A Second Generation Whateley Academy Adventure

Sprite 2: I Think I'm A Clone Now

by

Amethyst

(Thanks to Domoviye, Fiddlerfox, and null0trooper for assistance)

 

 

Part Three

 

Holbrook Arena
Monday, October 31st, 2016 – Evening

Well, this certainly sucked. After all the effort I put out to get me and Shannon both dressed up and to the party so we could maybe have a little fun for once in our lives, I felt nothing but emptiness. I mean, I had an awesome costume and I was at a party, but I just wasn’t enjoying it. There was none of that spark of joy and wonder that I used to feel on Halloween. It used to be my favorite holiday, but now, it was just… meh.

Shannon looked about as thrilled to be here as I was, and I was under no delusions that he was here because we wanted to be; he was here for my sake, because I had cajoled him into it like the terrible friend I was. It wasn’t all for my sake, though; if anyone needed to have a good time, it was Shannon, and I thought this would be good for both of us. I thought that we could both have a slice of our childhood back, only better than the shit excuse we both had for a childhood. I thought that maybe, for a brief instant, we might be able to have a bit of happiness.

So far, it hadn’t worked out that way, though, as we both hovered around the snack tables and kept to our group of two. The only positive thing about this was that we were both really rocking our costumes. I was dressed as the Pirate Fairy from that most recent Tinkerbell movie, while Shannon was dressed in the Alice in Wonderland costume we borrowed from the drama nerds.

It wasn’t the usual Alice costume, though. Shannon was wearing the American McGee version with a black wig and a dark blue and white knee-length apron dress with blood splatters all over it. Shannon had just enough development up top from the chocolate incident to make the dress work, and his usual broodiness certainly fit that version of Alice much better.

It was while we were standing around like we were too cool for everyone else at the party and watching someone rush around the snack tables that my dour companion said, "Should I be surprised that the one person running around, keeping the party foods stocked, is a black girl in a Renfair wench outfit?"

The comment broke into my thoughts about my costume. Even if I couldn’t reignite the passion for Halloween that I had as a child, I did really like the costume. Miss Rogers had done an amazing job on it, and it was almost worth agreeing to be in Venus, Inc.'s annual GSD calendar. I was wearing a big red wig with a blue headband, a white chemise with a fairy green bodice over top, a matching skirt, knee-high leather boots, and a leather belt with a rapier-shaped cocktail pick hanging from a tiny loop. I really liked the boots, and they were good enough quality for everyday wear. I almost regretted that my former old man couldn’t see me in this, that would've been the Best Aneurysm Ever.

Still, Shannon’s comment about the Renaissance fair wench bit struck a bit close to home, so I countered, "Shannon, are you kink-shaming my outfit? You'd still be stuck with hobo chic if I hadn't hooked you up."

"No. It's just that back in the City, the 'hired help' is usually black. The folks in charge like to pretend they're better than that,” he explained. “Yet there's always a separate service entrance. Go figure."

Said "serving wench" took that as an opportunity to introduce herself as she looked one part annoyed and two parts amused. "By the by, my name is Tabbie Dieulafoy, and I do come from a long line of discreet suppliers and listeners. What about you, Alice?"

"Er, no?" Shannon responded cleverly, apparently unsure of what else to say. To be honest, though, I probably wouldn’t have done much better, which was why I had kept my mouth shut. Not just to hold back my snark reflex.

"Do try the punch! I'm told that "If one drinks much from a bottle marked 'poison,' it's almost certain to disagree with one sooner or later." We can't have that now, can we?" the young woman countered with a cat-who-ate-the canary smile before swaggering away off into the crowd.

"The punch can't be that good, can it?" Shannon muttered with a leery glance toward the nearest punch bowl.

Sitting on his shoulder, as I currently was, I whispered in his ear, "Let's wait and watch someone else find out first."

That punch was almost certainly spiked in some way, and I had no intention of touching it, especially after the whole chocolate incident. Even if it wasn’t some dangerous devisor concoction and just alcohol, I wasn’t about to risk it. I never understood the idea of getting wasted for fun; I was a horrible enough person when sober, and what if I got like my old man when he drank too much? I still had nightmares sometimes of the horrible things he had said and done to me when he had too much to drink.

"Good idea," Shannon agreed.

Yeah, that punch was definitely spiked because people at the party were acting… weird. Okay, I guess that’s not saying much at Whateley, but people were acting even weirder than usual, and while watching the people around us at the party, I was beginning to notice a pattern. They were all strangely euphoric and acting like the costumes they were wearing.

To be honest, Shannon was acting a little strangely, too. He looked distracted, and like he was having trouble focusing on one thing, and it made me wonder if all these people acting strangely might be doing weird things with his empathy. He was just sort of absently following my lead and acting as the legs of our little operation as we wandered around the party, so I could figure out what was up.

