by A. J. Macey
The classes were split between twelve teachers by year but were all held in the familiar barn and clearing behind the library. Once we got there, I followed Caspian’s instructions to find Professor Thane, who waiting with a small group in the fenced-off pasture attached to the huge familiar barn. Animals were roaming freely in the pasture, birds flying overhead and into the tower of the barn.
“Welcome, you must be Aris. I’m Professor Thane, but you can just call me Thane. Come meet Lulu,” he called over to me as I made my way to the class. Lulu was not, in fact, a cute fluffy pet as I expected but actually, a rather large and grumpy alligator. Despite Thane’s reassurance she was friendly, I wasn’t too willing to stick my hand down there and touch her—the possibility of pulling back a bloody stump was none too appealing. The rest of the class was already at a safe distance, so I said a quick ‘hello, pretty girl’ and hurried to join them. Thane’s smile grew as I greeted his intimidating pet.
Looking around at the class, only two others in my group had familiars. One was a tiny mouse burrowed into a girl’s hair, only his white face and pink nose poking out. The second was a crow, sitting on a tall guy’s shoulder, eyeing the poor mouse.
Thane rambled on about properly bathing and feeding your pet, handing out several guides on each animal type as he made his way around the group. The thought of a giant alligator choosing me had me shuddering. No thanks!
Another class walked by, heading for the back of the pasture. I noticed Kye right away, his face set in a scowl as he listened to a rather nasally teacher droning on.
“Kye!” I yelled, not thinking about the fact we were both in class. His eyes snapped over to me before a look of pure exasperation took over. He gave me a small nod to match my smartass smile and flirty little wave of my fingers. His teacher didn’t even flinch, continuing to drone on while Kye shook his head at me.
“Who wants to feed Lulu?!” Thane asked excitedly, not seeming to care about my outburst. “Aris, you up for it?” he asked, his eyes full of naive excitement. There was no way he realized how terrified everyone was of her. I glanced over in Kye’s direction, noticing he was barely suppressing his laughter while I faced off an alligator that could easily swallow me whole.
Turning back to Thane, I found him holding out a bucket full of gigantic, whole fish. Not willing to grab the slimy creatures inside the bin, I used my magic to pick out the biggest one. It floated out and alongside me as I stepped closer to Lulu. Crouching down, I floated her meal closer to her mouth, being sure to keep my hands and limbs far enough away from the food, in case she was a messy eater. Lulu crawled forward slightly before eating the fish from the air in a much gentler manner than I had anticipated. The not-so-little alligator proceeded to close the few steps between us, her head bumping into my leg.
“Awe, that’s my sweet girl,” I cooed, patting her head as she continued to nuzzle my calf. She isn’t so scary after all
“And here I thought it was only marshmallows that won over her heart,” Thane cheered, coming up and giving his sweet girl some scratches on her side. She rolled slightly to the side to give him better access, somehow making her look like the cutest creature around. A smug smile spread across Thane’s face before he stood up and turned, shouting across the clearing to another group. “Hey, Callahan! I told you I’d eventually get a student to feed and love on my big girl!”
Callahan?! Of course, it was him!
Torryn and his class walked over, a shocked smile on his face as he clapped Thane on the back, clearly not noticing it was me. They joked back-and-forth about Lulu as I continued to show her love, hoping he wouldn’t notice it was me.
“Of course, it was you, Miss Calisto,” he said, his exasperation clear in his voice. When I looked up at him, a small smile played across his lips.
“What, Professor Callahan, you want a turn?” I challenged, raising an eyebrow and gesturing at my new friend. “Come on, girl, go show some love to Professor Callahan,” I cooed to the alligator who rolled back onto her feet and started toward Torryn.
“Oh, hellsticks!” he shouted and jumped as the large animal neared him, his class following his action and backing away.
