Wicked Academy 3: Dirty Little Secrets

by Nissa Leder

  I quickly settle into a groove with my classes. This year, I set my alarm for fifteen minutes earlier, giving me some extra time in the mornings. I’ve never been a “morning person,” but I’ve enjoyed not having to rush so much.

  Following Professor Belrose’s advice, I begin each day with five minutes of meditation. She’s just as eccentric as ever, and I seem to be one of the only ones in my class to take her more unique guidance seriously.

  I chicken out in Dueling, but after lunch before Incantations class begins, I ask Callum to meet me after school is over for the day. He asks why, but I tell him I’ll fill him in later.

  The rest of my classes drag on until finally, they’re over.

  Callum and I meet at the front entrance.

  “Everything okay?” he asks as he approaches me.

  I eye the other students passing by us. “Let’s go chat in the courtyard.” When we’re seated on a bench on the far side of the mostly empty courtyard, I say, “I met my grandma.”

  “You what?” he asks.

  “Last week, I had a strange dream. She was in it, and told me to come to the forest Saturday night.”

  “And you listened?” His eyes are wide like he can’t believe what he’s hearing.

  “It wasn’t my first strange dream. It’s like she can communicate with me now. And you know how off I’ve been feeling. I wanted answers.” I’ve already told myself plenty of times that going was a dumb decision, but I lived through it.

  “Why didn’t you take me with you?”

  “I didn’t think she’d be as open if I didn’t come alone. And I didn’t want to be responsible for you getting hurt if it was all a trap.”

  Callum shakes his head and reaches for my hand, giving it a quick squeeze. “Never worry about me getting hurt. I deserve anything I get, and I will never forgive you or myself if something happens to you and I’m not there to help. Got it?”

  I nod.

  He squeezes my hand once more than releases it. “Good. So, what happened?”

  “It was strange. She’s definitely still alive, but she doesn’t look normal. Not at all. Her skin is translucent and she looks malnourished or something.”

  “Did she hurt you?”

  “No. She seemed both freaky and caring at the same time. She said ‘the Sorcery world isn’t always what it seems’ and urged me to be careful.”

  “That’s…weird,” Callum says.

  “Right? She mentioned that the creature is now connected to me. Somehow, it can sense my emotion now.” Which can’t be a good thing.

  Something twitches in my stomach. At first, I ignore it. But nausea settles in and grows until I can’t help but hold my abdomen. “Something is wrong.”

  I close my eyes, hoping it will help. But instead of the normal darkness behind my lids, I’m transported to the forest.

  Trees fly past me as I’m sprinting through the woods. I urge myself faster until I catch a glimpse of the brown backside of a deer.

  With a giant leap, I lunge toward the animal and sink my talons into its flesh. The metallic scent of blood fills the air around me as the deer cries in pain.

  My heart thumps in desire as I whip my head backward then straight into the top of its spine. The creature goes limp in my arms.

  I waste no time, flipping the deer over and admiring its red-stained coat. Its eyes hang half open as it stares lifelessly into the sky.

  With a deep inhale, I tip my head back and point my snout toward the sun. A long howl pours from me—a scream of victory. Then I crouch down and take my first bite, aiming my mouth directly to the heart.

  I fall backward and land on the ground with the thud. My eyes snap open and I blink as the courtyard comes into view around me.

  “Wren.” Callum kneels beside me and rests his hand on my back.

  I spin around onto my knees as the nauseousness in my stomach throbs.

  “What happened?” Callum asks, keeping his distance this time.

  “I…” Before I can get another word out, I lose control of my body and hurl what’s left of my lunch onto the ground.

  It splatters around me and onto my clothes, but I can’t stop myself as it happens again. Finally, after puking three times, I’m able to catch my breath.

  “Can you walk?” Callum asks.

  Still on all fours, I nod. “I think so.”

  He moves to me and reaches down, pulling me up by my arm.

  Sweat covers my skin, from the vision or the puking, I’m not sure. “It was like I was the creature.”