Maybe he just needed something to focus on, something fun. We both came here for a good time, and so far, that had been a bust, but we could still have some fun before the night was through. Shannon needed this, and so did I. A smile stretched across my face as an idea came to me. Maybe we could have some fun at this party after all, we just needed to wait until that guy dressed in the cop costume (and very much acting the part) left the party, or at least the vicinity of the snack tables.

We might not have drunk the punch, but that didn’t mean that we couldn’t act like it; in fact, it would be the perfect cover for what I had planned. You know what they say about being in Rome and all that. Once the ‘cop’ ran off to try and break up some altercation on the other side of the arena, I knew that it was time to make my move. Well, our move, actually, since I was doing this for Shannon’s sake too. It was time to have some fun.

I leaned closer to Shannon’s ear and asked, “Hey, can you grab a tablecloth?”

“Yeah, sure,” he replied absently, almost as if it was too much trouble to think about what I had asked or why. Maybe giving him something to actually focus directly on would help with whatever was clouding his mind right now, and we could have some fun, too. Two birds with one stone.

My psychic compatriot glanced toward one of the nearby tables, where some of the few kids who weren’t acting weird were sitting, talking, and eating some snacks. I noticed that they were drinking cans of soda rather than the punch, so that probably explained things. Suddenly, the tablecloth flew off their table and into Shannon’s hand, and somehow, miraculously, didn’t spill or even move their plates of snacks or cans of soda. Okay, that was pretty cool, maybe he should start an act as a stage magician.

I shook my head to cast that thought away as I drew my cocktail pick sword and whispered, “Okay, so bunch it up to make a big sack, and be ready to follow my lead.

“Yeah, sure,” he said again. Wow, he was a lot more cooperative when his brain was befuddled, but he’s not my pal Shannon this way. Where was the snark? Where was the ‘This is a horrible idea, Vanessa’?

I physically grabbed his ear and told him in my most serious voice, “Buddy, I’m gonna need you to focus here. Whatever weirdness is making you space out, I need you to stop letting it win. You’re stronger than that. Focus on my voice, and then focus on what we’re doing. We have a quest, and I need you right now. Think, Shannon, what would Frodo do?”

To be honest, I had no idea what Frodo would do, but Shannon was obsessed with that book, and maybe this could get him to focus and work with me here. If there was a quest involved, then that might get his attention, too. He really needed to get out of this party and away from these punch-addled people, but we were going to have some fun on the way out, for both our sakes.

Something that I said seemed to get through to him as he shook his head vigorously, nearly dislodging me from his ear in the process, as I was whipped around. Meh, I could throw up later, we had something to do, and it seemed like Shannon was at least partially paying attention again as he asked, “A quest?”

“Yeah, we’ve got a quest. To fill that tablecloth up with candy, get the hell out of here, and then eat sweets until we get sick.”

“Yeah, let's get out of here,” he agreed, but I figured he’d be on board with that part. Then he seemed to process the rest of what I’d said and countered, “You do remember what happened the last time we shared sweets, right? Yeah, nothing could possibly go wrong with this.” Ah, and there was the snark; my buddy was back, even if he still looked like he was having trouble focusing.

“Yeah, yeah, I know,” I shot back. “That was when everything went tits up, literally, and by a couple of cup sizes. Let’s move on from that; it makes me feel like a boob.” He didn’t even crack a smile. Yup, Shannon was back.

“That’s not like the Devisor chocolate anyway,” I informed him. “The bowls I’m interested in are all store-bought standard issue stuff, so it’ll be perfectly safe. Besides, it’s not about the candy, it’s about the show. Look at those people, they’re all acting like their costumes, and I’m dressed like a pirate, so before we leave, I’m getting some sweet booty. We’ll play it up; it’ll be fun. I’m the captain and you’re my first mate, so make that tablecloth into a proper sack, keep that plastic knife in your other hand, and follow my lead.”

Shannon’s expression just screamed, ‘Why do I hang out with you, again?’ He didn’t leave me hanging, though, as he scrunched up the tablecloth as I had asked and drew the plastic knife with fake blood on it that had come with his costume. Yes, this was going to be awesome; there was even a small crowd around the snack table to make things more interesting, and the “cop” was nowhere in sight.

“Follow my lead,” I whispered into his ear before taking off toward the closest snack table, the one with a crowd. As we approached, I only recognized two students out of the bunch. One was Shannon’s roommate, Sky Dude. What kind of code name is that anyway? I had only really met him a couple of times before, and I had to do a double-take to confirm it was him since he was barely recognizable in the suit and tie, dark sunglasses, and fedora that he was wearing. The dude went full-on Blues Brother for his costume and was acting uncharacteristically serious.

