Shifter Falls Academy- Year One

by L. C. Mortimer

  My roommate looked me up and down and finally shoved her wand back in her robes.

  “I didn’t know you were coming.”

  “Sorry, it was sort of a last minute thing,” I murmured. “You’re Jade, right?”

  She seemed to relax a little, as if me knowing her name some reinforced the idea that I was allowed to be there.

  “That’s me.”

  “It’s nice to meet you.”

  “Pleasure.”

  We stared at each other for a few minutes before Jade finally shrugged and closed the door behind her. She came into the room, dropped her robes at her desk, and plopped down on her bed.

  “So what do you do?”

  “Like, for fun?”

  She laughed and shook her head.

  “Nah, I mean what can you do with magic. Can you make flames?”

  “Nope.”

  “Create water?”

  “No.”

  “Can you levitate anything?”

  “I cannot.”

  Jade looked really, really confused and shook her head.

  “Then what can you do?”

  With a sigh, I closed my eyes. It was now or never. I breathed in and out, and then I did it. I changed into a furry little kitty cat, and I looked up at her. Jade gasped, and then she shrieked.

  Shit.

  Was she scared of cats?

  Only, she didn’t freak out in a bad way. She didn’t do what I expected her to do, which was to run away or glare or be disturbed. Instead, she grabbed me and pulled me close. She cuddled me to her chest and started rocking me back and forth.

  “Awww,” she murmured, petting me. “What a sweet little kitty. Holy dragons, Charlie, you’re so cute. Could you just stay in this form, like, forever?” She hugged me close, holding me near her heart, and I hated how comfortable and wonderful it felt. I was happy being held. I never really had been before.

  At least, I’d never been held like this before.

  I sat still while Jade pet me for a few minutes and finally, she sighed and carried me back over to my bed and set me down.

  “Okay,” she said. “Go ahead and change back. I’ll turn around. I probably don’t need to be seeing you naked on the first day, huh?”

  She laughed and turned around. I tried to think about Fiona’s feather. I thought about her visualization techniques she’d helped me with, and almost instantly, I was able to change back. Wow. I did it so much faster that time. Apparently, Fiona’s advice had really worked.

  “Hang on,” I said, and I grabbed my clothing off my bed. I wiggled into them again. “Okay, it’s safe,” I said.

  Jade laughed. “Safe? I mean, you know we’re going to see each other changing sooner or later, right?” She turned around and gestured to the room. “It’s a tiny room. No offense.”

  “Yeah, I know you’re right.”

  “Have you had a roommate before?” Jade asked.

  “Too many,” I groaned before I thought better of it. Shit. Now she was going to want to know why I’d had roommates before. What kind of 18-year-old had previous roommates? Not normal people with siblings. That much was for sure. “You?” I asked, looking at her.

  Jade shook her head. “This is my first year.”

  “Are you a shifter, too?” I asked.

  Jade nodded.

  “Do I get to see?”

  She smiled and shook her head.

  “Another time. Not right now. Honestly, I’m totally worn out. Besides, I don’t feel like changing my clothes.”

  “What kind of stuff did they have you doing today?”

  “You don’t want to know.”

  “I mean, I kind of do.”

  “Everything.”

  “Everything?” That was a vague answer.

  “The first few days we were just doing drills on different kinds of spells. I mean, you grew up with magic, right? You’d think it wouldn’t be so damn tricky, but it kind of is. There’s a lot of memorizing to do. After we eat dinner, I’m probably just going to curl up right over there,” she pointed to her bed. “And literally just study until I pass out.”

  Well, crap.

  I hadn’t been a perfect student in the non-magical world. What made me think I was going to be able to do it here? Then I remembered who I was. I thought of how far I’d come. Not everyone could outrun a wolf, right? But I’d outrun two.

  I could do this, too.

  Jade seemed to notice my apprehension because she watched me carefully.

  “You’re kind of weird,” she finally said.

  “I think I’m just tired. It was a long journey.”

