Hawthorn Academy- Year Two

by D. R. Perry

  The week before Parents’ Night, Grace declared she needed me for some rounds through the dorm. She had me drag a canvas-covered wheeled rack up the stairs from Creatives and then along the third-floor hall. At first, I wasn't sure what she was up to, but after we knocked on Kitty’s and Faith's door, I realized this was the result of her secret project.

  Grace hadn't spent all summer just making clothes for herself. She'd made outfits for everyone in our year except Dorian, who she couldn't have planned for.

  "Are you sure you don't have changelings in your family, Grace?" Kitty winked. "Because there’s this total fairy godmother vibe going on right now."

  "Nope." She shook her head. "A little dragon shifter way back on Mom's side is all. Otherwise, just magi. Anyway, do you like it?"

  "It's so awesome, I can't even find words." Kitty held the red and orange dress up against her body. It looked like it was made of fire, flickering in the lights like a garment of flames.

  "I never would've chosen something like this for myself, but I would've been wrong." Faith shook her head, holding the draped and flowing lavender gown with pale green and gold accents at arm's length and staring at it. "It's beautiful, a real work of art."

  "Thanks." Grace blinked. She wasn't unaccustomed to praise, but Faith gave it so rarely even I was surprised. "Come on, Aliyah. If we want to get this done before lights out, we've got to head to the next room."

  "Can I go?" Faith asked. "It's Lee and Hal next, right?

  "Sure." Grace nodded.

  Kitty went back in their room, and the three of us made our way down the hall to the next one. Lee answered the door when we knocked, then nodded and invited us in.

  "You didn't have to, Grace." Hal shook his head, gazing down at the ensemble he'd laid out on his bed. The jacket and pants were black damask with a very subtle ram's head pattern, but the tie and vest matched Faith's color scheme.

  "I wanted to."

  "All the same, send me an invoice." He grinned. "Dad budgeted for my event attire this year, and if you don't, he'll head into town and buy something I don't like nearly as much."

  "Me too." Lee stood in front of his mirror, holding his outfit up with the hanger under his chin. His suit was a deep earthy brown with a pine-green cravat that featured a glittering pin matching his signature purple bangs. He looked over his shoulder and grinned. "I was just going to wear my blazer. This is awesome."

  "Do you have a date this year, Lee?" Faith raised her eyebrow.

  "Maybe I’ll bring someone, but only with the headmaster’s permission."

  "He'll say yes," Hal stated.

  Before I could ask who Lee's mysterious date was, we headed out of the room and down the hall once again. This time, we stopped at Eston’s and Dorian's room. Grace didn't have anything for Dorian because she hadn't met him until school started, but Eston was overjoyed to see the retro-styled powder-blue suit with its black cummerbund and bow tie. His shirt was ruffled and a darker blue like lapis lazuli, which matched his glasses.

  Hailey and Bailey were utterly surprised to see us with the garment rack. Hailey's excitement was palpable, though her sister kept shooting the three of us suspicious glances. The garments weren't anywhere near identical, despite the twins having the same build and coloring.

  “I look like a unicorn!” Hailey giggled. Her dress was cocktail length, fun and cute with a kicky circle skirt in iridescent pink fabric. The entire dress had an ombre effect that reminded me of the sky at sunrise. Bailey's dress was a bias-cut maxi with a mermaid skirt. White rosettes that looked like cirrus clouds ran along the spaghetti straps, crisscrossing at the waist in front and trailing down the back of the sky blue gown.

  Finally, we got to Dylan’s and Logan's room, where Grace first produced a navy-blue suit with gold buttons and seafoam accessories. Logan oohed and ahhed over it while Dylan sat at his desk, emphatically jotting words down in his class notebook.

  "Come away from that homework and check out your new duds."

  "Really?" He turned his head and raised an eyebrow, his lip curling into a sneer. "You shouldn't have."

  "I did for everybody else in our year. Last time I checked, you're still one of us." She shook her head. "Or maybe Aliyah wants to open hers next."

  I peered at the rack. Sure enough, two garment bags still hung there. I reached out for the more voluminous one, figuring it had a dress inside instead of a suit. And I was right.

