Page 42 of Mistaken Magic

Therest of lunch was spent being told about the school.Well, everyone else called it theInstitute.Theyasked howIgot in, fawned overLiamwhenIsaid he was my uncle, and never thought anything of it.Evidently,Liamwas universally popular.Unlikethe other teachers, he didn't go by "Mr.Sparks" - yes, he had the same last name as his brother.Instead, he asked the kids to use his first name.Thenagain, he was the counselor, not an instructor, so it kinda made sense.

Soonenough, yet another bell rang, signaling it was time to move on.Mynew friends all stood, leaving their trays on the table.Aroundthe room, everyone else did the same.Unableto help myself,Ilooked back to the king's table one last time.

Greeneyes were waiting.Toriansmiled at me like he was deciding how to start peeling my flesh off.Heheld my eyes for a few seconds, freezing me in my tracks, then turned to kissAspen'stemple and stood.Theentire table climbed to their feet a second later, exactly like the court they were called, and began to disperse.Thatwas whenIrealizedIwas standing there like a voyeur.

"Getyour head on straight,Lorraine,"Imuttered, turning for my next class.

"Whatwas that?"Lynnasked.

"Nothing,"Iassured her.

"Oh, good," she said, "becauseI'msupposed to show you the elective options this afternoon.Kindagets me out of my own classes, so let's make sure to use all the time, ok?"

"Deal,"Itold her, but when her eyes widened,Irealized that might be something elseIneeded to learn about.

Chapter Nineteen

"S

o,"Lynnsaid as she led me toward the atrium, "because you're aLegacy, there are less courses open to you.TheAPprogram says we're required to have three classes after lunch.Ifigure we can get the boring ones out of the way first."

"Ok..."Iwas following along.APwas short forAdvancedPlacement, which meant us high schoolers, butIwasn't quite sure where all of this was going.

Thenshe turned toward the elevator that led to the boy's wing. "Firstup isHomeEconomics."

"Faeriestyle?"Iasked.

Sheflashed me a smile as we joined the cluster of people waiting to go up. "Abit.Sewingin enchantments and cooking with elixirs is included."

"Youdon't wantHomeEc," a guy in front of me said, turning around just to make a point of looking me over. "Rain, right?"

"Yep,"Iagreed. "Seemseveryone knows me."

"It'snot really a big place," he explained. "Heardyou got stuck with the freak."

"What?"

Lynnleaned closer. "HemeansAspen."

"Oh."Becauseshewasa bit of a freak.Still,Ikinda felt the need to stick up for her. "She'sactually pretty nice.Gaveme a plant for my room."

Theguy's eyebrows shot up. "Seriously?Becareful it doesn't eat you."

"Fuckoff,Jayden,"Lynnsnapped. "Youknow she's not allowed to grow those inside."

Whichmade it sound like human-eating plants were a real thing.Noted.Thenit was our turn.Lynnled me into the elevator with a group of boys, and she pressed the button for the second floor.Oneof the guys groaned about that, but everyone else ignored it.

Theelevator went up, and when the doors opened again,Lynnled me out.Thecrowds in the halls were already getting thinner, but we still had plenty of time before the next class.Confused,Ilooked around, trying to figure out where all the students had disappeared to.

"Agood chunk of the student body has classes outside or in theNeverafter lunch,"Lynnexplained when she caught me looking. "That'sthe whole trade part of theInstitutething.Theclassrooms are used for the college courses now, but the emphasis here really is on teaching fae folk how to fit into life onEarth."Shegiggled. "Whichsounds so sci-fi like that.Allit means is it's not as crowded in the halls after lunch."

"Ah, ok."

Whenwe reached the far end, she turned left, going towards theDwing.Ifollowed along placidly, but as we turned the corner,Irealized that over the dining hall, the space had been built out to house even more classrooms.Lynnheaded that way.Unlikeall the rest of this building, on the second floor, between theCandDwings, there were halls which went the other way.Shortones.Whenwe turned down one of those halls,Inoticedthere was only one door on each side.Theserooms were clearlymuchbigger.

"Thisarea is for the occupational stuff,"Lynnexplained, pausing at a room. "Morespace for all the sewing machines and ovens."

"Thereare ovens in there?"BecauseIhadn't expected that.

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