Chapter 3: The Academy

What a disaster on my first day here. So embarrassing.

I'm running around like a headless chicken, trying to find someone to help me. Then I hear this beautiful musical sound—in a language I can't understand.

I follow the sound and spot a girl with olive skin and brown hair. Her lips seem to be chanting some kind of spell. The second she finishes, the metal gate slowly swings shut and closes with a heavy thud.

The brown-haired girl turns and sees me standing there with my jaw dropped. She explains cheerfully, "Every new student has to close the gate themselves the first time they come in. It's how the gate learns your voice and who you are. It also means that once you're enrolled, you handle your own business. The password is on your acceptance letter."

Oh. Now it makes sense. I say, "Thank you. I would've kept making a fool of myself otherwise."

But I'm thinking: I've read that acceptance letter front to back. I saw the academy's address, but I'm absolutely sure there was no password or anything like it.

The girl smiles, her eyes crinkling. "No problem. I'm Karla Spencer. Nice to meet you."

Maybe it's her warm smile, but I feel my nerves settling down a bit. I reach out my hand first and smile back. "Hi, I'm Thelma Johnson. I'm new here. Hope you can show me around."

"Thelma! That's such a cool name." She reaches out just as warmly, grabs my hand, pulls me in, and gives me a big hug.

After dealing with a sister like Emily for so long, I've been pretty closed off at my human school. My classmates say I seem nice but always keep everyone at arm's length.

Coming here today and running into such an outgoing girl right away—I'm a little thrown off. But even though I'm careful, I accept it.

Karla says excitedly, "Thelma, you know what? I've been able to understand bird language since I was little, but my family never believed me. Until one day, my birth mother showed up. She told me I'm wolfkin, and when the time comes, I'll be able to shift."

"You're also a magical kid left behind in the human world?" I ask, eyes wide.

Karla nods.

"I only came back to my own people six months ago. What about you? What are you?"

I pause for a couple seconds, choosing my words. "Actually, I don't know what I am. I've never shifted, and I've never met my own kind. I just got the acceptance letter out of nowhere a week ago. It said my birth mother enrolled me years ago. I don't know any magic at all."

She hugs me. "Poor thing. Trust me, you're probably just as lucky as I was. You'll find your people soon."

Her generous warmth and confidence rub off on me. I joke, "Maybe one day I'll wake up and find scales growing on my butt."

Karla cracks up. "When that happens, you better tell me right away."

I laugh too. It feels like the confusion and worry about being new at the Academy of Magic have faded away for now.

She leads me toward the auditorium and says I got here just in time—there's a welcome ceremony for new students in two hours.

I take the chance to ask something that's been bugging me. "Why does everyone look human?"

"Because this is the new student area of the Academy of Magic. Everyone's shift is still incomplete. The older students are at the Back Hills. A lot of them have fully shifted. You'll get to see them eventually."

I feel a little relieved. That's good. After living in the human world for twenty-two years, if I suddenly had to fit into a totally non-human world, I'd probably be even more nervous and worried, maybe even scared.

Karla keeps talking, filling me in on everything she knows about the Academy of Magic.

She waves warmly at several new students passing by. I'm surprised—she's also a new student, so how does she already know so many people?

"Be proactive. Everyone's a new student. Nobody really knows magic. Nobody's better than anyone else. By the time we're upperclassmen, things might be different."

Be proactive...

Her words hit home. Yeah, I've come to a whole new world. I should be proactive with people and things. I shouldn't shut myself off like I used to. I should make my own friends. I should learn magic properly.

Walking past the academy's magic shop, Karla shouts excitedly, "Look! Fresh batch of enchanted chocolate, only two boxes left! Come on, let's go get them!"

With that, she grabs me and we dash toward the shop.

The cool breeze inside the castle brushes against my face, like a gentle touch. My mood lifts.

I ask as we run, "Is this chocolate really that good?"

"They release it once a week, and every box has different designs."

She pauses for a couple seconds, turns her head, and tells me, "They say it helps you pick up magic easier after you eat it. A lot of people don't know that. Don't tell anyone."

Oh. Now I get it, and I nod hard. Just as I'm amazed by how much she knows, she suddenly stops cold. I stumble and almost fall.

I'm a little out of breath. "What's wrong?"

She doesn't say anything, just stares ahead with a serious look on her face.

I follow her gaze and see what she's staring at: a guy who looks like he walked straight out of a comic book.

Tall, broad shoulders, narrow waist, long legs, sharp nose, deep eyes.

But Karla's look isn't the usual admiring-a-hot-guy look. It's wary, even a little hostile.

I watch him walk up to the shop counter and use gold coins to buy the last two boxes of chocolate. What's weird is that the shop clerk also seems kind of scared, though his eyes light up when he sees the gold coins.

I figure Karla's upset because he bought what she wanted, so I try to comfort her. "It's okay. Didn't you say they release it every week? We'll come back next time."

Karla ignores what I said.

She lowers her voice and says seriously, "You need to remember this person. His name is George Stanley. He's a dragon descendant."

I've heard legends about dragons. Their whole bodies are covered in scales, each one sharp as a blade, like weapons that could kill any species. But you can't say a knife seller is a murderer.

Watching his proud, lonely back as he walks away, I can't help but ask curiously, "You mean he might turn into a dragon soon?"

My tone is probably too casual. Karla turns her head. Her face is dead serious, like she's announcing when the world will end. She warns in a dark voice, "Dragons are evil, cruel, and unreasonable. Stay away from him, got it?"

I can't help but ask, "Have you seen him do something bad?"

"No." Karla shakes her head. "But everyone says so. There's no reason for us to take the risk and find out for ourselves."

Just because everyone says so, does that make it true? But I don't say this out loud.

We only just met today. I don't want to lose this friend over this. But about what she said about George Stanley—I don't think we should judge his character so quickly. Looking at how many people here seem to avoid him, he must be really lonely.