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Authors: Mindee Arnett
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Ankil said, “I want you to practice this technique for me as extra credit. Master it and you’ll have a guaranteed B minimum for the quarter. Deal?”
“Deal.”
I left Ankil’s class a moment later. He was the coolest teacher ever.
But once again, my joy was only temporary as Eli was in my math class and then in alchemy after that. I was going to have to see him every day, all day long. Not to mention the thrice-weekly dream-sessions.
By the time I reached the girls’ locker room before gym, I was feeling completely dejected. “Why are they doing this to me?” I asked Selene as we changed into our gym clothes.
“Who?”
“The school administrators, the Magi Senate, the powers that be.” I threw up my hands. “Everyone.”
Selene sighed sympathetically. “Maybe it has something to do with the way the dream-seer stuff works. Maybe you’ve got to spend a lot of time with the person to get a feel for it.”
“Sure, like spending my nights with the guy won’t be enough.” That sounded dirtier than I intended, and Selene grinned as she pulled her blue-and-gray Arkwell T-shirt over her head. The image of our school mascot, Hank the Hydra, smiled at me with all seven heads from the emblem on the center of the shirt.
“You could always ask your Nightmare trainer,” Selene said.
“I suppose so.”
Not that it would change anything.
I finished tying the knot on my sneaker and stood up. “What I don’t get is why they have him taking magic-based courses. He’s not capable of doing any magic, right?”
Selene tugged on the front of her T-shirt, making sure it wasn’t too tight. “Well, it’s not that uncommon. There are halfkinds at this school that can’t do magic, either, but they’re still required to take the same courses. They just have to do a lot more textbook work and written exams than the rest of us, and all practical examinations are simulated. I think the idea is there’s some value in learning the theory of magic even if you’ll never use it.”
“Huh,” I said, seeing her point. The only reason I hadn’t been forced to go here from day one was because my dad was an ordinary. Everybody figured I was completely ordinary, too, until I came into my powers. Just why they’d shown up so late, nobody knew. Or at least they hadn’t told me. Halfkinds were rare, and a part-ordinary halfkind even rarer. I was probably the only one of my generation.
For once, gym was uneventful. Instead of war games, we played basketball, which gave me the chance not to look like an idiot. With the class as large as it was, Coach Fritz split us up into four random teams, and we played two half-court games at the same time. I got a double shot of luck as Eli ended up on a different team and a different court altogether.
After class, I had just enough time to take a shower before heading off to Jupiter Hall to meet Bethany Grey. Only when I came through the door into the classroom, it wasn’t Bethany waiting for me but my mother .
The sight of her made my legs feel as if someone had replaced the muscles with jelly and the bones with wet noodles. What was she doing here? Not once in my life had her unexpected appearance signified anything good. I glanced around, half-expecting a police force to come bursting in to arrest us.
Moira was pacing back and forth across the room, her eyes fixed on the floor in front of her. For a moment, she didn’t know I was there. Run away now while you still can! a voice shouted in my head.
I would’ve, too, except Mom was muttering to herself, “How can they do this? She’s just a child. They’ve no idea what they’re asking. The sheer arrogance.”
She spotted me and stopped. “Destiny.” From her, my name sounded like a curse.
“Hi, Mom.”
Moira strode over, the spiked heels of her tall black boots striking the tiled floor like tiny hammers. She was wearing a fitted black jacket over a short skirt—she must’ve been at the office earlier. Mom owned a
“Deal.”
I left Ankil’s class a moment later. He was the coolest teacher ever.
But once again, my joy was only temporary as Eli was in my math class and then in alchemy after that. I was going to have to see him every day, all day long. Not to mention the thrice-weekly dream-sessions.
By the time I reached the girls’ locker room before gym, I was feeling completely dejected. “Why are they doing this to me?” I asked Selene as we changed into our gym clothes.
“Who?”
“The school administrators, the Magi Senate, the powers that be.” I threw up my hands. “Everyone.”
Selene sighed sympathetically. “Maybe it has something to do with the way the dream-seer stuff works. Maybe you’ve got to spend a lot of time with the person to get a feel for it.”
“Sure, like spending my nights with the guy won’t be enough.” That sounded dirtier than I intended, and Selene grinned as she pulled her blue-and-gray Arkwell T-shirt over her head. The image of our school mascot, Hank the Hydra, smiled at me with all seven heads from the emblem on the center of the shirt.
“You could always ask your Nightmare trainer,” Selene said.
“I suppose so.”
Not that it would change anything.
I finished tying the knot on my sneaker and stood up. “What I don’t get is why they have him taking magic-based courses. He’s not capable of doing any magic, right?”
Selene tugged on the front of her T-shirt, making sure it wasn’t too tight. “Well, it’s not that uncommon. There are halfkinds at this school that can’t do magic, either, but they’re still required to take the same courses. They just have to do a lot more textbook work and written exams than the rest of us, and all practical examinations are simulated. I think the idea is there’s some value in learning the theory of magic even if you’ll never use it.”
“Huh,” I said, seeing her point. The only reason I hadn’t been forced to go here from day one was because my dad was an ordinary. Everybody figured I was completely ordinary, too, until I came into my powers. Just why they’d shown up so late, nobody knew. Or at least they hadn’t told me. Halfkinds were rare, and a part-ordinary halfkind even rarer. I was probably the only one of my generation.
For once, gym was uneventful. Instead of war games, we played basketball, which gave me the chance not to look like an idiot. With the class as large as it was, Coach Fritz split us up into four random teams, and we played two half-court games at the same time. I got a double shot of luck as Eli ended up on a different team and a different court altogether.
After class, I had just enough time to take a shower before heading off to Jupiter Hall to meet Bethany Grey. Only when I came through the door into the classroom, it wasn’t Bethany waiting for me but my mother .
The sight of her made my legs feel as if someone had replaced the muscles with jelly and the bones with wet noodles. What was she doing here? Not once in my life had her unexpected appearance signified anything good. I glanced around, half-expecting a police force to come bursting in to arrest us.
Moira was pacing back and forth across the room, her eyes fixed on the floor in front of her. For a moment, she didn’t know I was there. Run away now while you still can! a voice shouted in my head.
I would’ve, too, except Mom was muttering to herself, “How can they do this? She’s just a child. They’ve no idea what they’re asking. The sheer arrogance.”
She spotted me and stopped. “Destiny.” From her, my name sounded like a curse.
“Hi, Mom.”
Moira strode over, the spiked heels of her tall black boots striking the tiled floor like tiny hammers. She was wearing a fitted black jacket over a short skirt—she must’ve been at the office earlier. Mom owned a
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