by Alicia Rades
Grant sighed, then stood up straight and spoke softly. “Hey, I’m Grant.”
“I’m Talia,” she introduced.
“Talia,” he repeated, sounding pleased. “I couldn’t help but notice that you’re really talented. Is that Dark Midnight by the Wicked Warlocks?”
Talia glanced up at him with half a smile. “It is. You’ve heard of them?”
Grant beamed, pleased that she was responding. “Oh, yeah. I watched them play live last year.”
Lucas leaned over to me and whispered, “The Wicked Warlocks are a local band.”
“I figured,” I whispered back.
“Have you seen them play?” Grant asked.
Talia’s smile widened. “Considering my brother is their lead singer and I write half their songs, I’d have to say yes.”
Grant’s jaw dropped so low it was comical. “Shut up! Your brother is Tyler Murphy?”
“The one and only,” Talia said.
“What would you think he’d say if I asked his little sister out on a date?” Grant asked.
“Smooth,” Lucas mumbled.
Talia stopped playing, then looked up to Grant. “He’d probably castrate you for asking.”
Grant’s eyes went wide.
Talia snickered. “Good thing you don’t have to ask him, seeing as I can speak for myself.”
Grant relaxed and beamed at her. “So, what would you say to a date?”
Talia looked thrilled, but she was having too much fun. “How about we hang out with some friends first?”
Grant narrowed his eyes. “But, like, as a date?”
Talia laughed. “Let’s start with this and maybe it’ll turn into a date.”
Grant shrugged. “I’ll take it.”
“Perfect.” Talia stood and bounced over to her bed to grab her purse. “Nadine and I were talking about heading down to the Lounge to order some of Barry’s Enchanted Muffins. She’s never had them before.”
“Sounds good,” Grant said. He looked to Lucas for confirmation.
Lucas hesitated. “Oh, uh. I was just there and…”
He trailed off and looked to me. I was already reaching for my purse, excited about these magic muffins.
Lucas cleared his throat. “Never mind. Let’s go.”
We stepped out into the hall, and Grant took a right while Lucas went left. I followed behind Lucas, who kept walking without looking back. "This way, bro."
Grant whirled around and scrambled to catch up with us. "I swear to the Goddess, I'm never going to figure out this campus's layout."
"Is there anything that way, anyway?" I asked. "I mean, besides other dorm rooms?"
"No," Lucas said. "Unless you want to play Russian Roulette with the East staircase."
I tilted my head to the side. "What do you mean?"
"We call it the Vanishing Stairwell. There used to be a stairwell at the end of each hall, as well as the grand staircase in the middle," Lucas explained. "A few years ago, some girls in the room at the end of the hall wanted to expand their dorm, so they tried a space-bending spell. It clashed with the current spell and spread to the stairwell. Now it just kind of comes and goes."
"Huh. That's weird," I remarked. "What happens if it vanishes while you're inside?"
"Believe me," Grant said. "It's best to avoid it all together. Someone once got stuck in there for a month, and he starved to death. Rumor has it, he still haunts the staircase—when it appears, that is."
My eyebrows were raised so high I could feel the tension in my face. "Wow. Okay. Use the main staircase. Roger that."
The Main Foyer was quieter now that most students had been through registration. Lucas led us down the stairs and to a wide hall behind the staircase. He slowed as a pair of double doors came into view.
"Ladies, let me introduce you to the Lounge." He gestured to the doors and let Talia and me step inside ahead of him.
The Lounge was huge, with various walls sectioning off different areas. I couldn't see it all. The restaurant was straight up front, so I started for that first. Like the rest of the school, the lighting was dim, and there were various chandeliers that hung over the tables. It reminded me of an upscale bar, but without the liquor behind the counter.
There weren't very many people here. A large menu was hung above the main counter, so I assumed that was where we ordered. I couldn't take in the entire menu. There was a section of regular meals, then a menu of all different desserts that seemed to have magical powers—things like Glamour Gelato, Yodeling Yogurt, Slimming Sundae, and literal Humble Pie.
