Intern: A 13 Covens Magical World Adventure (YA)

by Cassandra

“All right!” Jessica climbed into the passenger’s seat of Chad’s car and placed her backpack gingerly on the floor.

  “Ready?” he asked.

  “Yes.” She couldn’t hide her smile. She twisted in her seat. “But where’s Todd?”

  “He’ll meet us there.” Chad pulled away from Ethel’s house and headed down the street.

  Her backpack shifted at her feet. She moved her legs and tried to make it look like she was responsible for the movement. When she glanced at Chad, she saw his eyes flicker sideways and eye her bag suspiciously.

  Jessica gazed out the window. It was a bright and sunny day despite the chill in the air. The sun reflected off freshly fallen snow that had come suddenly during the middle of the night. If there was a perfect time to tell Chad about Frank, now seemed to be it.

  She cleared her throat. “Chad?”

  “Yeah?”

  “Do you have a familiar?”

  He paused for a long while. “Yeah,” he admitted.

  “What kind of animal is it? And where is it?”

  “It’s at home. Why? Do you have one?”

  Jessica noted that he hadn’t answered both her questions. She stared at the side of his face and wondered if he was hiding something. Did he have an unusual familiar too? It was a little odd that she hadn’t seen it by now.

  “Yes, I have a familiar. It’s an imp.”

  Disbelief flashed across his face. “An imp? That’s not your familiar. It can’t be.”

  Jessica huffed. “Try telling him that.”

  “Where is he?”

  “In my backpack.”

  He raised his eyebrows. “Are you serious?”

  She nodded. Chad stopped at a light and she decided to introduce them. She unzipped her backpack to reveal Frank snuggled inside with the tiny pillow and blanket.

  He appeared to be napping. After a moment, he opened his eyes and glared at Jessica. “Do you mind?”

  “Sorry. I wanted to introduce you to someone. Frank, this is my friend, Chad.”

  Chad peered into the backpack. “Well, I’ll be damned. That is an imp.”

  “Smart one, aren’t you?” Frank rolled his eyes.

  The man ran a hand through his hair and gripped the steering wheel. “Honestly, Jessica, I thought you were messing with me. Wow. An imp. A word of advice? I suggest you keep him in your backpack. Otherwise, he might be attacked.”

  “No shit, Sherlock,” Frank blurted. “That’s why I’m in here in the first place.” He looked at Chad and shook his head. “Did anybody ever tell you that with your looks, you should take up radio?”

  Chad laughed.

  Jessica zipped her backpack. “Delightful, isn’t he?”

  “Oh, yeah. Quite the charmer, he is.”

  “What do you think?” Chad looked expectantly at Jessica.

  She was at a loss for words. The academy was beautiful. If she had to envision a real-life magical school, this was it and more. The building was old but very well kept. A sense of magic and mystery filled every hall and corridor. Beautiful gardens surrounded the school. Jessica could only imagine how they would look during the summer when they were covered with flowers instead of snow.

  “It’s incredible. I love it.”

  He smiled warmly. “I knew you would,” he said and lowered his voice. “And what does your little friend think?”

  “I’ll ask him when we leave.” Jessica had left her backpack partially unzipped while Chad showed her around. She felt him give a little wiggle from inside her bag.

  “Jessica!” A voice called suddenly and both of them jumped. She didn’t want to draw attention to herself, so she and Chad had kept her identity under wraps. They hoped no one would realize she was Ethel’s granddaughter. Unfortunately, there was one person who would know who she was despite her attempt to remain undetected.

  Maximus.

  They now stood near the back of the school, beyond the cafeteria and near the rear exit. Maximus strolled down the hall toward them with a bright smile on his face. He looked slightly older than when Jessica had first met him. If she had to guess, she would place this version of him somewhere in his early forties. She thought he probably aged himself to fit the occasion. Since he was at the academy, he likely wanted to look older than the younger teachers, like Chad. Old enough to look distinguished but still vital.

  Once close enough, he seized her hand and gave it a warm squeeze. “How are you, darling?”

