Hawthorn Academy- Year Two

by D. R. Perry

  "Someone else should speak for him—a charismatic individual who stands up when it matters."

  "You?"

  "Nah, I'm a coward. I'm talking about you."

  "Bishop's Row practice is no joke. You've got spare time."

  "I gave you the idea. Find someone else."

  I tried but came up with nothing. Eston and Logan weren't built for that kind of social maneuvering. Kitty was way too nice to pull off public criticism. Lee was Switzerland. In Tempe's own year, the only people I trusted were Lena, who was too timid, and Arick, who needed to study. I asked Izzy for advice.

  "Yeah, no." She stared at the cards spread across the floor in her room. "It's not going to work without Dorian."

  "Or me?"

  "No. You can't pull it off. See this Empress reversed? It might even backfire and make Tempe look sympathetic. You’re Alex’s ex, and you’re intimidating, Aliyah."

  "So, how do I convince Dorian to buck up?"

  She flipped The Fool reversed and stared at it. "You don't. It's up to him. The only thing you can reasonably do is say you didn't find anyone and leave it at that."

  I followed her advice, expecting the worst, which I assumed happened when Dorian shook his head at my news. Right afterward, I saw him talking to Alex in the hall.

  Neither of them came forward with a public statement, but something happened—a rumor about Temperance, one that had everyone laughing at her. He'd gone with humiliation after all.

  Arick told me the story. Tempe had threatened Alex while they dated, forcing him to dress and act like a gnome during their intimate time. I knew that wasn't true, but it was an extremely damaging rumor to an open magisupremacist.

  Snickers and snorts followed Tempe everywhere. Her face seemed constantly red and her fists were eternally clenched. Dorian had utterly wrecked her reputation, along with any chance at a Monarch crown.

  He’s kicked a hornet’s nest. Beware her sting.

  I tried to corner Dorian, hoping he’d get another reading from Izzy, but he avoided me. I wasn’t sure why. I couldn’t even talk to him long enough for a simple warning.

  The votes were in and the results given on the last Friday in February. At the end of Spirit Week, they'd crown the Monarchs at the Cheer Squad competition, the night before the Bishop’s Row games. The extramural guests and the entire Hawthorn student body sat in the gym's bleachers, waiting. Stephanie Hawkins made the announcement for Gallows Hill.

  "We've heard your voices, and they chose two of our most talented. Your Monarchs are Cadence DelMar and Brianna Collins!"

  The girls hurried off the bleachers, rushing to her side to curtsy and bow. Once the cheers died down, they moved back to their seats to let Dean Adelphi make the announcement for Messing Academy.

  "You're all Monarchs in my book, but the students representing you are Jonah Arnold and Isabella Mendez!" All the Messing Academy kids snapped their fingers instead of clapping like they were at a poetry slam instead of a pep rally. In moments, cheers from both Gallows Hill and Hawthorn drowned them out. That made sense because Jonah and Izzy both moved in circles outside their schools.

  You could have heard a pin drop as Headmaster Hawkins stepped to the middle of the gym. He held the paper with the results almost like an afterthought, and I was shocked by his announcement.

  "At Hawthorn Academy, we see ourselves as an extended family. That's why I'm so pleased to announce that our crowns go to a pair of blood relatives."

  I blinked because Grace Dubois was an only child.

  "Noah and Aliyah Morgenstern!"

  It was all I could do to keep from tripping over my own feet while descending the bleachers. Once on the floor, I glanced back up at Grace, who winked and gave me a thumbs-up.

  "Grace campaigned for you, not herself," Noah said, taking my hand. "She swore me to secrecy."

  I stood with my brother, applause, hoots, and whistles washing over me, speechless with joyful tears running down my face.

  It was the last moment of pure happiness I had that year.

  Chapter Forty-Five

  Spirit Week was a sequence of theme days, and Grace had made five outfits for me to wear. On Monday for school colors, she had me in a pencil-skirted plum suit with gold trim and buttons. Tuesday's retro day ensemble was from the eighties, an iridescent taffeta bubble skirt with an off-the-shoulder sequined top in gold.

