Hawthorn Academy- Year Two

by D. R. Perry

  "Did you make those over the summer, too?" Last year, she'd only had one pair of sneakers.

  "No, Az did. He ended up doing a good job at his uncle's shop. Definitely cobbler material, that guy."

  "That's a pretty significant gift, Grace."

  "Not really." She shrugged. "I'm the one who convinced his uncle to give him a chance there. At least, that was what Azrael said when he gave these to me."

  "Well, he's always been a good kid."

  "Izzy disagrees." Grace raised an eyebrow. "Says he's obsessive. I didn't get that impression."

  "She's hands-off in the displays of affection department. Really, they're different from each other." I glanced down at the row of shoes. "We all are. That’s what you were saying earlier, right?"

  "Yeah, Aliyah." Grace stood, holding her arms out. "And sometimes, exactly the same."

  We hugged, then left the rest of our unpacking for later so we'd make the welcome assembly on time.

  Chapter Thirteen

  I sat in the front row again like last September. Other repeats included Headmaster Hawkins appearing out of nowhere and Grace sitting with me, but this time, the rest of our year joined us. We took up all the seats in front of the podium, baffling the students in Noah's year, who stuck to the back.

  "Stealing the scene. I like it." Hal peered around Faith and me, grinning at Grace.

  "Good." Faith clutched his hand and nodded at me. "Because here comes trouble."

  Grace stared placidly ahead at the headmaster, posture straight enough to balance a stack of books on her head. She'd said earlier that I was supposed to look otherworldly and vaguely threatening, so that's what I kept in mind when I turned to see what Faith meant. Or rather who.

  Even without my ex escorting her, I would have recognized the girl walking across the room as Temperance Fairbanks. For one thing, she was built along the same lines as her sisters, despite her darker hair. For another, hard laughter dropped from her lips like diamonds into a lead-crystal vase.

  I narrowed my eyes, nostrils flaring. Ember stood up on my shoulder, wings out and hissing softly.

  Good, you sense that power, then. She's got more than the other two. Possibly even you.

  "What's her element?" I murmured to Faith.

  "Water," she whispered back.

  I considered the implications. The other water magi I knew were deep, a bit quiet, and generally pleasant people. In our studies last year, Professor Luciano had taught that water was a sympathetic element, able to comprehend and conform temporarily while retaining its essential nature. Logan exemplified that, so how could Temperance Fairbanks be as horrible as Faith implied?

  Because she understands of course, foolish girl.

  That made no sense, so I tuned the Evil Inside Voice out and watched Alex bow slightly while waving her toward a seat in the center aisle across from Grace and one row back. They sat right behind Kitty and Eston, whom Alex greeted despite the chilly reception Kitty gave him. Eston stared at his shoes, mumbling something about a long drive.

  "It's not like you think." Faith murmured. "Her water magic, I mean."

  I'd ask her what that meant later because Headmaster Hawkins took that moment to begin his speech.

  "Welcome, students." This year, Headmaster Hawkins didn't smile, and I couldn't fault him for it. His son sat in the same row with me, after all, and he looked ashy and thinner than he should have. Hal hadn't even had a growth spurt.

  "Summer is over, and it's time to settle in for the new school year. Since brevity served me well last year, I'd like to rely on it again. However, that's not in the cards this time."

  Ah, yes, the chaos to come.

  I sighed and tried to tune out the Evil Inside Voice. The assembly information had to be important.

  "Your rooming assignments come from the pneumatic tubes to my left. Your class schedules should already be in your rooms; check the desks. First Years will report back here for their campus tour after lunch." Headmaster Hawkins cleared his throat. "I want every student to make as much effort as possible to get into the routine this first month because in October, extramurals will begin."

  "You'll be hosts and ambassadors to students from Gallows Hill School and Wolf Messing Preparatory. I expect you to treat them with care and respect, as you'd wish to be treated if they hosted us on their campuses. Even though we'll be competing in many events against our guests, some projects will require your collaboration with a diverse group of extrahuman peers and their teachers."

