Hawthorn Academy- Year Two

by D. R. Perry

  "Listen, we've got to go, or we'll be late." I sighed.

  "But it's about—"

  "We're going. Now." Cadence's voice cut through Dorian's like a knife.

  We all followed her, although I wanted to wait for Dylan. It was as if her voice had moved my body. I could have resisted if I hadn't been so shocked by Grace and exhausted from the night before, but maybe I wouldn't have. Cadence was one of my best friends, and I'd never seen her this hurt. She needed me.

  I stepped off the first floor too late to kick off the dancing as I had at all the other dances here. Music already played I'm With You by Avril Lavigne. As expected, Grace was out there with Crow, Hal with Faith, and Kitty with Eston. Noah had paired up with Jonah. Elanor stepped up to our group and asked Brianna to dance.

  I looked around for Dylan, intending to drag him out there, but Logan put a hand on my arm and pointed past the other couples on the floor. My heart nearly stopped.

  "No."

  Dylan was out there already, dancing with Temperance Fairbanks.

  I shook out of Logan's grip and hurried away, turning my back on the dance floor. I couldn't watch this. Thankfully, there were plenty of chairs in the corner. I headed toward them, but a voice I couldn't divorce from authority stopped me.

  "Miss Morgenstern, may I have this dance?"

  "Professor Luciano?" I glanced over my shoulder, and sure enough, he stood there, elbow out. I blinked.

  Izzy stood behind him, between Lee and Cadence, holding a tarot card: the King of Cups. She nodded and I trusted her, but I still had doubts. A professor couldn't rescue me from a broken heart.

  Perhaps he's got wisdom to impart.

  I nodded and took his arm, wondering why the Evil Inside Voice reassured me. Mostly it expected the worst from everyone. Had it always been sympathetic toward my professor? A few gasps and whispers followed us, but they cut out at a word from Cadence.

  "Professor, what's this about?"

  "This." He pulled the lapel on his jacket, revealing a faintly yellowed letter in the pocket, with a familiar return address: 10-1/2 Hawthorne Street.

  "Oh." I blinked. "But my great uncle's letters are in my room. I've been reading them."

  "This is one of their counterparts."

  "You're Bert?"

  "Filberto. I only allowed Noah the elder to call me that." He nodded. "And you, just this once."

  "Why are you telling me now?"

  "It will come up in the near future." He sighed. "Inevitable events, I'm afraid."

  "What do you mean? What's going to happen?"

  "Further investigation." He sighed. "Due to the fear and turmoil on this campus. But you're an extramagus, in tune with more magic than your fellows. You can feel it if you focus." We reached the edge of the dance floor, so he spun me to turn us around.

  I let him lead, and we locked gazes. He blinked slowly as though waiting for me to do something.

  "How?"

  "Close your eyes and clear your mind. Consider well what comes unbidden to it."

  I tried, worried I'd trip or bump into someone. Making it through this dance without incident was important, but so was discovering the effects of all the drama this semester. All I could think of was Dylan and how he'd been that morning. Had Temperance gotten her hooks into him right after that? Or much sooner?

  If I had any money, I'd wager his new guitar.

  "Keep practicing, and it will come through eventually. I believe you've got the basic idea."

  "How do you know?"

  "Finish reading all the letters." He risked a fragile grin. "Your great uncle and I had much in common. Your worries aren't unfounded."

  "How bad do you think it'll get?"

  "I'm not sure. I believe you're stuck in a coincidental pattern, along with some of your cohorts."

  "So, you're telling me to be on guard?"

  "And prepared. Practice the exercise you attempted today each morning or every night. Perhaps both is best." The song ended, and he escorted me off the dance floor.

  "Thanks, Professor."

  "Thank me by continuing your studies and vigilance." He bowed.

  "I will." I curtsied.

  "May your evening be fruitful." He turned on his heel and headed for the punch bowl, where he filled a cup before merging into the crowd of assorted faculty.

  I walked in the opposite direction, unsure how I'd manage to find Alex. Temperance's gambit, bringing Dylan as her date, meant he might not have bothered coming. All the same, I had a mission, one best accomplished in shadows I'd never felt comfortable navigating.

