As May arrives, so does Spring. The flowers that had been planted in the courtyard last week, were finally starting to blossom when Sierra and Amisha meet up at the courtyard.

Thanks to her habits of punctuality, Sierra is the first one to arrive. Her flats tap the floor impatiently, and Sierra tries to concentrate on everything but her need to glance at the jewelled watch on her wrist for the fifth time in the past minute. Amisha's late, by seven minutes. Which Sierra knows is not a big deal, but the Kingsley witch doesn't like waiting and nor is she very patient.

When Sierra had been walking to Divination earlier that morning, Amisha had caught her by the elbow in the middle of the corridor. The look on Amisha's face had revealed nothing, as she asked Sierra to meet her in the courtyard, at ten later that night. When Sierra's lips parted to ask why, Amisha casted a glance around the passing faces, let go of her arm, and walked into the opposite direction leaving Sierra standing there in confusion.

The whole thing felt like a scene pulled out of a movie – something she imagined Lucas to reference.

Sierra almost didn't come as asked. Sierra doesn't like taking orders, especially when she hasn't been told why. In fact, it wasn't until 9:50pm, that she had decided she would put her pride aside and meet Amisha tonight. Whether it was out of curiosity or the newfound respect for the British Indian, she didn't know. But whatever it was, had compelled the redhead to slip into her white ballet flats and to make her way towards the courtyard in her pyjamas.

"Sorry, I'm late. I got caught up," Amisha rushes out, offering Sierra no other explanation as she strolls towards the shivering girl.

Sierra almost asks her what had caused her to be late but then drops it, knowing that Amisha probably wouldn't expand on it anyways. So instead she nods her head and looks at Amisha expectantly.

"Cute outfit, by the way." Amisha smirks, nodding towards the light purple trousers and matching top that had a cat and the words 'I'm purrfect'.

"Thanks," Sierra replies sarcastically, looking down at her pyjamas. "It's how I pick up boys."

"Nice, I'll try that sometime."

Sierra's eyebrows rise, and before she can help herself, the words spill out, "Didn't think you needed the tip."

Amisha's face changes into an expression more questioning.

"What do you mean?"

"Well –," Sierra looks around. "I don't know, I just..."

"Oh, come on, Kingsley. Spill it," Amisha insists, curiosity biting at her.

"I just thought that you and Alec had a thing."

Sierra looks up at Amisha, trying to gauge her reaction. Amisha's face reveals nothing, and Sierra can't help but admire the control the girl has over her facial features. Something Sierra never had.

"You thought wrong," Amisha says, walking towards a nearby bench.

Maybe it was the lack of eye contact or the way Sierra had seen the pair interact, but Sierra was not convinced.

"You want to tell me why you wanted me here tonight?" Sierra asks, her eyes moving from Amisha, who's back faces her, and the statue of Maria Costav.

"Why do you think there was a reason?" Amisha pauses. She turns around to face Sierra and continues, "Maybe I just really enjoy your company."

"I don't doubt that for a second," Sierra replies, a small smile taking over her lips. "But I'm pretty sure, the courtyard in the middle of the night isn't the best place to discuss boys and to paint each other's nails."

"You're right, I prefer that kind of activity around 1am rather than 10pm."

Unable to help herself, Sierra laughs. She's surprised by how easy going Amisha is. But most of all, she's shocked at how easily her guard has gone down.

"So why am I really here, Amisha?" Sierra asks, her eyes still glued on the night sky.

"You don't believe me?"

"Amisha..."

"I want you to go through my memories."

The smile on Sierra's face slips off instantly. "Amisha, look –,"

"I know what you're going to say –,"

"Then why ask again?" Sierra asks, crossing her arms.

"Because I don't think your reasons are legit anymore."

Sierra's eyebrows furrow. "What do you mean?"

Amisha high-fives herself internally, once seeing that she may just be able to persuade Sierra into doing this.

"Before your problem was that you weren't sure about how in control you were of your powers. But that's changed. You won the first task, easily. You have control over your powers now," Amisha explains, looking intently at the girl standing opposite her.

"I understand what you're trying to say, I really do, but I still can't do that."

"Why not?" Amisha questions, her tone harder and her jaw locked.

"Because I'm not skilled enough to go through your memories. We haven't even covered that properly in divination yet," Sierra says, trying to reason with the determined girl.

"But that doesn't mean you don't know how to do it." Pause. "You were trained before you came here."

Sierra's lips part in shock.

"How did you know that?"

Amisha shrugs, examining her nails dismissively.

"Word gets around."

"I don't know what you've heard, Amisha, but whatever it is, isn't worth paying attention to. And I'm sorry, I know why you're doing this and how much this means to you, but I can't do this for you."

With those final words, Sierra makes her way around Amisha and towards the exit.

"If you really knew why I'm doing this, and how much it really means to me, then you would've done this for me by now."

Sierra halts at Amisha's words.

"Maybe it's because of that, that I can't do this for you."

Sierra Kingsley walks out of the courtyard and as she walks towards the dorm rooms, her heart thumps loudly in her chest.

