Academy of Magic Collection

by Angelique S Anderson et al.

Nathan’s gaze followed the direction I was pointing at. “Oh. I should probably join her.” His gaze lingered on mine for a moment, not more than a second. Still, it sent a bolt of electricity down my spine powerful enough to bring Frankenstein’s makeshift monster back to life.

  Nathan’s eyes were gorgeous, otherworldly, and they seemed to peer straight into my soul. It sounded corny, but it was really like that. The noises faded around us, leaving just him and me, and…

  Then, Nathan tore his gaze away from mine. “You can come along, if you want?” he asked, looking over my shoulder to where Elise was seated.

  I smiled at him but shook my head. I doubted Elise would want me to sit with them, and I didn’t want to make things awkward on my first day. “No thanks,” I said. “I think I see Cora over there.”

  I pointed at Cora, who was too enthralled with her food, picking the chicken listlessly, to notice me.

  “Okay. See you later, then.” Nathan vanished, leaving me to my own devices. His smell lingered on, though, cocoa and musk, wrapping around me like a protective cocoon.

  Walking on clouds, I tiptoed my way over to Cora and put my plate down opposite of hers. The smile on my face was so wide it started to hurt my cheeks. “Hey.”

  “Oh hey.” Startled, Cora looked up at me. “I didn’t see you there.”

  “No problem. How’s the food?” I asked as I sat down.

  She shrugged. “Tastes like plastic, which is the case ninety-nine percent of the time. Allegro Academy isn’t exactly well-known for its great cuisine.”

  “Hmm.” I grabbed my fork and stabbed into the pastry. “Something tells me you’re not just upset about the food.” I looked at her. “If you want to talk about it, I’m here.”

  Cora stabbed the chicken ferociously. “It’s just Dante. He still hasn’t come back, and I’m starting to get worried.”

  I took a bite from the goat cheese pastry. Not so bad, but not exactly delicious either. “Are you two best friends?”

  “I don’t know,” Cora said. “Dante’s hard to read. But I’m definitely the closest thing to a friend he has.”

  “I’m sure he’ll be fine,” I said as I shoved another bite of pastry into my mouth.

  “Yeah, I guess.” Cora sighed. “Anyway, spill the beans. How come you’ve been here for less than twenty-four hours and you already know the hottest guy in school? And yes, I'm talking about Nathan Hilliard.” She pointed her fork at me questioningly.

  I blushed. “Uhm, well… I might’ve spilled food on him yesterday, during the welcoming event.”

  “You spilled food on Nathan Hilliard?” Cora laughed. “Well, you couldn't have picked a better guy to drop your plate on. He's really nice. Not to mention, gorgeous.”

  “Yes, he’s nice,” I agreed. “He showed me where to get my uniform and all that.”

  “You won’t meet a friendlier guy than him. Always up for some small talk, always happy to help out. But he seems to have a particular liking for you, escorting you around school like a personal bodyguard.” She winked at me, and despite her teasing me, I was glad she was back to being cheerful and happy rather than worried and gloomy.

  “Doubtful,” I said. “He’s probably just being nice to the new kid, or he’s feeling sorry for me considering my epic amount of clumsiness. He did say he wanted to rehearse with me, though.”

  “Wow, that’s awesome,” Cora said. “Nathan is one of the best violin players I’ve ever heard play.” She chuckled. “I doubt his girlfriend will be that pleased with him offering private tutor sessions to other girls, though.”

  I nearly dropped my fork, my happy mood plummeting to below-zero freezing temperatures. “He has a girlfriend?”

  “Yep, Elise.” Cora turned and pointed her fork at the table where Nathan was sitting at, right next to Elise… His girlfriend. “She’s stuck-up, arrogant and full of herself, but she’s also very pretty. Guys don’t tend to notice all your annoying characteristics after you reach a certain degree of prettiness.”

  Not feeling hungry anymore, I shoved my plate several inches forward. “How long have they been dating?”

  Cora scratched her nose. “On and off for about two years, I’d say. Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but rather you find out now than keep your hopes up.”