The other person I recognized was Grande, the hippo girl from my BMA class, but she kind of stands out in the crowd, and tonight she stood out even more than usual with the bright pink ballerina costume that she was wearing. She was wearing a bodysuit or tights underneath, though, which made sense since she seemed very modest to me when we interacted. I was a little surprised that someone had gotten her to dress up at all since she was from the Ivory Coast, and I wasn’t sure if Halloween was even a thing there.

Still, having people recognize us was part of the appeal here, because after tonight, our legend needed to be whispered about at Halloween parties for years to come. It was time to make our move and go down in Whateley’s Halloween party history. I zipped toward the bowl containing those chocolates with the gold foil covering them, which were meant to look like gold coins first; it was just too appropriate to resist.

A boy was reaching into the bowl, and I poked his hand with my rapier-shaped cocktail pick to get his attention and to let him know I meant business, though I tried not to poke him hard enough to actually hurt him. “Yar! Hands off, landlubber, that thar be my booty!” Then, as I flitted around, getting in people's faces with sword in hand, I proudly declared, “This treasure belongs t’ Cap’n Sprite, ain’t that right, first mate?”

“Yar,” Shannon agreed in a monotone voice, looking like he was totally done with this whole thing, but still having my back. He only stopped waving his plastic knife around to dump the bowl of chocolate coins into the bag, quickly followed by the bowl of soft caramels and the one that contained packages of Rockets. Sweet, those things are damn near pure sugar, never go bad, and come in a much more convenient snack size for someone of Fairy stature. I think they were called Smarties in the States, though, which was weird for me because up in Canada, Smarties are candy-coated chocolate.

While he was gathering the loot, I was trying not to let my mind wander about different candy names, swinging around my sword, and darting around to make sure that our victims kept their distance. I may have had to use my PK to hold back one or two that weren’t watching the entire theft with either bemused or utterly confused expressions on their faces. I didn’t want to accidentally hurt someone after all.

To be clear, we weren’t stealing all the snacks either, just those on this table, and only the prepackaged generic stuff. There were other snack tables with the same kind of stuff scattered around the arena, and it wasn’t even theft either, since these were free for the taking. I would have felt bad about taking all the candy, like some sort of Halloween Grinch, and I didn’t want to ruin the evening for anyone else.

No, this was about the theatre of it, making a statement and causing a little friendly chaos to make the night more exciting for some people. I mean, how many people can say they were held up by a five-inch-tall pirate fairy and a goth Alice in Wonderland for all their candy? Besides, I don’t even like caramels, so Shannon would be getting all of those when we divied up the loot later.

Once Shannon finished dumping our loot into his makeshift sack and had it slung over his back, and his weapon in hand, I yelled, “Yar! The treasure be all ours now! Remember this night and despair, landlubbers, fer ye were bested by Cap’n Sprite, scourge o’ the seven seas and New Hampshire! Tell this tale to all who will hear, and warn the lilly-livered what happens when ye cross blades with me!”

We left them staring at our retreating backs as Shannon ran for the exit, treasure in hand, and I followed close behind, laughing maniacally all the way. Okay, I may have lost the wonder and joy of Halloween, but mischief and chaos? I could still get a kick out of those, and even if he wouldn’t admit it, I was sure that Shannon had fun too.

Crystal Hall
Tuesday, November 1st, 2016 – Lunchtime

The morning after the Halloween party was kind of boring, but I did hear some people talking about the party the night before and the general weirdness of it. A few had even mentioned the blatant piracy that Shannon and I had committed. Maybe we really would live on in legend, and at least we had fun. Well, I had some fun, at the very end anyway, but I couldn’t say for certain about my partner in crime.

Shannon was a little bit iffy on what happened last night at the party, but then his mind was pretty damn befuddled from all the bullshit with the spiked punch and how the psychic bullshittery it caused affected his empathic powers. At least, that’s how I understood it. So, he was kind of out of it until I got him focused on our bit of mischief and then got him the hell out of there. Even what happened afterward, until we got back to my room at Hawthorne to split the loot, was a little fuzzy for him, going by what he told me as we were waiting in line to get our lunch.

Yeah, I was eating lunch with Shannon today since Polly and Peter were both busy doing other things, not that I was upset about spending time with Shannon instead. Well, at least I wasn’t until some jerk ‘accidentally’ bumped Shannon while we were looking for a table, almost causing him to lose his lunch. No, he didn’t almost throw up, but he did very nearly drop his tray, which held both of our meals, until he got a telekinetic hold on it.

