Page 18 of Elmwood Inclusive Magic Academy
She gets up off the bed.
“Don’t go!” I blurt out. Then I blush, “I mean, sorry, I didn’t mean for you to go…”
“It’s ok.” She walks towards the door. “I’m just going to join the hunt. My pack will be waiting for me.”
“Oh, of course,” I shrug.Be cool, Maggie. I have no idea why I’m being so awkward, but there’s something intimidating and thrilling about the wolf shifter that makes my cheeks burn and my skin tingle. “Um, have a nice hunt! Kill lots of…things.”
She raises her eyebrow at me, and slips out into the hallway.
I close the door behind her, toss my broomstick on the ground, and smack myself on the forehead.
“Your quick wit and confidence never cease to amaze me, Maggie.”
“Oh, shut up, Pan.”
I grab a book from my luggage and try to focus on the words by candlelight (there isn’t an electric lamp to be found in this place). But my eyes keep skimming over the pages, not taking anything in. Finally, I give up and wave my hand to magically extinguish all the candles.
As I drift off to sleep, I realize that the room still smells like campfire and cedar.
I wake up in a daze. Late afternoon sun streams in generously from the window. I must have slept a long time, but I have no way to check, since my phone is lost.
I scramble for my class schedule. I have Introduction to Fortune-Telling at 4pm.
“You’re already late,” says Pan, bemused, from the windowsill.
“This magical school is ruining my circadian rhythm,” I grouch, scrambling out of bed. I pull on my cardigan and run my fingers through my hair. “Do you know where the class is?”
“East Tower,” he says, primly. “I can show you where it is.”
I grab my Book of Shadows off the desk (don’t want to forget that again).
“All set for Crystal Ball 101,” I sigh.
Introduction to Fortune-Telling is way on the other side of the castle, and requires going along the entire East Wing. The south end of the castle is more stone and medieval-inspired, but now the decor takes a sudden turn to be more elaborate and almost Edwardian. Huge, old portraits line the walls, which are now wall-papered and wood-trimmed. The East Tower is up a long, circular staircase that seems to go on for ages, but I’m sure feels a lot longer because I’m at least twenty minutes late.
I finally enter the classroom, a circular room at the top of the tower. It’s littered with divination paraphernalia and star-gazing equipment. Late afternoon sun streams in through the tall windows. In the center of the room sits an elegant woman in a rose-coloured silk robe, huge gemstone earrings dangling from her earlobes. She’s heavily made-up and glares at me as I stumble through the door.
“I’m so sorry,” I whisper, reddening.
“I’m aware,” she intones grandly. “Please shut the door behind you and find a seat. My name is Professor Tuile.”
I look around, but there’s no Hallie, of course, since the sun is still out. There must have been no vampires enrolled in this class, since it was scheduled during daylight hours. June and her group of witch buddies are sitting together around one of the tables, giggling at my late entry.
“Maggie,” someone whispers. Persephone and her mermaids siblings sit around a table, and there’s an empty seat between Gwen and Orion. I take it, gratefully, and pull out my Book of Shadows.
“As I was saying,” Professor Tuile continues, speaking slowly and articulating each syllable. “Reading palms is not only a matter of learning which lines mean what. It’s an art that involves tuning into the unsaid, feeling the vibrations of the person’s essence, readingbetweenthe lines, so to speak…”
She drones on in this way for several minutes. I have absolutely no interest in reading palms and sincerely regret letting Lydia pick my courses for me.
“Please turn to page 131 in your Palmistry Essentials text.”
Gwen notices I don’t have a book, and moves their’s closer so I can see. I smile and mouth “thank you.”
“Choose a partner, and practice reading each other’s palms. Remember, you are piecing together the entire picture…weaving a tapestry of past, present, and future…illustrating a destiny, if you will…”
“Your destiny is that you need to clean your fingernails,” Orion beams at me, flashing a mouth full of tiny, white teeth. “What have you been doing, hunting with the wolf shifters?”
I think about my wolf shifter roommate, and blush deeply. I don’t know what’s wrong with me. Just thinking about her makes my stomach ache. I really need to pull it together if we’re going to share a room.
