Shifter Falls Academy- Year One

by L. C. Mortimer

  Not only that, but they were dangerous somehow.

  We stopped suddenly in front of a door and he turned to me. His robes swished as he moved, and Professor Wild stared at me, considering me.

  “Charlotte, I think you’re going to do very well at this school, but you have a lot to learn.”

  “That’s for damn sure.”

  I wasn’t even going to deny it because he was right. I had basically grown up without anyone to guide me or teach me, well, anything. Now I had the chance to prove that I could be a real adult and I didn’t want to blow it. Besides, who else did I know that had ever had a chance like this one? Who else did I know who was given the chance to go to a magical school for shapeshifting adults?

  Nobody.

  Zero people.

  “Our job at the academy is to guide you and teach you, and to help you grow.”

  “I can’t tell if this is supposed to be a pep talk or if you’re telling me you think I’m going to fail and you’re pre-emptively warning me not to let that happen.”

  He smiled gently and reached for my shoulder. He touched it, letting his hand rest there for a second, and then he spoke again.

  “There are people in this world who will fight against you, Charlotte. There are people who will do anything in their power to try to make sure that you fail. Don’t let that happen.”

  Then he was gone.

  I turned to the classroom behind me and reached for the door. I took a deep breath and pushed it open.

  What could possibly go wrong?

  Chapter 10

  As it turned out, a lot could go wrong in an herbs class. After using the wrong plant three different times, accidentally setting one on fire, and blatantly forgetting everything I ever learned in high school, the class finally ended, and I was able to leave.

  I went to the rest of my classes and somehow managed to survive an entire day in Shifter Land before making my way back to my dorm room, falling over onto my bed, and passing out.

  The next day was the same.

  And the day after that.

  And the day after that.

  As it turned out, Jade was right. Life at Shifter Falls wasn’t easy. In fact, some of the classes were downright hard. I had always been a pretty okay student in the human world, but there was so much I had missed out on when it came to understanding magic, and honestly, it was pretty difficult to deal with sometimes.

  I found myself going to classes and giving each one my full attention. In fact, I gave my classes so much attention that after my classes would end for the day, I’d be so exhausted that I’d just pass out. I didn’t really attend too many social events aside from dormitory events that Jade dragged me to.

  Soon, before I even realized what had been happening, the semester was halfway over, and it was time for mid-semester exams. There were going to be exams in every single class. The most important reason to do well on my exams was that if I did, I’d earn my very first wand.

  Jade already had one.

  She’d gone to some sort of shifter high school and proven herself worthy of having her own wand, I guess. A few other first-year students did, too. Most of us, though, didn’t carry wands at all, and the mid-semester tests were going to be our chance to shine.

  I was nervous, though.

  I spent all of my free time doing homework, memorizing spells, and reading in the library. Honestly, spending time in the library really wasn’t that bad. It was located up in a little tower that overlooked the surrounding forests. I thought I could see the waterfall from here, but that was probably just my imagination.

  We were way too far from civilization for that.

  On the morning of the exams, I woke up to the smell of coffee. When I sat up and looked over, Jade was sitting on the edge of her bed bouncing up and down.

  “Why do you look so happy?” I asked.

  “Look what I got!” She jerked her head toward her desk. She had an entire assortment of drinks there. I saw different mugs filled with steaming coffees. Some of them were tall and some were short. A couple of the coffees looked like they had been freshly brewed. The other ones were mochas and other mixed coffee drinks. There was an entire bowl of whipped cream, along with fruits, bagels, and breads.

  “What on Earth is that?” I asked, instantly awake.

  “I got breakfast.”

  “Where? Heaven?”

  My stomach rumbled as I hurried over to the assortment of treats. I’d never been a huge breakfast eater, but maybe that was breakfast had never looked like that before.

  Jade laughed and looked at me. Then she shook her head.

  “Not heaven. I went down to the dining hall yesterday and ordered it. The pixies delivered it about ten minutes ago.”

  “I didn’t know the school offered room service.”

  “It doesn’t,” she said. “Unless you know who to talk to.”

  “Does that mean you had to bribe the pixies?”

  “Let’s just say that I owe them a favor. Now eat up! It’s almost time for our exams, and we do not want to be late.”

  BY THE TIME THE TESTS were over, I was totally exhausted. There was an exam in each class and they were all back-to-back. Somehow, I knew that I definitely didn’t do as well during my last test as I did during the first, but maybe that had more to do with the fact that I wasn’t particularly gifted when it came to my shifter protections class and less to do with the fact that I was tired by that point.

  Jade and I walked around campus for a little while after the last exam. We had some time before dinner, and neither one of us really felt like going back to our rooms. Besides, I couldn’t calm down long enough to. I was much too excited and anxious.

  “How long until we get the grades?”

  “Who knows?” She shrugged.

  “Yeah, I guess this is your first time taking the tests,” I realized. “Sorry. I just got really excited. Well, and I’m nervous.”