Amisha Jeet stands in the courtyard, resisting the urge to pull out her hair.

There's only one controller witch that Amisha could trust with her mind, and it seems that she'll have to find a plan b to convince her.

But before that, Amisha had to figure out what really was holding Sierra back.

■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■

The next morning, Sierra doesn't bother going into the lounge to meet up with her friends like they do every Saturday morning, or even go to the hall for breakfast. She ignores the vibrations of her phone when it buzzes with notifications. It's not until an hour after breakfast that Sierra moves an inch.

"Sierra? Are you in there?" Minerva's worried voice calls out.

Sierra groans and rolls over. "Yes!"

"Are you coming out?" Minerva asks, sounding like she was treading on thin ice.

"Later!"

With that Sierra goes back to what she was doing before Minerva's arrival. Her eyes focus on the sun rays shining through the curtains and landing on the duvet lying on her bed. She tugs it closer, her thin fingers fisting around it. The blue duvet and blanket remind her of her own in her bedroom at home, and Sierra makes a note to go shopping for a new set.

It is in fact that thought that compels Sierra to drag her body out of bed that morning. When she stands in front of the dresser she shares with the other girls in her dorm, she looks down at the blue sundress hugging her body and then at the sunrays bouncing in. It's been a while since she's worn a sundress without the threat of hypothermia tip toeing around her.

She pulls the hair tie out of her braid and beings undoing it. Her hair comes loose, the red curls framing her face. Grabbing her wallet, she saunters out and down the stairs.

After an hour in Western Veneficia (mostly spent in the home of diabetes: Black Forest), Sierra walks out of Quills and Ink and strolls past the alleyway that led to Witch Port. It is only when she is passing Plumpkin to get to Coven that she bumps into Orion Winders.

"Oh! Hey Orion!" Sierra greets, a wide smile on her face. She doesn't know the boy too well, but she had seen him in the library quite a few times and had started a conversation or two about books. Orion read a lot of young adult fiction like Sierra, and Sierra had been pleased to meet someone she could fangirl with.

"Hey Sierra." Orion looks down at the bags in Sierra's hands. "How's the shopping going?"

"Great actually, well not really considering I'm only just about to look for what I really came here to buy."

Orion lifts his eyebrows at the bags in her hands and finally understands that Sierra Kingsley is a shopaholic.

"Mind if I join you?"

"Of course, you can help me pick out my new duvet set," Sierra complies gleefully, and proceeds to drag Orion into the store nearby. As they enter Coven, Orion wonders what he has just gotten himself into.

Two hours later, after visiting Manor and Coven, Sierra decides on a light purple comforter and duvet set for her dorm room. As a reward for dealing with her indecisiveness, Sierra takes Orion into Portman Way to get food. They choose Sand Witches and enter the cute and cozy café.

The smell of food wafts in the air, and Sierra's stomach growls in hunger and anticipation. An embarrassed giggle escapes Sierra and she hurriedly browses the chalkboard menu in her hands.

For forty numus, Sierra orders a chicken and pesto sandwich. She slides the witching currency across to the waitress and she takes the menus away.

As soon as the food arrives, they dig in.

"How have those tutoring sessions with Noah been?" Sierra asks, making conversation.

"Great, actually. He's a fast learner, he just doesn't bother trying in classes."

"Hmm," Sierra hums in agreement. "You guys have been spending a lot of time together."

"Yeah, Noah's pretty chill," Orion replies, his hand suddenly getting sweatier. He hopes he doesn't look as flustered as he feels.

Sierra's eyes narrow when she sees the sudden emergence of colour on Orion's cheeks.

"Wait, Orion, are you okay?" Sierra asks, the gears in her head turning.

"Uh, yeah of course. I'm fine," Orion replies, in a manner that he hopes is convincing. But he would not be surprised if he found out later on, that Sierra Kingsley had managed to figure him out. After all, it's Sierra Kingsley, possibly the smartest witch in their year.

"Orion..." Sierra trails. "Do you like Noah?"

"Of course, I like Noah. Like I said, he seems like a cool guy."

"Do you like like Noah?" Sierra asks again, her eyes intently watching Orion. She knows that her unwavering stare is making Orion fidget and squirm, and she knows that he's about to give in.

"Maybe?"

Sierra lets a self-pleased smile take over her face. "Ah hah! I can't believe I didn't figure it out before!"

"Oh my god, please don't tell him. I don't want him to be weirded out by anything," Orion pleads, his eyes begging and worried as he looks at Sierra.

Sierra's face sobers up. "Don't worry, Orion. You can trust me with this. I won't tell him or anyone."

"You don't think it's weird that I like boys?" Orion asks hesitantly, his fork playing with the pasta on his plate.

Sierra glances up at him nonchalantly. "Do you think it's weird that I like boys?"

"No," Orion replies, shaking his head.

"Then I don't think it's weird that you like boys," Sierra states, matter-of-factly.

And that is how Orion knows that Day has never been more wrong about Sierra Kingsley.