Fuck, I recognized the douchebag who had jostled him. He was short (Compared to normal-sized people, not me) and had messy red hair. It was that asshole, Weaponeer, and he was with his pal, Photech. I hadn’t had much interaction with either of them personally, but they lived in the same cottage as Shannon, and I knew that this wasn’t the first time they’d messed with him. It probably wouldn’t be the last either.

Weaponeer was snickering at the near accident he had caused and turned to his buddy to say, "Oh, look, two fairies, you don't see that every day."

I saw Shannon tense up at the comment. Fuck no, I wasn’t going to let them get away with this shit, and I needed to intervene before things turned violent. I didn’t give a fuck what happened to those two chuckleheads, but I didn’t want Shannon to lose it and do something he might regret later. I needed to give him a minute to cool his jets and get those assholes focused on me so they wouldn’t push him any further.

“Hey, I’ve got this, don’t let them get to you, they aren’t worth it,” I quietly assured him before flitting right into Weaponeer’s face, where he wouldn’t be able to ignore me. “Why don’t you and your asshole friend go fuck yourselves. Or each other, I don’t give a shit what you do in the privacy of your bedroom, unlike some people who like to try to start shit.”

“What?! You can’t just…” he hissed like an overboiling teapot about to reach maximum entropy. Oh, he was getting mad. Good, at least his attention was on me for now.

I cut him off before he could finish whatever he was about to say. “Can’t what, Asshole? Insinuate you’re gay and try to start a fight? Is that solely your shtick? I’m gonna tell you this just once. You don’t want this to fucking escalate, because I give zero fucks about school rules or holding back against bullies like you, and if you mess with my friend again, you’ll be picking your teeth up off the floor.”

Yeah, he was mad, but he was also hesitating, assessing me, and glancing toward his friend. I was an unknown quantity; he didn’t know what I was capable of, what my powers were, or how powerful I was. Keeping to myself so much helped muddy the waters in that regard, but I was all of five inches tall and getting in his face like he should be fearing me, and that probably didn’t compute. He backed up a step, so I wasn’t so close, and his body tensed, but he was hesitating. He’d probably never even been in an actual fight with someone smaller than him, and as far as I knew, he was a fucking devisor; he couldn’t do anything without his toys.

“Decision time, Asshole. Are you gonna walk away and leave my friend the fuck alone, or are you gonna throw the first punch at a five-inch-tall girl in front of all these people watching us?” I goaded him.

He looked around, and yeah, people were watching us, just as I’d said. Either way, he was going to look like a douchebag here, but he could still get out of this without getting his ass handed to him in public by a five-inch-tall Fairy. He made a show of huffing and turning to his pal to say, “Let’s get out of here, I don’t want to have security after me for putting this shrimp in Doyle.” And then he slunk away with his tail between his legs and his friend at his side.

Thankfully, our little stare-off gave Shannon some time to cool off a bit, but he was still grumbling about the ‘fairy comment’ as we found a place to sit. I just smiled at him as I took my tiny fairy-sized meal from his tray and sat on the table to eat. “You know, he wasn’t wrong. I mean, you might not be as small as me, but you're an official Fairy. Don't you remember last night at all? You swore the oath, and I gave you the tattoo and everything." I tried to strike a mix of seriousness and hurt, as if he’d forgotten something important while I spoke. The real problem was trying to make myself actually feel hurt to fool his empathy, as well as projecting the right emotions in my tiny voice, but I had plenty of painful memories to draw on.

He bought it hook, line, and sinker. “What?” Shannon asked as he started to search every inch of his exposed skin for some kind of confirmation.

“Left forearm,” I said with a pout as I tried to keep up the act.

He started frantically working on unbuttoning the left sleeves of his shirt and blazer to get a look at the spot in question, until he finally spotted the doodle I had drawn there last night at the party while he was discombobulated. It was partly faded, probably because of his morning shower, so sadly, my artwork could no longer be fully appreciated. It was a really cute cartoon fairy, too, with an eyepatch, tricorn hat, and everything. Below the picture, it said, ‘Property of Cap’n Sprite’, though it probably would have been too small for him to read anyway.

Shannon turned to me with a serious look and asked, “Did you draw this with a Sharpie?”

“Well, duh, but do you know how much effort went into that? I had to shrink the Sharpie before the party and then wait for the right moment, and…”

He didn’t let me finish. “Why the hell are you my friend again?”

“Ooh, I know that one! It's because I'm a Fairy and you're a fantasy nerd and all over that shit,” I teased in reply. Yes, I’m an asshole, we’ve established that, but at least he wasn’t thinking about that jerk and his mean comments anymore. I probably wasn’t going to get much mileage out of that prank anyway, if it was already so faded.

Doyle Medical Center
Saturday, November 5th, 2016 – 10:04 a.m.