  “You shouldn’t be,” Jade said kindly. “You’re a great student, Charlie, and you’ve been working really hard. Trust me. The teachers totally understand just how much you’ve poured into your classes. Your grades are going to reflect that.”

  “I’m not so sure.”

  “You should be,” a familiar voice said, and we turned to see Kenneth leaning against a tree. I hadn’t even noticed him standing there. Good thing we weren’t talking about anything embarrassing or weird.

  “How do you think you did?” Jade asked him.

  Kenneth just shrugged. He pushed off the tree and came over.

  “Well enough, I suppose.”

  “You don’t sound too confident,” I point out.

  “The exams are supposed to be hard. They’re supposed to make you question your worth as a student,” he explained. “They definitely did that.”

  “I’m sure they weren’t that bad,” I said. Kenneth and I had a couple of classes together. He definitely wasn’t the type of pupil to raise his hand and offer up an answer, but he was careful in class. He always paid attention. If the teacher did happen to call on him, it was never a problem for him. He was always completely fine when it came to answering questions. In fact, it was kind of strange.

  I wasn’t at all jealous.

  Well, maybe a little.

  “You’re a good student,” Jade agreed. “If not a bit aloof.”

  “I’m not aloof,” he said.

  Jade only shrugged.

  “Where are you two going, anyway?”

  “We’re just walking around.”

  “Not getting ready for the feast?”

  “Are we supposed to dress up or something?” I asked, suddenly uncomfortable with the idea of doing so. I had never been particularly comfortable with having attention on me. That hadn’t changed since I came to the academy.

  During the time I’d been there, I’d slowly started getting to know the other students, as well as the professors. I’d begun to feel more at home and comfortable with my place at the school. Still, there wer
e always students who stared at me. There were always students who seemed to think it was weird I came to school late. Dressing up and going to a feast made me feel like people would be staring at me, and I hated that idea.

  As a foster kid, people had always stared because my clothes had been worn and my books had always been second-hand.

  I didn’t want to go through that anymore.

  Shoving down the feelings of insecurity and awkwardness, I looked from Jade to Kenneth and back again.

  “Dressing up?” I repeated, uncomfortable.

  Kenneth just shrugged.

  “It’s your own choice,” Jade told me. “I’m not dressing up.”

  “Party pooper,” Kenneth joked. He turned to me. “In all seriousness, it’s about half-and-half as to who dresses up, at least according to my sisters.”

  “I’d rather just walk around until it’s time to go,” I said. “Being cooped up makes me feel sweaty.”

  And tingly.

  And uncomfortable.

  Kenneth just shrugged, but he joined us and together, the three of us walked around outside of the castle. The area was beautifully landscaped and designed in such a lovely way that it seemed like someone could spend weeks just exploring and never grow tired of looking at all of the different plants and flowers and trees.

  There were benches and little spaces set up where you could sit and read, or even just have a little picnic.

  “So,” Kenneth asked. “How do you think you did?”

  “Today? I have no idea,” I shook my head.

  “She did fine. I’m sure we all did.” Jade was always confident. She was probably the most confident person I’d ever met in my entire life. It always seemed like nothing bothered her. No matter what she did and no matter what sorts of things she encountered, she always just took it in stride.

  Not me.

  It had been weeks since I’d come to Shifter Falls and I was still nervous and scared that somehow, Daniel and Caleb would find me. I hadn’t heard from Fiona, and I was worried about her. Did the wolves know she had betrayed their kind? Did they realize she’d taken me in and protected me?

  I wished I had a way to contact her, but she had warned me against leaving the school and besides, doing so would probably be suicide. I wasn’t an experienced shifter, which meant I didn’t know how to properly cover my tracks. Years of watching detective shows on television were useless since they taught you things that only applied to being human, which I wasn’t.

  “When do we find out, anyway?” I asked, trying to push aside my fears and concerns.

  “At the feast,” Jade said.

  “Tonight? That soon? But we only just finished the tests.”

  How could the teachers grade so quickly?

  “It’s amazing what an enchantment or two can do,” Kenneth said, as though reading my mind.

  “Enchantments here are designed to make everyone’s life easier. What easier way than by streamlining the grading process?” Jade smiled and winked at me. “That’s the biggest reason I’m going to be a magical teacher when I graduate,” she said. “No grading by hand. Sounds great to me.”

  “You want to hang around the school?” Kenneth raised an eyebrow, as though he couldn’t quite believe anyone would be crazy enough to want to stay at shifter school once they were finished being a student.

  “Why wouldn’t I? Everything here is absolutely fantastic. The food is great. The students are great. The teachers are great. The-”

  “All right, smarty pants,” he held up his hand and shook his head. “We get it. What about you, Charlie?”

  “What about me?”

  “What are you going to do?”

  “After graduation?”

  “Yeah.”

  They both looked at me expectantly, but the truth was I hadn’t thought about it. I hadn’t thought that far at all. The hardest thing I’d thought about, personally, was whether I was going to inadvertently reveal the fact that I was in hiding at the school. I didn’t want anyone to know I had a wolf pack after me because I still didn’t know what it really entailed.