A girl with curly red hair who looked older than me stepped out of the back and up to the counter. I noticed the cauldron tattoo on her collarbone. Her name tag read Darcy. “Let me know when you’re ready to order.”
“Thanks,” Lucas said. “We’ll just be a minute.”
“Is that Slimming Sundae for real?” I asked. Who wouldn’t love to eat a sundae and lose a few pounds?
Talia crinkled up her nose, like it wasn’t that great. “It only lasts for a few hours.”
“In that case, let’s stick with the muffins,” I said.
Lucas stepped up to the counter. “We’ll take a dozen of Barry’s Enchanted Muffins. It’s on me, guys.”
“A dozen muffins?” I balked.
He shrugged. “They’re pretty small.”
The red-head girl turned to a rack behind the counter, where there were stacks of pre-packaged muffins. She handed the box to Lucas, who promptly turned and headed to an empty table. She never told him his total or gave him a receipt. It was like our bracelet-slash-credit-cards knew how much to charge to our account based on our order.
The four of us sat around a table next to a beautiful painting of a cat. Lucas sat across from me and opened the box. The muffins were bite-sized and all different colors. I didn’t know which one to choose first.
“Try this one.” Talia picked up one that looked like chocolate and slid it over to me.
"Talia, no," Lucas warned. "Maybe something a little tamer."
“What does it do?” I was intrigued.
Talia smirked. “Just try it.”
I picked up the muffin and began peeling off the paper cup. I’d try anything once.
Lucas sighed. "Don't say I didn't warn you."
I popped the muffin in my mouth. A rich, chocolate taste filled my mouth, but it was better than regular chocolate, like I could taste the magic infused into it. Almost instantly, I felt this tingling in my chest. I looked down, then bam! My boobs were the size of watermelons. They almost ripped my shirt to pieces! My bra stretched tightly across the massive things.
“Talia!” I screamed, throwing my hands over my chest and ducking my giant boobs beneath the table. It barely did anything to hide them. If anything, leaning over just made my cleavage that much more obvious to the two guys across the table.
Talia burst into a fit of laughter. Across from her, Grant's eyes were glued to my chest, and he had his hand over his mouth as he tried not to laugh.
"My eyes are up here, buddy," I snapped at him, but it was all in jest.
Even Lucas cracked a smile. At least he was being decent and wasn't staring, though I caught him glance downward a few times.
"How long do these things last?" I asked. "I can't walk around like this all day!"
"They'll be gone in a minute," Talia assured me.
I relaxed a little. "Okay. Let's see what yours does."
Talia ate a muffin that looked like lemon-poppy-seed. Within seconds, her eyebrows started growing, until they formed into a single long, bushy unibrow. She leaned forward on one elbow and gave Grant a suggestive look while she wiggled her eyebrows. "Still want that date, sweetheart?"
He beamed. "Hell yeah."
She looked a little surprised and sat up straighter. "Well, let's see yours first."
Grant ate a banana muffin. I waited for something to happen, but several seconds ticked by and nothing changed.
"What does that on
e do?" I asked.
"I don't know," Grant said, but it wasn't in his own voice. It was at least an octave higher and sounded like he'd inhaled helium. His eyes went wide at the sound. "Dude, that is freaky!"
"Sing something," I encouraged.
"I don't sing," he replied in the comical high-pitched voice.
"Come on," Talia begged.
"Okay," he caved, then launched into a silly version of Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star.
Lucas rolled his eyes. By the time we got to him, my boobs had shrunk to their normal size and fit into my bra again.
"Your turn," I said, nudging him with my foot under the table. I didn't expect my foot to tingle at the contact, but it did. And then he looked at me, and my whole body was done for. It turned to mush. It was like he had this magic around him that did that every time we touched.
Lucas held up a red muffin like it was a shot and said, "Here goes nothing."