  “Yeah, you’re right. Thanks for telling me. Listen, I’ve got to go.” I pushed my seat back, stumbling as I got up. “Talk to you later.”

  Before Cora could say anything else, I rushed out of the cafeteria. The vast space had suddenly become claustrophobic, and I needed fresh air.

  You’re acting ridiculous, Alanis. Objectively-speaking, my brain was right. I’d only known Nathan for twenty-four hours. He had known Elise for years, and he was entitled to be with whoever he wanted to be with.

  But still, it stung that I had been foolish enough to believe I had a chance. The tears burning behind my eyes weren’t because of any feelings I could see myself having for Nathan, if I got to know him better. They were because of me, being a pathetic failure once again, not realizing the difference between kindness and interest. They were for me, having ever thought I stood a chance with a guy like Nathan.

  Once I reached the fifth floor, I was completely out of breath. Panting, I pushed open the door to the upstairs hallway. Groping the wall for support, while reaching for the light switch.

  In a flash, I saw a silhouette standing further down the hallway. Dante?

  Then, the lights turned on full blast, and the silhouette vanished.

  Was that real? Did I just see someone—or was it a trick of light?

  Not bothering to stick around to find out, I rushed to my room, slamming the door shut behind me. I dropped down with my back against the door and pulled my knees towards me.

  The experience with Nathan torpedoed me back in time, to my previous high school, and to Cody Martins, the captain of the football team. Cody and I were neighbors and we talked often, so I figured he liked me. At least enough to be friends, at least enough not to turn me down for the prom at the end of the school year. And even if he did, I had hoped he would do it politely… Not turn it into a public spectacle.

  After he’d made me look like a fool, Chelsea Black, the captain of the cheerleading squad, had given me the most pitiful look I had ever seen while she asked me: “Why would a guy like Cody ever date a girl like you?”

  The worst part was she wasn’t even trying to make fun of me. Her question was genuine.

  The mirror opposite from where I’d slumped against the door, showed me the truth. I was overweight. Fat rolls bulged out of my uniform. My face was pretty enough, but the rest of me, I couldn’t stand.

  “Just go on a diet,” people always used to say. But it wasn’t as easy as that. For me, eating a piece of chocolate magically conjured up three extra pounds. Having a second portion of my favorite dish was punished with another four pounds added to my weight. Working out five days a week for three months was rewarded with a measly one pound of weight shed. The math didn’t add up.

  I rested my head on my arms and closed my eyes. Maybe it didn’t even come down to my weight at all. Like my best friend Sam often said: “you’re hiding behind your weight, just because you’re too afraid to put yourself out there.”

  With my eyes shut, I heard different noises from all around me: voices drifting in from the front garden, shouting from students playing some kind of sport, faint music echoing up from the lower levels of the manor, probably from people rehearsing in one of the many rehearsal rooms.

  My own heartbeat, loud and steady.

  And then, something else.

  It started out faint, a soft melody I could barely hear, a song carried on the wind. But the noise swelled, increasing in volume, until I could make out it was played on a piano.

  Starting out slow, the rhythm picks up, faster and faster, more playful, more paralyzing. The melody wrapped itself around me like a snow blanket, light and fragile, but surprisingly cold as well.

  Entranced by
the strange, otherworldly sound, I got up from my feet and walked toward the hallway, pulled forward by the noise that doesn’t quite seem to be of this earth.

  I recognized some of the notes, started to make out the patterns in the rhythm. Even though the song was played on the piano, it would be so easy to add a violin into the mix—in fact, it seemed like a crime one hadn’t added a violin to it already. The eerie melody of the piano mixed with the haunting sound of a violin’s strings would lift the song from entrancing to mesmerizing.

  Like a dance with the devil, the melody shifted from calm and soothing to taunting and delirious.

  My feet guided me in the direction of the sound, one floor down. The closer I got to the source of the music, the more I became spellbound by the interplay of notes and rhythm. I tracked down the music to a door at the end of the fourth-floor hallway.

