“What’s your name?” The girl with the longer hair asked.
“Jessica,” I repeated. I wasn’t sure if she hadn’t heard me introduce myself to Beauty or if it was some sort of test. Either way, the girls looked at me for just a second too long before finally nodding and then telling me their own names.
“I’m Stacy. That’s Wolf.”
“Wolf?”
“It’s my last name,” the girl with buns waved me off. “My first name is something stupid and boring. Don’t worry about it.”
Didn’t she know that saying stuff like that just made me more curious?
“Okay,” I said. “Well, nice to meet you. Uh, which room is mine?” I asked. They all pointed to the second door down a little hallway.
“You’ll be my roommate,” Beauty said. “Which is fantastic! It’s been lonely in there and I’m tired of hearing Stacy and Wolf up talking all night.”
“We don’t talk all night.”
“You talk most of it,” she said.
“Well, we have a lot to say,” Wolf shrugged. She didn’t seem the least worried about what Belle thought.
“Mind if I look?” I asked.
“Go on ahead,” Belle said. “Your stuff came earlier. I didn’t touch it.”
“Thanks.”
I motioned for Tinkerbell to follow me into the little room so we could check it out together. We stepped inside and I looked around. I wasn’t sure what I expected, but this wasn’t it. There were no bunk beds or beds at all. In fact, there were two purple hammocks hanging from the ceiling: one on each side of the room. Two trunks sat on either side of the shared space, along with – I sighed – more pillows.
“The pillows again,” I rolled my eyes.
“They’re comfortable,” Wolf said from the doorway.
“I guess, but I mean, where do you study?”
“Oh, that’s easy,” Belle said. She walked to the center of the wall between the two hammocks and pushed a little button I hadn’t noticed. A little table came down, folding itself out of the wall.
“There you go,” Stacy said. “That wasn’t so bad, was it?”
“I guess not,” I said. It didn’t look like it was going to be the most comfortable place to study, but it would work.
But still...hammocks?
I must have looked confused because the girls all started laughing.
“Don’t worry,” Tink said. “You’ll get used to the bed.”
“That’s not a bed,” I pointed out. “Besides, how do I get in it?”
Again, they laughed. I wasn’t embarrassed, but it was so weird. Coming to the school suddenly seemed really, really overwhelming, and I was hit with the urge to just turn and run out of the room. After all, what could really happen to me? Nothing. Nothing could happen if I just totally bailed because it was obvious that I just did not belong here.
These girls were experts.
They’d probably grown up in magical families and they’d probably learned everything they needed to know about surviving in Magic World.
Me?
I was a newbie.
An outside.
And now, I kind of felt like a fraud.
I looked around the little room once more and I sighed.
It was going to be a long semester.
Chapter 3
My class schedule was the most confusing thing I’d ever seen.
I stared at the scroll in front of me. Yes, all of my classes were clearly labeled in big, flowing script on a piece of parchment that I was expected to not only carry around, but actively use to find my classes every day.
It didn’t feel magical.
It felt like a nightmare.
Who wrote in cursive anymore?
Hadn’t this school heard of computers?
I sighed as I shook my head and squinted, trying to read where I was supposed to go next. I’d been late to my first two classes and I had a feeling that if I wasn’t careful, my third class was going to be just as terrible.
Twisted Tales 1 was my third class of the day. It was going to prepare me for Twisted Tales 2 next year, and possibly, if I passed, for Twisted Tales 3. If I ever wanted to go into teaching or learn about literature in a non-magical way, this was how I was going to get ready: by suffering through these ridiculous classes.
From the scrawl on my scroll, I thought it was supposed to be on the first floor of the main castle building, but I couldn’t seem to find room 111 anywhere. I sighed, shaking my head. I gripped the scroll tighter and kept walking.
Students pushed past me, scurrying to their next classes. Everything was sort of a blur as everyone rushed around, but then I saw a guy standing beside a door. He was tall, dark, and desperately handsome, and I knew there was no way he’d ever look twice at a weird girl like me. He seemed a little aloof and a little sexy and a little bit wonderful.
Normally, I’d stay away from boys like him. I’d let them do their own thing and have their own fun and I’d just lurk in the shadows with my books and my drawings.
But I needed to find my class.
And everyone else looked...busy.
Not him.
He was staring at his own scroll, but I didn’t get the impression that this was his first year at Enchanted Academy. If anything, this guy was an experienced student who could definitely tell me where to go next, but if I’d learned anything recently, it was that life didn’t just happen to you. You had to go after it.
This wasn’t the kind of person who was going to notice me flailing around, faltering, and offer to help me.
Nope.
If I wanted this guy’s help, I was going to have to go after it myself.
That meant not being scared.
It meant not lurking in the darkness.
It meant stepping forward.
I took a deep breath. I could do it. I could go talk to a strange, handsome boy. I could ask him for directions to my class, and more importantly, I could do it without being a total and complete nerd. I could. There was nothing stopping me: nothing holding me back except for myself.