I left Dr. Bellows' office feeling a lot like I usually did following our regular Saturday morning sessions, like I had just wasted an hour of my life doing a whole lot of nothing. It was kind of true, too. We spent the session with the doc asking the usual type of leading questions about how I was adjusting, how my classes were going, if there was anything I wanted to talk about, and that sort of thing.

For my part, I mostly just sat there and quietly stared at him while keeping my expression as carefully neutral as I could. The only time that I said a word was when he asked about the Halloween party on Monday, and if it had felt good to let loose. He had heard about the great candy heist because, of course, he had. He was probably keeping tabs on everything of note I did at this school. At least nobody had come knocking on my door demanding that I return my booty, so I was sitting pretty on a pile of enough candy and chocolate (of the non-devisor variety) to last me until Christmas at the earliest.

I merely told the doc, in a neutral tone, that the punch was responsible. That white lie was all that he was getting from me. I wasn’t here because I wanted to share my feelings or the events of my life; I was here because I was required to be here, and for no other reason. If I wanted to talk about my feelings, I would have gone to Marie, one of my sisters, or Becky, people I was comfortable talking to.

So, I was fairly happy once our session was over and I was released, so I could get on with my life. I had just flitted out of Doyle, eager to be leaving, when a familiar voice called out, “Vanessa!”

I turned to see Becky leaning against the wall of the building, as if she had been waiting for me, and that surprised me a little bit since I didn’t think we had anything planned today. The only plans that I had for today were to chill in my room and maybe check in on Shannon at some point. I was still worried about how he was handling the whole ‘turning into a girl’ thing, and I figured that if anyone could understand what he was going through, it would be me.

“Hey, Becky,” I greeted my tutor as I altered my flight path to take me toward her. She was dressed casually in a wool sweater, medium-length skirt, and hiking boots, and she had a backpack slung over her shoulder. “So, do you just like hanging around Doyle on the weekends, or were you waiting for me?” I was willing to bet on the latter since she knew very well that I had my weekly stare-off with Dr. Bellows on Saturday morning and would usually be leaving right about now.

“Waiting for you, of course,” she replied as she peeled herself off the wall and adjusted her backpack to approach and meet me halfway. “I hope you don’t have any big plans for today, because I need you to come with me.”

I shrugged and told her, “Not anything special, just homework and hanging out in my room. What do you need me for?” If she needed my help with something, then I was willing to do what I could for her. Becky had been a good… friend to me since I arrived, especially since that day that I broke down and told her everything. I owed her more than I could probably ever repay.

“So, the usual, huh?” she teased, poking at my tendency to avoid social interaction. I let her get away with it because, as I said, I owe her a lot, and maybe this was about those instruments she was looking into for me. No such luck on that, but I was a little surprised when she said, “Actually, Vanessa, our faculty advisor, Ms. Reilly, wants to meet you and has freed up some time today.”

I was not prepared for that and found myself staring at her for a moment while hovering in front of her. She hadn’t told me a lot about our faculty advisor, but what she had told me was pretty intimidating. She was supposedly one of the most powerful magic users in the world and was a Sidhe, like Becky, but the way that Becky talked about her on the few occasions that she came up in conversation was like she was some sort of Fae royalty or something. So, I knew just enough that the mere thought of meeting such a person for the first time had me nervous enough that I could do little more than hover and stare.

Moments later, I hitched a ride on Becky’s shoulder and was trying to keep myself from freaking out as she walked toward our destination. I would have thought that from Doyle we would be going toward the center of the campus to Schuster Hall, the Quad, or somewhere like that to meet our advisor, but instead we were headed southward. We passed by Poe Cottage and then Hawthorne as well, and once Becky started taking us into the woods, I got really confused.

“Umm… Becky… didn’t you specifically forbid me from entering these woods?” She had; it was one of the first things she told me during our magic lessons, and having her take me somewhere that she had specifically told me never to go had me freaking out a little bit.

“I did, because these woods can be dangerous, and you didn’t have permission to enter then, but now you do, and you’re with me. We’re among a very small group of people who have permission to enter The Grove. Or you will be if Ms. Reilly okays it, and The Grove doesn’t hate you or something. Usually, though, The Grove keeps people it doesn’t want there from entering in the first place.”

“The Grove?” I could almost hear the capitalization of the words, and as if that wasn’t unnerving enough on its own, she was talking about this place as if it were a person or something. Just going into these forbidden woods was creepy enough already, but the way she was acting had me looking around intently at the trees around us and completely on edge.

“You’ll understand when we get there,” she promised as she continued striding through the woods, completely undaunted. “The Grove adores Ms. Reilly, and it… tolerates me, but I think that’s mostly due to a combination of me being Sidhe and being Ms. Reilly’s assistant. You accidentally cause a small fire one time! It was, like, three years ago, I was still learning to control my magic, and Ms. Reilly put it out right away,” my guide grumbled as she walked.

