
“Hey, Cupcake,” he whispered breathlessly as he sank into the chair next to me with a quick smile. Once again, I found myself giving him a weird-ass smile. His eyes narrowed slightly at my grimace, but Professor Ruslan’s instructions for our newest essay prevented Caspian from asking about it. I pulled out a spare scrap of paper and scribbled across it, shoving it over to his half of the table before the nerves could become too much.
So, talked to Xanthius about what could be happening to us.
Caspian’s brows raised before he jotted a quick reply and slid it back over, his eyes focusing back on his book, so he didn’t get yelled at by Professor Ruslan.
Oh, yeah? What’d he find?
I took a deep breath, swallowing the acid that had started to burn in my throat.
We’re bonded, you know, like forever.
My leg bounced anxiously the longer he stared at the paper. Come on, Sprinkles, hurry the hex up and respond already.
“Like... forever, forever?” he whispered under his breath. I nodded, unable to look at him in fear of what I would find in his deep ocean eyes.
“Hey, wicked whisperers. Stop talking,” Professor Ruslan hollered out from his desk, his harsh gaze centered on us. I shrank down in my seat as eyes from around the room landed on us. Turning my eyes back to my book, I freaked out silently while I waited for some sort of response. A paper slid into view a moment later, and I had to take a calming breath before opening it.
If I had to be bonded to someone for my entire life, at least I got my Cupcake. Don’t worry, we’re going to make an awesome team. Plus, remember, everything I brew, I brew it for you.
P.S. We’ll make adorable babies!
Relief flooded me at his response, and I couldn’t stop the giggle that erupted from me at the bottom line. Caspian’s eyes lit up before he threw me a saucy wink.
“Seriously, are you two deaf?”
I snapped back to the front of the room when I heard the question.
“No, sir,” Caspian hollered back with an apologetic raise of his hand. “We’ll be quiet.”
“Good, or I’ll separate you two like children.”
With that, we focused on our reading, but inside, I couldn’t stop the girly squealing.
I’m the luckiest witch in all of Akasha.
Thoughts of Caspian and his response to the bonding still had me practically floating down the hallway as we headed to lunch. Just as I turned to finally say something to him, something slammed into me, sending me flying backward. My head hit sharply on the stone floor, and bats danced in front of my eyes for a second, the dazed feeling passing slowly.
“Oh, Aris! I didn’t see you there, I’m so sorry!” Delilah squeaked out, shoving something back into her bag before handing me the book that had fallen out of my hands. I rubbed the back of my head and gave her an attempt at a smile.
“You alright there, Cupcake?” Caspian asked, helping me stand up as he gently ran his fingers over th
e back of my head. I winced as he touched the tender spot before Delilah grabbed our attention again.
“Definitely my fault, I should have been paying attention,” she mumbled, fixing her bag over her shoulder and giving me one last apologetic smile before hurrying off.
“Come on, let’s get some food.” Caspian directed me toward the dining hall, his arm slung over my shoulder. As per usual, my tray ended up being stacked way higher than his, including at least four different kinds of desserts.
“So,” he started hesitantly, once we sat down. “Does this bonding thing mean we’re... you know…”
My brows scrunched in confusion. What the what now?
“We’re what?” I prompted, taking a bite of my pizza. Caspian’s gaze darted around, finally landing on Drayce, who was still making his way through the line. When it seemed Caspian found what he was looking for, he turned back to me.
“You know... together... like,”—he hesitated with an unsure shoulder shrug—“boyfriend-girlfriend?” He looked up at me from under his lashes, shy and slightly awkward as he talked.
“Do you want to date me?” I asked, unable to keep the hope from my words. He tilted his head, and his lips thinned like he couldn’t believe I just asked that question.
“Cupcake, I’ve wanted to since the first day. I don’t just sleep with anyone, especially not the first day I meet them,” he reminded me. My face burned bright red in reminder we had done that only a few hours after meeting. “So, is that a yes?”
I bounced in my seat with a joyous, ‘Yes.’
“Yes!” he cheered, leaning over the table. “Now give your boyfriend a kiss, Cupcake.”
I shot forward and did just that, my face hurting from how wide my smile was.
“Do I get one?” Drayce asked as he sank down next to me. Caspian cocked a brow as he took a bite of his lunch.
