“Exactly
what do you mean by every time?” Nervously I picked at my charm bracelet. From
what I understood that coming to school was a one-shot deal and I could go home
to Whispering Falls and back to my shop, Charming Cures.
“Even
though you are here for only four days, you still have to get continuing
education. Especially since you didn’t grow up in a mystical village.” She gestured
for me to walk into the fenced in yard.
Mewl,
mewl.
Mr. Prince Charming stood up and turned his body to the cottage dorm.
“But.
. .” I turned around to protest. Eloise was gone. Vanished into thin air.
“You’re
here!” Hili yelled from the doorway. Mr. Prince Charming ran into the house. “I
can’t wait to see your room.”
I
grabbed my suitcase, closed the gate behind me and walked into my temporary,
very temporary, home.
It
was much larger than it looked from the outside. Several girls milled around the
hallway, walking up and down different staircases and in and out of rooms. A
few noticed the new girl. . .me. But didn’t pay too much attention.
My
heels clomped on the black hardwood floors as Hili’s voice rang above everyone
else’s, “This is June Heal. She’s new,” she repeated every time we passed
someone.
There
were a few hi’s, but mainly snarls. Just like every other woman, no one wants
to be at school. Especially a twenty-five-year-old like me.
We
took the second set of stairs just off the right of the entrance and turned
right into the long dark hallway. The lights turned on like falling dominoes.
With each step, the eyes on the women in the framed pictures that lined the
wall shifted, as if they were watching us.
“Don’t
mind them.” Hili shrugged them off. “They are retired professors making sure we
aren’t casting any other spells. Or in your case, psychic ability.”
“Casting?”
There was a lot I had to learn. I noticed only three doors in the hallway.
Mine, Hili’s, and Faith Mortimer’s.
I
smacked into the back of Hili when she abruptly stopped in- between doors. The
door to her right had Faith Mortimer printed on the gold plate and the door to
her left read
June Heal.
“You’re
a psychic. I’m completely magic.” Pride swelled on her face. “Cast spells. She
twitched her finger in the air and a spark flew from the tip of it. “This
little thing can be really powerful.” She kissed it.
“Voila,
this is your room.” Hili tapped the name plate. She turned the knob and opened
the door. Her eyebrows rose, and her voice escalated, “I’ve been dying to see
it.”
There
was a piece of paper taped on the door, but Hili ripped it off and held it
behind her back.
“What
was that?” I tried to glance around her back. She leaned back making me try
harder.
“Oh
nothing. Just some junk.” She waved me off. “Open the door.”
“Let
me have it.” I put my hand out.
She
slapped it in my hand.
“UnHidden
Hall: The Truth Behind The Magic,” I read out loud. “Very catchy and clever.”
It
was some sort of gossip paper. On the front cover beneath the heading was a
picture of me from when I had sold homeopathic cures in the flea market with
the heading
Dean’s niece? Selling Cures in a Flea Market?
“Don’t
read those lies.” Hili plucked it out of my hands. “She’s just a jealous snob
who wished she was the niece of Dean Helena.”
Technically,
it wasn’t a lie. I did sell homeopathic cures out of a flea market booth when I
lived in Locust Grove, before I even knew about my spiritualist gift.
“Who
puts this out?” I grabbed it back and scanned the article about me coming to
the University to learn more about my psychic abilities.
“I
really don’t know.” She shrugged, and then looked around before she leaned in
closer. She whispered, “It’s put out under a fake name. The rumor is that Faith
Mortimer is the editor and she has a few minions that report back all the
gossip. I say it’s just a whole lot of trash.”
I
laughed it off. I was only going to be here for four days and I really didn’t
have anything to hide.
Mr.
Prince Charming darted in and out of the room before we could make it in.
Hiss,
hiss.
That
wasn’t a good sign. He was good at showing displeasure and he was always right.
I
motioned for her to go in the room first. She was way more excited than I was.
“I just figured out that I’m her niece, and it’s going to take a while for me
to get use to having any family, much less being the niece of the Dean of the
biggest Spiritual University around.”
She
smiled, and threw her arms around my neck.” I knew we were going to best
friends.”
I
planted a smile on my face, not knowing what to do with that. I was a
twenty-five year old woman, not a sorority gal. Little did she know, I wasn’t
in the market for new friends. I was here to do my time at Intuition School and
get back to my life making homeopathic cures in Whispering Falls and Oscar.
I
couldn’t help but wonder what he was doing.
I
pulled away and both of us walked into the room. We stood in awe. Each of us
had a different reaction. Hili had a grin as big as the moon on her face, while
I flinched and looked away.
“It’s
amazing. Just like I thought.” Hili clasped her hands and twirled in circles.
With
her twirls, and all the pink, frilly accessories, the room started to spin. I
reached out, grasping the leopard print chair that sat just inside of the
massive room that looked as though it had been sprayed with Pepto Bismol all
over.
Off
to the right was a bathroom, complete with Jacuzzi tub and to the left was a
small kitchenette. They had gone through a lot of trouble for me to be here
just
four days
.
Pretending
to take a closer look at the Jacuzzi tub, I shut the door behind me. Quickly I
took Madame Torres out of my bag.
“Let
me see Oscar.” I rubbed my hands around my crystal ball and concentrated in my
mind on his handsome face. I sighed, and then whispered, “Let me see Oscar.”
A
Charming Cure appeared with Oscar behind the counter with my apron on. A smile
crossed my lips. He was talking to a customer and Chandra Shango stood next to
him. Her soft hazel eyes zeroed in on the customers’ hands as she patted down
her short, raspberry colored hair.
My
heart skipped a beat. I longed to be there instead of with absent-minded
teenager Hili.
