Page 137 of Mistaken Magic

Iwas smiling and my cheeks were starting to feel warm. "Yeah, so how about some math whileIlie here blushing?"

Heshifted so he could whisper in my ear, "Ilike your blushes.Asmuch for her as for me."Thenhe flicked the page. "Ok, so geometry sucks, but to get the most points on your exam, you'll want to write out every step of your proof.Themore you put on the page, the less points you'll lose."

"Thankyou,"Isaid softly. "IknowI'mnot supposed to say that, but..."

Hejust smiled. "You'rewelcome,Rain.Sayit as often as you want."

Chapter Fifty-Four

Themoment we got back to our suite,ItoldAspenall about my little talk withKeir.Shesquealed with delight, pulling me down onto her bed, and then asked all the questionsIwanted to talk about.Didhe try to steal a kiss?No.Didhe flirt?Yes.DidIlike it?

Yeah, that was whereIhesitated, becauseIdid, but telling her that was hard.WhenIfinally nodded, she threw her arms around me in a joyous hug.Inthat instant, all of my anxiety fled, andIfinally got it.Shewas my best friend.OneIhappened to like kissing, who sometimes made me speechless like an idiot, and whoIkept stealing glances at.

Iliked a girl.Iliked a boy.Bothwere ok, and there was a freedom to admitting it thatIhadn't expected.Thatnight,Ifell asleep withAspen'shead on my shoulder and my arms wrapped around her.Myfingers played with the line of her spine whileIwatched the soft glow of the plants in her room.

Jackwas in my room, and every so oftenIcould hear his feathers ruffle, but there was a peace to this.EversinceI'dbeen taken from my mother's home,I'dfelt likeIwas simply passing through.Arubber bouncy ball,I'dthought, destined toeventually ping off to the darkest and most forgotten corners.Instead,I'dlanded here.

Forthe first time in my life,Ifelt likeIbelonged.Trulybelonged, not just tolerated.Andto think, it was a school for the fae - for people who "didn't exist."Imight not be a fairy princess or some long-lost whatever, but that was ok.MaybeIwas the milkmaid or the dishwasher in this story.Eitherway,Iwas still a part of this fantasy, andIwanted to make sureIdidn't let it slip away.

So, onSunday,Imet up withWilderin the library to work on myLiteratureclass.Hewent over the fae aspects of the storiesIknew.Thingslike the magical animals inSnowWhite, or the divine powerJoanofArcwas famous for - even though it was actually magic.However,Shakespeare'sAMidsummerNight'sDreamwas going to be a big part of the exam.SinceTitaniaandOberonwere featured in it, along with a few other fae things,Ineeded to read all of it again.Thistime, with a new perspective.

StudyingwithWilderwas strangely comfortable, though.Ididn't know the guy that well, but he had a casual feeling about him, which made it so easy to relax.Wetalked books, from the onesIneeded for my class to the onesIliked reading on my own.Thosegot compared to movies, and that ended up turning into a discussion about how hard it was to take a mental media to a visual one.

ButunlikeTorian,Wilderdidn't want to talk about his time inFaerie.Thosedays had been dark, he'd said.Hismemories of that world weren't good ones, and screams had filled almost all of his nights as theQueenhad hunted them down.Hesaid his foster home had been so much nicer.Filledwith iron, but still a lot less threatening than life in theWinterCourt.

Itwas the only time he mentioned theWinterCourt, but it made me realize something.Thisguy who was sitting beside me, talking so casually about a play byShakespeare, had once beennobility of some kind.Therewas something rather surreal about that.Me, the nobody from middle-of-nowhere,Iowa, was being tutored by some fancy fae guy.

Whenwe'd finally covered everything, andIwas pretty sureIcould pass this class, the pair of us called it a day.Likea true gentleman,Wilderwalked me back to my suite, stopped in to make sureAspenwas good with her classes, then admitted he had to cram for his own exam tomorrow.

ThenAspentook over for biology.Therewould be no mitosis and meiosis on this test.However, there would be a discussion of magnetism and the magical nutritional values of earth plants and fae.Comparisonsof chlorophyll to cyanophyll made my head spin, butIwas keeping up.Solong as this test was multiple choice - and the study guide said it would be - thenIshould survive.

Iwent to bed that night thinking about iron soil and the wildlings that had been called dwarves inSnowWhite.Thebalance between our world, the imbalance ofFaerie, and the history that had caused it all.Mydreams were crazy and jumbled, yet somehow,Imanaged to actually get some sleep.

Thenext morning,Iwoke toJackpecking at my forehead.WhenIfinally opened my eyes to wave him away,Irealized my phone was blaring out an alarm.Imanaged to reach over and silence it, then realizedI'doverslept by fifteen minutes!

Scramblingout of bed,Ipulled on my uniform, tossed my hair into a ponytail, and went for the least amount of makeupIcould tolerate.Todaywas not about looking pretty.Itwas all about passing my first test: math.Nothingelse mattered but that.

IgrabbedAspen, finding her as much of a mess asIwas, and helped gather her things.Shewas adorable in her half-awake confusion, though.Scramblingto make sure she had what she needed,Aspenreached out for a small potted plant and nearlylifted that to her lips.Iwas just barely in time to grab it before she tried to take a drink.

Puttingthe plant back where it belonged,Ifound her resin travel mug and pressed it into her hands.Suckingback a large gulp of whatever sugary drink she had this morning seemed to help, andAspencradled her cup the wayIwould a freshly brewed coffee.

"Youhave to make it through first period,"Ireminded her. "Thenour math test."

"Ihave a test in first too," she admitted. "Iwas up all night.Maybetwo hours of sleep?"

"Thenyou can nap through lunch,"Itold her. "Orif you hold off until after seventh period,I'llmake sure it's quiet in here, and you can sleep yourself out."Wrappingmy arms around her shoulders,Iturned her for the door. "Wegot this, right?"

"Yay, midterms," she grumbled.

Insteadof flying through the door to circle around our heads,Jacklanded onAspen'sshoulder.Thebird toyed with a short lock of her hair, offering his own brand of support.Icould see her anxiety growing as we headed to the stairs, soIdecided to walk her all the way to her class.Whenwe reached the door, she paused to catch my hand.

"Goodluck today," she told me, squeezing my fingers tenderly.

"Yougot this,"Iassured her. "Twoclasses down, right?Onlyfive after that."

Shenodded. "Nowgo, before you're late."

"Jack!" my bird croaked, nibbling at her hair one last time before moving to my shoulder.

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