"So, today was interesting. My assignment is …" I paused, trying to come up with the right word. "Difficult."
I sat down on my bed and pulled out a sheet of paper, attempting to write my first day notes for Lady Shenelle.
"Really? What's she like?"
"I told you. She's difficult. She threw an apple at me. An apple. At me." I paused. "Oh. And she called me a genie."
He laughed, swiveling in the desk chair and pushing himself toward my bed. "Not everyone worships you, Ash. This may do you some good. The genie part sucks, though."
I raised an eyebrow at the first bit. "No one worships me."
Sam started talking about some girl he wanted to ask out. I ignored him as I jotted down some notes.
"Am I interrupting?"
My eyes flew to the doorway. Misty, Lady Shenelle's other apprentice, stood there, clutching a stack of pink papers in her hands.
Sam jumped to his feet. His mouth dropped open slightly, and he extended a hand. "Sam Ellwater," he said. "It's a pleasure."
Her cheeks reddened. "Misty." She looked embarrassed and cleared her throat. "Sorry, I need to talk to Ash for a second."
Sam gestured toward me and I shrugged.
"I was wondering if you got your notes written?" she asked.
"Oh, um …" I glanced down at the paper in my hand and the pitiful few sentences I had managed to write.
Kendall Corrigan: Age 16
Wish #: Have people be normal around her. Not very original, but whatever.
First Impression: Cute. Blonde hair. Has sad eyes. Pretty good arm.
"Those are your notes?" They said in unison.
I scowled at them, and Misty stifled a laugh.
"It's my first day. Relax," I said.
"I have, like, three pages from my first day," Misty said.
"You're a girl. You like to write notes. Probably took up half the page with cutesy hearts and flowers."
Her cheeks flushed, and she hugged her papers to her chest.
"I have two pages, and I don't decorate mine," Sam muttered.
"You're with Master Time. Of course you have more interesting things to write about."
"Not really. My assignment needed an extra hour to study before some huge test. I spent half of it watching him drool on his math paper after he fell asleep. He ended up failing. Poor kid."
I rolled my eyes. "These notes will have to do. I can't think of anything else to write."
"You're totally going to fail," Misty said.
I ignored her. "Tomorrow I’ll try to convince her to make her second wish. I'm sure I can get it out of her."
"I haven't gotten any wishes yet," Misty said. Her lips drew into a pout. "My assignment is annoying. He hit on me within the first five minutes."
I laughed. "That means I'm winning, then."
"It's not a race," she said.
"It is now," I said.
"No, it's not!"
"Break it up, you two," Sam said.
She glared at me. "I have to go, anyway. I have another appointment with my assignment." She gave us an awkward smile and left.
"She's hot,” Sam said. “I've always wanted to ask her out."
"You can have her."
"Thanks." Sam said. "So according to your amazing notes, your assignment is pretty cute then?"
I thought about Kendall. Her short blonde hair and the horrified look on her face when she thought I was a stalker. I laughed.
"What's so funny?"
"Nothing," I said.
“You never answered my question.”
"She’d be even cuter without that scar on her cheek."
"Scar?"
"Yeah. From a car accident or something." I waved him away from my notes again.
"Besides that, she's cute?"
"She has nice legs." I smiled. "Blindingly white, but nice."
Sam burst out laughing. "If I were her, and you said that to me, I would slap that grin right off your face."
I laughed. "Like I would ever say that to her."
"Well, if you do, make sure I'm there. I've always wanted to see a girl beat the crap out of you."
"Like that would ever happen. Besides, I can just kick your butt instead." I rolled up a bit of paper and flicked it at him.
"Whatever," he said, fishing the paper out of his red hair.
"If you two are finished talking about butts, Ash can hand in his first assignment."
I glanced up, surprised and a little weirded out to see Lady Shenelle standing in the middle of our room.
"Uh ... Lady Shenelle," I started.