  “Hi. I’m fine, Mr. Maximus.”

  He chuckled. “Please, call me Max, the same as everyone else. You and I are practically family, after all.” He grabbed Chad’s shoulder. “I see you were serious about showing her around the school.”

  “Of course I was serious. Besides, she wanted to come. Right, Jess?”

  Jessica nodded.

  “Excellent. Well, what’s the verdict?” Max asked and waved his hand around at their surroundings. “What do you think?”

  “It’s wonderful.”

  He smiled. “It is, isn’t it?”

  “Definitely.”

  The man’s eyes twinkled and his smile grew wider. “I’m glad this place has made such a good impression on you. I couldn’t be more pleased that you came for a tour. I see such potential in you, Jessica.” He dropped his voice and grew a mischievous smile. “I would love to see you join the same coven as Ethel. Imagine that.” He chuckled and clapped his hands. “Lord knows I wish Ethel herself would come back to the coven. We all miss her dearly. Sometimes, I don’t think she even realizes how valued she was. And trust me, I knew your grandmother exceptionally well. She’s not the kind of woman to underestimate her worth!”

  Jessica exchanged a glance with Chad. She wondered if Maximus knew the real reason behind her grandmother’s departure from the coven. It didn’t seem like it was her place to ask.

  “Oh boy, do I miss her.” Maximus sighed as he said it.

  She squirmed. That declaration sounded a little too personal for her.

  Suddenly, he held out his hand, the palm facing upward. Out of the blue, an envelope materialized from thin air. Jessica remembered her grandmother saying witches couldn’t conjure things from nowhere, but now, she wondered.

  “Jessica, would you be a doll and give this to your grandma? I would send it myself, but she has a blocking spell on her house.”

  Jessica couldn’t help but snicker. A blocking spell? That certainly sounded like something Grandma Ethel would do. She hated junk mail.

  She took the envelope. “Yes, I’ll give it to her.”

  Max bowed his head. “Thank you, sweetheart. Well, until we meet again.” He gave her hand another squeeze, swatted Chad on the back, and left.

  “What are you thinking? You’re awfully quiet suddenly.” Chad looked curiously at her as they walked across the school grounds on their way back to his car.

  Jessica sighed. “It’s just…I really like it here.”

  “Okay. Why do you make that sound like a bad thing?”

  “Because.” She paused and tried to gather her thoughts. “Until recently, I’ve always had my heart set on going to Berkeley for college. Away from this.” She held her hand out and caught a snowflake. “I wanted to get away from the cold weather. Plus, Berkeley is one of the best schools in the country. I’ve busted my butt to keep my GPA at 3.9 or better throughout high school so I would have a shot at Berkeley. I’ve already written my college essay and it’s not due for months.”

  He raised his eyebrows, impressed. “Wow.”

  “Yeah.” She sighed and her breath fogged in the cold air. “Believe it or not, I really was a top-notch student before you showed up and made me start getting detentions left and right.”

  “Ouch.”

  Jessica laughed. “I’m only messing with you.” She stuffed her hands deeper into her coat pockets. “Now, I’m confused. I can see myself at either school. Or both.” She shook her head. “But that’s not possible, is it? Not unless I can clone myself or something.” She raised
an eyebrow and looked sideways at him. “Is there a magic spell for making clones, by any chance?” While she grinned foolishly, she was only half-joking.

  The joke was lost on Chad. He was too busy looking at his phone.

  “Would I even be able to get into this school? I mean, it’s not like I’m prepared at all. I’ve studied all my life for mundane college, not magical college. Heck, it feels like it’s only been a few days since I learned about witchcraft. It’s still not like I’ve studied witchcraft. Why would a school like this even want me?”

  He glanced at her for a moment. “Are you kidding me? Of course this school would want you. Didn’t you hear Maximus?”

  Jessica waved her hand dismissively. “He has a thing for my grandma.”