“You’ve got this,” I muttered to myself. I’d learned long ago that if I could give myself pep-talks, it would help give me the courage to make hard decisions. No one else had ever been around to encourage me. I’d never had anyone rooting for me or cheering me on, so I’d learned to become my own cheerleader.
Now, I just hoped that my plan of self-encouragement worked because if it didn’t, and I didn’t reach out, then I was going to spend the entire next class period just wandering around and looking for Twisted Tales 1.
I did not want that to happen.
“Hey, uh, excuse me,” I said finally, going up to Mr. Handsome. The boy had long, dark hair, and he looked up at me sharply, as though he hadn’t expected to be interrupted. He held his scroll in one hand with the other, he shoved something in his pocket – a wand, maybe – and finally looked at my face.
“What?”
“I’m sorry to bother you, but can you tell me where 111 is? I’ve got Twisted Tales 1 in there, and I’m not sure where it’s located. I’ve looked around, but everything kind of looks the same, and not all of the classrooms are labeled.”
He raised an eyebrow, and yeah, it was a perfectly-shaped one. I was definitely going to be smitten with this guy.
Oops.
“I’m new,” I said, as though that explained it all.
“Yeah,” he said. “You’re in the wrong building.”
“I am?” I looked down at the scroll again. All of my other classes so far had been in the main castle, but Enchanted Academy did have a huge campus. It was possible I just didn’t know where I was going. I didn’t see anything that noted a change in building, which was probably why I was lost. If I had missed a special mark or symbol or even font style that indicated I was supposed to go somewhere else, it would explain why I was still wandering around the primary hallway of the main castle.
“Oh, yeah,” he said. “Just go back out through t
he doors, take a right, and then go straight. It’s the little pink building.” He smiled. “You can’t miss it.”
“Thanks,” I said, looking around. I was going to have to run. I could already tell. “What was your name?”
“Just call me Beast,” he chuckled, and then he turned and sauntered off down the hall.
And yes, he was super, super cute.
And yes, he was totally and completely out of my league.
Whatever.
I headed down the hall, out the side exit, and turned right. I hurried, not wanting to be late for yet another class. If I was late again, there was going to be hell to pay. I could already tell. The problem was that I was already the new kid. I was already strange. I was already out of place. I didn’t really want to be late on top of being awkward and weird.
That was just...super not cool.
I ran steadily down the little path. I wanted to take time to smell the literal flowers that lined it. They were huge. Some of them looked like giant sunflowers, but the other ones were more like oversized daisies. I even saw a couple of roses that were, seriously, no joke, as big as me. It was like someone sprinkled some growth powder on their usual flower garden and things just sort of exploded.
I forced myself not to stop, though, instead jogging as quickly as I could without getting sweaty. I wanted to arrive on time: not out of breath or smelly.
I kept moving.
I ran to the little pink building. I could see it. It was just up ahead. Oh, I was so close. I smiled to myself because asking for help had totally paid off. I was going to make it to my class on time and everything was going to be totally fine. I hurried, anxious to get there on time. According to my pocket watch, I had all of two minutes to get there before class would begin, but I’d get there. I seemed to move in slow motion, but eventually, I reached the building, took a second to catch my breath, and pulled the door open.
This was it.
I had done it.
I smiled to myself, happy. Finally, something was going right for me. I didn’t have a lot going for me, but I had this. I had made it to a class, which meant that the rest of the day was going to be totally fantastic. I could feel it in my bones.
Then I walked inside.
But it wasn’t a classroom.
It wasn’t really a school building at all.
My heart sunk as I realized I’d been totally and completely tricked. I’d been pushed to hurry to this place, which wasn’t actually a classroom. It was a shed. Not just any shed, either. It was a damn garden shed full of tools and dirt and fertilizer and other things that a magical school probably didn’t need to keep the grounds looking as beautiful as they did.
I’d been tricked.
By a boy.
Somehow, the realization stung so much more than it should have.
I’d dealt with bullies and jerks my entire life, but it had been awhile since someone had maliciously tricked me for absolutely no reason at all except for the fact that he wanted to. He just didn’t feel like being honest, so he hadn’t been. After all, I had no beef with Beast. We’d never hung out. We’d never even talked before. It wasn’t like we had some sort of terrible romantic history that made him dislike me.
Nope.
None of that.
It was simply that I was new and he felt like messing around with me.
So he had.
It didn’t make any sense, though. Why would he have given me bad directions? I mean, no one else was around. He wasn’t showing off. That was something that bullies usually did. They liked to show off. They liked to prove how big and bad and bold they were. No one had seen what had happened between us. It was only us.
And now it was only me.