“What’s wrong?” I called out, cupping my hands around my mouth as I shouted toward his retreating form. “Scared of a sweet girl like Lulu? Come on back, baby, I’ll pet you. I’m not afraid of you, sweetie.” At my words, she stopped her pursuit and turned to come back to me, rolling sideways for belly rubs. I settled down on the ground next to Lulu, rubbing her belly and relaxing while I listened to Thane’s explanation on how to care for big familiars and pets.
When class ended, both Torryn and Caspian approached, side-eyeing each other the entire way. I held back an eye roll at the obvious sibling rivalry. Caspian was the first to get to me, laughing as he took in me and my new bestie.
“I take it the first class went well?” he asked, crouching down beside me and slowly reaching a hand out. Lulu gave him a cute little grunt and a veiled glance but allowed him to pet her. Torryn slowed down as he got closer, keeping a safe distance away—big baby.
“It’s time for mentoring, Miss Calisto. Ready?” he asked formally. I gave Lulu one last pet before walking away. The sad grunt she gave had me wanting to run back, but Thane intercepted with a huge bag of marshmallows. Following Torryn through the trees and back to the main part of campus, I wasn’t sure where he was planning on holding mentoring until he led me back to his classroom. When we got there, he moved some of the desks out of the way to make more room in front before jumping right in.
“I know you can move things with your mind but let’s see if any of the basic spells work for you. Whereas Elementals can manipulate the element itself, Casters are able to bring those elements about with magic. Only Advanced Casters are able to bring it down to one word. Typically, Casters usually need long phrases to be able to manipulate things with magic. For instance,” he explained before pointing to the floating lanterns overhead. “Mergit in flamma,” he muttered, the lights above us flickering out. With another phrase, they lit up again.
“So, you can bring fire about but couldn’t manipulate it with just a phrase?” I clarified, trying to understand what he was explaining.
“Correct, and we can only light a fire where it’s intended. A lantern is an object meant for fire, so we can light it, same with a candle. But I couldn’t just go set fire to the pasture with a simple phrase. An elemental could do that if they wished. They would just need to say their activation word, which for fire would be ignium.”
His explanation made more sense now. Sure, they taught this stuff in school when we were growing up, but they never really broke it down in terms we could grasp as Torryn was. It was a welcome change, and I was excited I might actually learn something interesting, instead of being scolded for virtually everything I did. I was also glad Torryn and I seemed to be working so well together. After hearing Caspian talk about him, I hadn’t exactly have high hopes.
“Alright, your turn,” he said, extinguishing the flames so I could light them. “Focus on thoughts of fire and heat, picturing in your mind what you want to happen. Then say the spell-ignem accende-and push your magic forward,” he finished, gesturing for me to give it a try.
Trying to mimic his actions, I focused on the lanterns overhead and thought of fire blazing to life in the closest one. When I muttered the incantation, a tiny flame flickered to life before sputtering out, the glow hardly big enough to even illuminate the space around us.
“Okay, fire isn’t your thing. What about water?” he asked, showing me how to fill up a glass of water at the utterance of implebis aqua.
He showed me this one several times before I started to get annoyed. I’m new to spell casting, not an idiot. I couldn’t help myself when I started to imagine copious amounts of water pouring on his head. I had started to giggle when a huge wave of water splashed over us both, leaving us drenched and him sputtering. Now I knew the incident in my room wasn’t just a magical
fluke.
What is happening to me?
“Oops?” I murmured with a tiny shrug. What do you say after that kind of shit?
The look he gave me at my words was one of shock, not anger as I expected. He whispered a few words, and a swirl of wind went through the room, drying the floor and us.
“I thought they tested you for elemental magic?” he asked though he seemed to be talking to himself. “You shouldn’t be capable of that, especially without an activation word.”
“They tested me for everything. I’m sure it was just a fluke or something,” I muttered, trying to play it off like it was no big deal.
“Aris… that was hardly a fluke, that was a strong show of water elemental magic,” he countered. “Is this what you were referring to when you said you just showered the other night?” I could almost see the wheels in his mind going a million miles a minute, trying to figure it all out, trying to figure me out.