  On any other night I would have conjured light, but I couldn't draw attention to myself now, especially while Grace still distracted Temperance by shooting dirty looks at her over Crow's shoulder on the dance floor. The music changed to Three Libras by A Perfect Circle, a sufficiently seething soundtrack to their rivalry.

  "Watch it."

  Just like that, I found Alex—by tripping over his feet.

  I tumbled to the floor on my back, twisting an ankle on the way and ending up beside him. He didn't catch me, not that I expected it. Ember peeped overhead, swooping toward me. Moments later, she wove to her left instead, as though she'd spotted something. Her white-hot flash of anger made a searing mark in my mind.

  "Aren't you getting up, Morgenstern?"

  I tried to get up and winced. "Not on my own, so you're stuck with me for now." I grabbed Grace's handbag, pulling it open. Luckily, my eyes had adjusted to the darkness by then.

  "Am not." He bent his knees, getting his feet under him. "You know I can't talk to you."

  "Wait." I reached in, grabbing the switch. "I've got something for you."

  "If it's not a flask of bourbon, I'm not interested."

  "It's freedom." I pulled the device out of the bag.

  "No," he whimpered.

  Alex flung his arms up, crossing them in front of his face, palms out. His eyes widened, whites like ghosts of crescent moons. I realized he thought I'd come here to murder him with a magipsychic device because one like it had hurt him before.

  Look what that she-devil is capable of. Who’s next?

  Three things happened at once. I flipped the switch. Ember dive-bombed him, dropping something long and limp into his lap, and Alex burst into tears, clutching it against his chest and sobbing.

  The music covered our confrontation, but it wouldn't for long if this kept up.

  "Need help?" Logan stood between us, Doris mewing at whatever Alex held in his arms. No, not a what, a who. His familiar.

  He's just a boy under all that venom and self-importance, one who loves his familiar like the rest of you.

  "Nurse Smith. For Asceco." I answered. "And we're having a chat later about whatever you couldn’t say after the talent show, Alex."

  Logan chirped at Doris, who took off running, then held his hand down, and I took it. By the time Nurse Smith arrived, we'd moved far enough away from Alex to avoid getting detained and questioned.

  "Why didn't you go to the infirmary with him?" Logan asked.

  "We've got to stick around in case Dylan needs us. There's no way he went on this date for real."

  Logan glanced around to see who was nearby before saying, "The thingamabob's a one-shot deal."

  "We don't need it." I shook my head. "He must have had a plan, like, to get information or something."

  Oh, you sweet summer child.

  I stopped near the refreshment table. The voice's words confused me. Surely, it didn't think Dylan actually wanted to be around the mean girl? Maybe the best way to ignore it was to do something else.

  I decided to give the professor's mysterious extramagus technique another try. Logan stared as I closed my eyes. This time, I managed to visualize a flat, nearly blank horizon like the winter ocean at twilight, and floating across it came the answer to all the turmoil.

  Noah and Jonah, dancing together. They gazed into each other's eyes like the rest of the world had ceased to exist.

&nb
sp; When I opened my eyes and looked at the dance floor, I saw them in the flesh. Instead of a gaze, their lips met, which caused an unexpected ruckus.

  Even at Hawthorn, where we had chaperons and curfews, a kiss like that wouldn't raise faculty hackles. The sound and fury didn't come from the adults in the room.

  Temperance Fairbanks let out a frustrated little scream, disgust twisting her face as she dragged Dylan off the dance floor. The humidity level rose as she approached, which meant she was angry enough to conjure without meaning to.

  Beside me, Logan narrowed his eyes, humming slightly. The cloying air relaxed its grip as the extra moisture dissipated. Precious the grundylow shot him a dirty look from under Tempe's hair as she retreated to the corner Alex had occupied earlier.

  "Uh-oh." Logan winced. "She's gonna get even angrier."

  "It's her own fault." Dorian held three cups of punch. "You two look like you need refreshments."

  I took one. "Thanks."

  "No." Logan refused. "I need to dance." He took both cups from Dorian and set them on the table, then grabbed his hand. "Come on. I promised you at least one."