  Like last year, Headmaster Hawkins stopped his speech to make eye contact with each student in the room. When our eyes met, I felt a sense of welcome, which eased the tension in my shoulders. Even Ember settled down, but that feeling was short-lived. As his gaze shifted to the next row, I watched his knuckles pale as he gripped the sides of the podium tighter. His Adam's apple bobbed as he swallowed nothing.

  I looked over my shoulder. He'd locked gazes with Temperance, and from the way her eyes narrowed and his widened, he didn't like what he'd seen. He moved along to the next student but took less time with each of them than last year.

  "You see?" Faith whispered.

  "Yeah." I nodded.

  "You're all dismissed. The welcoming party will commence in this very room after dinner this evening."

  Students rose from their seats or leaned forward, chatting with each other. Our group did the same. Grace and Dorian stood at the head of the room, smiling brightly even though their words to us were anything but.

  "Read any good essays this summer, Hal?" Grace asked, raising her eyebrow.

  "No." Hal sighed. "I mean, I read some, but most weren't good."

  "Give us the bad news first." Dorian tilted his head.

  "Sorry about your sister, Dorian."

  "Oh." He shook his head, cheeks red. "Well, that's not the bad news I meant."

  "You did it again, Hal." Grace sighed, shaking her head.

  "Give him a break, he's due at the infirmary in a half-hour." Faith stood up.

  "Why not talk about this there?" I offered. "Hal won't be late for Nurse Smith, and it's bound to be more private than the lobby."

  Nobody said anything, but most of my classmates clearly agreed. Grace, Dorian, Logan, Kitty, and Eston followed Hal and Faith toward the infirmary. I started to bring up the rear when Lee Young stopped me.

  "What's up?"

  "More like down and who." Lee tilted his head toward the other side of the lobby.

  "Dylan." I nodded. "I'll go over and talk to him."

  "Wait," Lee said. "I know you get distracted sometimes, but try and remember to keep an eye out for him. He's not doing so great, and everything I've tried isn't helping much."

  "Then why are you asking me?" I blinked. "You're the one who notices this stuff. It's kind of like your superpower."

  "You're kidding, right?" Lee blinked back.

  "No."

  "If my superpower is noticing, then yours is helping. Whatever you try, when it's for someone else, it works." He grinned, fist-bumping my shoulder. Before I could make any reply, he headed toward the stairs with Scratch bouncing behind him. That was how I ended up alone, staring across the room at the wall Dylan leaned against.

  It was almost the same spot I'd stood in the year before, despairing about fitting in or even making it through the first week of school. Someone I cared about had gotten himself stuck in the same position, which nearly broke my heart.

  You had it bad. Why shouldn't he suffer alone as you did?

  "Why should he, when I could help?"

  Indeed. So why are you standing around?

  So, this particular bout of negativity in my heart and mind didn't come from the Evil Inside Voice. Instead, it was garden-variety self-doubt telling me Dylan Khan wouldn't want any sympathy from me. I almost turned my back on him, but someone wouldn't let me.

  "Peep?" Ember craned her neck, twisting it until her eyes were level with mine. Then, she tapped me on the top of the head with her tail. "Peep. Pee
p!"

  After that, she launched off my shoulder, sailing toward Dylan with the enthusiasm and speed she usually reserved for me. She left me little choice but to follow her. I wasn't sure what to say, so I just leaned against the wall beside him.

  We stood in silence, neither daring to break it. Ember and Gale swooped back and forth in front of us. I turned my head to look at Dylan and saw that he stared straight ahead, watching the dragonets. Finally, he spoke.

  "What's he like?"

  "Hmm?"

  "The new kid." Dylan swallowed. "The one she's spending so much time with."

  "Oh." I turned, putting my right shoulder against the wall instead of my back so I could face my friend. "Dorian reminds me of Cadence, but not a girl, and monochrome instead of rainbow."

  "Cadence is good, right? I mean, she wouldn't, um, hurt anyone?" The extra sheen over Dylan's eyes meant he needed an answer.

  "Not on purpose, no." I shook my head, even though he wasn't looking at me. "I think they’re just being friendly, for what it’s worth."

  "I'd say that's worth about pocket lint." Dylan closed his eyes. "You're clueless about that stuff, Aliyah."

  "That's fair."