“Uh... maybe?” I tried to divert my attention from his intense gaze, but he closed the distance between us, staring down at me from his over six-foot height. Being so close to him, I could see the similarities between him and Caspian, but I could also see what made Torryn... well, Torryn. His jaw had a shadow of red facial hair, and those seafoam-green of his eyes held specks of deep, rich blue, gold, even some brown. He smelled of pine and freshly cut grass, and I had to stop myself from taking a deep breath to sniff him. I mean, that’d be weird, right?
“Aris,” he murmured, but even with his voice soft, it was still laced with a command that forced me to look at him. “Tell me the truth.”
“Well,” I started, scratching the side of my head in an attempt to distract myself from how close he was standing and the resulting waves of magic rolling over me at his proximity. “Hypothetically...” I trailed off, uncomfortable with explaining exactly how I got these powers. Don’t want to just blurt out I lost my V card to his brother. That’s worse than smelling your teacher.
“All right,” he hummed with a skeptical eyebrow raise. “Hypothetically, what is going on?”
“What if someone—not me, obviously—but you know, a random witch,” I emphasized with a wave of my hand. Why am I this way? “Was having weird feelings and vibes when around certain people and magically… ha,”—I chuckled in my nervousness—“somehow was to, I don’t know, get powers they didn’t have before?”
“I think we should bring this up to an Elemental teacher and get their take,” he said firmly, starting to walk across the room.
“No!” I shouted, stopping him in his tracks. “Please, I just want to research it first. I’ll be careful, and it’s not harming anyone. No watery thoughts or even drinking or thinking of water until I know what it means,” I pleaded, begging him to stop. His eyes narrowed as he looked at me, silent for several minutes. My anxiety flared, and I tried my best not to freak out while I waited, his eyes narrowing after a moment.
“What exactly were you thinking about, Miss Calisto?” Oh shit, he used my last name. I’m in trouble. My cheeks heated as I stuttered over my answer.
“I thought you were talking down to me like I was an idiot. Then I got irritated and maaaay have thought of water dumping all over you, but I didn’t expect it to actually happen!” I rambled, feeling worse and worse by the second. I expected him to start yelling or get angry, but instead, he looked hurt. My heart ached at the dejected look he shot me.
“You know… I was only trying to help you, Aris. I’ll see what I can find, but that’s it for mentoring today. I’ll see you Friday for History.” He turned on his heel with no further words, walking into his office and closing the door. The click of the lock echoed in the empty classroom as a sinking feeling settled in my gut.
My mood dropped even further at the sight of pouring rain outside. Man, I don’t want to get soaking wet all over again, I grumbled to myself as I walked outside into the downpour. Students were sliding in the grass and running outside, making the crowd even more chaotic than it had been before.
By the time I reached the door to the Administration building, I expected my feet to be squelching in my canvas shoes. Taking a tentative step, I froze, realizing I was, somehow, completely dry, not even my hair was dripping water. What in the wing of bat is happening to me?!
Nope, not freaking dealing with this today.
“Cupcake!” Caspian’s overly happy mood was a stark contrast to my down in the bubbling cauldron mood. “How was mentoring?”
“I need Choco Bat Brownies and some soul cake as soon as freaking possible,” I huffed, tucking under his arm that curled over my shoulder.
“Was my brother a douche?” He stopped, glancing down at me with a severe frown. I shook my head violently, not wanting him to blame Torryn for my fuck up.
“No, I promise it wasn’t his fault, but I’m tired, and I just want sweets. Can we stockpile and go watch Boos and Brews? They’re supposed to be making Spookhetti and Boo’s signature Ghost Gin and Tonic.” I poked out my bottom lip in a tiny pout, hoping he’d be willing to watch one of my favorite vegging out shows.
“Alright, Cupcake, but only because I happen to love Boos and Brews,” he agreed readily without noticing that I was dry as dragon bones despite just coming in from the pouring rain. However, it didn’t escape my notice, he was also dry in the sea of soaking witches who were squelching through the dining hall.