  “No, it’s not only that.” He returned his attention to his phone. “You’d be a great addition to this school. I don’t know how many times I have to tell you, but you honestly have a rare natural ability as a witch, Jess. It merely needs to be fine-tuned a bit. The academy can help you with that. Plus, you have me on your side. And I have connections. I’d have no problem getting you in here. Like I said before, my coven would love to have you.”

  “What are you looking at?” she asked and gestured at his phone. He hadn’t taken his eyes off it during his whole speech.

  “I’m looking at this message.” He suddenly beamed at Jessica. “The elders of the school have invited us to dinner this evening.” He nudged her with his elbow. “They’re very excited to meet you.”

  Jessica was a bundle of nerves, but she was ultimately glad Chad had convinced her to go to dinner. She had envisioned the elders to be snobbish old people with their noses in the air, but they turned out to be fun, quirky, and interesting witches.

  Chad’s coven was present at the dinner and they wasted no time trying to persuade her to join them. Although she listened politely, she was careful to keep her guard up. When it came to the covens, she wanted to be able to make a well-informed decision. She couldn’t simply agree to something because she had literally been wined and dined.

  And she had been dined. The dinner was beyond delicious. She felt like her stomach would burst. If she didn’t know better, she would have thought Grandma Ethel herself had cooked it. She was left wondering if they used magic in their recipes for flavor enhancement. Or had the old lady learned to cook at the academy?

  As the evening wore on, the dinner turned into something of a party. Music played from somewhere and the guests danced and chatted over drinks and desserts.

  “Can I interest you in another piece of cake, Ms. Jessica?” one of the servers asked.

  Jessica eyed the cake. She was tempted to take it, no matter how tight her stomach felt, but shook her head reluctantly. Already, she had squirreled an extra piece of cake away along with a little extra food from dinner to take back to Frank. He was hiding in an empty dorm Chad had reserved for them.

  “As if a bunch of old witches will react kindly to an imp crashing their dinner party,” he grumbled when Jessica asked if he wanted to come along. “I don’t think so. Just show me how to work the television.”

  She looked regretfully at the cake one last time. “No, thank you.” Of course, she immediately regretted her decision and stared after the cake as he walked away.

  A little later, Jessica separated herself from the crowd and went to stand at a window. She was slightly overwhelmed by how wonderful everything had been thus far. Outside, the trees rocked in the wind. A mist covered the glass, which indicated that a storm had picked up speed. It had long since grown dark.

  “It doesn’t look too good out there.” she turned to see Chad approach, a slice of a cake in his hand. He checked his watch. “I’d take you home, but I’m not so sure about driving in that.” He gestured toward the window.

  “That’s all right. I don’t mind sticking around a little longer. We can wait the storm out.”

  Chad shook his head. “No, I can’t leave later. I’m on call tonight.”

  “Oh.”

  “You’re welcome to sleep here at the academy. The dorm Frank is in was reserved for you, after all.”

  Jessica thought it over. She couldn’t deny that staying there overnight sounded enticing. It would be like getting her first official taste of college life. “All right. Let me call my grandma and mom first.”

  She retrieved her phone and dialed Grandma Ethel’s number.

  “There you are,” Ethel answered. “How’s it going?”

  “It’s going good, Grandma. The academy is wonderful! I love it! I’ll tell you all about it, but listen. Is it all right if I stay overnight? I have a room for tonight and the storm outside is blowing in heavily.”

  “Sure. It’s getting late and I wouldn’t want you out in this storm anyhow.”

  “Thanks, Grandma.”

  “No problem, sweetie. Enjoy. See you in the morning.”

  Jessica dialed home. Her mom answered on the third ring.

  “Hey, Mom.”

  “Jessica, hi. Where are you? Still at the academy?”

  “Yeah. It looks like I’ll stay overnight, actually. A heavy storm is coming in.”

  “Yeah, it does look bad out. The academy is definitely the safest place for you to be, anyway.”

  She smiled. “This place is amazing, Mom.”

  “I guess there’s no need for me to ask how you like it out there.”

  Jessica could hear the smile in her mother’s voice. “Could you do me a favor, Mom?”