I kicked the dirt in front of the little shed and looked around, just in case I was missing something. Was there any chance I just wasn’t seeing the classroom? Was there a second pink building that I hadn’t spotted? I was doubting myself, all of a sudden. Was there any chance there was a classroom here, like hidden behind a secret door or something? Was there some sort of private entrance?
But even as I looked, I knew that I was totally out of luck.
I knew that he had tricked me, and he’d done it on purpose because I was new and didn’t know better, but damn, that totally stung. Humiliation washed over me.
I should have known better.
I shouldn’t have hoped that some random person would be willing to help me do something as simple as find my class. That was something I should have been able to do on my own. What did it say about me that I hadn’t been able to?
I shook my head and looked around. I had two choices now. I could either hide out somewhere until my fourth class of the day, or I could head back inside and look around once more. I could give up or I could keep trying.
Perhaps I should have wrestled with my decision, but the choice was easier than it should have been.
I realized that I didn’t want to be the girl who hid outside. I didn’t want to be the loser who was too scared to face people. So I was going to be late. So what? It wasn’t really that big of a deal. Was it? Wasn’t the important thing the fact that I was trying? Despite every obstacle, I was giving this my all. I wasn’t giving up just because I was embarrassed or I’d gotten tricked.
Who knew?
Maybe at the end of the school year, no one would even remember that I had messed up so much at the start of the year. Hey, it could happen, right?
Maybe they’d forget about me.
Maybe.
But I also knew that high-schoolers had long memories: much longer than people tended to give them credit for.
And I knew that no matter what happened this week, the choices I made and the impressions that I gave people were going to last a lot longer than I ever wanted them to.
Crap.
Turning around, I hurried back toward the castle. I didn’t see anyone outside at all, which was kind of strange. Usually, there were people loitering around. Was everyone in class? Most of us had six classes a day, but some students had free periods, and some had lunch scheduled at random times and some students had chosen to take fewer classes for various reasons.
Still, I thought there would be someone outside.
Anyone.
Nope.
I reached the doors of the castle and tugged, but nothing happened.
I tried again.
Nothing.
“Are you serious right now?” I yelled at the door. Not only was I outside of the main castle, but now I couldn’t even get back inside? The main doors were clear on the other side of the castle. It would take me an eternity to get there. Then what? I would still be stuck out of my classroom. I still wouldn’t have any idea where to start looking.
I knocked on the door, hopping from one foot to the other, and I hoped that someone would hear me and take pity on me. Maybe a student passing by would stop and open the doors for me. Even a teacher could be helpful at this point.
“Anyone in there?” I yelled, knocking again. I pressed my face to the little windows at the tops of the doors and tried to peer in. It was dark inside and bright outside, so it was hard to see through the glass. In fact, I couldn’t really see anything at all. “Hello?”
There was a small metal circle to the right of the doors. It looked like the lock I used to unlock my bedroom door. Would using my charm work to open the door? I could try it. Yeah, I should definitely try it. I pulled the necklace out from beneath my shirt and dangled it next to the little circle.
Nothing.
Nothing happened at all.
I tried again.
Still nothing.
I knocked on the door once more.
This was getting ridiculous.
I pulled out my key to the dorms and checked for any sort of keyhole on the door, but I couldn’t find one. All I could see was the little metal pad used for charms, and obviously, I didn’t have the correct one.
So that was it.
That was how my career
at Enchanted Academy was going to begin and die in one day.
In one last, desperate attempt, I yelled at the door.
Then I kicked it.
Then I kicked it one more time.
“Trouble in paradise?” A feminine voice said from behind me. I turned to see a tall girl with dark hair looking at me. She was leaning against the side of the building and she was playing with a magical fire ball. She bounced it in her hand. The flame went up and then back down. She caught it easily. Up and down it went. She looked at me curiously, but never stopped throwing the little ball.
Did she make that?
How did she do it?
For a second, I forgot all about class and instead wanted to know how I could make a magic fire flame like that. It looked really cool, and I wanted to be able to do that. Was that something I’d be able to learn at Enchanted Academy?
There was this idea that you had to come from a magical background in order to get anything out of the school, but I had this really big problem. I believed in myself. Like, a lot.
And I thought that maybe, just maybe, with enough practice and enough perseverance, I’d be able to do just that.
I hadn’t really been very curious about magic. Most of my classes at Enchanted Academy sounded incredible dull and boring, actually. My first year, I’d mostly be studying the basics of how magic worked and how it could be used for good, but oh, I wanted to know more about this girl and her fire.
But she had asked me a question, I realized, and I hadn’t said anything back.
“Uh, a little,” I admitted. I didn’t want our first interaction to be one where I appeared to be completely hopeless and helpless, but that was my reality, so I might as well be honest.
“What’s the problem?”
“The problem is that I got bad directions,” I mumbled. I could feel the heat of embarrassment rushing over my cheeks. I was definitely blushing, and that was something I needed to get under control. Nobody cared that I had been humiliated.
Enchanted Academy Box Set Page 3
