chapter eight | thanks

She hid in the back of the classroom, tucked away in a corner to avoid running into the newly dark haired warlock in the front row; Marnie and her friend were sitting next to him, and Natalie scoffed from beside her at the sight.

"Since when did she get so forgiving?"

"Since she let Cody cheat on her repeatedly before I threatened him into leaving her so she'd stop getting hurt." Levana spoke, her tone quiet as her friend frowned. "I'll never quite understand the immature mentality of boys."

"That makes two of us."

The sound of a man clearing his throat echoed from the front of the room, silencing the two girls (and everyone else in the room) as an older warlock with white hair slowly walked toward the front center of the classroom. She'd recognized Ichabod immediately, and was growing slightly anxious on how this class would go for her.

He'd worked closely with her father, seeing as they both worked at the university before Sebastian's death; Levana knew that this could either go one way or the other.

"My name is Dr. Ichabod Grogg." He turned toward the ocean of college freshmen, "You will address me as Sir or Dr. Grogg, not Grogg, Dr. G, G. Dawg, or G. Units." He glanced briefly at the Sylver girl, knowing that she would have to adjust to no longer calling him "Uncle G" before turning toward his desk and barking out further instruction.

"On the desk before you, you will find a single sheet of paper. I require an essay to ascertain your familiarity with the entire history of the worlds, both mortal and magical. You may begin."

Levana sighed, looking to Nat with a tired expression; why'd they have to stay up all night eating ice scream?

Natalie sent her a tight-lipped smile, both of them knowing that, although they may be tired, they did have a bit of an advantage over most of their peers. Due to their longevity in the human world, they learned quite a bit of history of that world, and they'd both loved Halloweentown so much that this essay would be a breeze.

As Levana's pen drifted swiftly across her paper, she glanced at Marnie, wondering if the young witch was even aware of her ancestry. Splendora Agatha Cromwell was the last queen that the world of Halloweentown had ever had - ending the slavery of non-witch creatures and finally freeing the town from it's dark past.

Time seemed to slowly churn by for the ravenette, some stray strands of hair slipping from her bun and framing her face as she wrote. Knowing that the Sinister Sisters got away with everything, it wasn't a surprise to her when Scarlett was the first to turn in her essay.

Secondly was a guy that resembled Pete quite a bit, just with a heavier build; she'd wondered if he had also come to Witch U, and if they'd reunite like she and Natalie.

As time ticked by, Natalie and Levana had finished their essays at the same time; they walked past Ethan and Marnie, the two ravenettes tensing in the presence of the other. Ethan watched as the girls turned in their essays, before his gaze followed them to the door. He was hoping that Levana would look back at him, flip him off like she had done when they went to human high school.

But, she did look back, just not with the same cheerful expression he'd grown so used to; Levana looked over her shoulder as she reached the doorway, Natalie stopping in front of her to wait. The look in her amber eyes was tense, void of any cheer and she couldn't bare to maintain eye contact any longer, looking away and following their fluffy pink friend through the corridor.

"You okay, Vana?" Natalie whispered, knowing that the nosey tendencies of their peers needed to be avoided in this situation.

The girl nodded, looking to her boots as they walked to the courtyard.

Marnie had been the last to complete her essay, leaving the classroom in an angered state due to someone hexing her paper.

"I can't believe it. Scarlett did that," she said to herself. "I should make her disappear."

"Maybe she's just jealous," a familiar boy spoke, walking next to her through the corridor.

When the brown eyed girl looked at him with a quizzical expression, he continued. "Sorry. You were ranting."

"Why in the world would Scarlett Sinister be jealous of me?"

"Look," he sighed, stopping in the hall and turning to face her. He looked around to ensure that the coast was clear, before conjuring up a bouquet of roses and handing them to her, "You're Marnie Piper, granddaughter of Aggie Cromwell, and the girl who saved our asses on numerous occasions... You're also a good friend so, can you make sure these get to Lev?"

Marnie frowned, "Ethan, I don't know if that's a good idea."

"Please, Marnie? I know I need to wait for her to wanna speak to me, but... I'm going crazy."

"Fine," the girl sighed, "but do not approach her yet, you understand me?"

"Yes, Ma'am." He jokingly replied, laughing before the magical intercom boomed for Marnie to go to the Chancellor's office.

"No." Natalie spoke, her voice firm as she looked at her best friend with wide eyes, "Why the hell would you do that?"

"I'm just saying, maybe it's time I forgive Ethan... He's been my best friend for my entire life, Nat."

"So?"

The girls were seated in the courtyard, snacks in their laps as they ate and talked on the cement bench; it was a beautiful day in Halloweentown, the flowers on the sides of the sidewalks vivid and swaying in the slight breeze that whispered through the campus. The sun wasn't too bright, but it illuminated the school in such a beautiful way that the girls chose to sit outside before their next class.

"What do you mean so?" The inky haired girl asked with furrowed brows, "It's been almost two years, I think I've had enough healing time."

