Okay so maybe my first few days here haven't gone as smoothly as I would have liked, and mom certainly would be mad if she found out about all the commotion I've caused, but it's not my fault! Mostly. Okay, so maybe it is a little my fault, but can anyone really blame me? I didn't ask for any of this. I just want my normal life back, but it seems normal is now forever out of the equation.
If only there was like some special time magic that could help me stop all this before it happened. Wait, is there? Note to self, look into time magic.
My stomach growling is what ultimately drives me out of my room. I can't avoid eating forever. Sadly. So, I wheel myself out into the hall and head to the elevator that is until I got stuck on the corner of the wall. How do handicap people drive these things?
"Having trouble?"
I cringe just hearing her voice.
I must have the worst luck ever. It's official. No one can convince me otherwise.
I turn to see Dariyah and her beautiful evil sidekick, who I am going to assume is this Vega person Ro mentioned. They both have similar smirks on their face.
"I got it," I reverse back and try to correct the stupid wheelchair.
Dariyah walks over to me. I flinch when she moves her hand towards me. She doesn't hit me, instead, she helps me. I looked up at her in confusion. She pulls back my chair so that I am no longer stuck on the corner.
"What? I'm not your friend or anything, but you gave me a bad rap. Now people think I'm some psycho murderer or something. Asherah thinks we should make nice. So, what do you say?"
I can't tell if she's being sarcastic or not. I look at her then to Vega, then back to her.
"I thought they put you on temporary suspension," I point out.
"A girl's got to eat."
"We come in peace, honest," Vega said, but her wicked smile said something different.
"What do you say?" Dariyah outstretches her hand to me.
I eye the hand wrapped in a fingerless glove with spikes on the knuckles. If there was ever a clear sign I shouldn't trust someone, it would be spiky knuckles.
"We just want to be your friend," Vega eggs on.
I feel peer pressure. I look around for backup, a way out, but we are alone. If I say no, who knows what these two psychos will do to me. So, even though I know I'll regret it, I take her hand and shake.
"Awesome, now let's go eat. I'm starving," She grabs hold of my chair.
She rolls me past the elevator and to the stairs, for a second, I thought she was going to throw me over. I clung to the chair for my life. That must have been her intent because she burst into laughter before turning me towards the elevator.
"Not funny!" I snap.
"I thought it was," She presses the elevator button.
She is going to kill me.
She rolls me all the way to the dining hall, every time someone would walk in our way she would shout,
"Out of the way death wish is coming through."
If I could turn invisible I would. Is that a thing I can do? Note to self, check to see if you can be invisible.
We got to the dining hall early so all the lines were short.
"I'm starved," Vega stretches and puts her arms behind her head glancing around at all the food places.
"Well?" Dariyah asks.
"Uh, whatever is fine, I'm just starving."
She rolls me to a burger place where the three of us get some burgers. Then she rolls me over to her usual table. Sitting there is this guy, He has curly black hair and is thin and lanky looking. He has on the uniform with a tie. His shirt is tucked in. Thick clunky black-rimmed glasses sit on his pointy nose.
He made an amused face at Dariyah.
"Shut up before I punch you," She snaps.
"Hi, I'm Emery."
"Hello, Emery. I'm Wieland," He held out his hand.
I awkwardly shook it.
Vega plopped down beside him.
"Well, what did they say? Would they consider your appeal?" he asks Dariyah.
"Well, what the hell do you think? It's totally unfair, they just want me to give up my obsession with body enhancement and be a healer like all the other blood casters," She unwraps her burger.
"Probably, but you gave them the ammo they needed to pull the trigger," he stabs a fork into his orange chicken.
"He does have a point," Vega chews on a fry.
"Whose side are you on?" Dariyah glares at her.
I quickly dig into my food. Soda, a burger, and fires are probably not the best choice for someone who hasn't eaten in days, but I wanted something filling.
"Hey oh, we got a newbie to the group?" A different guy sat at the table, slamming his tray down.
Once again, I flinch.
"No, she's definitely not joining the group. I just have a reputation to repair," Dariyah says.
"So, the truth comes out," I mumble under my breath.
"Shut it shrimp," she acted like she was going to punch me, and I duck down.
"Aw come on Dari." He pouts.
"Gunner, that's Emery," Wieland said.
"Wait, that Emery. Oh! My cousin went to school with you," Gunner pops open his bag of chips.
"Wait, is your cousin Triton?" I ask.
"Yep, the very one. Magic skipped his dad so he's just normal," He bit into his sandwich.
Gunner certainly looks like Triton; he has that same boyish charm to him. They could even be mistaken for brothers. They both have that same dark brown hair and light blue eyes. That same chiseled jaw and Greek-like features. The resemblance is uncanny.
"Oh," was all I could think to say.
"Man, you are nothing like he said. He says you are always running your mouth. That you think you know it all. Yet here you are, quiet as a mouse."
