Page 32 of Mistaken Magic

Thestrangest thing wasIhonestly needed this.Sure,Icould start my first day at a new school with the fresh-face look, butIhappened to like eyeliner and lipstick.Then, whenIdug a little deeper,Ifound some sample-sized bottles of hair product, shampoo, and conditioner.Evensoap!

Maybethis had been a gift from the school?No, not with that much makeup.Thenagain, this place was pretty amazing, even with the weirdness of magic - whichIstill had some doubts about.Wasthis like a fantasy novel type of thing, or more ofaCrissAngelillusions situation?Alittle smoke and mirrors, maybe?

Eitherway, it was better than a group home.Nomatter what else was true,Iwas going to hang onto that, because it made all the rest easier to deal with.

Chapter Fifteen

Thenext morning, the alarm on my tablet woke me at six-thirty.Ihad enough time to get up, put on the version of my uniformIwanted, then make my face all pretty.Iwasn't exactly a knockout, but the tight skirtLiamhad bought for me, a fitted shirt, one diagonally striped tie, and a waist-length blazer worked for me.Iwent easy with the makeup, not sure what the trends were yet.

Ihad my hair in a ponytail, a pair of white socks that went to just over the knee - whichMr.Sparkshad somehow missed in his slut-wear purge - and my cute newMaryJanes.Withone tablet, two pens, and no clue what elseIwas missing,Iwas ready just asLynnknocked at my door.

"Rain?" she called from the other side.

Iopened it. "Isthere anything elseIneed for classes besides this tablet and a pen?"Iasked desperately.

"You'refine," she assured me. "Thereshould be an app on there with your schedule and the building map.Everythingelse you'll get in your classes.Nowc'mon."

Iquickly locked up my room and followed her.Notsurprisingly, there was a crowd at the elevator.Lookingback down the hall,Isaw even more people heading the other way.Whenthe car opened the first time, a herd of girls pushed into it, filling the thing up completely.Thenext time was a little better.Onthe third time,LynnandIfinally managed to squeeze in.

"Thisis why you want to leave early,"Lynnwhispered as the car made its way down, stopping on the third floor so a few more students could push in. "Youknow your first class?"

"It'sinA127,"Isaid, reciting it from memory.

"Thenthe first floor," she told me. "Wait,Literature?"

"SaysEnglish,"Iadmitted.

Wehad to shuffle around a bit when the students made their way off for the second floor.Then, the car began moving again.Whenwe reached the first floor, everyone else got off, andIcould only assume the car would head all the way back up.Lynngrabbed my arm and towed me forward, straight toward the entrance to the school.Itwas the one landmarkIknew in this place - well, besides the atrium we were walking the length of.

"Ok,"Lynnsaid when we reached the cross hall.Thenshe pointed to the right, away from the atrium. "That'stheAwing.Allof your classes with anAbefore the number will be there.Bis the same wing we live on.ThenC, thenD.Thefirst number is the floor, so all one hundred rooms are first floor, two hundreds are second floor, and anything else is probably a mistake.Evennumbers are on the right.Oddnumbers are on the left."Shegently patted my shoulder. "Goodluck, andI'llmeet you right here when you get out of fourth period to show you how lunch works."

Ifound my head bobbing in acknowledgement, but it sure sounded like she was leaving me on my own.Whenthe girl turned and jogged for the stairwell,Iwas sure of it.Granted, mentor and welcoming committee didn't really sound the same as babysitter.I'dalso done this enoughIwas pretty sureIknew what was expected.Headingtoward the western-most wing of the building,Ichecked the number plates beside each door.

WhenIfound the right room, all my anxiety hit at once.I'dbeen trying hard to ignore it, but that didn't mean it didn't exist.Now,Iwas about to open this door and seal my fate.College-level courses.Magicschool for fairies.Thiswas all real.Iwas a nobody, so no one should really care about me, but that didn't mean they wouldn't notice.

Takinga deep breath,Ilooked down, wondering if my uniform was ok.Ishould've checked the other girls on the elevator to see what they'd been wearing.Ihadn't.I'dbeen so overwhelmed,I'dcompletely flaked on that.Now,Iwas standing outside a door to a class that was already mostly full.

Waitingwouldn't make it any better, soIturned the knob and forced myself to open the door.ThemomentIwas inside, everything paused.Allthe students turned to stare at me.Theteacher noticed the change and looked over.LikeIhad so many times before,Iput on my best smile and tried to make the most of this incredibly awkward situation.

"I'mnew,"Iexplained.

Theguy nodded, but his eyes were on his own tablet.Flippingat something, his expression changed, and then he looked up. "Ok.I'llhave a copy of the textbook sent to your tablet.Youcan take a seat at the back."Hepointed. "Class,I'dlike you all to welcomeLorraineBrooks, a newLegacy."

Ididn't bother saying hi.Ijust went where the teacher had pointed, walking sideways between the aisles to avoid the bags and blazers piled beside chairs.Headsturned to follow.Aroundthe room, voices were murmuring.

One, in particular, stood out. "Freshmeat."

Iturned to the sound and saw brilliant green eyes.Notemerald, not forest, but the bright almost-lime color of new leaves, which made themreallystand out.Hesmiled from the chair right beside and behind the oneI'dbeen assigned, although it didn't look kind.Yep, he was hot.Ofcourse, hewas; this was a faerie school, after all.Faewere supposed to be beautiful, weren't they?Tryingto be nice,Ismiled back weakly.

"Don'teven think it," the girl in front of me whispered.

"Huh?"

Sheturned in her chair and tilted her head toSexy-Green-Eyes. "TorianHunt.Don'teven dream of him unless you want half the school to come down on your head for one reason, or the other half to come down for the opposite.He'snot really the kind you want to get involved with."Thenshe smiled. "I'mAmber."

"Lorraine."

Herbrow lifted. "LikefromBackto theFuture?"

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