  “How long did it take you to get here?”

  “Felt like forever,” I tell her honestly.

  “Well, are you hungry?” Jade stood up and stretched. Her dark braids bounced as she moved her arms from one side and then to the other, and I realized that she was really, really limber. Were all shifters that flexible? Or was that a special skill?

  “Starved,” I told her honestly.

  “Well, let’s go.”

  We took a different route than I’d come before back to the castle. This time, we went through the main lobby and over to the front doors of the building. The rain was still falling, but Jade didn’t seem to mind. She grabbed a couple of miniature umbrellas from a sort of key hook by the door. I stared at the one she placed in my hand. It couldn’t have been more than five inches long.

  “There’s no way this is going to keep me dry,” I told her, but she just laughed.

  “You’ve never used one before?”

  “I mean, I know what an umbrella is,” I insisted.

  Jade looked at me sideways, as though she was trying to size me up. I got the distinct impression she was trying to decide just how much information to share with me. Either that, or she was deciding whether I was worthy of whatever insider knowledge she was thinking about.

  Finally, she shrugged.

  “Look, they get bigger.”

  She walked outside and held up the miniature umbrella. As soon as she did, it instantly got bigger. In fact, it grew much larger than an ordinary umbrella. There really was no need for us each to have our own umbrellas, as hers alone was huge. I walked out beside her and held up mine.

  “Nothing’s happening.”

  “You didn’t get it wet,” she pointed out. “The magic is within the water. The umbrella has to get wet, and then it expands.”

  Nervously, I held my little umbrella out from underneath the cover of hers. Sure enough, as soon as water landed on it, it grew and expanded and instantly became so heavy that I actually dropped it in the mud.

  Jade just stared at me.

  “You don’t know very much about magic,” she pointed out.

  “Tell me about it,” I muttered.

  “These are kasaiosans. They’re magical umbrellas. They start small because they’re enchanted. As soon as they get wet, they increase in size and when they dry, they shrink back down. Witches and wizards alike carry them while traveling. You know, just in case.”

  “Thanks for the magic lesson,” I say. I’m not sarcastic. I actually do appreciate it, and luckily, she seems to get that I do.

  “Anytime.”

  Jade walks ahead of me. Our kasaiosans are too big for us to walk side-by-side on the narrow sidewalk, so I follow along behind her. There’s no one out wandering about right now, so I can look around as much as I like without anyone think I’m being weird or crazy or well, just new.

  The rain makes it difficult to see a lot of the shrubbery or greenery, but from what I can tell, Shifter Falls Academy is heavily landscaped. The place looks really beautiful. Even through the rain droplets pouring over the sides of my bright kasaiosan, I can’t help but notice the flowers, the bushes, and even the trees that line the sidewalk over to the large castle.

  When we arrive at the doors of the castle, Jade turns back to me.

  “Okay, it’s time to take the kasaiosans down.”

  “They aren’
t dry,” I pointed out. “How do we shrink them?”

  She laughed and shook her head. She pointed toward a strange little device beside the front door. She lowered her kasaiosan and placed it under the device. Instantly, her kasaiosan shrunk down.

  “What’s that?”

  “It’s a heater, basically,” she said. “It’s enchanted, but it’s perfect for drying your kasaiosan so you can shove it in your pocket before going inside. There are hooks out, too, in case you don’t want to carry it around.”

  “Why would you want to carry it with you?” I asked. I fumbled with my own kasaiosan and finally managed to close it long enough to shrink it down to a reasonable size.

  Jade shrugged.

  “Someone who is on the swim team, for example, might not want to carry it with them. I mean, if it got wet in the locker rooms, it could be chaos.”

  “Makes sense,” I shrugged.

  We went into the school and she pointed to a rack of little holders. We both opted to shove ours in our pockets, though, and avoid having to remember to come back for the miniature little umbrellas.

  Jade led me down several hallways. As we walked, she pointed out different things.