  Last year I'd worn something from a mundane shop in Salem, and on Valentine’s Day, Bubbe had lent me something magical from her days at Hawthorn. Both of them reminded me more of my fire magic than anything else. Grace had gone the other way with her creation for me.

  As I unzipped the bag, hues of gold and pale yellow met my eyes. I'd never worn anything this shiny or light before, and it matched Great-Uncle Noah's necklace because the gold fabric had a sort of red iridescence to it as I tilted the dress on its hanger.

  "You've really outdone yourself with this one, Grace." I took it from the rack and held it up under my chin.

  "Whoa." Dylan dropped his pen. “You leveled up in sewing, Grace.”

  "So, are you going to open yours?" Grace tapped her foot. "It's almost lights out."

  "I guess." Dylan paced across the room, stopping almost too short of the rack. But his arms made the distance. He snatched the garment bag off it, then went back across the room to stand in front of the mirror on his wardrobe.

  Dylan's suit was off-white, bluish instead of beige. Like my dress, it was made from a fabric that changed color depending on how the light hit it. Pale blue flashed in the light, but on his suit, it made a pattern like clouds, or maybe white dunes. I couldn't quite decipher what she meant with the color choices. Everyone else's had something to do with their magical elements, but Dylan's didn't entirely remind me of air.

  Does she know he's an extramagus? What's the latest news on that, anyway? He hardly seems like he's gotten help.

  I didn't say anything. He’d scheduled that meeting with Professor DeBeer weeks ago, but there hadn't been an announcement or any other information publicly outing him like they had for me. Then again, I didn't know the standard school procedure for voluntarily reporting extramagi. I certainly hadn't followed it last year.

  I wasn't in his class and had no idea what might have changed in there, but life on campus seemed harder for him instead of easier, as he'd hoped the day he’d told me about the ice magic. He had no obligation to include me, but it still didn't sit well. Izzy would definitely have flipped cards at that point, but she wasn't there, and I had no way to contact her until after Parents’ Night.

  Maybe the style choices did make sense without the extra information. Art was objective, so perhaps Grace's interpretation of air wasn't the same as mine. We were from different countries and cultures. Surely that explained it.

  Or maybe not. Maybe your "good friend" Grace isn't what she seems.

  I rolled my eyes at the Evil Inside Voice, but nobody noticed. They were all too caught up in the drama of Grace giving her ex-boyfriend attire for a dance she'd be attending with somebody else. I couldn't blame them.

  As we walked back toward our rooms, Faith and Grace chattered about selecting makeup and jewelry after class during the week. I nodded, smiled, and contributed my opinions, but the strange encounter with Dylan stayed on my mind for most of the week, which made me feel like a bad friend. I should've paid more attention to Logan.

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  We had Bishop's Row tryouts the week before Parents’ Night, too. I had so much on my mind, it felt like I was on autopilot through the exercises and trials. On Friday when I walked into the gym to read the list, I was shocked to find myself on the team playing mid with Dylan. Faith was on reserves with Lee. Noah stood at the board, smiling at the list.

  "Alex didn't make it?" I blinked, taking a step back and bumping into someone behind me. We went down in a tangle of limbs on the floor, and when I partially recovered, I realized it was Faith.
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  "It's a good thing, too. Neither of us wants to be on any kind of Team Alex. He sucks."

  "Not even all that well, according to rumor." Noah reached down, giving Faith a hand up. He left me on the floor, which I expected.

  "Gross, Noah. So, are we talking again?" I stood up and straightened my blazer, crossing my arms over my chest. "We're both on the team."

  "Only about Bishop’s Row." Noah rolled his eyes.

  "Fine." I dropped my arms to my sides and peered at the rest of the list. "But no more squicky locker room talk, okay?"

  "Whatever. I'm surprised Grace isn't on here." Noah tapped the paper, which listed him as first defense. "She's better than you."

  "Grace told Coach Pickman she didn't want to be on the team." I flipped a lock of hair over my shoulder. "Something about letting Dylan do what he's best at, and they still can’t get along."