After that, she became quiet and treaded our path in silence for a time while I nervously continued to watch the trees around us. Nothing changed visually from the forest that we had been walking in, but I had a distinct feeling that we had reached The Grove when I felt something unusual. It was like this place had a presence that was now surrounding us.

For a brief instant, that presence was almost suffocating, and it felt like I was being intently stared at, even though there were no eyes peering out of the cover of the trees that I could see. No, this was the presence; it had to be The Grove that Becky had mentioned. This place was alive. It felt old, and eerily familiar for some reason that I couldn’t define, and something funky was going on with the essence here, too. I had sensed that when we were approaching, but now it was all I could think of, save for the overwhelming presence that accompanied that feeling.

The staring sensation was over almost as soon as it began, and yet, it seemed to last an eternity as I waited for something that I couldn’t put into words. In that forever-instant, that sense of someone staring at me suddenly changed to something else, a mix of approval, welcoming, and happiness. A lot of happiness. I might have thought that it was welcoming Becky back, but I could feel in my little Fairy bones that this was directed at me.

I guess that Becky could feel it, too, because she turned her head to stare at me as I sat on her shoulder and spoke in a near-whisper. “Damn, The Grove likes you, Vanessa. I’ve never felt it that enthusiastic about anyone except Ms. Reilly, but then, it adores her. I guess it kind of makes sense that it likes you, though, with you being a Fairy and all.”

I didn’t get the chance to wonder what she meant by that last remark as a woman’s melodious voice called out, “Well, The Grove liking her should make things a lot easier for all of us, Becky. Welcome to The Grove, Vanessa. The Fairies have been eager to meet you ever since Becky and I mentioned you when you first arrived at Whateley. There have been others who were welcome to visit this special place, but none since my good friend, Gwen, have drawn their interest, or The Grove’s, like you."

Wait… Fairies? That was just one more question that I now needed answers for as I turned toward the sound of the voice. Whoever this was, she hadn’t made a sound to give away her presence until she spoke; I hadn’t sensed her at all. The image that I saw when I spotted her, standing by a tree within ten feet of us, caused me to freeze as all my questions were momentarily forgotten. Standing there was quite possibly the most beautiful woman that I had ever seen.

She was a Sidhe, like Becky, with long flame-red hair, the usual pointed ears, and tilted, large, and almond-shaped violet eyes set in an ethereally beautiful face. She didn’t look all that much older than Becky, either, maybe in her very early twenties. It was hard to tell how tall she was from my point of view, but she had an amazing figure and an almost regal bearing. Even in the somewhat casual outfit of a brown suede jacket and matching boots over a simple green tunic-style blouse and black form-fitting slacks, she had this air of beauty, grace, and majesty about her.

It wasn’t just her appearance that had left me frozen, though. Something told me that this woman might look young, but she was also incredibly powerful and important. I was in awe of her; something about her called to me on an instinctive level, as if we had some kind of connection and she was important to me personally as well as in general.

The feeling was strange, unnerving, and her presence completely robbed me of my ability to speak for the moment. Becky just gave me a sympathetic look and used my silence as an excuse to make the introductions. “Vanessa, this is our faculty advisor, Ms. Reilly. Ms. Reilly, this is Vanessa Gordon, of course.”

“It’s nice to finally meet you, Vanessa,” our advisor offered in her melodious voice. “I apologize for not being able to meet you sooner, but watching over the World Tree takes up so much of my time these days; there are lots of rituals and spellwork needed to ensure it grows healthy and strong.”

Did she just say, ‘World Tree’? Well, that was yet another question I was dying for answers to. “I… uhhh…” I tried to speak, but the sheer amount of awe I felt upon meeting her for the first time was overwhelming.

“Relax, Vanessa. Just take a few deep breaths and try to calm yourself. I can sense how my presence is affecting you, and it makes sense with you being a Fairy and all. I’ve heard that the first time is always the most intense, but I’m a person, just like you. In fact, we have more in common than you know. It’s one of the reasons that I agreed to become your advisor,” Ms. Reilly assured me in a gentle and reassuring tone of voice. “As for the other major reason, let’s go have a talk, just the three of us. There’s something you should see, and I’ve managed to convince the Fairies to hold off on swarming you until we’re done.”

With that, she smiled and turned to walk away, and Becky was quick to follow, once she made sure that I wasn’t going to fall off her shoulder because I was in shock. The further that we travelled into The Grove, the more I felt something besides the presence of the living forest around us and my current companions. Then we entered a small clearing, and I saw it.