  “What do you mean?” Callum props me up as we walk.

  My legs shake, but I manage to keep moving. Having him so close to me as I reek of vomit is humiliating, but I don’t trust my strength without his help. “The courtyard disappeared and I could see everything through the eyes of the Wendigo.” I hold my stomach as I remember the stench of blood. “Not just see, but feel. I could smell what it smelled, hear what it heard, taste what it tasted.”

  Queasiness consumes me, and it takes everything in me not to throw up again.

  Finally, we make it to my room and I excuse myself to the bathroom to clean up.

  The first thing I do is strip and toss my clothes into the hamper. The hobgoblins should be picking it up later today, thank god. I wet a washcloth and wipe my forehead with cool water, but it isn’t enough.

  Even though I was nowhere near the deer I saw in my vision, I hop into the shower and scrub my body from head to toe. Once I’m satisfied I’m as clean as I can get, I get out and wrap myself in one towel and dry my hair with another.

  When I leave my room and head to my closet, I startle when I see Callum sitting on my bed.

  “Oh, I figured you’d have left.” I grip my towel extra tight so it doesn’t fall off.

  “I wanted to make sure you’re okay.” His maroon jacket sits next to him on my bed, and the sleeves of his now-untucked button-up undershirt are rolled.

  “I think I am. Well, as okay as someone can be after envisioning themselves attacking a deer and devouring its heart.” Saying it aloud makes it all the weirder.

  “You sure you don’t want to see a Healer? Maybe there’s a way to help.”

  “No!” I blurt. I probably should have gone to the Healing wing a long time ago, but I don’t think whatever is happening to me is a normal ailment. “Sorry, it’s just, what if whatever is happening to me is bad?”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Like, what if it’s turning me into a dark Sorcerer or something. Like my grandma.” I don’t know much about her or dark Sorcerers, but I’d bet a lot that’s exactly what she is. “What if they kick me out?”

  Callum eyes my towel. “I can give you some privacy. But you have to promise you’ll text me if anything else out of the ordinary happens.”

  “Okay.”

  He stands up and picks up his jacket. “And don’t go back to the forest alone. Ever again.”

  “I won’t. Promise.”

  When he’s gone, I get into my PJs and get into bed. I skip dinner, the thought of food sounding absolutely disgusting.

  Callum texts me that evening checking in. We chat back and forth and, when he jokes that he’s really good at keeping my mind off things, a giddy sensation flutters in my stomach.

  I tell him I think I can take care of myself and he responds with a winky face. Perv.

  Getting close to Callum is dangerous, which means him being the only one who knows about everything strange happening is asking for trouble.

  Ten

  Elaine, Natasha, Van, Garrett, and I sit on the floor in the middle of the Incantations classroom. The desks and chairs have been stacked and pushed to the outside of the room, giving all the groups room to circle up.

  “You must focus deep within yourselves and pull your magic directly from your core,” Professor Belrose says.

  My right hand is connected to Elaine’s and my left to Garrett’s. All of our eyes are closed as we try our best to follow her instructions.
In the middle of our circle sits a withered rose.

  According to Professor Belrose, together we can bring it back to its former glory. Although to the eye, the flower looks all but dead, a small amount of life remains in its stem, which is just enough to keep it from death. Once all its energy is gone, it will be too late. Or that’s what she told the class. I can’t sense anything coming from any part of the flower.

  I peek over at Callum’s group. They don’t seem to be having any more luck than we are.

  “Let’s try the spell again,” Elaine says.

  Our first four attempts have been epic failures. Healing something with magic and not herbs requires a lot of energy. It’s possible for a trained Sorcerer to do it alone, but rare for someone to possess enough solo magic. Which is why we are practicing as a group. That and the fact we are all still green Sorcerers.

  With our hands all still linked, we relax and close our eyes.

  “Revivesco,” we say together, repeating it over and over.