  I settled into a chair. Logan Pierce was a stress-dancer, so he might stay on the floor with Dorian until the music stopped for the night. I watched everybody on the floor. Even though the as-friends group had been my idea, it seemed like they'd all partnered up out there. Even Cadence had gone to cut a rug with Azrael Ambersmith.

  "Hey." The chair beside me creaked.

  "Hi, Bar."

  "You don't sound happy."

  "It's not you."

  "I get it. Your dude had a date, even though he accepted the invitation. And she’s nothing nice."

  "What do you think happened with Crow?"

  "He says Grace spent a week begging him to go with her. I don't know why."

  You do. But you can hardly tell him about all that.

  "So why aren't you out there dancing with Cadence?"

  "She said no. Doesn't like me that way."

  "Are you okay?"

  "I'll live. At least I asked, right?"

  "Yeah. You did."

  "Who was the guy the nurse took out of here?"

  "Alex Onassis."

  "Did you know him?"

  "He's my ex."

  "Are you okay?"

  I thought about that for a moment. The mission had been accomplished. We'd thwarted Temperance, but I'd lost my shot at telling Dylan how I felt. She must have decided to use him against us while she could. Maybe the voice had a point about the guitar. The Fairbanks family was extremely wealthy, and they frequented the Lyceum. Bribery with a musical instrument wasn’t out of character for them.

  But this wasn't over. Tempe could do much worse to Dylan than bribery, and still might. We'd freed Alex in the hope he'd have more information about her larger plans, so I still had work to do. That meant another chance, maybe.

  "I'm not, but I'll get better eventually."

  "I'm not a good talker. Or a good dancer either." Bar stood. "But I'm around if you need a listener. Tomorrow. I'm heading back to my room."

  "Thanks, Bar."

  He left.

  The music changed to Everybody Hurts by REM. I recognized the music from Bubbe's office and it was a huge downer, so a lot of people left the dance floor. I sat, intending to drink the remaining two cups of punch Logan had left on the table.

  Grace had other ideas. She sat in the seat Bar had just vacated.

  "I'm sorry for pushing the device thing on you at the last minute."

  "I managed. But are you going to apologize for the other thing?"

  "What do you mean by that?"

  "How long did you know about Temperance asking Dylan?"

  "About a week. What's the big deal?"

  "We're going to have to do all this work again and in as little time. Break's coming up. What if she whammies him?"

  "Oh, no, Aliyah." She shook her head. "She won’t have to."

  "What?" I blinked. “I figured he’s here because of that guitar. The only way he could afford that was if she paid for it.”

  "You’re probably right about that.” She nodded. “But whatever's been eating him, it's about to go toxic."

  "Because he's an extramagus?"

  "No." She sighed. "Just, since he got in trouble with the headmaster, he's been on a downward spiral."

  "You noticed, and you still refused to apologize?"

  "I can’t lose face. None of us can afford that."

  "It must be so hard being popular."

  "Actually, it is. I have to look flawless, can't mess anything up, and have to say the perfect thing in the exact tone. I thought you'd understand because you have it harder as an extramagus."

  "Boo-fricking-hoo, Grace. You chose to do the It Girl thing. I never opted in."

  "I didn't know it'd be like this. Fake image, fake boyfriends, fake everything. At least you get to be real."

  "You know what being real is? It's helping your friends. Making sure they don't fall so far they hurt themselves. How many times did you thank me for being there last year?"

  "You know. You saved my life."

  "And you didn't save Dylan's? Why? Because you used to be a couple?"

  "He's not suicidal."

  "What do you think Tempe's about then? Handing out guitars with no strings?"

  "Hate crimes." She hung her head. "Against half the people on this campus. Shit. I've been wrong this whole time."

  "It's okay. We can fix it."

  "What do we do?"

  "Finish this dance." I stood, and she joined me. "At least you do. I'm going back to our room and making a list."

  "I'm not sure I want to be here either. Crow's intense."

  "Then dance with someone else. Cadence would probably love to take him off your hands."

  "Yeah, I owe her an apology, along with some other people."