There was a single green shoot in the center of the clearing that could be nothing other than the ‘World Tree’ that Ms. Reilly mentioned earlier, a shoot that was between four and five feet high, if I had to guess. I only called it a shoot in my mind because it didn’t look like even a sapling yet, despite its size. No, this was merely a huge green seedling, and if it was that big as a seedling, how massive would it become as a fully realized tree?

I couldn’t take my eyes off it. It practically radiated life, shifting through shades of dappled green as it was bathed in the light of the morning sunshine. The closer we came, the more I could feel that power radiating from the massive seedling. Just being in its presence felt energizing, like I had gulped down an entire cup of espresso, and keep in mind how much that would be to someone as small as I am.

“W-what is that?” I asked in awe, even though I was certain that I already knew the answer. I could sense a crap load of essence there, and I’d bet that even people not sensitive to magic would be able to feel the power in this place.

“This is the World Tree, Vanessa,” Ms. Reilly confirmed, “and as I said earlier, it requires a lot of rituals and spellwork to keep it growing healthy and strong. For the past three years, Becky has been assisting me with that.”

Becky nodded as she added, “Yeah, that’s why she doesn’t teach classes much or act as an advisor to other students. Even with me helping by running errands, assisting with rituals and spellwork, and teaching you the basics of magic for her, Ms. Reilly has to spend a lot of time here in The Grove with the World Tree.”

“Which brings us to you, Vanessa. There are some things that I would like to ask of you,” Ms. Reilly said as she looked at me, both her expression and her melodious voice brimming with earnestness.

“What could you possibly want from me?” I blurted out before I could consider what I was saying. I could feel the raw power in her, and my magic didn’t even come close to comparing. I wasn’t even properly trained yet, no matter how hard I had been working with Becky.

“First, please don’t tell any of your fellow students about this; The Grove is generally off limits to students, and few know about the World Tree, even among Whateley’s staff. Part of keeping it safe is keeping it secret,” she replied, holding up one finger. Then she raised a second as she added, “And second, Becky will be graduating this year, and I know that she has plans for her life that will no longer include Whateley Academy. I need somebody to take her place next year once she is gone, a new assistant to help me with my work here during the school year, and perhaps occasionally during the summer as well.”

I was surprised that I was considering it. No, not just considering, I wanted to do this. This felt important; it could possibly be the most important thing that I could do in my life, but I couldn’t. I shook my head, unprepared for how heartbreaking it felt to have to refuse, like my heart was being squeezed in a vice.

My eyes were close to tears, and I was far more conflicted than I cared to admit as I choked out the words, “I… can’t. I already have a work study, and I live on the other side of the continent, so I wouldn’t be able to help during the summer either. Besides, I’m not… good enough. I’m not a good enough person to trust with something like this.”

Ms. Reilly should find someone else. That would be best for everyone involved. She didn’t seem to agree, though, as she placed her hands on her hips and gave me a long, serious look. “Vanessa, I am well aware of your situation and what led up to it, and now that I’ve met you in person, I have to agree with Becky. You are far harder on yourself than anyone has the right to be. You made mistakes, it’s part of growing up, and it looks like you’ve used those mistakes as a learning experience. When I was a student here, I made my share of huge mistakes, too, and I learned from them and tried to make them right, just like you are.”

She let that sink in for a moment before allowing a smile to grace her beautiful face and adding, “Becky believes in you, you know, she thinks that you’re a far better person than you’ll ever give yourself credit for, and I believe that she’s right. If you can’t trust in yourself, then trust in us as your mentors.”

Becky nodded vigorously, but said nothing, seemingly content to let our advisor handle the speaking. Maybe she was getting tired of lecturing me, but Ms. Reilly was good with words, too. They were nice words, and my heart told me that they were probably even true. It didn’t change anything, but I had a feeling that they weren’t going to agree with me on that, so I tried to push the other angle. “I… I still have a work study… and I live too far away… the MCO would be on my ass every time I…”

“If you agree, we can change your work study starting next term,” Ms. Reilly stated, blowing holes in my argument. “On paper, you would be a teacher’s assistant, like Becky is now, and as for the travel, we’ll just have to teach you a teleport spell, won’t we? We can work on teaching you what you’ll need to know and easing you into the role during the winter and spring terms. I know that what I’m asking is a huge responsibility, Vanessa, but it’s an opportunity for you as well.”

She was right. This was an opportunity to do something important and to learn from one of the most powerful magic users in the world, if Becky was right. Having sensed that power up close, I had no doubts that she was. She was making it very hard to say no, especially when I wanted so badly to say yes. “I… umm…”

As I struggled to form words, Becky interrupted me. “Vanessa, I know that you’re looking for another excuse to say no, but as your friend, I want you to really think about this and be honest with yourself. What do you want to do? Not ‘what do you deserve’ or ‘what should you do’ but what do you want to do, right now, deep in your heart?”