  By the fifth repetition, my hands begin to tingle. The tickle moves up my fingers, through my arm, and to my heart before heating up.

  “It’s working,” Van whispers.

  I can’t help but peek. I’m not the only one looking. Everyone in my group but Elaine watches as the rose petals shift from a wilted brown to light pink.

  The warmth in my heart grows until it feels like my chest is on fire. I jerk my hands free and stand up, placing my hand just below my left collar bone.

  “Are you okay?” Garrett asks as I move to the window.

  I grip the wooden windowsill for balance as the room disappears.

  Pain explodes in my chest as I yelp in pain and fall over. Something warm drips down my arms as I writhe on the cool forest ground.

  “You’ve made a mistake,” a female voice says. One that brings me happiness and distracts me from the ache next to my heart.

  “What are you?” a male voice asks. “Leave me alone.” Fear reverberates through his words. “No. Please. I’m sorry.”

  And then something snaps.

  “You’ll be okay, my child. Just breathe.”

  A hand on my shoulder snaps me out of wherever I’d just been.

  “Wren, you’re okay,” Callum mutters in my ear.

  I stare out the window and lower my hand from my chest. The pain is gone, though nausea has taken its place. “Sorry, I think the spell got to me.”

  “Maybe I should walk her to the Healing wing.” Callum guides me toward the door.

  “Yes, very well,” Professor Belrose says.

  I avoid the gazes I know are glued to me as I let Callum lead me to the hallway.

  “I’m so embarrassed,” I say. “What a scene.”

  “It’s fine. Reacting to a spell is a common thing.”

  I pull away from him and lean against the hallway wall. “It wasn’t the spell. I had another vision. I think someone shot the creature.” I reach for my chest again. “She killed whoever did it.”

  “Wren, I know you don’t want to—”

  “I’m not going to see a Healer. I’ll be fine.” I sound confident even though I’m more afraid than ever. If these visions don’t stop, I won’t be able to keep my secret. Someone else will notice that something is happening to me, and if they do, I might get kicked out of school. Maybe worse. “Please. I just need to rest.”

  When Callum doesn’t say anything, I glance at him.

  He’s looking at me, his mouth closed and his eyes intent. “At least let me walk you to your room.”

  “Okay.”

  The silence between us is awkward as we make our way to the second year dorm floor.

  When we get to my door, we both hesitate. I turn around, facing him with less than a foot in between us.

  “Do you want to come in?” I ask.

  “That might not be a good idea.”

  “Right.” I pull my room key out from the chain holding it under my shirt. “Thank you, again.”

  “Any time,” he says. “I better get back to class.”

  “See you later.” Before things can get any tenser, I unlock my door and head into my room, beelining it straight for my bed and falling back into the plush mattress.

  I don’t know what to do. Clearly, something is wrong with me. Something I don’t think is just going to go away. But every person I tell is a risk that Dean Waters will find out.

  Which means that the only person I have to confide in is Callum.

  Lovely.

  After a riveting Friday night of staying in my room, too afraid of another vision to leave, even for dinner, I wake up Saturday, starving.

  I’ve had no more glimpses into the Wendigo’s head since the whole Incantations incident. Now and again, a pain shoots in my chest, but I’m not sure if that’s from my connection with the creature or anxiety. The last thing I need is to give myself a heart attack.

  After a five-minute pep talk, I convince myself to go to the dining hall for breakfast.

  A few other students sit at the tables, chatting to their friends as they chow down on waffles or cereal. Since my last meal was during lunch yesterday, I load my waffle with bananas, strawberries, chocolate, and whipped cream and grab a blueberry muffin before finding an empty table.

  “This seat taken?” someone asks behind me as I shove a huge bite into my mouth.

  I turn, mouth full, to a smiling Zane.

  I shake my head side-to-side. “All yours,” I mumble through my full mouth.

  “Your mother would be disgraced if she saw you talking with food in your mouth.”

  I chew and swallow. “Oh, however would I survive my mother’s disapproval?”

