The Bonfire

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The beginning of term is fast approaching and the days are moving quicker than I'd like. I keep Hendrix to myself for now, that's a problem for another time. Soon the halls will swarm with even more students who have a sixteen year head start on me and I'll be even more out of my depth than I already am.

Only a handful of people know I'm from the mortal world—that I grew up never knowing magic existed... Indie says, it's best if people don't know. Avery likes the point out once a day that The Academy is for the best of the best and that I don't belong here—maybe she's right.

It hasn't escaped my notice that in the time I've been here, not once have I come across Adrian again, and I can't tell why I'm so disappointed by that. Mostly I keep to myself, hiding out in the library hoping I might catch a glimpse of him—but mainly I try to soak up as much information as I can. Indie helps me with the basics, but I can tell she's worried about me—I can't exactly fake my way through magic school.

It's the weekend before school starts when Noah arrives along with the rest of the students. He spends the weekend introducing me to some of his friends. I meet Ky-Bo Song, a Warlock who wears a sour expression and insists on carrying a sword with him everywhere he goes. Then there's the overzealous, yet incredibly charming, Kalum Wren with his beaming smile and adorable girlfriend I immediately recognise as Indie's sister. She introduces herself as Anna-Belle—and despite the year in distance between her and Indie, the resemblance is uncanny. The main differences being that Anna-Belle doesn't wear glasses and her hair is slightly more like sunshine where Indie's is more like snow.

No one seems to care that I'm the new girl, no one asks me a million questions about who I am or where I came from, and I can't tell if that worries me or not. Maybe people expect that I'm here because I'm like them—I guess, I am.

*

Broken branches crunch beneath my feet when I enter the first Greenhouse. I see Lilith on the opposite side of the room. Her wild curls obscuring most of her face as she uses both hands to wrangle some type of carnivorous plant.

I run to help her, very aware that I'm not exactly sure how I'm supposed to do that. Her face is red and dripping with sweat when I reach her.

"Philly!" She says breathlessly, desperately trying to remove the plant that's clinging tightly to her arm.

I grasp the neck of the plant and pull as hard as I possibly can. It's impossibly strong so I have to twist my hands firmer around the stem and push off from the table with my foot. Finally, it releases her.

"Thanks," she says, tossing up some kind of meat, which it devours greedily. "How can I help?"

The Greenhouse is empty besides us. Most people are preparing for the bonfire tonight, since tomorrow school starts and marks the beginning of Beltane—I still haven't figured out what that means.

I take a seat across from her keeping a respectable distance from anything that looks like it could kill me—so pretty much everything.

"I just needed a break from the castle," I tell her.

Everything is moving too fast. I feel like I haven't had a moment to myself since I got to Pagus. And now with The Academy so full, it's hard to find a moment to breathe.

My hand flies to the locket around my neck out of habit and I hold the heart tightly in my hand, hoping that someway, somehow, his presence will keep me strong.

"Living with Avery can't be easy—" she says, taking up her garden shears to prune a skittish snapdragon.

I can't tell if it's Avery specifically thats hard to live with. Being an only child, you get used to being a loner and not having to share your space—okay no it's definitely Avery. My silence must speak volumes, because Lilith smiles.

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