  The melody swelled, growing more intense, more rapid, like a mad composer in a descent into madness. I put my ear against the wooden door, taking in the melody, letting it flow over me like a tsunami of sound, letting it become part of me.

  The symphony was nothing short of a brilliant. The piano wasn’t the sole instrument playing anymore—I could swear I heard a flute joining in, and a cello. Maybe even a clarinet, too.

  An unmistakable passion spoke from the song, along with a deep loss, and a profound sadness. All those feelings mixed and collided into a melody so hauntingly beautiful it would’ve made Mozart weep.

  Pushing my ear harder against the door to hear the music clearer, I accidentally nudged the door open.

  I stared at the room in front of me, dominated by a grand piano situated in the middle of the room. Behind the piano sat none other than Date, the mysterious composer of the enchanting, haunting melody.

  Sitting there like that, he looked a thousand years old, a creature as immortal as a vampire. I thought he was mysterious the first time I met him, but I realized now that he was truly an enigma wrapped in a mystery.

  A man, no longer just a boy—a man who could write melodies like this one, had no place being here, locked up in an academy. He should be out there, in the vast, wide world, conquering the world of music by storm. A talent like this one was rare, a gift of the muses, and it shouldn’t be wasted away in a music academy, it should be enchanting audiences worldwide.

  Suddenly, the music stopped.

  The silence was loud and overwhelming, an intruder. Dante’s gaze lingered on me, dark and accusing. The silence wasn’t the real intruder. I was. I had interrupted his melody, had entered his world uninvited.

  “I’m sorry,” I mumbled. “I… I just…” I wanted to describe to him how enthralling his music was, how soul-touching, but I couldn’t find the proper words. Whatever words I was looking for, I doubted they existed in a dictionary—they seemed to only exist in the world of songs and symphonies. “That was beautiful.”

  “You shouldn’t be here.” Dante got up from his seat.

  I ignored his anger and walked toward him. “Did you compose this yourself? It’s the most amazing thing I’ve ever heard.”

  Dante ignored my question. “What are you doing here?”

  “I heard you playing,” I replied. “Well, I had no idea it was you, but your music drew me here.”

  “You shouldn’t even be in this hallway.” Dante shook his head. “Wasn’t your room like, on the fifth floor?”

  I nodded. “I heard you playing from my room upstairs.”

  Dante frowned. “That’s impossible. I wasn’t playing that loud, and the room is noise-isolated.”

  “Does it matter? It’s not like I’m stalking you or anything,” I said. “I heard you playing, but honestly, I had no idea it was you. How is it called?”

  “How is what called?” Dante’s voice relaxed a little, no longer sounding accusatory.

  “The melody, the song. The composition.”

  “Oh.” Dante didn’t reply right away. “It’s uhm…” He scratched his neck. “It’s inspired by Allegro Academy. It doesn’t really have a name, though.”

  “Well, it’s genuinely one of the most amazing compositions I’ve ever heard,” I said. "s there a part for violin? I wouldn’t mind giving it a try.”

  “I’ve only just gotten around to writing the part for the piano,” Dante said. “There are no parts for other instruments yet.”

  “Strange.” I frowned. “I could’ve sworn I heard a flute earlier, and a cello.”

  Dante grew pale, the color draining from his skin as if a vampire was sucking him dry. “You what?”

  “Well, I thought I heard a flute in there somehow. But I’m probably wrong, maybe someone else was rehearsing with their flute, and I mixed the two noises up. Or maybe it was just my imagination—the music was so good I could imagine the sounds of the other instruments added in.”

  “I’m sorry,” Dante said, still as pale as a fresh corpse. “I don’t mean to be rude, but I have to go.”

  He raced right past me, like I didn’t even exist, and rushed out of the door. This was the second time I had seen him run away from something today… But what was he so afraid of?

  I followed Dante to the door, and caught him disappearing around the corner, out of sight.

  Maybe he’s just weird, like Cora said.

  Still, I couldn’t help but feel there was something more to it. Dante didn’t just seem weird… He seemed afraid of something.

  I was sad the song had finished. I wished Dante would’ve continued playing so I could’ve heard the ending. With a sigh, I cast a last, longing look at the piano.