  "And honestly, who wouldn't like Grace DuBois? She's awesome." All the air went out of him. His breath hitched as he took one to speak again. "Lee came up to the counter this morning. Talked at me about some kind of ‘this too shall pass’ stuff."

  "He's not wrong." I sighed. "But getting through the time before stuff passes? That's harder than it should be."

  "You don't really understand." He finally turned his head. The corners of his eyes held teardrops like cut glass. "I'm alone in this."

  "Nah. Saw you with Noah at the Open Mic. He gets it."

  "Yeah." Dylan's gaze softened. "He said I can talk to him any time, but I don't want to."

  "So, what do you want?" After uttering those words, I could barely breathe. I didn't know why.

  "To be with my friends and forget about her for a little while, but that feels impossible. They all went off with her like she's Miss Salem or something." The tear staining his cheek gave my voice back.

  "I'm still here."

  "Thanks for that, Aliyah." Dylan turned, mirroring my stance against his section of the wall. "So, can you tell me why?"

  I blinked, unsure what he asked for until he continued.

  "What's with the Fashion Week wardrobe? Why are they following her like a pack of coyotes? And why did she choose Dorian to hang all over?"

  "Dorian's got the charisma to pull weight in a power couple. Because she's trying to rival Te—"

  "And here we have the mad pyromaniac and the class clown." Alex's voice sounded far too close to my back.

  "Funny," a sweet-toned feminine voice said. "But looks aren't everything."

  I stood up straight and turned. This put my eyes almost on a level with Alex's, so I gave him my best glare. My anger kept my vision to a tight focus, so for the time being, I ignored the girl at his side.

  "Poison the air someplace else, Onassis," I hissed.

  Alex snorted. "Discriminate much?"

  "Relax, Alexander." The feminine voice spoke again. "It's the lobby. Anyone can be here. And if Miss Disciplinary Probation Morgenstern makes trouble, I'll take it to the headmaster."

  I turned to face the speaker, and the first thing I noticed was that her hair wasn't the same close up as it had seemed from afar. It reminded me of water in a creek, brown with deep undertones. She'd bleached out the underneath and dyed it dark green. I soon saw why.

  A pair of tentacles the same hue slid along the right shoulder of the girl's blazer. A moment later, a head moved out from behind her neck, eyes shining at me from under her earlobe. I'd seen one of these before.

  "Grundylow." I blinked, everything I'd read about them coming out of my mouth before I could stop it. "Spawn of Grendel, loves brackish water and drowning things. Associates with water magi."

  "Told you she was a total nerd about critters." Alex rolled his eyes and tugged her sleeve. "You saw she-who-shall-not-be-named and one of her charity cases, Tempe. Let's go do something else."

  "Wait, which is this one?" She flicked her pinkie at Dylan. "The orphan?"

  "Nah." Alex shook his head. "He's the over-caffeinated clown."

  "Could have fooled me." She shrugged and turned her back on us, linking her arm through Alex's and sauntering away.

  As Temperance Fairbanks walked away, the grundylow parted her hair and stared at me. Its grin curved, matching the angle of the knobby horns on its head, which reminded me of the brambles that grow in seaside swamps.

  "So, I guess we've met the new mean girl."

  "Definitely not the same as the old one." I jerked my chin at the eerie critter. "We'll have to watch out."

  We didn’t know the half of it.

  Chapter Fourteen

  During the welcome party later that night, I acted as a shuttle between Dylan and the rest of our friends. I refused to abandon him, but I needed to back Grace up from time to time. Mostly, though, she had a good handle on her new circumstances. By that, I mean the altitude she’d gained in the popularity stratosphere.

  Elanor Pierce stopped to chat with Grace more than once. Last year, Elanor didn't give the kids in our year the time of day. Temperance and Alex had a gaggle of new students hovering around them, but not for long. By the time the magipsychic slideshow showcasing the new first-years began, several of them had approached Grace and Dorian to see what all the fuss over them was about. Two even stuck around.

  I needed a break from the constant churn of social activity and ended up leaning against the wall with Dylan to catch my breath. Ember perched on the chandelier with Gale.

  "Looks like she's getting on." Dylan stared across the room, letting his eyes wander amongst the people in Grace’s orbit.

