The Trials

backstabber.

I woke up feeling refreshed. I was back in my dorm. Back with my roommate. I got up and took a shower before Mariam could wake up. I put on a white ribbed cropped shirt with a print with two outlines of blue dolphins, some blue skinny jeans, and some white sneakers. I gathered my hair in a ponytail, leaving my curtain bangs to frame my face. I walked over to the mirror to put on some chapstick when I realized it wasn't my reflection. I looked up slowly to meet the eyes of the lady in the mirror. Unsurprisingly, it was Nance. I stared at her. She cocked her head slowly and gave me a creepy grin. "You're back at the academy, aren't you?"

I nodded. "Yeah... Can I put my chapstick on now?"

"Yes... after I talk to you. Join forces with me. Now."

"No! I already declined, turd. Now leave me alone. I finished The Trials, so I don't need you haunting me now."

"Oh, I won't haunt you anymore unless you join me!"

I glared at her. "Go. Away. And never come back. Go to hell."

She just laughed and laughed and laughed until my own reflection came back. I let out a sigh. Mariam appeared behind me. "What are you doing? And why're you talking to the mirror, Nancy?"

I turned around quickly. "Nothing! Sorry, just happy to be back! Missed you."

She made a grossed out face at me. "Weirdo. Now hurry up so I can take a bath. Also you need to get to the Sorcery section of the school immediately."

I nodded. "'Kay. Bye, Mariam!"

She waved and I grabbed my brown quilted chain crossbody bag filled with my medallions and headed off.

I met up with Cassandra, who was wearing a blue plaid skirt with a slit, a thin baby blue cardigan, a white tube top, and a white bucket hat with a blue butterfly. Her red streaks were now dyed blue. I smiled at her. "Hello."

She grinned. "Hey! Just waiting on our instructor. You excited?"

I shrugged. "Dunno what to expect. What about you?"

"I'm super prepared. Been training for a longg time."

Right about then, a man with gray hair came out. "Hi, girls. Are you my new students?" he croaked.

I smiled. "Yes! I'm Nancy Bennett, pleased to meet you sir."

"Hey, I'm Cassandra Lemay," my friend said nicely.

Our instructor nodded. "Hello. I am Mr. Kent. I'll be teaching you sorcery now."

We smiled. "Cool!" we exclaimed at the same time.

Mr. Kent said, "So you both have completed The Trials, I suppose?"

We nodded. "Good. You may now pull out your medallions," he told us.

I dumped mine out of my bag, all five of them there. Cassandra dumped hers out from a little white purse. Our instructor handed us two glass beakers. I frowned. "What are we doing with these?" I questioned.

"Put your medallions in there," he ordered.

We did as he asked. We dropped them in with a plunk. Then he gave us two stone pestles. He grinned. "You may now grind your medallions into powder."

We stared at him. "We're going to DESTROY our MEDALLIONS? The ones we worked so hard to get? Why?" cried my former partner.

"Trust me, Cassandra. This is part of your first Sorcery class, and if you don't do it, then you might get kicked out."

She swallowed hard and started crushing her medallions. I did the same. In a few minutes, both of our beakers were filled with white and gray powder. We looked up at Mr. Kent. "What now?" I asked.

"Close your eyes," he said.

I shut mine. "Now, blow into your beaker."

"Blow?" my friend asked. "This is a weird Sorcery class so far, Mr. Kent. Are you sure we're supposed to be doing this?"

"Yes, Cassandra. I've been working at this school for 24 years now. I know what I'm doing."

And without any delay, I blew into the beaker. "Ah ha!" shouted our instructor.

I opened my eyes and looked down at the powder. It was shining... green? I stared at it. "Is it supposed to do that?" I asked him.

He smiled. "Yes! That means your primary element is earth. That will be the first magic you will learn!"

"Earth magic?"

"Uh-huh!"

I looked over at Cassandra's. She was waiting for it to turn a color when abruptly, it sparkled blue. She squealed with delight. "What does that mean, Mr. Kent?" she asked.

He smiled again. "You're a water elementalist! That will be the first magic you'll learn!"

"Oh, cool!"

We just stood there in silence. "So... what now?" I questioned.

"You girls don't have the same element, but you will still be in the same group. You will meet here everyday at 9:00 A.M. for lessons with me. You will learn teamwork, the basics of magic, the history of it, and more. You will return to your other classes."

"But I thought we were in the Sorcery level now? How come we still have to go back to our other classes?" complained my friend.

"Oh, no no, not those classes. You will be assigned new classes in this level!"
We understood. "You girls are done with class today."

"A-already? But we were only here for a few minutes!" I objected.

"Yes, but that's all I have planned for today. Unless you want to read about your element, you can go have a day off or train."

"I-I'll take a book!" exclaimed Cass. "I'd love to learn more about water and elementalists and stuff."

Mr. Kent nodded and crouched to ruffle in his bag. He pulled out a textbook that looked old and dusty. "Here you go. All about water."

She took the book happily. "Thanks!" She turned to me. "You wanna research with me?"

I smiled. "Yeah sure. Can I have an earth element book, Mr. Kent?"

"Sure, Nancy."
"Oh, and before you go, tomorrow meet me here at 8:45 A.M. Bring all your belongings because you will be moving dorms. You two will be roommates."

"R-roommates!? That's FANTASTIC!" screamed my friend.

I laughed softly. To be honest, I wasn't ready to leave my best friend, Mariam. She was strong, though, so she could handle it. I just hoped she wasn't paired with an annoying new roommate.

He handed the textbook to me and Cassandra and I skipped off to research magic.

A few hours later

"Bye, Cass! Yeah, I'll meet you at the Sorcery section tomorrow at 8:40 in the morning! Ha ha, yeah, bye!"

I smiled to myself as I unlocked the door to my room. "Hello? Mariam? Mariam, could we talk? I have something to tell you."

No reply. I guessed she was still training. I put down my bag on my bed and flopped myself on it. "Hmm, maybe she'll wanna get dinner," I muttered to myself. "We'll go to the restaurant here and grab some grilled chicken and potato salad or something. She'd like that."

Decidedly, I got up from my bed and stood up to get my bag and some money. I walked over to the door and grabbed the handle. I twisted it, but someone was standing in my way in the doorway. I looked up and saw Mariam. "Oh, hey, I was looking for you!" I said casually. "Wanna grab din-"

In a trice, my Muslim roommate pulled out a needle and stabbed it into my neck, making me faint and collapse.