  "Do you want me to go with you?"

  "Nah, I've got this. You go make the list."

  We parted ways. As I headed toward the stairs, I ran into Faith and Hal.

  "It worked." I held the bag out toward him.

  "Great." He took it. "I'll be tweaking it again over the break. We might want it again in the spring."

  "Are you leaving already?" Faith asked. "You barely danced."

  "I did plenty. I'm exhausted." I yawned.

  "So are we," Hal said.

  We headed up the stairs together.

  Chapter Forty-Two

  The next morning, Logan knocked on our door. Grace had come in sometime after I'd gone to sleep, and he wanted to see her. Apparently, he’d danced a hole into his shoe, but she wasn't remotely ready to wake up. We left his dress shoes in my room and went down to the café for pastry and magical bean juice. The place was deserted except for us.

  "So, how'd it go with Dorian?" I asked, settling into one of the tufted chairs by the fireplace. It wasn’t lit, but I fixed that as we sat down.

  "It didn't." Logan stared into his Americano.

  "Oh?" I dunked a biscotti in my latte.

  "I think I liked the idea of Dorian more than, you know, him." He glanced at his chocolate croissant. "If that makes sense."

  "No, I get it. So you were stress-dancing?"

  "Nobody's ever called it that." He snorted. "But yeah. I wore him out."

  "Who'd you dance with after that?"

  "Grace, and then a guy from Gallow's Hill. He had no trouble keeping up, even though he had two left feet. Big guy, but nice. I think we're going to be friends." Logan finally took a bite of his croissant.

  "Bar?"

  "How'd you know?"

  "Lucky guess." I dunked my cookie again. "What happened with Cadence?"

  "Oh, she's back together with Crow."

  "Well then, the evening turned out all right for her, at least."

  "And Alex."

  "But he was in tears last time we saw him."

  "We helped him, though. He must be better off now, so let’s visit him."

&n
bsp; I had my doubts, but the only way to know for sure was directly from him. We finished our pastries and caffeinated drinks, got a blueberry muffin and herbal tea to go, then headed down the ramp to the infirmary. It was quiet, and Nurse Smith wasn't at his desk. Ezekiel Brown, the vampire CNA, was on duty instead.

  "Hi, Zeke."

  "Mr. Pierce. Miss Morgenstern. What do you need?"

  "We're checking on Alex Onassis," Logan said.

  "Ah, I remember." He nodded. "It was your familiar who alerted the nurse to his condition. He's here. I'll see if he's awake."

  Moments later, Zeke returned, nodding. He opened the door to one of the exam rooms, and we went inside. Alex sat up on the edge of a bed, his familiar curled up in his lap, asleep. Despite the night in the infirmary, he didn't look well-rested, and he sneered at us.

  Logan smiled anyway, setting the tea and muffin on the bedside table. I stood there with my arms crossed, leaning in the doorway. In this case, Logan was the optimist. We'd done the right thing for Alex, even if we'd had our own motives. I wasn't waiting for an about-face.

  "Why are you being so nice to me?" He snorted, but quietly.

  "Not nice, good," I answered. "There's a difference. One's for people you like, the other's doing the right thing for whoever needs it."

  "That's fair."

  "Exactly." Logan nodded. Doris paced over to the bed, hopped up, and sat there peering at Asceco as he slept.

  "I'll rephrase. Why did you help me?"

  "You needed it. Wasn’t that why you went to Aliyah twice?" Logan answered.

  "There's got to be a káti gia káti." He sighed, shaking his head. "Quid pro quo."

  "If it makes you feel better, fine." I tilted my head. "What were you trying to tell me up in the light booth?"

  "Oh." He paled, making the circles under his eyes look darker than before. "Not here."

  "I'm not going into your room or letting you in mine."

  "I meant off-campus."

  "Fine. When?"

  "How about we walk you to the train?" Logan offered. "When you leave for break, I mean."

  "That works." He nodded. "But there's something I can say that you need to know. About her."

  "Go on." I waved my hand, trying to look nonchalant even though his impending warning spooked me. Ember stirred on my shoulder, peeping softly.