CHAPTER SEVEN

I stand there, in shock, watching the gymnasium empty out, feeling numb. How could I have not been selected? What were they all selected for, anyway?

Coming here was a mistake. Even if it's what my dad wanted for me. Obviously, I don't fit in here.

"Did you hear me?"

I turn to see Alice standing there, waiting for something.

"Sorry, no." My mouth is dry, and the words come out coated in dust. No one but Alice is paying attention to me, and yet it feels like a million eyes are on me. I want to dig a hole and crawl into it.

"I said, let's go," Alice says. "Standing there like that will only make it worse."

I find myself following this girl I don't even know as she leads me out of the room, past the groups of students chatting and welcoming their tiers' new members, and confidently down a new corridor.

"I see it as a badge of honor," Alice says. "Who'd want to be chosen by those creeps anyway?"

"Don't we need to be in a tier?" I squeak.

Alice doesn't seem to hear. "Let me at least give you a proper tour of the place," she says. "I doubt they even did that yet."

We pass down new corridors, each one stranger than the next.

The hallways are painted gray concrete and covered in giant, austere paintings. They’re creepy, the sort of thing that would make you wake up in the middle of the night drenched in sweat, ones that fade in and out of dreams. To make things even more dreary, there’s a smell of mildew, like something was left out in the rain and never dried out.

"This place is not what it seems," Alice says. "It's not a regular school. No matter what they tell you."

I shiver.

"Then what is it?" I ask.

"It's a magic academy," she says. "A place for freaks. Like us."

I feel myself growing cold. What, exactly, makes me and her freaks? I'm just a normal midwestern kid. A teenager like millions of other teenagers.

"Look closely. Look all around," Alice says. "Look at how strange this place is."

I look around, closely, at the sprawling historic school and I realize she's right. This place is really strange. Even fantastical. Statues of mythical creatures--dragons, unicorns, and ones I don't recognize--line the hallway we turn into.

But can I really believe her? Magic isn’t real.

Maybe she just means the place is strange. Different.

"Our parents sent us here because it was the only place for us," Alice says. "You can't trust what anyone is telling you. Until you know who you can trust, you can't even trust me."

She's still holding my hand, and I realize that it's the only thing keeping me from running away. Without seeing it happen, Alice has quickly become my lifeline at Hawthorn.

"Magic," I say. "I don't even know what that means."

"It means whatever you want it to mean," she says, smiling. "It means you can do whatever you want. You're special. You're one of us. I know it."

We pass through another corridor, out a door and into the cold air, and along a covered walkway to another building, all while my brain is spinning.

Alice pushes open a door made from stained glass, and the familiar smell of books tickles my nose.

"This is the library," Alice says. "You can come here and study, if you want. Or you can just hang out."

I want to respond, but I don't remember how to use words. This is the most fantastic library I've ever seen. It's surreal. The ceiling soars, lined with elaborate moldings. Gargoyles are etched in stone at every corner. Across the room, a marble fireplace mantel stretches twenty feet high, filled with a roaring fire. The bookcases are unlike any I've seen.

They're filled with leatherbound books, but behind them are other things: sculptures, paintings, strange trinkets, maps. I want to touch each and every detail, but this place feels too much like a museum. Brush against one thing and an alarm will go off.

The books themselves seem to glow with a strange light. I rub my tired eyes, realizing the weird light I'm seeing must be from looking at my textbooks all day and barely sleeping last night.

"This is incredible," I say.

"They've got all sorts of books here," Alice says. "You can learn anything you want to know."

She leads me to a table, and I sit down and start flipping through one of the books. The pages are black and filled with lines of strange symbols. I have no idea what any of it means, but it looks amazingly cool, and I want to learn it all.

"This is the East Wing," Alice says. "The East Wing is for the students who have talent."

A lump forms in my stomach. So not me. If I had talent, a tier would have picked me.

Alice crooks a finger and leads me to a row of books in the very back of the library.

"Talent." I snort. "Must be nice."

"Talent isn't always what you think it'll be," she says, smiling. "It can be magic. Or whatever you want to call it."

This magic-thing again. Alice is a bit of an oddball, but honestly I don't mind. If her wing is the one available, then I'll spend the rest of my time at this school under it. Besides, for now I’m actually content to just listen to her talk while I explore the library. I see myself spending a lot of time here in the future.

I follow her through the stacks, and we come to a dark corner, where the bookshelves abruptly end.

"I want to show you something." She looks over her shoulder.

"What?"

With one finger, she taps on the wall next to the bookshelf three times. There's the sound of a click, a lock opening, and a hidden compartment swings open.

It's not very big, just large enough to hold the thick book Alice brings out.

"I saw the librarian put this back one day." Alice cradles the book like it's an infant. "She didn't think anyone was in here."

I lick my lips, feeling oddly drawn to the book. "What is it?"

"Something really rare," Alice says. "There are only a few like it in the world. It's called, 'The Secret History of Magic.' It tells the real story of magic. It helps you to understand that there are many ways to look at everything."

"Okay," I say. It's starting to feel like I'm stuck in Alice's fantasy. Next thing I know she'll be telling me she knows how to fly.

"Open it," Alice says, handing the book over.

I crack the book in the middle, but... the page is blank.

Flipping through the tome, I find that every page is that way.

"What am I supposed to do?" I ask. “It’s blank.”

"For now," Alice says.