The troll sighed, "Vana, do what feels right to you... but if it were me in this situation? I would've killed the fucker alongside his dad."

...

"Good, the class is all here." Professor Goodwyn stated as she approached the group of chattering freshmen; Levana was stood only a few people away from Ethan, and she'd wished that Natalie had this class with her.

"But, uh... no classroom." The blue eyed warlock pointed out, his voice striking nostalgia into Levana's heart, and she didn't even realize that she had subconsciously moved to stand right next to the boy.

Marnie looked at her with wide eyes, silently questioning if Levana had lost her damn mind; her friend hadn't realized what the look was for, until she looked to the ground and saw Ethan's arm in her peripherals.

"Why?" She thought to herself, "Why the fuck did I do that?"

"Adapperio Perplexio." The professor boomed, a light emitting from her fingers before a wall of the dungeon practically disintegrated. She approached the new opening, turning toward the students with a smile, "This is the old castle dungeon. It's usually off-limits, but this year we've selected a few of you for a very special educational opportunity. You will spend this semester unearthing the treasures of a millennium of Halloweentown history buried beneath this castle."

Levana approached one of the holes that, she assumed, was meant for discovering these treasures that Prof. Goodwyn was speaking of; Scarlett Sinister sneered at the 4'11" witch, "accidentally" bumping into her and almost causing her to fall to her death.

The amber eyed girl was caught, however, and pulled into familiar arms as she caught her breath; she didn't even bother to look at Ethan, glaring at Scarlett from across the crater in the dungeon floor. The red lipped witch smirked, acting innocent as she proceeded to look around.

Vana then took a deep breath, removing herself from her former friend's arms.

"Thank you," she practically whispered, before tuning back into whatever the hell Goodwyn was on about now.

"You will be supervised in your work by our own expert in all things historical, Dr. Ichabod Grogg."

"The fossil himself," Marnie said to the dark haired female on her left, not realizing that the white haired man was standing directly behind her. When her friend only sent her a tight-lipped look, she spoke once more, "He's right behind me, isn't he?"

"Yeah," Ethan nodded, his gaze flickering to the shorter witch between them. He didn't know what possessed Levana to stand next to him, but he wasn't exactly complaining; when he'd caught her before she could fall, the feeling of her in his arms once more warmed his heart and he felt even more hopeful than he had before.

"Thousand years ago, this school was built on the ruins of Miss Piper's ancestral home, Cromwell Castle." He wiped dust off of a cement podium that read CROMWELL, before speaking once more. "I will instruct you all in the manual arts of archaeological recovery and identification. I expect great things from all of you, and even greater things for some of you," he finished, looking directly at Levana, who hid behind Marnie to avoid his burning gaze.

She'd called him Uncle Grogg throughout her childhood, but when she reached her teen years she'd begun to get an off-putting feeling from the man; it wasn't due to any predatorial behaviors, it was more of just an intuitive kind of feeling.

"Please, gather around." He said, motioning toward the cavities that'd been dug for this class. Whatever he'd been saying after that, Levana couldn't quite hear him; they may have been a select few, according to Professor Goodwyn, but there were still quite a bit of students.

As Marnie stared into the abyss, Ethan believed it'd be a good time to strike up a conversation with his former friend; things had been going well so far, so why not?

"Hey," he greeted, looking toward her, "uh, how've you been?" His tone was awkward, and it had almost made Levana smile to know that his awkwardness had not seemed to change until she said otherwise.

"Uh... I've actually been pretty decent." She released a breathy chuckle, one that showed relief and anxiety all in one. "I somehow got Dylan and Marnie to lay off the fighting when we started our last year of high school."

"Well, shit. You've done the impossible once again... So, you actually haven't actually come back till recently?"

"Nope. After we graduate from here, I'm most likely only gonna come back when I'm old enough to retire in the human world."

"Dr. Grogg, look what I found!" Scarlett's obnoxiously high pitched tone ripped the two from their conversation, bringing their eyes to a conflicted looking Marnie Cromwell as the black haired witch made her way over to the professor.

"Hey," Levana greeted her, placing a comforting hand on her back, "don't sweat it. Bitches will be bitches, regardless if they're witches."

Marnie chuckled at her rhyme, bringing a smile to her friend's faces as Ethan watched the interaction silently; he approached her, tapping her shoulder briefly. Levana turned toward him, a curious glint in her eyes as to what he could possibly wanna talk about now.

"Can I, uh.. talk to you after class?"

"Uh... sure."

The dungeon began to shake, and Levana instinctively ripped Marnie from the edge of the crater; the girls fell to the stone ground as a curious looking box floated toward the blue eyed brunette. It landed in the Cromwell witch's hands, causing Dr. Grogg to rush over as Ethan helped the girls up.

"S. Cromwell?" Marnie read aloud, confusion evident in her tone.

"Oh, no." Ethan whispered under his breath, causing Levana to nod in agreement.