Discern, Mosaic Chronicles Book One

Chapter One

Discern

Katon University Book One

 Andrea Pearson

Copyright 2014 Andrea Pearson

Book design and layout copyright 2014 Andrea Pearson

Cover copyright 2014 Andrea Pearson, Pearson Photography, and James E. Curwen

 To

Sarah Kammer

For your support and friendship

And

 James Curwen

For your help and encouragement

 Chapter One

Nicole pulled her car into the parking spot and rested her shaking hands on the wheel. How had this day crept up on her so quickly?

She lowered her forehead to her hands and closed her eyes. She breathed deeply for several moments before grabbing her marked-up map of campus from the seat next to her and studying the notes she'd made the night before. Nicole wanted to be absolutely certain she knew where to go. Asking for directions—looking like she wasn't already used to being on campus, like she really was a freshman—would destroy the confidence she was trying to build inside.

If only Katon University were a normal college. That she could handle. But Katon was an Arete university. This was a completely different arena—a magical one. Instead of only studying the basics of English, math, and history, Nicole and the other students would be learning how to control the elements using their Arete powers.

Nicole's cell phone rang from deep inside her purse, and she dug past pens, her wallet, gum, ChapStick, and a bunch of small notepads to get it.

"Hey, Lizzie," Nicole said, tucking her blond hair out of the way of the phone.

"Where are you? You told me you wanted to be here early." Lizzie dropped her voice to a whisper. "There's a lot of eye candy in class already. You should hurry."

Nicole smiled. "I'm coming. Just parked."

"Good."

They ended the conversation, and Nicole shoved her phone inside her purse before getting out of her car. She zipped up the hoodie which Seattle's humid, chilly weather demanded. Chilly in August. She shook her head. Texas was not chilly in August.

The walk to class would've probably felt short if not for Katon University's buildings. They loomed over her, dark blots against a cloudy sky. Some of them had so many water stains, it was nearly impossible to tell the original color of their bricks. Gargoyles perched along the edges of the roofs, and more than once, Nicole felt as if she was being watched.

She shivered in her hoodie and hugged her purse to her chest, then forced herself to stop looking up.

A bell rang somewhere, and students began pouring out of the buildings. It didn't take long for her to notice them noticing her. Nearly all of the students made eye contact—some even outright stared. Was her mascara streaking from the rain? Could they tell she was a freshman?

She wanted to yell at them to stop staring. Instead, she began jogging, taking a shortcut across a patch of grass, but slipped and almost fell. Curse the rain! And curse the gross, slimy, disgusting moss that grew everywhere, even in the grass!