  "They're exes, so things are going to be awkward." Noah rolled his eyes, then turned and began to saunter away. "Anyway, see you at practice, kids."

  "Is he always like this?" Faith shook her head. "I wish they'd hurry up and chill out. Tempe's been way too quiet this month, and I don't like it. We'll want all hands on deck before extramurals."

  "Agreed." I nodded. "Have you talked to him? I know you and Grace spent a lot of time together, but Dylan…well, you saw him with the suit. I'm not sure when he's going to get over it."

  "Maybe Hal can ask." She sighed. "Not everyone gets past stuff by talking. I think he needs an outlet, like that open mic night but bigger. The extramural talent show might be the ticket, but it’s months out."

  "You're probably right." I sighed. "He mentioned practicing with Elanor once but never again after that. If only I knew someone else who was into performance art."

  "You do." Faith's grin twisted into the shape I recognized is ironic. "But he's only agreed to talk about sports."

  "Crap on a crap cracker." I closed my eyes. "Leave it to you to remind me about my own brother's passion for music."

  "Well, it can't hurt to ask Elanor about Dylan." Faith tilted her head, her grin softening. "And you've got every excuse to meet with her, considering she's our team captain. I’ll work on Noah."

  That was the plan, but since Parents’ Night loomed on the horizon the very next day, we didn't get a chance to have our chats before the big event.

  Elanor was right. Her parents spent the entire school tour snubbing Logan in favor of her, so Bubbe let Logan escort her around, showing her the second-year set up in the lab, including the row of plants he had growing in the window there. Elanor hadn't brought Benny the philodendron, but Professor Luciano had gotten him a clipping from somewhere, along with rarer seeds, and encouraged him to turn the lab's window into a greenhouse. His entire face lit up, showing that off.

  In Creatives, Grace beckoned us all over. She and Logan spent over ten minutes showing my grandmother the outfit sketches they'd designed together for Hawthorn Academy's cheer squad. They weren't as flashy as Cadence’s at Gallows Hill, but the getups were stylish and flattering.

  "What are you working on, Aliyah?" Dad asked.

  "Mostly pottery, but here's something I'm carving from wood. Lee's giving me tips." I opened the cabinet where I stored my projects, producing the oblong chunk of wood I'd been working with. "It's really nothing much."

  "I think I see it." Dad nodded sagely, taking the piece of wood for my hands. "There's the head, right? Is this Ember?"

  "No, Dad, it's Gale." The clueless expression on his face prompted me to add more. "Dylan's dragonet. You know, my friend, the air magus?"

  "Ah, yes. How's he been?"

  "You ought to ask him yourself. His parents didn't show up again, and he's way more upset about it than he was last year."

  Dad craned his neck, scanning the room. Once he spotted Dylan, he waved and smiled, then made a beeline toward the table where he sat with the guitar the library had loaned him long-term.

  "It's nice of your parents, making rounds like that." Faith sniffed behind me.

  I turned to see her dabbing the corner of one eye, then removing her hand in a flash before smudging her eye makeup. She blinked a few times, trying to let her expression fall back into resting neutral face without much success.

  "Maybe because my mom had a hard time when she was here."

  "You don't have to rub it in, Aliyah." She sniffed again, the redness of stifled tears fading from the tip of her nose.

  "I'm not, and I'm sorry if it seemed that way." I wrung my hands, frustrated and unable to comfort her. "Anyway, where's Hal?"

  "In the infirmary. With his father."

  "Okay, then." I nodded, then offered her my arm. "Let's go find our critters and get ready for dancing."

  "Together?" She blinked.

  "Of course."

  "You must have more important things to do."

  "Friendship's important, so let's go." I grinned.

  She gave me a lopsided one back, and we sauntered across the room. Faith might've showboated a bit, and I couldn't blame her. Her parents glanced up from where they sat with Temperance, examining some jewelry she'd made. They promptly turned their noses in the air and looked away. I understood how Faith might feel, even though my experience in being snubbed by family was limited to Noah. Dealing with one aloof brother had to be easier on the heart than an entire household.