Except it never got to his mouth. He froze in place as his eyes locked on something behind me. I turned to see what he was looking at and found myself staring at three perfect girls strolling into the Lounge. They were the same girls I'd seen a few days ago—the Lucky Three. There was main bitch Chloe in front, followed by Gwen and Camille.
Talia frowned when she spotted them. "Not these bitches."
"You know them?" I asked.
"Yeah, we're in the same year," she said. "They were queen bees of our high school."
"Doesn't look like they've realized that doesn't make them king shit at the college," Grant whispered under his breath.
He was right. They walked in here like they owned the place.
Chloe didn't see us right away, as she had her eyes fixed to the front counter. But something must've caught her attention out of the corner of her eye, because she did a double take and looked straight at us.
Lucas groaned, but he'd already been spotted. Chloe changed course and started making her way over to us.
"Hey, Lucas," she practically sang, almost like the two had a thing. Judging by the way Lucas looked at her with disdain, whatever it was must've been one-sided.
"Chloe," he said politely.
"Why don't you introduce us to your friends?" The way she said it suggested that was the only reason she came over here.
Talia looked up to her with a raised eyebrow, which was back to normal now. "I'm Talia Murphy. You know me."
Chloe furrowed her brow and spoke with fake politeness. "Do I?"
Talia stared at her in disbelief. "Yes. We've been in class together since the first grade. I live on your street."
"Hmm…" Chloe mused. "I guess you just have one of those faces. You know, it blends in with all the others."
"On the contrary, I think she's beautiful and stands out," Grant growled.
Chloe looked down at him with a sneer. "Yeah, you would."
Whatever that meant.
Chloe turned her gaze on me. "I haven't seen you around before. And I know everybody."
"Apparently not," Talia mumbled under her breath, but Chloe ignored her.
"I'm new," I said.
"Huh. We don't get many new kids," Chloe shrugged.
"Well, we exist," I replied.
She glanced to Grant and turned up her nose. "Yeah, I can see that. I'm Chloe Olson, by the way."
"Mm…" I pretended to think. "Never heard of you."
She squirmed a little, like that bothered her. "And you are?"
"Nadine Evers," I told her, not really caring if she knew or not.
"Nadine Evers?" she repeated under her breath. "Why does that sound—wait! Are you Helena Tucker's granddaughter?"
"The one and only," I answered proudly.
Chloe's nostrils flared, like I'd just said something to seriously offend her. She slapped her palms flat on the table and leaned down to get right up in my face. She punctuated each word and spoke very clearly. "What the fuck are you doing in Octavia Falls?"
I leaned back in my chair, totally taken off guard. It was like she had something against me. I hadn't even done anything to piss her off yet… unless she'd seen me spying on her the other day.
Lucas shot to his feet and put a hand on Chloe's shoulder. "Back off, Chloe."
She slapped his hand away and whirled on him. "Don't tell me what to do."
She turned back to me, unadulterated hatred marring her features. I seriously had no idea what I'd done wrong. "You don't belong in Octavia Falls. You never should've come here."
I scoffed and crossed my arms. "Ominous, much?"
"I'm serious," she warned. "If you want to stay here, you won't go through with your Evoking Ceremony."
I rolled my eyes. All these basic bitches were the same. I'd handled them in the past. I could handle her. "Yeah, okay. I'll keep that in mind."
Chloe narrowed her eyes toward me, like she was trying to curse me with them. Lucas threw himself between us. "Seriously, Chloe, you need to leave."
She didn't take her eyes off me, but she started backing away. "This is far from over.”
She whirled around, and her girl squad followed without a word.
I turned back to my friends. "Holy crap. What was that about?"
Talia shot a scowl at Chloe's retreating form. "No idea."
"She's just like that," Grant said. "I bet she's trying to scare you because you're new. She did the same thing when I first met her. She called me Hispanic scum."
I frowned. "I'm sorry."
Lucas sat back down, but he didn't take his eyes off Chloe, as if watching her for potential threats.
"Thanks, by the way," I told him. "She looked like she was about to curse my ass."