  Was the pack going to forget about me and move on to other, smaller prey?

  Or were they going to keep looking for me forever because they’d already caught my scent?

  I didn’t know, and the truth was that sometimes I didn’t want to know. I wanted to feel as carefree and happy and comfortable as my friends did. I didn’t want to constantly be watching my back.

  I didn’t want to always be looking over my shoulder, worrying that one wrong misstep was going to reveal the truth about me.

  I was a late bloomer shifter with no family, no future, and no hope. I had one friend in the entire world, and she was a wolf shifter who didn’t even have to help me.

  But she had.

  Fiona had risked everything.

  The more time that passed without hearing from her, though, the more I worried about it. And now I had a question to answer: one I hadn’t really thought about at all. I’d been too busy surviving to have time to think about what I wanted to do next.

  “I don’t know,” I finally shrugged. “But I’m sure I’ll figure it out.”

  Chapter 11

  The post-exam feast was the most amazing thing I’d ever seen. I walked into the dining hall expecting something somewhat cool, but what I got was so much more than that. The entire hall had been decorated in various shades of blue, purple, and silver.

  “Pretty amazing, huh?” Kenneth asked, pausing beside me in the doorway.

  “I’ve never seen anything like it.”

  “They did this on our first night at school,” he told me. “I think everyone was so distracted by the decorations that it was physically hard to eat.”

  There were streamers and banners hanging everywhere in the room, but everything seemed just a little bit better than a normal school. The pixies were still here, but all of their foods were dyed school colors. There were purple apples and blue sandwiches and silver grapes. There was music playing, but not from a radio or over the speakers. Instead, there was a set of enchanted instruments at the front of the dining hall. The instruments were floating just off the ground and they seemed to be playing themselves.

  So, whoever set up the celebration feast definitely liked to have fun.

  “Who’s in charge of this? Is it Wild?”

  Kenneth nodded and took my arm. He led me over to a table, where we sat down side-by-side.

  “He definitely loves to go overboard,” Kenneth said. “But I’m not complaining.”

  I looked around, staring at all of the designs. Jade decided to change for the celebration, so she went back to our room after our walk. Kenneth and I decided to just wear our school uniforms to the celebration. I didn’t have anything fancy or pretty to wear, and I thought Kenneth was following suit in a show of solidarity, which made me feel special.

  It was nice to have a friend by my side who really cared.

  “So,” he said. “You didn’t bring any fancy clothes with you.”

  “Nope. Not at all.”

  “Correct me if I’m wrong, but it kind of seems like you came to Shifter Falls in a hurry, and also, rather unexpectedly.”

  He looked at me, and I tried to seem as normal as possible. How much should I really tell him? I mean, it wasn’t like I could pretend that I’d researched Shifter Falls as the best way to spend my college years. He would obviously know I was lying. There was far too much I didn’t know or understand about the school.

  I shrugged.

  “Oh, come on,” he urged. “You can tell me more than that.”

  “There’s a lot about me you don’t know,” I told him. I looked at my hands and finally back up at him. “Maybe I’m kind of a private person.”

  He leaned in close and whispered in my ear.

  “Or maybe you’re running from something.”

  I gasped audibly, and he seemed surprised, but then he nodded.

  “So, I’m right.”

 
“What? No.”

  “It’s okay, Charlie. You’re safe here.”

  That was the problem, though.

  I wasn’t safe.

  Not really.

  I had the feeling that no matter where I went or what I did, I would never actually, truly be safe. There would always be something lurking in the darkness. There would always be something I was afraid of or something I was running from.

  “It’s a long story,” I finally said.

  Kenneth looked at me for a long time, considering my answer. Finally, he nodded.

  “You don’t have to share if you aren’t ready, but if you do decide you’re ready, I’m always here for you, okay?”

  “Thanks. That...well, it means a lot.”

  Suddenly, Jade appeared beside our table.

  “Hey, party people.” She twirled in a circle and her bright blue dress spun around her. It glittered and glowed in the space. Was it enchanted? Was it sewn with magical thread? The dress definitely glowed in the dark. I’d never seen anything like it before.

  “You look insanely awesome,” I said, jumping up. I hugged my friend before admiring her dress once more. On closer inspection, I realized that there were little owls embroidered throughout the fabric.

  “Do you like them?” She asked, touching one. The owl spread its wings when she touched it and then wiggled around just a little before settling back down.

  “I want one with cats,” I told her. I envisioned what I might look like in a really cool, elaborate cat gown like the one she was wearing, and Jade grinned.

  “I feel like we can make that happen.”

  “Did you make the dress yourself?”

  “Nope, my mom did.”

  “She’s super talented.”

  “She’s a magical seamstress. She makes all of my clothes. Well, she didn’t make my uniforms, but aside from those.”

  “I don’t think I could afford her,” I said whimsically, wondering how much having a dress like Jade’s made would actually be. I wasn’t working anymore, and it wasn’t like I had savings. I’d walked away from my entire life, including my pitiful bank account. I wasn’t going to wander out of the safety of the school grounds just to use an ATM.