  “What is it?”

  “I doubt I’ll be back in time to make it for school in the morning. Could you call Fenwick and tell them I’m on a college tour?”

  “Technically that’s not a lie, now is it?”

  “Nope.”

  “My thoughts exactly. I’ll call first thing in the morning.”

  “Thanks, Mom.”

  “You’re welcome, baby.”

  Jessica smirked. “What will you tell Dad?”

  “Listen. What your father doesn’t know won’t hurt him.”

  She shared a laugh with her mother. “Don’t you feel a little bad, though? Keeping Dad out of the loop like this?”

  “Trust me, he prefers it this way. The thought of his little girl hanging out at a magical college full of witches would give him a heart attack.”

  “I see your point. I’ll talk to you later, Mom.”

  “All right. And I expect to hear all about your trip when you get back.”

  “Okay. Love you.”

  “Love you too, Jess. Good-bye.”

  Jessica returned her phone to her pocket. “Well, everything’s all good,” she announced to Chad.

  “Cool.” A sly grin crept across his face.

  “What?”

  “Just thinking. I’m on call tonight. If I get called about a demon, do you wanna come?”

  She stared at him and blinked. “Duh. Of course, I do.”

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  “Frank?” Jessica looked around her dorm room for the evening. She could get used to this place. Of course, she had seen countless movies that featured college dorms before, so she had some inkling of what to expect. It appeared, however, that magical schools were significantly more lavish with their living arrangements than mundane colleges.

  The dorm was large and spacious. It was nicely furnished with expensive-looking computer desks, bunk-beds, a television set, a coffee table, a mini fridge, and microwave. It even had its own bathroom rather than the community-style shower she had anticipated. Most impressive, it sported a fireplace. This particular fireplace happened to have what Jessica could only assume was a cauldron inside.

  “What is that for?” Jessica had asked when she first saw it.

  “For stuff you don’t know about yet. So don’t bother it,” was Chad’s answer.

  Between the computer desks was a window that had a beautiful view of the school campus. She peered outside to see the storm still brewing. A strong wind caused snow to swirl and gave the air a h
azy quality.

  “I wondered when you’d get back,” came Frank’s voice.

  She peered through the darkness and flipped the light on. It took a moment for her to locate the little imp. Frank was in the top bunk, so deeply nestled in a mound of blankets that he was almost completely invisible.

  “Well, you were invited.” Jessica placed her bag gently on the coffee table. “You can’t complain about missing out.”

  “Yeah, yeah,” he muttered. “You invited me to come along to keep you company, but it doesn’t seem like you need my company very much.”

  Jessica frowned and felt a little guilty. She knew he had a point. Thus far, she had spent the majority of her time with Chad, other students, and the academy’s elders. She had only seen Frank briefly since their arrival.

  “I’m sorry. I didn’t know what to expect, and I didn’t want to be alone.”

  He huffed and rolled over in the bed to turn his back to her.

  She opened her bag. He might be entitled to sulk a little, but she had a feeling she knew exactly what would cheer him up. “I brought cake!” she sang.

  Frank raised his head and looked at her and his already large eyes widened further.

  Jessica held up the huge slice of cake for him to see. “I brought you some food, too. Baked chicken, boiled potatoes, broccoli. There’s a roll here somewhere too.”

  “Whatever. Give me the cake.” He sounded like he was already in considerably better spirits.

  The imp enjoyed the cake and dug into his dinner. While he ate, Jessica sat crossed-legged on the carpeted floor and recounted her whole day to him. She wasn’t sure how much he had actually heard, but she appreciated having someone to talk to. Once again, she realized how grateful she was that he had agreed to come with her.

  “I only wish I had known about this place sooner,” she confided. “Maybe that way, it would be easier to decide what I want to do, you know? It’s strange. I’ve known since forever what college I want to go to, and now, I don’t know what to do at all.”

  “Do you need to decide right this minute?” Frank asked.

  She shook her head. “No, I guess you have a point there. I still have a little time to decide.”