"Why are you looking at me like that?" she asked.
"Do you always show up in your apprentice's room's unannounced?" I asked, scrambling to pick up papers and other things off the floor before she got a good look at the mess.
"I announced myself when I arrived." She wrinkled her nose as she looked around the room. "Like I said before, I'm here to get your first assignment. It should be ready for me to grade. You've had plenty of time."
I frowned. "I was just finishing up my notes."
Sam still sat in the desk chair, his hands behind his head. He was clearly enjoying the interchange between my superior and me.
I kicked a pair of underwear under the bed and grabbed my notepaper. "Here you go."
She took the paper, read it in two seconds and frowned. "If this is all you can think of, I may have to fail you. Misty just stopped by with twice as much as you."
Like I said. Hearts and flowers.
"What am I supposed to write? I took notes. That was all you assigned for the first day."
"I meant take meaningful notes. Not three sentences. Write about how your wand worked. What Kendall did when you met her. Did she seem upset? Happy? What questions did she ask? Remember, I grade you on every part of this apprenticeship. Everything you write, say, and do will affect your grade." She glanced at the paper again. "You can do better than this."
"I already got one wish out of her! Doesn’t that count?”
“One wish is nothing. I had one apprentice a few years ago who got all three wishes the same day.”
"Suck up," I grumbled.
Her eyes narrowed, but instead of reprimanding me, she sighed. "Stop by my office later. I need to make sure your wand is working correctly."
"It's fine." I pulled it out and examined it.
"So now you're a wand expert? It's part of the apprenticeship rules. Just drop it by my office tonight and you’ll get it back first thing in the morning. I'll need to check it once a week. Do you understand?"
"Okay," I said in confusion, putting my wand away.
I heard Sam chuckle from across the room, probably at the stupid look on my face.
"Stop laughing, Sam," she snapped. With a flick of her wrist, her wand appeared, complete with purple feathers and fuzzies. She pointed it threateningly at Sam. "Help him with his notes." Before Sam could react, she vanished.
"Well," Sam said. "That was scary."
"Tell me about it."
"Pretty hilarious, too, seeing you squirm like that."
"Ha, ha," I said. I didn't think it was funny at all. Maybe the look on Sam's face was a little funny when she pointed her wand at him. "Keep laughing."
"I will. I've never seen anyone get mad at you like that. Highlight of my day."
"There's a first time for everything."
"That was freaky how she just showed up in our room like that. You think she could have waited for you to turn in your notes yourself," Sam said. He looked around, probably trying to convince himself she was really gone.
"No kidding." I really hoped she wouldn't be doing that every day.
"I wish Misty would teleport in here more often. She's at least nice to look at."
"I guess." I smiled. "Isn't it awesome? Teleporting whenever we want to wherever we want? I wish we could have done it before we started our apprenticeships. Think of the fun we could have had all these years." Even as I said it, magic rushed
toward my fingertips, and I had to resist the urge to use it.
"I know, right? Practicing in class was nothing compared to doing it for real. And it may come in handy after curfew," he said, wiggling his eyebrows. "I've heard Sinna's interested. She's one of the hottest girls on campus, and lately, all she talks about is you. Dax is crazy jealous."
I shook my head. "No thanks. She lives in a tree."
"Well duh. She's a dryad."
"No offense to her, but I don't think skipping around holding hands, wearing flowers on my head, or playing Ring Around the Rosie all day long sounds that exciting."
Sam rolled his eyes. "That's not all dryads do and you know it."
"Okay, enlighten me."
"Um …" He thought about it for a minute, and then shrugged. "I guess you're right. They are pretty weird."
I chuckled and started cleaning my side of the room. Having Lady Shenelle walk in had made me realize our floor was beginning to look like Kendall's.
***
A few hours later, I was listening to Sam's snores coming from the other side of the room. I was dozing, nearly asleep, when I noticed a large dark shadow move across the window.
