Page 25 of An Arcane Education
She shrugs. “I mean, she had plenty of opportunities to back down. He clearly wasn’t interested, and everyoneknows he’s totally rigid about the rules. And frankly, if she couldn’t move the needle, nobody could. She was fucking gorgeousandpart of Meridian House.”
Before I have the chance to speak, Joanna half-whispers, “Is that the vampire girl?”
Everyone’s heads turn in the direction Joanna’s staring, and sure enough, there’s Max looking as pissed off as always, carrying a sandwich and an apple in her hands, foregoing a tray to simply carry the food out of the building. As she walks, multiple people cast wary glances in her direction and lean in to whisper to their friends. Maybe she’s already gotten herself a reputation of being an asshole.
“Oh, yeah, she’s my roommate.”
Everyone’s attention locks in on me.
“She’s your roommate?” Kaylee asks in disbelief.
“Um, yeah. She and I don’t really interact much, though. She’s… not the friendliest person.”
Shayna snorts. “No shit. I don’t even know why she’s here.”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean, there’s an entire academy specifically for vampires where they can do all their freaky blood magic in peace. It’s not even allowed here. Why would she come to Arcadia?”
Blood magic? Should I be more worried about being around Max than I thought?
“Maybe she got expelled?” Joanna suggests.
Kaylee says, “That couldn’t be the case. All the Magical Academies are under the same board, so if shegot expelled from one, she’d be expelled from all of them.”
There’s a beat of silence as everyone considers the possibilities, but we all come up short.
It makes me wonder just how many secrets my roommate is hiding, and whether I should be afraid of her or pity her. A part of me wants to talk to her again, to show her that I’d be happy to be friends if she’d stop being so acerbic toward me (and from the looks of it, everyone else).
But I remind myself that I can only do so much. I can’t befriend someone who’s dead set on pushing me away before we even get to know each other. And if I have to deal with the awkwardness of avoiding my roommate for the next two years, so be it.
CHAPTER 10
Wednesday morning begins with Intro to Magic at eight, and I come prepared with coffee and a notebook.
I’ve spent the morning hyping myself up in the mirror, telling myself I can handle whatever comes my way. They wouldn’t have accepted me as a student here if they thought I wouldn’t be able to handle it, right?
But if this week has so far taught me one thing, it’s that there are no blow-off classes at Arcadia Academy. Every course requires dedication, intelligence, and hard work.
It seems silly that I’m dreading this introductory first-year class more than my master’s-level coursework, but I am. Science makes sense to me, utilizing existing information to identify, classify, and form hypotheses. Magic, however, is nebulous. So many factors seem to be at play, and I haven’t even had the courage to attempt any sort of magic since my perturbing moment back at home.
The classroom is packed, smelling faintly of oldwood that’s mostly overpowered by the expensive fragrances that waft through the air every time a student passes by. Outside, the sky is gray and overcast, and the black waves of the ocean churn and break against the coast.
Professor Showen rushes into the classroom with a stack of papers clutched haphazardly in her hands while Clarissa, the TA, sits patiently at the front desk with her legs crossed beneath her blue and black plaid skirt. She wears a look of boredom as she surveys the room, but as soon as she catches sight of the professor, she plasters on a bright smile and stands.
“Here, let me help you,” she says, though I can’t make out the rest of their short exchange over the buzzing of conversations echoing off the walls.
Two minutes after eight, Professor Showen stands at the front of the room, waiting as the chatter trickles into silence.
“Next week, we begin practical application,” she announces, and the room shifts with collective attention. “We’ll start to discuss basic spells that will be useful in a day-to-day context, so nothing elaborate. Because we begin application next week, today we’ll discuss the fundamental principles of magical channeling.”
My chest tightens with anxiety. I won’t be able to put off my magic for much longer, and the thought terrifies me more than it should, considering I’m here solely because I’m able to do magic.
Professor Showen continues in her bright voice. “Magic is a gift, but channeling it requires repeated practice, diligence, and control. You must sense it, isolate it,and direct it through specific pathways with intention, or you risk becoming a danger to those around you.”
The warning makes my stomach twist. I know the consequences of untempered magic all too well.
“The process feels intuitive for most, having been raised in households where magic is practiced regularly,” she adds. “You've likely been channeling unconsciously since childhood, then gaining control as you got older. Magic responds to your mental and emotional states, which means that learning to regulate one often correlates to managing the other.”