  I feared Wednesday's mascot day because hawthorn was the tree our school was named after. But Grace managed this by putting me in a purple t-shirt printed with the words March of the Ents and the image of a tree tearing a wall down.

  On Thursday's pajama day, she gave me a golden satin nightgown with a purple lace dressing gown to go over it. Friday I was in my Bishop's Row uniform, with one addition: a Rocky Balboa-style robe with my number on the back.

  "It should have been you," I said. "We both heard about Temperance last year, but you're the one who put together a plan. At the expense of your own happiness."

  "Nah," she replied. “Everyone laughs at her now. Nobody will take her hatred seriously anymore. Finally, it feels like I can rest."

  "Still. Wouldn't you rather show all these creations off by wearing them yourself?"

  "My dream was always other people wearing them. I can get out of the spotlight, be myself," she said. "This was way harder than I thought it'd be."

  After dinner, everyone headed to the gym again for a pep rally. Ezekiel and Nurse Smith teamed up at a DJ table to introduce the Bishop's Row teams. After that, the Monarchs would get their crowns on a platform under the scoreboard and the cheer squads would compete.

  Peering out from the curtain in front of the locker room entrance, I spotted the Cheer Squad judges in the front row. Brianna tugged my sleeve, and we geeked out over a blonde woman in a powder-pink dress. She was Jeannie LaMontaigne, a Gallows Hill alumnus and member of the Tinfoil Hat pack from Providence Paranormal. Izzy's abuela sat out there too. She’d been a ballroom dance champ in her young adulthood. Azrael's oldest brother, a four-year dancer at the Boston Ballet, rounded out the judges.

  We grouped by teams, waiting for our schools and numbers to be announced. Dylan elbowed me as they called Gallows Hill.

  "Congratulations. Didn't get a chance to say it before."

  "Thanks." I grinned.

  "Must have been a near thing, competing with Grace's ego."

  "That's not what happened," I told him.

  "Oh." He blinked.

  "You really thought she'd go low?"

  "Didn't she? I mean, have you heard the rumors about Tempe?"

  "Those didn't come from Grace."

  "Huh." He shook his head. "Well, my mind's blown."

  The voice on the PA called Messing Academy.

  Tell him. If this isn't your moment, I don't know what is.

  "Um. Maybe not yet."

  "Please, Aliyah." He groaned. "Don't drop another devastating shoe. I can't handle it."

  "No, no. This is a good thing. I hope."

  "So say it."

  "Dylan Khan." I took a breath as deep as the Atlantic Ocean. "For the last year and a half, I've had—"

  The PA announcer boomed out, "Hawthorn Academy!"

  And just like that, my moment evaporated.

  I sat on the platform in the gym beside my brother, a heavy gilded crown on my head. The other four Monarchs did the same, with Cadence in front for her performance. An enormous banner hung behind us, emblazoned with the words Extramural Monarchs’ Court. We watched as the Gallows Hill Cheer Squad took their places.

  Born This Way by Lady Gaga boomed over the speakers and they launched into their routine, their energy breaching the stratosphere. The entire squad hugged afterward before returning to the bleachers. Cadence broke off to take her place beside Brianna afterward.

  It took five minutes for Jacinda's squad to prepare since they had a set with screens to either side. The music started before they did.

  "That's Portugal. The Man," Noah blinked. "Unconvent
ional for cheering."

  He called it. The Messing Squad's performance pushed the norm, from their entrance to the props. They leaped out from behind the screens, ribbons trailing from their wrists to the tune of Feel it Still. The routine combined dance styles and trappings from different eras and genres. It was totally unique and skillfully performed.

  Hawthorn's squad went traditional, except for their music choice. Only Alex would have picked Victorious by Panic! At the Disco. Logan favored sure things and stability, and that showed in the classic cheerleading choreography. He'd made it a foundation for his performers to incorporate individual flourishes. The twins flung jazz hands everywhere. Grace executed splits and backflips in front of them. Alex and Logan tossed Kitty in the air like she weighed nothing, and their victory formation at the end built a tree instead of a pyramid with Arick at the top, augmented by Skinner the bookwyrm and Asceco the basilisk to represent branches.

