Zodiac Academy (Draft 1)

Chapter 9: Be careful what you wish for

I was wrong if I thought I would be getting an education this year.

My morning was going fairly simple, nice and normal (set aside the small food war going on at the Aquarius table a few moments ago), I sat at the table with my housemates this time after noticing that Paris was nowhere in sight. I had been hoping she'd be by the water's edge like last time, but she wasn't.

I laughed and joked with my new friends, getting a little more comfortable around the group as breakfast wound on. As a person with very little friends, this was a new experience.

Libby was in the middle of explaining that most of the students had arrived at ZA a few days before the newbies did, claiming that I must have been the last to be notified. "It takes a while to find everybody each year." She explains, "Especially during the summer when you don't know if they're on vacation or not."

Evie plays with her strawberry yogurt, swirling her spoon around as she nods thoughtfully before chiming in. "Even then a few new students trickle in throughout the school year." She says, leaning on Alessandra. "I was one of them, actually."

"You were?" I ask, mildly surprised.

"Yep, showed up in late December five years ago." Evie says with a shrug.

"Wait, five years ago?" I repeated, not sure if I heard her right. I knew Zodiac Academy was a school, but I didn't think anybody really attended here for that long.

Libby responds to me, "She did. Most of us stay until we're eighteen, you know, legally an adult; but there's not really a...limit to how old you can be, except I haven't seen anyone older than twenty-one go here. Even then they don't attend the classes, more like help out with volunteer work and stuff."

"But do you guys graduate or anything like that?" I ask as the realization of my minimal knowledge of the Academy started to sink in. "How do classes work around here?"

Evie exchanges a glance with Libby, as if they were silently debating who would explain it to me. It was Evie who did, "Yeah we 'graduate' from the academy, but it's not like the American high school system where you all gather with robes and hats with diploma scroll thingies or whatever you call them."

"What about classes? Do we get credit?!" I jump to the questions that I never thought I'd have to worry about. I never once considered the possibility of not earning credit, because before now, I never expected to be attending some other school that wasn't exactly registered in the 'real education' world.

Evie looked highly amused at my sudden urgency, "That's cute how you're worrying about school considering the world might be ending."

"Say what?" The alarm was apparent in my voice.

She snickered as Libby smacked her on the arm from across the table, "Don't do that, Evie." Libby gave her a glare before turning to me, "Don't listen to her, Skylar, she's just messing with you. You can get credit if you apply for it."

"Oh, come on, Libby." Evie says, sitting up straight while Alessandra was preoccupied on her phone. "Even you can't deny the prophecy. It clearly says the world is going to freaking falter if the Guardians don't come back, and obviously nobody knows who's going on this damn quest to get the job done."

I stared at Evie, surprised at her sudden change in tone. "Are you okay?" Stealing a glance at Libby, I saw that she too looked perplexed at the sudden change.

Evie scoffs, avoiding eye contact. "Everything's fantastic, Skylar. It's not like the world is ending before my parents are getting back together." Alessandra finally looked over and whispered something in Evie's ear, to which the agitated girl relented. "Yeah, fine. Excuse me, guys." The two of them got up and headed back to the housing area without another word.