Now, I'm not one to get scared over every little sound or movement, but a shadow like that? Not normal.
I got out of bed, wincing as my feet touched the cold floor.
The window was closed, but I undid the latch and pulled it open. I stuck my head out, seeing nothing but darkness. No weird shadows, nobody running around after hours trying to play tricks on sleeping students.
Shrugging, I pulled the window shut again.
Ash.
I jumped as the voice entered my thoughts, and whirled around.
No one was there.
Ash.
I glanced around the room, even though I somehow knew I wouldn’t find whoever was speaking.
What are you looking for?
"Shut up!" I yelled.
Sam stopped snoring, but just rolled over and stayed asleep.
This is almost as fun as playing with people’s dreams.
Dax.
"Stay out of my head, you son of a djinn."
I'm having too much fun.
"Show yourself, Dax."
I don't think so.
I laughed. "Why? You afraid I'll give you a black eye again?"
Hardly.
I sighed, tired of his games. "What do you want?"
Oh, just the usual. To see you squirm. To torment you when no one else is around. To make you feel like I have all these years.
His voice hardened.
"If this is about Sinna, you can have her."
This has nothing to do with her. Or anyone else. It's between you and me. You have always been the favorite. Always gotten what you've wanted, but not anymore.
"Come on, Dax. Get over it. Let’s call a truce or something. We've been doing this for way too long. Let's move on already."
He laughed.
You're done telling me what to do.
"Dax," I started.
I said I'd see you in your dreams, and I wasn't joking around. Welcome to my world, Ash. Where we play by my rules. Enjoy your slumber.
"Dax!" My voice echoed through the room, and then there was nothing. Only silence.
I glanced around, making sure he wasn't in the room with me. I already knew he wasn't. It just made me feel better to check. I climbed back in bed, not tired at all anymore. A good thing, since I wasn't eager to see what Dax had in store for me once I fell asleep.
Chapter 6
Kendall
Walking to school the next day, I felt sick. Maybe I was getting the flu or something. Or maybe I was just nervous about seeing Tessa again. I was sure she was still mad at me and wasn't looking forward to sitting next to her in half my classes.
I walked into school, searching the foyer for her, when Cameron walked over. It was the first time he'd even approached me since a few days after the accident. He'd avoided me after that. It was my fault, really. I'd pushed him away. Him and everyone else who had tried to comfort me.
He smiled. "Hey."
"Oh, um … hi," I said.
"So," he started. He tugged on a lock of his shaggy blonde hair and shot me an awkward smile. "How are you?"
"I'm good."
He laughed and slung an arm over my shoulder. "Why are you so nervous?"
"I'm not nervous," I said. I was such a liar.
"You look nice today, by the way." He cleared his throat. "Did you do your hair different?"
My hair looked the same as it had every day for the last four months. Straight, drab and boring. At least it wasn't in a ponytail, though. "Nope."
"Oh."
We stood in silence for a moment, and I turned to walk away.
He grabbed my arm, stopping me. "Look Kendall, we need to talk."
"Is something wrong?"
His dark eyes searched my face. "No," he finally said. "I just haven't seen you around for a while and realized … I missed you."
My heart did a flip. "Really?"
He squeezed my shoulders. "Really."
The bell rang.
"I've got to get to class, but I'll call you, okay?"
"Sounds good." I smiled as he winked and walked in the opposite direction.
I hurried to my locker before the bell rang again.
Tessa was waiting for me when I rounded the corner. Her face lit up when she saw me.
"Hey, Kendall!" She held up a bag of purple skittles. "I thought you'd like some of these before we take our big math test today."
I took the bag and frowned. Weren't we in a fight?
Twisting her dark hair behind her head and using a pen to hold it in place, she smiled in the mirror hanging on our locker door. "Much better," she said. "Oh, guess who was totally checking me out this morning?"
"Um … who?”
"Scott." She squealed. "He's so hot! And guess what?"