  That song touched my soul in ways I couldn’t describe. To be able to recreate it on the violin, my most beloved instrument, would be magical.

  My breath formed a small cloud in front of my mouth. I shivered, noticing for the first time how cold the rehearsal room really is. With the window pried slightly open, wind blasted into the space.

  Wrapping my arms around myself to keep warm, I moved back toward the door. With the song having died out, I had no reason to stay there any longer.

  I put one step forward, my back turned away from the piano, when I heard the noise. A soft laugh, almost like a giggle, and then a note—do. As quickly as possible, I swirled around, but the space behind me was empty.

  My hands trembled. I could’ve sworn I heard someone giggling, and the piano playing a note all on its own. Despite the cold, sweat clung to my forehead.

  Then, my gaze fell on the opened window, and I breathed a sigh of relief. The noise is coming from outside, obviously, doofus. Chuckling at myself, I walked out of the rehearsal room.

  Still, when I closed the door behind me, I felt a wave of relief.

  Chapter Five

  That night, I slept fitfully, waking up feeling as if I’d just crawled through hell and gotten back from the other end. With the manor creaking and squeaking at every turn, and my night lamp casting impossibly long shadows on the wall, I had scarcely managed to get an ounce of sleep.

  I dragged myself downstairs for breakfast, which was served in the same room as lunch the other day.

  Cora waved at me while I grabbed a croissant and some orange juice. I stumbled toward her, still half-asleep.

  “You look terrible,” Cora said cheerfully as I slumped down on the empty seat opposite of hers. “Did you spend the night raving instead of getting some sleep?”

  “I wish.” I groaned. Sitting up straight hurt my back, which was already aching from switching from my left to my right side the entire night. “I didn’t get any decent sleep at all.”

  “It’s the house,” Cora replied before taking a sip from her orange juice. “You need to get used to it. Every sound the house makes during the day is magnified at night, and silence makes everything worse. Try earplugs, it helped for me.”

  “Thanks for the tip. One more night like this one, and I’m going insane.”

  “One more night like what?” A familiar voice asked.

  I looked up at the person standing next to me.
Dante. He seemed like a completely different person today, worlds removed from the talented composer who played that eerie, transcendent music yesterday. Then, he had seemed like a specter hovering between our world and the next, someone who was present in the here-and-now but who, at the same time, wasn’t really there. Now, he looked like a normal teenager, yawning from exhaustion and looking every bit as tired as I felt.

  “Nothing,” I snapped. If he thought I had forgotten the way he ran out on me yesterday, then he would be dead wrong.

  Dante looked at me apologetically, but I refused to pay attention to him. Uncomfortable silence lingered between us as Dante sat down on the seat next to mine, keeping his eyes on the food on his tray.

  “Ooooookay,” Cora said in an exaggerated tone. “I’m going to go grab… I don’t know, something.” She shot a suspicious look from me to Dante and back, then got up and vanished toward the buffet.

  “Sorry I stormed out on you yesterday,” Dante said when she was out of sight. “That was rude of me. It wasn’t your fault.”

  I waited for him to elaborate, but he didn’t say anything else. “Apology accepted,” I said finally. “What classes do you have today?”

  “First, ensemble music, then Musical Composition. Since I missed class yesterday, I doubt the teacher will be thrilled to see me.”

  “How come you didn’t go yesterday? I don’t mean to pry but…”

  “I ditch classes often,” Dante admitted casually. “Not exactly a good practice, and it reflects badly on my grades, but sometimes, I just want to get away from it all.” There was a longing in his voice when he said those last words, a certain melancholy.

  “If I missed class, I would probably freak out,” I said.

  “You would.” Dante laughed. “But trust me, Scaredy-Cat, when you’ve been here a few years, it’s not that big of a deal anymore. Still, Ryder hands out assignments for Musical Composition early in the year, so you can’t miss that class too often.”

  Ryder was the last name of our Musical Composition teacher. Yet, despite being a composer, from the way Dante said her name, his voice laced with contempt, I didn’t think he liked her very much.