For the rest of the week, I was torn between trying to concentrate on school and listening to Mage Jaye make her preparations at night. She was very focused on all of the things that needed to be done and spent a great deal of time on the phone talking to her staff members back in Europe. I didn’t have a lot of time to get involved in it because I had homework during the week, but I knew that weekend, I’d be up to my eyeballs in helping Mage Jaye figure out a way to move an entire school from one continent to another.
Saturday morning, way earlier than I wanted to get up, I heard a sharp wrap on the bedroom door. Ben was awake already, which wasn’t surprising because he hardly sleeps compared to me, but I knew the summons wasn’t for him. I caught his eyes, and he shrugged. “Do you want me to get it? Tell her to go away for a few hours?”
“The new School for Mages?” I repeated, thinking that Mage Jaye had lost her mind this time for sure. “Mage Jaye, with all due respect, there’s simply not enough room right here for an entire school.” I was thinking about a building the size of the one that was in Paris right now, and there was no way a building even the size of just the school building itself, without even considering the other buildings, like the dorms, was going to fit in this clearing. The thought of Mage Jaye removing trees from my forest to make room for a building that didn’t even need to be here made me sick to my stomach. She’d clearly already decided that this was happening, and I had no idea how I could convince her otherwise.“It will fit,” she said, without even turning to look at me. I could see the side of her face and recognized that look of wonder she was wearing that s
Concentrating on school was nearly impossible when I knew that as soon as I got home I was going to be expected to construct a huge new school building on the land behind my house. I was so afraid I was going to mess it up, and Mage Jaye was going to have a fit, assuming I’d done it on purpose. I was so distracted by my own thoughts of disappointing the head mage, I didn’t even hear what started the argument between Brice and Melanie during art class, one that Tony was desperately trying to end before Ms. Flynn came over, but by the time I realized something was going on, the teacher was already there.“What in the world is going on?” Ms. Flynn said in a harsh whisper. “This is an art room. People are trying to create!”“Sorry, Ms. Flynn,” Melanie said. “I didn’t mean to disturb anyone.”
At lunch, Brice didn’t sit with us. He sat with Starla. I thought it was weird that he was running to the person Melanie was accusing him of having an affair with, but that was just the sort of thing Brice wouldn’t let bother him. If Melanie wanted to say he was sleeping with Starla, he would tell her where to shove it and then do what he wanted.I didn’t get a chance to talk to Ben about it at lunch because Melanie was there, so I’d have to wait until after school to talk to him. During seventh period, drama class, I did get a chance to ask Brice if he was okay. All he said was yes and then sat with someone else. So… I had no idea if he was mad at me, too, or just didn’t want to talk about it. I couldn't blame him if he didn’t want to talk about it, but I was hoping he wasn’t mad at me. I was still thinking the whole thing had to be a misunderstanding. If t
I woke up some time later, when it was dark outside, lying in my own bed with Ben sitting next to me, a worried expression on his face. My head was throbbing, and I was dizzy. I had to shut my eyes again after only having just opened them, or else, I was afraid I might throw up, and since my stomach was rumbling from hunger, I had the idea there wasn’t much in there to toss out.“How are you?” Ben asked me, moving slightly closer so that he could reach my hand. “Are you okay?”“Tired,” I mumbled. “And… dizzy. How is the school?”“You passed out, Harlow, and you’re worried about the school?” he asked, a tone of disbelief in his voice.I wanted to shrug but couldn’t. “I’m not s
“What do you mean he’s gone?” I asked, sitting up so abruptly, the world went spinning again. Ben put his hands on my shoulders, trying to calm me, but I was beyond alarmed at this point. “He couldn’t have gone too far.”“I don’t know how far away he went, but he’s not answering any of our attempts at getting in touch with him, either through his phone or the mind-link. It’s clear, he wants to be left alone, at least for now.”This was Ben’s way of telling me not to even think about going out to look for Brice. Even if I wanted to, I didn’t think I could. I wasn’t strong enough to transform myself into a bird or anything and go out flying around looking for him. I slumped back against the headrest in defeat. “This sucks,” I whispered.
Following Mr. Short to his office, I was seething inside. I didn’t feel like I had done anything wrong, and the fact that this man, whom I’d gone out of my way to help more than once, had the audacity to be mad at me over stopping a fight in the parking lot using my magic, on my own pack mates, nonetheless, made me so angry, I knew this might be the final straw that sent me on a rampage only Fionna Flamingo could rival.Mr. Short went straight into his office, waited for me to walk in, and then practically slammed the door before he walked around his desk, sat down, folded his hands, and took a deep breath. “Miss Nightingale, we have a problem.”“Listen, Mr. Short,” I began, trying to choose my words carefully so as not to sound disrespectful. He was my principal, after all, but I was to the point where I was about to not be
Normally, after a long day at school, I am in such a hurry to get home that I can hardly wait for seventh period to be over so that I can finally get a mental break, but this time, I didn’t even want to leave school. It wasn’t that I was having a grand ol’ time in my classes, especially when Brice didn’t show up all day, and Melanie and I were not speaking, but I knew, as soon as I got home, it was definitely not going to be a relaxing evening.Maje Jaye was waiting for me at the door again. She reminded me a lot of a puppy who had been left home alone all day and just needed some human attention. Nuthatch was there, too, of course, but he didn’t count. When Mage Jaye saw me, her face lit up, and she said, “Harlow, guess what? The students and staff are on their way! Isn’t it lovely?”I could’ve thought of a
“Tell me Brice. We’re friends. I can handle it.”“Okay,” he said, sucking in air. “I’ve been lying to you, to all of you, because I didn’t know how you’d handle what I’ve been doing.”A million scenarios ran through my mind as I tried to guess what he was talking about. The only thing that I could think of that would make me angry at him would be if he really was Starla’s baby’s father. “Just tell me, Brice,” I said.“All right. So… this girl I’ve been seeing… isn’t a girl.” He looked up at me, and I couldn’t help but let my forehead crinkle as I tried to comprehend what he was saying. “I know I went along with it and probably even said ‘she’ a few times. But that&rs