  After the tallies were in, Messing Academy won. All of the performances were so solid, it would have been a tough call if the judges had scored subjectively, but cheering had categories with numeric points. Jacinda's squad had scored ten points for creativity and also coordination, so they squeaked a win over Logan's by two points. Cadence's was only behind his by one, so they almost had a three-way tie.

  The rally was over, and our coaches all wanted us to get plenty of rest before the games the next day. Most of the students and the others headed out into the halls. Many of the Bishop's Row players did too, but I noticed Noah and Jonah sneak away to the locker room.

  Rat them out.

  "No."

  "Huh?" Cadence said. "Didn't catch that."

  "Inside voice got out, sorry."

  She threw her head back and laughed. I joined in, mostly to mask the sudden nervousness I felt. My friends had all gotten their chances to show off, put their talents out there, and be judged. Grace with her fashion, Izzy at the talent show, and Cadence here. Logan and Hal had had success at the Magipsych fair, and Noah had finally found someone to love who returned his feelings.

  The next day would test my talents on the court against some of those same friends. That had to be the reason for my queasy stomach and shaky hands.

  What if you're wrong?

  "Hey, Aliyah!" Dylan flagged me down from the doors leading to the hall. "Smoothies?"

  I sprinted after him. Maybe I’d get another moment after all.

  The café was packed with Gallows Hill kids. I had to squeeze past what felt like an entire pack of wolf shifters before Bar spotted me and got them to make way.

  "Royalty coming through!"

  "Your Highness." One of them bowed.

  "Oh, no. Just a joke," I insisted.

  "If the troll's giving you fealty, I'm not gonna argue."

  We laughed, and I finally made it to the counter. Dylan held a pair of banana berry smoothies, just like the one I'd had on the day I collapsed.

  He said something, but I couldn't hear him. I beckoned him into the corner Noah had sat in with Jonah on the first day I'd seen them together, figuring a little good luck couldn't hurt. He leaned over the small round table, close enough for me to hear.

  "What did you want to say? Back in the locker room, I mean?"

  The bottom dropped out of my courage. I took a sip of the smoothie, closing my eyes in an attempt to calm myself, and it backfired as spectacularly as July Fourth firework because that magic sight ability kicked in. Behind my eyelids, I saw Noah and Jonah cowering in fear someplace with tiles, and somehow there was fire and rain.

  Go back to the gym. Now.

  "I'm sorry. I've got to go." I stood up, leaving both Dylan and the smoothie behind and prepared to fight my way back through the crowd.

  Cadence saw.

  "Everybody move!"

  Her voice created a path and I took it immediately, lifting knees and elbows to sprint away at top speed. Noah would probably laugh in my face or get angry if I interrupted an epic makeout session.

  I didn't care.

  If he was in trouble and I didn't barge in, I'd never forgive myself. I'd do anything to stop my brother from getting hurt, a fact made clear on my first day at Hawthorn when I threatened the third-year's It Girl to defend his integrity.

  I'd save his life alone if I had to, but as I ran, I felt someone behind me—a powerful presence.

  I glanced over my shoulder to find Ember flapping madly to keep up with me. Nobody else was there.

  You're never alone.

  "You're. Not. Real," I panted.

  I couldn't be haunted. Ghosts couldn't manifest on the Hawthorn campus, but the feeling persisted. I continued on, holding my hands out to fling open the academic wing's doors.

  For a moment, I worried about breaking the stained glass mural crafted by Hal's grandmother, but it held even under my panic-induced motions.

  As I ran down the hall to the gym, my body responded perfectly to my demands on it like I was made for this specific action at this particular moment.

  Coincidence is on your side. Don't squander it.

  The gym was dark. The platform with the Monarchs’ seats was still standing, but the banner was missing. Someone stood by the bleachers, a tall and lanky figure that froze as I passed. I had no time for whoever it was. My gut felt like lead, but my arms and legs only moved faster toward the locker room.

  Inside, I skidded to a stop in the common space. A shower was running, but I couldn't tell where it was over the sound of my ragged gasps for air. One glance at the floor told me I needed the gender-neutral section. A scrap of purple and gold fabric lay by the doorway, emblazoned with a two—Noah's jersey number.