The page suddenly begins to fill with words.

"It's writing itself," I say, in shock.

How is this possible? I turn the book over and study its spine, looking for the mechanical trick. It looks like any other book, though.

"It always writes itself.” She takes the book from me and turns to another page.

"Read this," Alice says, handing me the book.

I clear my throat, nervous about being caught--but not too nervous to walk away.

"'The history of magic is a history of power,’" I read. "'Magic is the assertion of power, and whoever is strongest in magic is the person who has the most power. At the height of the Renaissance, it was the Church. Now it is the State. And soon it will be you.'"

I look up at Alice, and she nods at me to go on.

I swallow against a lump in my throat. "Magic is war. Magic is where the battles are fought. Magic is where the battles are won. Magic is where the battles are lost. In ancient times, magic was everywhere. It was magic that brought the world into existence. It was magic that gave the sun and moon their light, the stars their power. It was magic that filled the oceans, the forests, and the mountains. It was magic that gave life to the animals. It was magic that gave humans the things that made them human."

The writing has stopped, so I close the book. "How does this work? Is it some kind of invisible ink that shows up when it's exposed to light?"

Alice sighs. "I told you. This place is magic. It's ridiculous, honestly, that no one is telling you how things work here. They're just waiting for you to figure it out yourself."

I laugh and shake my head. "Alice--"

The library door groans open, cutting me off.

"Shh!" Alice grabs the book from me, stuffs it back into the compartment, and closes its door.

Grabbing my hand, she pulls me around the shelves and into the main area, with its overstuffed armchairs and desk lamps.

And there he is.

The most gorgeous guy I've ever seen.

Dressed in all black, with longish brown hair, he stalks by, moody, unsmiling, and retreats to a bookcase at the far side of the room.

It's like a magnet pulls me away from Alice, away from everything else in the world.

Away from everything but him.

And then, he suddenly turns and stares across the room, hazel eyes marking a path over the carpet.

Right to me.

My cheeks grow hot and I realize I've never felt anything like this before.

I am staring back at this gorgeous guy, and I'm actually breathless.

It's like something takes over my body, and I can't look away. Grabbing a book from a shelf, he takes a seat in an armchair at the far end of the library, where he's half hidden by a globe.

"Hello?"

I turn and see Alice staring at me.

"Did you hear anything I just said?" she asks, annoyed.

"Who's that?" I whisper to Alice, totally not caring that I've just ignored her question.

She bites her bottom lip. "Oh, um, that's Alec. He's a senior."

"Do you know him well?" I have to force my eyes to stay on her and not to swivel back to Alec.

"Oh, he's very…well, he's very nice," she says, a little embarrassed. "He's really smart and really…well, you know."

"What?" Does Alice have a crush on him?

"He's really hot. Obviously."

"Oh." I'm blushing furiously.

If Alice does like him, then he's off limits to me. Pursuing him would mean breaking the oldest, most ancient girl code of the Girl Codes.

"He's kind of different, though," she says. "He has a lot going on. In his head, I mean. He's got some issues."

"Oh, yeah?" So she doesn't like him.

...Right?

Either way, I shouldn't be excited. She just said that he has issues!

"Yes. He's..."

"What?" I push.

But there's something she won't tell me.

I look back over at him, and he’s still looking right at me.

He smiles and nods a little, as if he is trying to tell me something.

None of this makes any sense.

But I feel something, too. An energy, a thrill coursing through me. It's like I'm on a roller coaster, waiting for the drop and burst of adrenaline that's sure to come any second.

"Stay away from him," Alice says. "He's trouble."

"Trouble?" I ask, hoping it isn't true. "How?"

"It's hard to explain," Alice says, "but I know he's not someone you should be spending time with."

"Why?"

"I…I just know.” She pauses, like she can’t decide what to say. "But you don't need to worry about that. I'll take care of it for you."

"What do you mean?" I ask, confused.

Alice just said that she hates how no one at this school is telling me anything, and now here she is, being cryptic herself!

"I mean, I'll make sure he doesn't bother you." She jerks her head at the door. “Come on. Let’s go.”

Alec bothering me is exactly what I want, but that would be pointless to say. Evidently Alice already has her mind made up about him.

"Okay," I say, my tongue thick and heavy. What's the point in arguing?

We have to walk past Alec to get out, and it's like floating through a dream. I’m moving my legs and arms but it feels like I’m half conscious. I can feel his gaze on me, as present as a physical touch.

Outside of the library, I wrap my arms around myself. An owl hoots nearby, and even the covered walkway between the library and the main building feels like ancient wilderness, a place full of mysteries waiting to sink their claws in me.

"He can't be that bad," I say as we walk, happy to have something to talk about to get my mind off the spookiness around us.

"He's..."

"What is it?" I ask.

"I just...we're not supposed to talk about him. I shouldn't have even said anything."

"Okay, okay, I won't say anything."

The more I think about it, the more I realize that I have to find out more about this guy. I have to know who he is.

Alice sighs. “Trust me, okay? If you want to stay in the Academy, you stay away from him."

But I know, deep in my heart, that I can never stay away from him. The pull I feel toward Alec is beyond anything I can describe.

"Come on," Alice says, not going into the main building, but stepping onto the grass. "Quickly. We're going to be late."

"Late for what?" I hesitate at the edge of the grass.

Her lips pull into an excited grin. "You'll see."