  “That’s the potions classroom. You probably have classes in there. Oh, and here’s the health and wellness classroom. That’s where you learn to use herbal remedies and potions, especially for magical emergencies. Shifters don’t need a lot of medical care, but, well, it happens.”

  We kept walking, and she talked as we moved along. I was starting to like Jade. She made me feel wildly comfortable in a place that was totally out of my element. I was used to being the new kid – thanks, foster care! – but I wasn’t used to being treated like I was valued or important.

  Having her guide me, even to the dining hall, felt pretty good. I was able to ask some general questions about finding my way around and Jade was super helpful. By the time we reached the dining area, I felt a lot more confident in my ability to survive at my new school.

  I still didn’t think it was an ideal situation. I mean, running away from my wild and somewhat messy past was never going to feel ideal, but it was a little more manageable with Jade as a guide and a roommate. Who knew? Maybe we’d even become friends eventually. Maybe we’d build some great memories together at Shifter Falls Academy.

  The inside of the dining hall was incredible. It was so big that I had to pause at the entrance for a second to catch my breath.

  “Feeling overwhelmed?” Jade asked gently. We were the same age, but she kind of felt like a big sister, rather than a peer.

  “You could say that again,” I said.

  The room was nothing like an ordinary, run-of-the-mill public school cafeteria. I remember my high school cafeteria being sticky and wet and constantly smelling like overcooked lasagna and stale crackers. The sound of sneakers sticking to the floors made everything worse.

  This place was like a cafeteria on steroids.

  For starters, it was huge. The ceilings must have been at least thirty feet high and there were lanterns hanging from it offering light in various colors: blue, green, purple. There were even a couple of pink lanterns. It was wildly pretty.

  Long tables filled the room. Each table sat 20 students: ten on each side. Students each sat in individual chairs, which made this feel more like a banquet hall than anything else. Nobody had to squeeze in next to people they didn’t like and sit on picnic-table style benches. Nope. Not here.

  Around the edges of the dining hall were buffet stations filled with every sort of food I could possibly imagine. I spotted a sushi station, a bread station, and even a pizza station.

  Okay, so maybe life at Shifter Falls wasn’t going to be so bad, after all.

  “See something you like?” Jade asked, trying to follow my gaze, but I was so busy looking around that I couldn’t seem to focus on any one thing.

  “Um, everything,” I admitted. “Where do I even start? Is it always like this?”

  “Breakfast and lunch tend to be a bit quieter,” she admitted. “And the choices are more limited than they are at supper.”

  She led me over to one of the stations to grab a plate, but I instantly stopped.

  “What is it now?” Jade turned back to me, but she didn’t glare or seem mad. I just pointed, unable to stop myself. I hoped I wasn’t being rude, but...

  What was it?

  “Angel is a pixie,” Jade said.

  “Hello,” Angel said in a high squeaky voice.

  “Um, hello,” I gave a little wave. At the end of each buffet station, standing on a high stool, was a little pixie. I’d never seen one before in real life. Hell, I didn’t even know they existed. I mean, then again, I didn’t even know I existed until recently.

  I definitely didn’t know I was a shifter, so how could I know about pixies?

  Angel and the other pixies were each wearing long ballgowns. As far as I could tell, all of the pixies here seemed to be female. They had long, flowing hair and big, beautiful eyes. They were also very, very small. Angel was maybe five inches tall.

  “It is a pleasure to see you,” Angel told me. She was standing next to a pile of plates. Was she going to hand me one? Was that her job? But I didn’t see how she could possibly be responsible for grabbing the plates for everyone. They were bigger than she was.

  Fortunately, Jade led the way and showed me what to do. She grabbed a plate herself, and then she turned to Angel.

  “What do we have today?”

  Angel cleared her throat and stood up a little straighter.

  “For today’s dinner menu at Sideboard Three, you may choose from an assortment of fruit options: blueberry tarts, watermelon cubes, strawberry quiches, apple soup, banana pudding, grape cobbler, raspberry bread, or baked peach.”

  “Sounds great. Thanks, Angel.”