  I paced ahead, stepping softly and slowly. Whoever had orchestrated my brother's distress didn't deserve the courtesy of a warning. Ember landed on my shoulder, clinging to it like a life raft in a stormy sea.

  It was Temperance, of course, and her behavior defied the meaning of her name. She held the Axis device I'd only seen on paper in front of her, pointing it at my brother and Jonah, who sat under one of the showerheads, soaked to the bone.

  Above them hung the banner that had recently been in the gym. She'd changed the words to read Least Likely to Succeed.

  And I smelled blood.

  Chapter Forty-Six

  Blood Like Water

  Temperance

  Their meddling had made me sick, from the first day when DuBois upstaged me to winter break when Dylan Khan refused to step into my parlor like a good little fly. What had me steamed was that tale-bearing coward, Spanos. I knew he’d been behind the gnome rumor, which was infuriating.

  The sissy ice magus wouldn’t escape my wrath. He and that trash gryphon were getting boiled away as soon as I had the chance.

  I had other prey to stalk first, a parentally imposed duty that now fell to me. Charity was weak, refused to get her hands dirty, and Faith had gone off the rails, siding with the inferiors. I’d always known exterminating parasites was my destiny. More than that, it was my calling in life, according to my parents.

  Why else had they given me this marvelous toy?

  I hid with Precious in the shadows behind the bleachers, watching the leech hold hands with his favorite blood bag. It was disgusting how vampires carried on with living people. You didn’t fall in love with a cheeseburger. Leeches were lying vermin, incapable of love, mocking life. People like Noah Morgenstern were worse, making it look normal to date predators.

  Samuel Ives and I hadn’t been anything like that, of course. We were pure magi, no weak psychics, savage shifters, or Unseelie faeries in our heritage. We’d made a natural match until someone ratted us out. I wasn’t sure who, but that was the only explanation for Faith’s hissy fit after the Magipsych Fair.

  After that, I deliberately dropped hints at the most biased faculty member. Susan DeBeer had gone to undergrad with my mother, so I knew all about how her advisor, an extramagus with poison and mind magic, had taken advantage of her. Luciano was supposed to take the fall in her “in
appropriate behavior” witch hunt and get blamed for poisoning Clementine and Seth.

  Aliyah Morgenstern had cleared him and doomed my relationship. Samuel broke up with me at the end of January and resigned the next day. I’d lost my boyfriend, so now she’d lose a brother. If I did everything perfectly, nobody would suspect me, either.

  “Go in the locker room already,” I murmured, rolling my eyes.

  Precious caressed my cheek with one cold webbed hand. I’d be patient like him. He hadn’t gotten up to any mischief since exacting my revenge on Bailey Overton for defecting to the inferiors.

  Finally, they went in, laughing, with their arms around each other. I took my time unfastening the banner and making modifications to it by wetting the ink and moving it around. I checked my bag for my secret weapon, ensuring it was fully charged with every magical element I’d need so nobody could pin this on me. If we struck too early, the vermin could escape. Besides, I wanted everything to be perfect for my first act of righteous justice.

  The altered sign would make as much of a statement as the pile of ashes and the dead snake. Noah’s familiar would be collateral damage.

  I sent Precious in first. He got into the pipes through the drain in the steam room, using the water inside to locate the leech and his supper. They were in the gender-neutral showers with the water off. As I snuck in, Precious opened the pipes, covering them with enough water to give me the upper hand.

  The undead thing took a step toward me.

  “Freeze, leech!” I twirled my hand, twisting water around his feet, giving it maximum cohesion and immobilizing him.

  “What the f—” I swung a punch, my magic calling water to slap Noah across the face.

  “On your knees, both of you.” I pulled out the device my parents had given me. “Or you both die. This makes me an extramagus. Don’t make me demonstrate it.”

  Precious took off, dashing after something scaly that slithered across the floor. I couldn’t look away from the vermin in front of me, but I checked Morgenstern’s shoulder. His familiar still clung there, though his uniform had torn and was hanging askew.