My mouth was hanging open. How did we go from our confrontation in the car to Tessa acting like nothing happened?
"Kendall!"
I snapped out of it. "Oh, sorry. What were you going to tell me?"
She rolled her eyes. "I said, Scott and the guys are going to a movie tonight. We should totally go!"
"I don't know …"
"Cameron will be there." She giggled. "I asked Scott and made sure."
"Tessa! Don't be so obvious!"
She laughed and shook her head. "I promise I wasn't. So will you come?"
I smiled. "Sure. That would be fun."
"Oh, and guess what else? Dane's having a party Friday night. He's going all out. Like, a DJ and everything. Wanna go?"
"Tess–"
"Oh, come on. You haven't gone out in ages. It'll be fun!"
"I'll think about it."
As we walked to class together, I was still wondering why Tessa was being so normal with me. She was usually quieter, more careful about suggesting things when I was around.
Then it hit me.
My wish.
Ash.
***
The guys were waiting inside the theater when Tessa and I arrived. They waved us over, and I smiled. Since people were acting normal around me again, I'd try to act normal around them.
"These better not be for a zombie movie or something," Tessa muttered as Scott handed her our tickets.
"Don't worry, Tess. It's not all blood and guts. Cameron wanted to see that romantic comedy, but I talked him into seeing something more manly."
"Great," I said, still stuck on the whole 'blood and guts' thing.
"You ready?"
I glanced up at Cameron's brown eyes and smiled. "Yep."
We found our seats, and the guys went to get some popcorn. Tessa announced to the theater that she needed to pee, leaving me alone to save the seats.
"Enjoying yourself?"
I jumped as Ash appeared out of nowhere. He sat in Cameron's seat with his feet on the chair in front of him.
"What are yo
u doing here?" I hissed.
"Checking out the theater. Seeing anything good tonight?"
"Go away! You're in Cameron's seat!"
"Who's Cameron? Your boyfriend?" He looked thoughtful. "Right. You don't have a boyfriend." He stood and looked around. "Where is he?"
"Sit down!" Then I remembered no one could see him but me. "Never mind," I muttered.
"Is that him?"
I saw Cameron and Scott heading up the stairs, popcorn and drinks in hand. Tessa was right behind them.
"I’m guessing that look on your face means yes."
Scott and Tessa squeezed by me, and my mouth dropped open as Cameron sat right in Ash's lap.
He let out a yelp and vanished.
"You okay?" Cameron asked.
I nodded, looking away from where Ash had been sitting two seconds before.
"If you want me to flex, you just need to ask," Cameron said, chuckling.
I was grateful the lights dimmed right then. Even though looking at Cameron's arm muscles would have been nice too.
The previews had almost finished playing when I heard Ash's voice behind me. "I came to get your second wish, but it looks like you have better things to do." He didn't whisper, since no one else could hear him.
It was hard, sitting there and not turning around to yell at him.
“I guess I’ll just have to enjoy the movie with you,” he said.
The lights flickered then. I jumped and grabbed Cameron's arm. They flickered again, and the screen went black.
Ash cursed behind me, and I thought I heard him say someone's name. Dax, maybe? After a few seconds, the screen returned to normal, and the music from the movie started playing.
I wanted to see if Ash was still behind me, but I figured not. He would have been bugging me had he still been there. Settling into my seat, I focused on the opening credits.
Movies were always awkward for me. I never knew where to put my hands, so I kept them in my lap. Every once in a while, Cameron's hand would brush mine as we reached in the popcorn bag at the same time. We'd smile at each other and then go back to watching the movie.
Things were going great, until about halfway into the film.
I knew what was going to happen even before the car crashed into the tree. The main character screamed for her mother, who sat in the driver's seat. The cameras kept zooming in on her, covered in blood and obviously dead.
Not Your Average Fairy Tale (Not Your Average Fairy Tale #1) Page 5