"Don't speak too soon Gunner, I've definitely seen her obnoxious side," Dariyah says.
Vega snorts in laughter.
I just roll my eyes at them and focus on eating my food.
The sooner I finish the sooner I can get away from these psychos. I mean I think it's obvious to everyone that I am way out of my element. I don't know anything about being a Caster other than the fact that they have— we have freaky powers. Considering who I am sitting next to and the fact that I've already stirred up a lot of trouble, and almost died multiple times, I think it's best if I just keep quiet.
As they converse about who knows what I just keep my head low and eat my food. I literally only understand half the words coming out of their mouths. I swear it's almost like they are speaking another language. So many technical terms that seem like it's obvious and everyone should know them, but here I am having no freaking clue what is going on.
I glance over to Ro who is sitting with Nerissa and Bastion. She stares at me in concern, I wonder if she can read the words help me written all over my face. But then again, I did tell her I didn't need her help.
Why did I have to open my big mouth?
While everyone was engaged in conversation, I did notice that there was one other person hardly participating. Vega, well at least I assume her name is Vega. I'm just going to call her that in my head until someone tells me otherwise. She chuckles or hums in agreement at the right intervals. Occasionally inserting a snarky remark but for the most part, she remains silent.
I glance over to her and she is just picking at her food, she must feel my stare because she looks up and our eyes meet. She smirks at me before saying,
"See something you like, Emery?"
The way she says my name brings me back to that strange moment. Of myself talking to me before a building exploded. I feel my hand get warm and cradle it close to my body. Could she have been one of the people calling out to me? Was she there?
The more I focus on trying to match the voices, the worse I start to feel so I just shake it off and look back down to my food.
"Everything okay?" Wieland asks.
"Hmm?" I glance up at him.
"You got all weird for a second," Dariyah bites down on a fry.
"I did?" I turn to her.
"Yeah, your energy was all off," Gunner said.
"What does that even mean?" I ask.
I've heard it a few times now, being in tune with the world's energy. My energy wasn't right. My natural energy. What the heck are they even talking about?
"You're a moron," Dariyah sighs.
"Takes one to know one," I mutter.
She faked like she was about to hit me, and I flinch away which causes her to laugh. I frown at her. Wieland sighs. Gunner shakes his head.
"You're too easy," She smiles to herself.
"Whatever," I grumble.
They all quickly forget about me and I once again look over to Vega. She's watching me now; she was waiting for me to look at her again. She narrows her eyes at me, for a moment they flash pink and I feel a sharp pain in my head. Like someone just whacked me with a frying pan. I grunt in pain and when I look at her again, she's back to minding her own business.
What is her deal?
Now that I think about it, she didn't do much talking when we first met either. She just let Dariyah handle it. Although I know she was the one using her freaky powers to get what she wanted. Does she just use Dariyah as a shield? How did these two even become friends to begin with, is the better question. They don't exactly look like they come from the same social circles.
There's just something not right about her.
I can feel it.
After dinner, Dariyah and Vega roll me back to my room. I can hear people whispering all around us. I feel so trapped. Yet no one moves a finger to help me. I can't even begin to describe how relieved I was when I finally got to my room and was away from those two. It's a load off not having to look over your shoulder constantly.
Now that I finally have some time, I guess I should get a head start on this handbook thing. I need to know everything if I am going to survive here. So, I sit on my bed and crack open the book.
According to the handbook, Casters have to take magic-specific classes that coincide with their abilities. Not to mention how Cyrene said most of these Casters have been in training since they could walk. Which explains why Belmore is an Advanced placement school, for highly gifted individuals, or so it says in big bold letters.
Also, there are physical classes Casters must take in order to push themselves past their normal limits of Energy conversion. Whatever that means. Apparently, there is also a magic sport, very popular, like capture the flag, but with magic. They call it Magic siege. Not only do you have to capture the flag, but you have to make it back to your base with it too. Whoever can drop off the goods first wins. There are also other rules and stuff, certain circumstances like tie-breaker duals and team battles.
I must have fallen asleep while reading because I wake up to a loud knocking my door. I Shoot out of bed then groan at how sore I feel. I look down at my book and sigh at the small drool stain there. Why do I always fall asleep when I try to read something long and boring? Oh yeah, because it's long and boring.
I grab my phone to look at the time, I have yet another missed call from my mom. I guess I should call her back before she has a stroke or something. The loud knocking makes me flinch.
"Just a second!" I call.
Before I can get up a flash of light appears in front of me and Cyrene is there. I yelp and fall back on my bed.
"You know we have to see the elders today. Come on, chop-chop. Get dressed. Hurry, or you'll have to skip breakfast," She goes to my closet and snags a uniform before throwing it at me.
"There is a thing called privacy, ever heard of it?" I grumble.
"Snarky remarks later, let's go," she claps in front of my face.
I sigh and slowly get out of bed.
Just great, my mentor is a morning person, the last thing I need.
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