S O R E N

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     There was no time to dwell on anything other than the panicked expression Orabelle quickly adapted.

A frantic edge crept into her voice. "Wait, Soren, what time is it?" she shrieked, scrambling for her phone.

I glanced at the clock on the wall. 4:45 pm. I hadn't really realized that the Academy was in such a different time zone that I was used to, I already felt exhausted.

"Uh, almost five?" I offered, my voice tired.

Orabella's eyes widened. "The Assembly! We're going to be late!"

Assembly? Headmistress Caldwell didn't mention anything about an assembly, but then again, she didn't stick around long enough to tell me if there were either.

"We have to go, Soren," Orabella pleaded, already at the door. "Come on, we can probably still make it on time if we hurry!"

My body ached to lay down, but Orabella looked like she'd drag me from the bed if I tried. If I had to go, there was no way I was wearing my gravel-ridden outfit from before.

"Let me change first," I quickly stated, grabbing the uniform from the suitcase.

Orabella let out a huff of frustration before her eyes turned a shade of deep fuschia. Soon, a cloud of sparkles formed around me, and in an instant, I looked like I belonged here.

She'd straightened my unbrushed hair, and changed me into my uniform so that it fit neatly onto my body, even turning my beat up sneakers into flats.

I flashed my eyes to meet hers, which had turned but to their normal hue. She brushed the encounter off with ease, but I waited for a response.

She was almost like a-

"I'm a fairy, clothing emergencies are our main areas of expertise," Orabelled recited it like she'd already done so a hundred times before.

I had no time to process the fact that my roommate was a living, breathing fairytale story before she grabbed me and dragged me down the hall.

It felt like I was a mouse going in and out of buildings for what felt like forever until we faced an old brick wall that was at the end of an abruptly dead-ended hall. The halls we had run through were ones with scattered classrooms and occasional lockers lined against the wall, but this one was different. The walls were old brick instead of the fresh white-coated brick I'd seen.
Without uttering a word Orabella waved her hand and a bright purple light shone, transforming the brick turned into a hall like the others, except in this one there were double doors at the end. After glancing inside, I saw that it led into an enormous gym space. Much like the rest of school, it was twice the necessary size.

Orabella led us in with ease, ignoring the prying eyes from the gym full of people. We found seats in the front row where Orabella immediately began talking to the various different students around us.

Shortly after we sat down, Headmistress Caldwell walked up to the podium in the center of the gym.

"Good evening. For those of you who do not know me yet, I'm Headmistress Amelia Caldwell." I guess I wasn't the only first new student at the Academy, which felt somewhat comforting.

"As everyone is aware, Arcane Academy has been the home to Prodigium for nearly three centuries. We strive to make this a nurturing environment for young minds such as yourself. This is a place where you can hopefully learn to expand and control your gifts." She spoke while gripping onto the sides of the podium with sternness glinting in her eyes.

"It is our hope that through Arcane's rigorous academics and training, we can curate a minimal exposure rate in the Mortal realm. We also seek to create higher rank stability for those who continue into the Magic realm for our graduates," she continued, surveying the crowd. I almost thought she was looking for someone.

It hadn't occurred to me until now that Arcane was actually located in the Magic realm, and I'll bet only a handful, if any, students actually know what America is.

I stifled a strained laugh as Caldwell continued. "Furthermore, we have a last announcement. The Academy will be hosting an event for the Council and their returning families this upcoming Friday."

She barely had time to finish before the crowd of students erupted into an uproar of whispers. I slowly leaned over to Orabella. "The Council?" I croaked out.

Orabella looked at me like I had three heads and then quickly masked it, and for the life of me I couldn't figure out why.

"Yeah, the Council! They're, like, the head honchos, the ones who run the whole Magic Realm," she explained a little too quickly. "They consist of the most powerful types of Prodigium."

I wasn't even aware there were different types, but it made sense, Orabella was a fairy and with one scan of the gym, it spoke volumes. I think I saw one girl with scales at one point.

"But Headmistress Caldwell never mentioned them," I casted a heavy downcast towards the podium.

"Maybe she thought you knew already," she offered, the forced enthusiasm even more transparent this time.

I could've laughed. Headmistress might think I'm bright but she definitely didn't think I was all-knowing.

"I promise it won't be that bad. Plus it's a good excuse to dress up and dance with cute boys," she sighed. Great, she's just as brainwashed by formal wear as everyone else. Before I had a chance to tell her how crazy she sounded I was interrupted by the headmistress clearing her throat in the mic to get everyone's attention once again.

The room became deathly silent as she let a small smile play on her lips, "Thank you."

"I know we are all excited to welcome the Council into our halls again but please let me remind you that by no means should this take over the next week. You are all expected to focus and participate in your classes as regularly. Anything else will result in the termination of your participation at the event." Caldwell concluded.

She stepped down from the podium and almost immediately everyone soon resumed back into a mass of chatter. Everyone had become too preoccupied with their own conversation to notice her walking over to me. Trust me. I looked.

Once she got close enough, she tapped on an otherwise distracted Orabella, who was startled when she saw the headmistress in front of her. "Orabella, would you mind if I stole you and Soren for a moment?" Caldwell murmured.

I hadn't thought there was much of an option and neither did Orabella as she nodded a little too vigorously. All her excitement and perkiness went out the window in the presence of Mrs. Caldwell, if anything there was a shadow of something between the two of them.

I decided I'd ease Orabella into telling me about that later, but in the meantime we both stood and followed behind her into the hallway, where she stopped abruptly midway.

Orabella didn't skip a beat. "What's this about, Headmistress?" She looked like she wanted to crawl out of her own skin.

"I'm glad you two have become acquainted with one another so quickly," she stated politely. I couldn't quite get over how she was acting so naturally, like we've known each other our whole lives or something. She reminded me of a librarian lady working at the front desk, exuding a kind of kindness that felt on edge.

The headmistress pulled out a folded up piece of paper and handed it to me.

I slowly started to unfold it and saw that it was a schedule with my name printed at the top.

Soren Lancaster: Third-year. Classification (Dark Witch)

I didn't recognize any of the classes, all of them ranged from Potion Basics to Realm History with Mrs. Heems. None of them were Economics, that's for sure.

"I personally saw to the curating of your schedule Ms. Lancaster," Caldwell pointed out with a proud look on her face. I couldn't help but wonder if she did this for all her students or if this was something Marlene had seen to.

Before I could properly gather my thoughts, I felt the paper get ripped out of my hands by Orabella who began to study the schedule intently, ignoring my small protests. The more time I spent with Orabella, I realized patience didn't seem like a quality she quite had a handle on.

"I'll leave you ladies to get properly settled in but Ms. Lancaster, please don't hesitate to come to my office if you ever need anything," Caldwell beamed as she sent me one last glance before turning the corner of the hallway and disappearing behind a wall of lockers. I took her offer as genuine but there was something about her that I couldn't quite put my finger on that made me feel uneasy.

Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Orabella chomping at the bit to say something so I turned to ask what was so important but instead she just shoved my schedule in my face.

"Don't freak out," She said in a not-so-reassuring tone. "But you're totally screwed."