  "Check out her competition, Dylan." I jerked my thumb at the smaller throng of kids in the corner with Temperance Fairbanks. "If you can call it that."

  "And we thought Charity knew what she was doing, sending Temperance to be the new It Girl." He snorted. "That stumble’s worse than Logan out on the Bishop's Row court."

  "Be nice." I elbowed Dylan's shoulder. "Nobody's good at everything, and he needs all the help he can get lately."

  "It's just a basis for comparison. I didn't mean to insult my mate." Dylan sighed. "It seems like everything I do is all wrong."

  "I get it."

  "Yeah. Thanks for understanding, Aliyah." He waved his hand, dismissing the crowd. "Being here in the corner."

  "There's no way I'd leave a friend all alone." I swallowed, praying I wouldn't blush.

  "Right. Being nice, it's punk as fu—" Dylan put his hand over his mouth, eyes wide "I can't believe that almost slipped out, sorry."

  "Awkwardness sort of compounds on itself, like interest on a bad loan." My face felt flushed, though he wasn't looking at me anymore. "But it gets better, Dylan."

  "You're being summoned again." Dylan nodded toward the throng of people around our friends. This time it wasn't Grace beckoning me over but Hal Hawkins.

  "Will you be okay for a few minutes?" I raised my eyebrow, awaiting his response.

  Dylan gave me a grin rarer than diamonds. "Yeah, I'm okay."

  I patted his shoulder before heading toward Hal. Ember swooped down, peeping over her shoulder at Gale as she perched on my shoulder. Crossing the room wasn't as difficult as it might have been for Hal with his energy-sapping illness. I stood behind him and Faith, whose arm he clung to.

  "What's up?"

  "As soon as they show the last student, I'm out. Let’s bring Dylan with us." Hal took a few short, shallow breaths before continuing, "Faith’s staying, but I need help navigating a room this packed."

  "No problem." I glanced at Faith Fairbanks. "You sure you don't want to go with Hal and leave the socializing to me?"

  "Oh, you can't always get what you want." She sighed. "I need to keep an eye on them." She jerked her chin at Te
mperance and Alex.

  "All the more reason for us to switch tasks." I raised an eyebrow. "Or do you think I can't handle him like I did last year?"

  "I know you can, but I’m the one who knows Tempe’s tells. Anyway, you're a sledgehammer, and this is a scalpel job. I’ve got Alex covered; got a new preventive tactic."

  "Okay?" I blinked. "Care to elaborate?"

  "Meet me for a swim tomorrow night and we'll talk about it."

  "Sure." I nodded. Faith and I hadn't worked together magically. Our skills weren't compatible, more like oil and water, but teamwork might be the key to surviving this year. However, something might throw a monkey wrench into our swimming plans.

  "Don't we have to worry about Tempe invading the public bathroom?"

  "She's on the second floor and lazy. There's no way she'd come all the way to the third floor to use ours.”

  "It's starting, look."

  The magipsychic display lit up. A series of faces with familiars and names flashed across it, simultaneously announced over speakers in the chandeliers. The first was one I recognized, an Ambersmith, not a sibling of Azrael's but one of his cousins. Her name was Giselle, and she had a raven familiar, which didn't surprise me. I remembered her as insatiably curious and secretive, so a raven fit perfectly. She was one of the first-years hanging with Grace.

  Next was Temperance, her grundylow grinning eerily at the screen. His eyes seemed to meet mine, making me shiver. A blond boy with a buzz cut followed her. He wore horn-rimmed glasses and held a cat familiar in his arms. His name escaped me.

  My heart almost stopped when the next student showed up, partly because at first glance, his last name looked like Morgenstern. I blinked and shook my head and read Magnuson, Arick. He had the same initials, but the uncanny coincidences ended there. Arick had tousled shoulder-length light-brown hair with a pair of small plaits behind each ear, Nordic style. He stood near Dorian and had no familiar. I guess we'd see him in Familiar Bonding, then.

  Alex Onassis flashed up on the screen. I turned away. If only I could ignore him for the entire school year. But that would be impossible. I needed to help my friends counter Temperance's machinations, and he was firmly and clearly on her team. We'd confront each other sooner or later. I might be the only person he feared on this campus.