  Zane sets his plate on the table, pulls out the chair, and sits down. “Somehow, I think you’d make it.”

  Considering Zane has been a co-conspirator to much of the disappointment I’ve earned from my parents, he would know. “Seems like your ankle is healing.”

  He bends his leg so I can get a better look. “Good as new.”

  We chat about our classes as we eat, keeping the subject light and friendly.

  When we finish our waffles, we decide to take a walk around the academy. A cobblestone path surrounds the castle-like building. Hedges line the outside of the walkway and an assortment of plants fill the planter box that hugs the building.

  “I can’t believe I didn’t know about this path,” I say. Even though I’m wearing leggings and a fuzzy sweatshirt, I’m still a little chilly. It’s the end of September and fall has officially arrived. When we get to the back of the building, the hedges stop and the path opens up to a field. Across a grassy area and a sea of gravel lies the forest.

  From far away, the changing red, orange, and yellow trees look like splotches of paint. Standing here, it appears harmless. But Zane and I both know what lives in those woods.

  We both stare across the field until Zane breaks the silence. “I’ve missed you, Wren.”

  “I’ve missed you too.” I force myself to look away from the trees.

  Zane is peering down at me. He lifts my chin with his finger and presses his mouth into mine.

  At first, I lean into the kiss. There’s something so comfortable between us. So many times having his hands on my body has cheered me up after a bad day. His lips have roamed my body and distracted me from so much.

  And right now, as his mouth moves with mine, I could almost forget about the creature and what its connection to me means. But as Zane’s hands move to my waist, I pull away.

  “Are you okay?” he asks.

  “This is great, but…” I don’t know what to say. Zane is one of the most important people to me, and there’s no denying the natural chemistry we have. But I am a mess on so many levels. And I can’t risk breaking him as an experiment to see if I can even handle a relationship. Every time I’ve tried in the past, I’m bored and ready to move on in a month. It’s why I haven’t seriously dated anyone since my sophomore year of high school.

  “Why can’t you
see how amazing we are together?” He steps away from me.

  “I’m just not in any place to be with someone.” Which is so much more true than he realizes. I’ve always been a lot to handle, but trying to stay on track with my classes and learn to wield double the magic I had last year is only the beginning of things on my plate.

  “What are you so afraid of?”

  His words hit me like a punch. “I’m not afraid.”

  “Yes, you are. You always have been.” His tone is sharp, and I know he’s saying this to hurt me like I’m hurting him. “You’ve never had a real relationship because you think you’ll get hurt like your parents have always hurt you.”

  “What do my mom and dad have to do with anything?”

  “C’mon, it doesn’t take a shrink to know you act confident but you’re lonely inside.” With narrowed eyes, he shakes his head. “But you’ve brought it onto yourself. You’ve never given anyone else the chance to show you that sometimes people can actually be there for you when you need it.”

  I open my mouth to speak, but I don’t know what to say. He doesn’t give me the chance to find the words I’m searching for. As I process the giant truth bomb he just chucked at me, he turns around and heads back the direction we came.

  “Ass,” I mumble when he’s out of hearing range.

  Why does he assume I’m the problem? Maybe it’s him. It isn’t like I have to be into someone just because they’re into me.

  Except, I am into Zane in some confusing, complicated way. There’s no point in me denying it. I don’t need to be even more of a mess.

  But it’s because I care about him that I don’t want to hurt him.

  How’s that working out for me?

  I cross my arms and continue on the path. So much for a drama-free year.

  When I’m back in my room, I text Olivia that I'm having a bad morning. Five minutes later, she’s in my room with a cartoon of salted caramel ice cream and two spoons.

  We plop down on the floor like kids to eat.

  “It isn’t like Zane isn’t a great guy,” I say before gulping down another spoonful of ice cream.

  Olivia scoops herself some from the outside of the container that has started to melt. “He’ll calm down. Guys just have meltdowns whenever their precious egos get nicked.”