Lucas chuckled lightly. "No problem. She can't, though, because she hasn't gone through with her Evoking Ceremony yet. And if she did curse you, she'd get in trouble."
Something told me she'd find a way to talk herself out of repercussions.
"She's just threatened by you," Lucas assured me.
I gave him a skeptical look. "Threatened by me?"
He shrugged. "Yeah, because your grandma is such a powerful witch. Her family's powerful, too. Chloe's slated to be one of the best witches of her class. She doesn't want to lose her spot at the top."
I rolled my eyes. Like I said, all these basic bitches were the same. "Whatever. She has nothing to worry about."
Talia smiled. "Well, you already made the top of my list."
I reached for another muffin. "Good to know. I'll be sure to steer clear of Chloe from now on."
"A good idea," Lucas confirmed.
"Is this one any fun?" I asked, holding up a chocolate chip muffin.
Lucas smirked from across the table. "Will you still eat it if I told you no?"
I nodded firmly. "Absolutely."
I popped the muffin in my mouth, and my hair instantly changed to an I-don't-give-a-fuck bright blue.
"Ah," I said. "The perfect muffin to fit my mood."
Classes started on Tuesday, the day after Labor Day. Luckily, Talia and I had explored campus the day before, so we knew where our classrooms were. We had Miriamic History together, which I was grateful for, since I didn't want to attend my first class on my own.
The classroom was huge and set up like a movie theater, with big comfy chairs lined in rows. There must've been at least a hundred First Year students here. I noticed the Lucky Three up in front, but they didn't see us as we took our seats in the middle of the room.
"I'm totally going to fail this class," I groaned as I pulled out my laptop to take notes.
Talia scoffed. "You are not. What makes you say that?"
"Because everyone here knows all this history. It's brand new to me," I explained.
"You'll catch up in no time," Talia promised.
Our professor entered the room. He looked really old, like the history he'd be teaching would be told first-hand. His white hair was in stark contrast to his dark skin. He wore all black, including a silk black tie over a black button-down shirt. Though he looked anc
ient, he moved with grace down the main aisle until he came to the front of the room. The entire class quieted as all eyes turned to our professor.
"Good morning, students," he said kindly. "I’m Professor Richards, and this is Miriamic History. Welcome to your first semester at Miriam College of Witchcraft. Today, we will be studying the basics of our history. Later this week, we'll jump into more in-depth topics. There is no textbook in this class, so I suggest you don't skip my class, as you'll find it very difficult to pass your exams."
Professor Richards jumped into the lecture immediately. I rushed to start taking notes. "We're all familiar with Mother Miriam. She is the mother of all witches and warlocks within our coven, the very woman we are all descended from. The beginning of our coven starts with her story."
Professor Richards pointed his palms to the high ceiling. Small orbs the size of marbles floated up from his hands. They started out bright, then dimmed to various shades as he arranged them above himself in an intricate pattern. The orbs came together to form the image of a woman. Her face was identical to the painting that hung above the mantle in the foyer. It was clear he was a talented artist as well as a historian.
“Mother Miriam lived as a handmaiden in Europe during the fourteenth century,” Professor Richard lectured. As he spoke, the orbs began to move to create a scene. The image of Mother Miriam began walking through thin air, performing chores like we were watching a play. “Her master was very mean to her. If she didn’t do exactly as he asked, he’d lock her in the cellar for days without food or water. If she asked questions, he beat her.”
The image of a whip came out of nowhere and slashed across her back. The orbs shifted quickly to make it look as if she was crying out in pain.
“You don’t want to know some of the terrible things he did to her,” Professor Richards said sadly. He took a deep breath and continued. “One day, she accidentally spilled a pail of water while doing her chores. He punished her by making her stand in the hot coals of the fire. The flesh burned clean off her feet.”
Shudder.
“That night, she crawled from the house and fell to her knees, praying for someone to help her escape these terrible conditions.”
The image depicted a woman on her knees with her hands folded in front of herself, looking toward the skies. My guts twisted as he told the story.