  “Thank you,” I mimicked my friend, and Angel nodded before resuming her resting position. Jade and I each chose a couple of food items for our plates before visiting a few of the other sideboards. Each of them had a pixie who read us the menu, too. After our plates were full, we headed to one of the tables and sit down alone.

  “So, the pixies read the menus?” I asked.

  “They do more than that. They plan it. They’re the chefs. Each pixie prepares their own sideboard of dishes. The most popular pixie wins a prize at the end of each month.”

  “How is the most popular pixie chosen?” I asked.

  “Easy,” Jade smiled with a mouth full of raspberry bread. “Whoever runs out of food the most.”

  I looked around and noticed students talking to the different pixies and asking them questions about the food. It was all very unusual, but kind of wonderful.

  “I guess I didn’t realize how much planning goes into making a wonderful menu,” I told Jade.

  “It’s not easy feeding all of the shifters,” she said.

  “I assume everyone has different dietary needs based on the type of shifter they are.”

  “You’re right,” Jade smiled. “See? You’re learning.” She winked at me and kept eating. As she did, she told me about some of the different types of shifters at Shifter Falls Academy: there were wolves and bears, lions and tigers. There were birds and rabbits and she said there was even a kangaroo, but I couldn’t tell if she was messing with me or not.

  By the time we finished eating, I was exhausted and overwhelmed with information, but I was satisfied.

  “I don’t think I’ve ever eaten anything that good before,” I told her honestly.

  “Good,” she smiled. “That means they did a good job. You can leave a scroll in one of the enchanted jars by the announcement wall if you want to.” She pointed to one wall that held an assortment of scrolls pinned to it. They were announcing different clubs and activities. On a small table in the center of the area was a large, clear jar that was half-filled with scroll.

  “What’s that?”

  “You can grab a piece of parchment, write a compliment, roll it up, and drop
it in the jar. It’s enchanted, so nobody can take out a scroll once it’s been put inside.”

  “Kind of weird.”

  “Kind of amazing,” she said.

  “Only compliments, though?”

  “Yeah,” she said. “If you have a complaint, you have to talk to a professor or the headmaster yourself.”

  “Why’s that?”

  “I guess they take complaints pretty seriously,” she said. “And they don’t want anyone just being rude or trying to bully anyone just for fun. If it’s serious enough to file a complaint about it, then it’s serious enough to talk about it in person.”

  I could respect that.

  There was a lot about Shifter Academy I could respect.

  Jade and I headed back to our room after that. She had homework to do and I explored the dorm for awhile as I tried to get a feeling for how the layout of the building worked. There was a lot to learn about Shifter Falls, and I had a feeling it was going to take me a long time to get used to my new life.

  As I walked around, I looked at just about everything: the décor, the different room designs, and even the other students. Everyone sort of kept to themselves, but I didn’t mind. I knew everyone was busy with studying, and the truth was that I was kind of wrapped up in my own world, anyway.

  It was hard to believe that just the other day, I thought I was a normal girl, and now?

  Well, now “normal” felt about a million miles away.

  “Can I help you?” A sharp voice interrupted my thoughts. I turned to see two girls who looked identical standing nearby.

  “Um, no, I’m just walking around,” I said carefully. Were these going to be the mean girls of the dorm? Because I didn’t really want to deal with mean girls when I first arrived.

  “You look lost,” one of the girls said.

  Upon closer inspection, I realized they weren’t actually identical. They just looked very similar. Perhaps they were sisters, or maybe even roommates.

  They were both tall and slender with long flaming locks. Their hair was so red it looked painted on. Maybe it was dyed. One girl was just a little bit taller than the other. The other girl had a few freckles, while the first girl didn’t.

  They were both wearing official Shifter Falls uniforms and I definitely wasn’t.

  “No, I’m just new here,” I said, looking down at my worn jeans and tee. Hopefully I’d get my uniforms soon. Then I could try to fit in a little better and wouldn’t be destined to wandering around looking like a total loser.