Page 67 of Mistaken Magic

"Interesting,"Ifinished for him, the word a grumble.

Brackenjust chuckled at me. "It'san appropriate word.Youremind me of myths of old.See, the fae have stories of humans who entered our world.Merlin, as an example.Menand women with great power who crossed through the gates.There'sjust something about youIcan't quite put my finger on, butIcan almost feel it."

"I'mkinda special in my own way, huh?"Iasked.

Henodded. "So, think about it.Takethe weekend, and if you do want to learn to become a sentinel, let me know.Ifyou don't, then simply pretend this conversation never happened."

Andhe stood.Brackenpaused to clasp my shoulder as he passed, clearly heading for the exit on the boy's side.Justas he reached the silver oak,Iremembered how nervousI'dbeen whenIrealizedIwasn't alone down here.Beforehe left,Idecided to ask about that.

"Hey,Bracken?"Icalled out.

Hepaused, looking back. "Yes?"

"AmIgoing to get jumped by the jesters ifIrun around alone?Like, real talk and all?"

"Nottonight, butIwouldn't rule it out," he said. "Youmight consider a keychain for your room key."

"Yeah,"Igroaned. "Ineed a job."

"Orto make something besides a sword inWeapons-Crafting," he countered. "Afterall, the best weapons are the ones no one would worry about."Histeeth flashed in the pale moonlight, then the man kept going.

Isat there for a bit longer, thinking about that.Wereallthe jesters in trouble tonight?Otherwise, why wouldn't they come after me?Maybethey just assumedI'dbe hiding upstairs?Ihad no idea, but the longerIwas at this school, the more complicated everything was becoming.

Andto think,I'dassumed magic would be the hardest thing to get used to.Instead,Iwas now surrounded with fae politics, some warped hierarchy of ancestry and rank, plus all the nuances of teen drama.Yep, welcome toSilverOaksInstitute, home of a little insanity.

Thestrange thing, though, was thatIwouldn't change it for the world.Somehow, this mess made me feel useful, as ifI'dfinally stopped bouncing around and landing in dust bunnies to be forgotten.Here,Iwas somebody.MaybeIwasn't someone important or fancy, butIwasn't a nobody, and that felt pretty good.

Plus,Ihad friends.Asmile touched my lips asIthought about that.Fourof them.Five, ifIcountedKeir.Oddly, they were all the pure-bloods.Well, look at me.Iwas the fae-whisperer!

Chucklingabout that,Iwoke up my tablet and got back to my textbook.Thistime, my eyes didn't skip over the page.Ifmy best friend was being bullied because of fae history, thenIneeded to not just pass myHistoryofFaeriecourse -Ineeded tounderstandit.Ineeded to wrap my mind around everything that was going on.

Andsomething wasdefinitelygoing on.Ijust had a feeling all the truths my fae friends were saying left out a few important details.Thebig question was which ones.

Chapter Thirty

Thenext day,Aspenwas doing much better.Iwoke to the sound of her in the shower, whistling.Justhearing it made me think of the plant she'd given me, soIrolled over and petted the leaves.Thething actually moved, stretching like it enjoyed the sensation.

"Morning,Glow,"Itold it. "IwishIknew how often to water you."

Ofcourse, the plant didn't respond.Itmight be fromFaerie, but it was still a plant.Althoughit was kinda cool that it seemed to like me.Thinkingabout the number of strange thingsI'dbegun to take for granted,Igot up and did my own morning routine.WhenIfinished,Ithought about checking onAspen, but her room now sounded strangely empty.

She'dprobably gone to visit the guys, to show them she was ok or something.Ishouldn't have felt upset about it, butIkinda did.I'dspent all evening worrying about her.Icouldn't count the number of timesI'dchecked on her through the night, feeling so helpless, and not even a thank you?

Ofcourse not.Shewas fae, and fae didn't do that.Laughingat my own foolishness,Iheaded over to check my phone, only to find a message fromLiam.JustlikeBrackenhad last night,Liamwanted to make sureIknew what had happened to the girls who'd been busted for bullying my suitemate.Thenhe added he was proud of me, and it made everything else ok.

Liamwasproudof me for getting into trouble.Oh, he called it standing up for someone else, but it had always been "trouble" whenI'ddone it before.Thatput a little smile on my face asIgot dressed and put on some makeup.ThenIwent back to studying.I'dnever been this kind of student before in my life, but atSilverOaks,Ifelt like my classes were actually useful.

Insteadof asking stupid questions all the time,Icould just read the book.Consideringthey were all digital, that meantIcould even highlight stuff and mark places to reference later.Bydoing my homework,Iwas learning whatIneeded to keep my head above water with all this magic stuff.

Andit was still kinda boring.I'dbeen here for two complete weeks now, andIonly had one real friend.Yes,Torianand his two nearly-silent shadows had offered their friendship last night, but we'd only spoken a few times.Itwasn't quite the same.HereIwas, surrounded by all these hot guys, with no one to talk to about it, no one who knew me well enough to giggle about thingsIliked.Noteven a pal to watch movies with in the common area.Evenworse,Ididn't actually know how to make fae friends.Ikinda wanted to mope about that, butIwas more of a doer type than a whiner.

Then, just before lunch,Iheard something.Confused,Iheaded to the window to see what was going on downstairs in the rest of the school.Myroom had a view that looked into the atrium.Theglass roof was not far above, and the panes were completely covered with snow, but inside, something was thumping steadily.Acluster of students streamed towards it, proving that whatever this was, it was meant to draw attention.Idecided to join them.

Likeeveryone else,Iheaded that way, my curiosity insatiable.Livingso close to the elevator,Imanaged to catch the car before the group of people heading up the hall caused a lineup.WhenImade it to the ground floor,Irealized the thumping was bass, and it came from the garden.Thatwas why everyone was heading there.Atleast twenty people were already clustered around, smiling like this was a welcome surprise.

Ifollowed the herd of students through the glass doors and into the warmth of the greenhouse.There, it became obvious the bass was coming from a simple set of speakers.Thesmall, ordinary,Bluetoothtype.Theintensity made me think they might be magically enchanted, though.Beneaththe trees, people were starting to dance.Itwas mostly swaying and bouncing, but it counted.Itwasn't untilIgot closer thatIfigured out who'd started all of this.

Toriansat on the rocks by the fish pond - almost the same placeI'dbeen last night.Hisarms and body moved to the beat.Thevolume was so loud conversation was almost impossible, but no one seemed to care.Thestrangest thing wasTorian'ssmile.Itwas honest and cheerful, not cold like most other times.

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