  When we found Ember and Seth, they'd been hanging around together. But Ember had dozed off, leaving Seth to prance back and forth in front of her whining, the nails on his paws clicking on the floor.

  "Oh, Seth, honestly." Faith gave her familiar a soft smile. "Where do you get all your energy?"

  I knew better than to try rousing Ember, so I scooped her up to drape her over my shoulders. She curled more tightly around them in her sleep, a habit she'd gotten into since this strange lethargic growth spurt had started.

  "When will she get back to her lively self?" Faith raised an eyebrow.

  "Bubbe says by November, most likely." I shrugged. "I miss her peeping at everything, but in a way, I'm glad she's been this drowsy while Mercy makes all the mischief."

  We glanced across the room, spotting Dorian and his folks. They cooed over every little thing that had his name on it. He didn't bother introducing them to Grace, either. For her part, she kept her distance, and I hardly blamed her. She wasn't comfortable around parental figures on a good day, and she couldn't be happy about the lack of introductions. She seemed suspicious of how much Dorian's doted on him.

  "Such a shame how his older sister died," Faith murmured.

  "Really?" My footsteps paused. "I had no idea."

  "I'm surprised, with the way you carried on last year about Providence Paranormal."

  "I don't remember any ice magi in their pack."

  "His sister was precognitive. Remember, he said they're all psychics in his family except for him. Anyway, her name was Cassandra, and she wasn't part of that aluminum foil group anyway."

  "Tinfoil. And I remember now. She's the one the mob boss abducted." I winced. "How did you know?"

  "Hal read his entrance essay, of course."

  "Oh." I shook my head. "You know, I almost forgot he did that with all of us last year."

  "A good thing, too. Everything might have gone sideways if he hadn't."

  "Good point." I sighed. "And thanks for telling me about Dorian. The last thing I want to do is accidentally upset him by blathering on about my uncle."

  "Don't mention it. It's all just part of our mutual crown-straightening society." Faith grinned.

  Like last year, we made an entrance for the dance on Parents’ Night in one big group. Hailey and Bailey even joined us this time, as well as Kitty and Eston, who hadn't before. Hailey had a surprise guest: Arick Magnuson.

  "Temperance won't treat you kindly for this." Faith raised her eyebrow, looking at the shirt and tie he'd matched with his school blazer. "Honestly, asking someone in our year to the dance was a bad idea, Magnuson."

  "He doe
sn't care, Faith." Hailey rolled her eyes. "Anyway, I asked him."

  "Right." Arick nodded, smiling at Hailey. Skinner stuck his head out of Arick's pocket, crossing his eyes and sticking his tongue out.

  "Whatever floats your boat, I guess." Faith said, clasping Hal's hand.

  "First floor," Dorian called at the stairs.

  A crowd of parents watched as the staircase moved us down. Expressions ranged from smiles to snorts of disdain, though most were neutral, which made sense. The majority of the parental figures here had nothing to do with us, after all.

  Somehow, we were the first students down the stairs. We hadn't planned on that. In fact, Logan had wanted to avoid it. Without Elanor to run interference, his parents made a beeline for us. I escorted him toward my family, hoping the conflicting attitudes would cancel each other out, but of course, we got intercepted.

  The Pierce boy can't avoid his family forever. You should know better.

  "Good evening Mrs. Pierce." I put on my best smile, ignoring the Evil Inside Voice while extending my hand toward Logan's baffling mother. I'd had no interaction with her besides the strange video call at the beginning of summer. Her attitude and behavior had only confused me since then.

  "You clean up more nicely than I expected, Miss Morgenstern." She tilted her head, giving me a once-over. "If only your parents would discipline you properly."

  "I suppose the fact that I'm on probation isn't ideal. To you, anyway." I shrugged, allowing the Evil Inside Voice to come out for once. I figured its sass might counter her backhanded compliments better than I could on my own.

  "Perhaps you'll be expelled, and my son can find more appropriate company to keep."

  "You mean, like me?" Dylan sauntered over, hands in his pockets. Gale stood on his shoulder, glaring daggers at Mrs. Pierce.