Everything
looked like it was going well without me. The first day was over and only three
more days of school left. What could happen in three days?
I
walked out and rolled my eyes when I saw the pink room.
“What’s
wrong?” Hili tilted her head, looking for any answers to my strange behavior.
Granted, most women liked pink, but it was not my color of choice for my living
quarters. With a low-whisper, she asked, “Is it too much? It’s a fairy’s
dream.”
“A
psychic’s nightmare,” I grumbled back.
She
walked over to the bed and grabbed the fluffy pillow and held on to it tight. I
walked around taking in all the ruffles, feathers, and
pink.
“But
you are wearing pink shoes.” She pointed.
“Yes,
but it’s a splash of color, not a splatter.”
Three days, three days,
I
reminded myself.
Hili
peeled her hand away from the pillow; she touched the wick of each candle in
the chandelier on the bedside table. One-by-one they lit up the room, showing
just how much frill there was.
“This
room has been waiting for you. And usually the Dean’s family comes to school at
a very early age.” She pulled back and crossed her arms. “Not at twenty-five.”
“I’ve
never been a big fan of frill or pink. I won’t be here long, so it will be
fine.” I ran my hand along the satin bedspread. “I’m a jeans and tee kind of
gal.”
“But
you have on heels and a cute jumpsuit!” She stood a little more straight, her
posture rigid.
“I
wanted to give a good impression for today.” I didn’t know who I was kidding,
but there was no way I was going to dress all fancy, Dean’s niece or not. The
UnHidden Hall paper was right. I was a girl who grew up in Locust Grove, in a
rickety house, with no knowledge of any sort of powers and sold homeopathic
cures out of the local flea market.
“Well,
we can go shopping at Wands, Potions, and Beyond.” Instantly her mood changed.
“I do need a new wand for Wand School. They will have all new items.”
A
sudden knock at the door made us forget about the dreaded room. Before I could
answer, Mr. Prince Charming raised up in a full-blown back arch,
hiss, hiss.
Rapidly,
the door flung open, stopping abruptly just shy of the doorstop.
Green
smoke danced in the air, and gave way to Aunt Helena. Her black cloak swung
open as she stepped into the room, exposing a polkadot A-line skirt and
thigh-high pointy red boots that matched her nail color perfectly.
“Wonderful
to see you are getting settled in.” She waved her hands in the air. Everything
pink changed to the oranges and browns that I loved. Instantly, the room became
homey and something I would live in. “Now, that should do it. You must forgive
the University. Even though we don’t know each other all that well, and it’s
only
three days,
I want you to be comfortable.”
“Thank
you so much. Hili has been a great help with getting me settled. This will be
fine for my four days.” I rubbed my temple. I was going to have to watch what I
was thinking. Obviously Aunt Helena had been reading my mind.
How
did I get here?
I wasn’t used to all of this. But I constantly needed to remind myself that
this was my life now. I was here to learn all of these techniques. I never
signed up to be a real psychic or the Dean’s niece.
“Hmmm.
. .” Helena pierced the distance between them, and then lifted her eyes,
glaring at Hili.
Hili
rushed out of the room, leaving me alone with Aunt Helena, which made my toes
curl. And that was not comfortable in the high-heel shoes. The door
automatically closed behind her and then locked.
“How
is everything going?” She tried to be sincere, but I just didn’t trust her like
I did Eloise.
“Fine.”
I lied.
Eloise
would’ve been a much better Dean. She was so much easier to relate to. After
all, Eloise was Darla’s best friend and a great help to Darla. Now, years
later, she was helping me, even going as far as clearing my name from murder
the first week I had moved to Whispering Falls.
Where
was Aunt Helena when I did need her?
Biting my lip, I looked away in fear she
did know what I was thinking. She seemed to have a lot of different powers than
a pure psychic, which made me wonder if I was only psychic or did have a touch
of Fairiwick in me.
“Dean!
Dean!” The other minion that sat next to Faith ran into
my
room. Her eyes
darted back and forth between Aunt Helena and me. She jabbed her finger in my
direction. Her eyes narrowed on me, casting a shadow in the room. “Come quick!
Faith is on her deathbed! No thanks to
her,”
she said, pointing at me.
Chapter Six
“Me?
What did I do?” This girl was as crazy as her friend.
“Now,
now, Raven.” Aunt Helena took her in her arms and comforted her. Suspicion
settled in my gut. My intuition told me something was off. Why was Aunt Helena
so willing to hug Raven when she had never even
touched
me? And I was
supposed to be flesh and blood. “I’m sure Faith is going to be okay.”
Aunt
Helena rushed us out the door and across the street to the University
Infirmary. When we got to Faith’s room on the third floor, Eloise was sitting
on the bench outside of her door. Her head in her hands, her shoulders bouncing
up and down with each sob that came from deep from within her soul.
“Dean
Helena, I have no idea what happened.” Eloise stood up, her face blotted red.
“It was the same sleeping potion we use in ‘Don’t Judge a Potion by the Smell’
class.”
Helena
didn’t answer. She swept her cloak over her body and raised a finger toward
Eloise. A spark of blue light shot from her fingertip and hit Eloise, causing
Eloise to crumble to the floor in a little ball.
“Stop!”
I screamed, crouching to Eloise’s side. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw
Helena raise her hand again. I threw my hand up in the air. “You are hurting
her.”
“They
need to respect the rules. You are not one of them!” Helena screamed, “You are
not a Fairiwick!” Her words were as sharp as her magic. “Professor Sandlewood,
you are on administrative leave until further notice.”
With
a flick of her hand, Helena made Eloise disappear from my arms.
“Where
did she go?” I screamed and jumped up, standing nose to nose with an Aunt that
loved me no more than she loved the Fairiwicks.