Not today, Satan, I’ll save figuring that shit out for another time.
September 5th
Thursday Midday
Aris
After checking in with Professor Embry for my study hall, I started looking through the tomes. This time, I specifically looked for books on Mixtas, hoping to discover if some found affinities later in their lives. A scrawling silver title caught my eye—Mixtas Through the Years seemed like exactly what I was looking for.
Claiming a comfy armchair, I threw my legs over the side and rested the book on my lap, flipping through the pages. It was a huge book, so I was stuck flipping pages for half of the study hour. Just as I was about to give up, a passage caught my eye.
“Though late bloomers are not unheard of, Mixtas rarely obtain affinities later in life. A few Mixtas develop a more diluted version of their affinity through rigorous training,” I mumbled, reading the passage out loud. It was helpful, but it didn’t really explain the craziness happening to me.
With a heavy sigh, I stood up and threw my bag over my shoulder before carrying the heavy tome back to its shelf. Just as I turned the corner, I ran into Drayce. This time, my book fell to the ground.
He chuckled, bending over to pick up. “We’re going to have to stop meeting like this, Angel,” he teased, making my cheeks flare again as I snatched it back from his outstretched hands.
“I’m so sorry,” I said, hiding behind my book like a true weirdo.
Oh, my broomsticks, could I for once NOT make a fool out of myself?!
Drayce
I couldn’t believe my luck—the cutest little witch ran into me for the second time in a week. I’d wanted to see her again before our next mentoring session, and I couldn’t have planned a better reason to talk to her. Seeing that cute blush made it even better. She hid behind the book she had clutched in her hands before peeking enough of her face over the top just in time to see her blush deepen. I gently pulled it away since it really wasn’t that serious.
“Mixtas Through the Years? What are you looking up?” I questioned, finally noticing what she had been reading, curious why her Mixta teacher would have her looking up the basics… that’s kind of their job to teach her that.
“I just want to learn all I can about it,” she shrugged, though a spark of panic in her eyes had my curiosity piqued. Not that she had to share everything with me, but something about her continued to pull me in and made me want to know everything about her, not just because she was cute either. Her odd sense of humor and clumsiness made her even more adorable. It didn’t hurt she actually seemed genuine—what you saw from her didn’t fe
el like a facade.
“Cool, cool, cool,” I said, giving her a casual nod. Her stomach gave a loud rumble, and like clockwork, the chimes went off, indicating the end of the class. “You want to come have lunch with me?”
“I usually sit with my friend Caspian if you don’t mind him joining us too?” Her face screwed up in concern as if she was afraid I’d make her go alone now.
“Sounds fun.” I gave her a smile and took the book from her, walking over and resting it on the book return cart. “M’lady?” I asked, holding my arm out for her. She giggled and wound her arm through mine, letting me lead her safely through the crowd.
Goddess knows, if she’d left on her own, the entire crowd would go down like dominos.
Caspian
I couldn’t stop the smile that seemed permanently affixed to my face when I knew I was about to see my Cupcake. I never thought things would have turned out this way, but I wasn’t complaining. It wasn’t that I didn’t have friends—I had plenty of groups I could hang out with—but I always had that feeling of being an outsider. With her, it was different. We worked perfectly together, and she got me in a way no one else ever had.
I had no clue what was going on between us, but ever since that night, weird things had been happening. First the downpour on us, then the fact it was raining outside and not a drop got on me? Crazy. This morning in the shower, it took twice as long because the water seemed to move away from me every time I’d step under the warm spray. Though I’m sure me constantly thinking about it, probably wasn’t helping.
Stepping into the dining hall, I scanned the space for Aris’ signature pink hair. When I finally spotted her, I felt my eyes narrow slightly when I noticed another witch sitting with her. He was giving her flirty smiles, and when she wasn’t looking, he stared at her shamelessly. Son of a witch! Who the eye of newt is that guy?