Dammit, Becky. I was already thinking about that. I couldn’t think of anything else, and that was why it was so hard to say no, because I did want this, and not just because it felt like I might be able to do something good to counter some of the shitty things I had done to Blythe. Right now, in The Grove, it felt so right for some reason that I couldn’t explain. Part of it was what Ms. Reilly and Becky were saying, but there was also the feeling of welcome and happiness that I was here from The Grove itself, and it was like my instincts were screaming at me that this was home. Not in the same way that the house I shared with Marie and my new sisters was, but I did feel strangely at home and content in this place.

“No, ignore all that, you’re a piece of shit and you don’t deserve happiness,” I told myself bitterly, trying to shake off that good feeling. I had to stick to my guns here. I couldn’t give in, whether I wanted to or not, I had to tell them… “I’ll do it.” Wait… what the fuck did I just say?!

Ms. Reilly’s face lit up with a smile as she replied, “Good. I look forward to working with you and teaching you, Vanessa. I suppose I should let the Fairies come and say hello now. I really didn’t want their presence influencing your decision.”

Shit. I couldn’t say no now, I’d already agreed, and I was about to meet other Fairies. I couldn’t even tell Shannon about this shit either, which kind of sucked because he would love all this fantasy elves and magic tree shit. However, I also couldn’t completely ignore the flutters of happiness inside my chest as Ms. Reilly talked as if this was all decided now. There was no backing out; a large part of me was happy about that, and I felt like shit for allowing myself to be happy. Damn, I’m fucked up.

“You can come out now!” Ms. Reilly called.

Almost as soon as the words left her mouth, a veritable flock of Fairies appeared from thin air. Had they been using some sort of invisibility or illusion spells to hide themselves? I had to learn how to do that! I didn’t have much time to think about that, though, as I found myself swarmed by Fairies all enthusiastically calling out, “Welcome, Sister!”

For some reason, my heart began to race, and I hurriedly racked my brain for anything in Helsing’s lengthy report that might be useful in this situation, but a lot of that stuff was conjecture. I was a little too stunned to think clearly, though, as I found myself confronted with so many of them. There were over a dozen of them, and they were all my size, or very close to it. They had similar wings and antennae, and for the first time since I had escaped Blythe’s clutches, I didn’t feel like some sort of freak as I was repeatedly and enthusiastically hugged and welcomed by these people who should have been strangers.

Then they started to pull me away from the clearing, and I looked uncertainly toward my mentors, both of whom seemed greatly amused by the situation. “Go ahead and get to know the other Fairies, Vanessa,” Ms. Reilly encouraged. “Becky and I have to do some preparations for the next ritual, so we’ll come find you once we’re done. Becky, did you bring everything that I asked for?”

Whatever Becky’s answer was, I didn’t get to hear it as I was pulled along into the trees by the group of excitedly chattering Fairies. It probably didn’t help that I was a little bit shellshocked. Could anyone blame me, though?

In my mind, I knew that Fairies really did exist. I was proof of that since I was informed that my DNA was now that of a Fairy, but despite having that knowledge and seeing Sidhe like Becky and Ms. Reilly as well, it wasn’t real to me until now. It was all theory and information in a report that Helsing had written for me. Now, though, I was confronted with the fact that I wasn’t as alone as I thought, and it brought mixed feelings: excitement, uncertainty, a strange sense of belonging, and the terror that I might somehow screw this all up by being myself.

There was a flurry of introductions as they escorted me to wherever we were going, and I don’t think that I caught even a quarter of the names that were being thrown at me. Our destination turned out to be a particularly impressive pine tree within The Grove. Hidden amongst the thick branches of the large evergreen were several dozen fairy-sized cottages that looked cozy and well-insulated.

As eager as they were to show me their little village, though, my guides quickly led me back down to ground level after doing so, to a large stump near the pine tree. There were dozens of Fairies there, and the stump hosted Fairy-sized tables and chairs with nuts, berries, and other foods set out on the tables, as if there was some sort of party going on. Trying to get a head count, I determined that there were roughly sixty Fairies in total, including the ones who had been acting as my guides.

That was a lot of Fairies. I froze, my heart beating wildly in my chest as I tried to figure out the best way to handle this situation. My mind, though? That was going a mile a minute as visions of all the ways that this could possibly go horribly wrong assaulted my mind, leaving me unable to speak or do much more than keep my wings moving as my guides pulled me along through the air toward the stump.

I was so far outside my element, and yet, I felt a connection to these Fairies, too. There were more welcomes, more names to learn, and they treated me like they were happy that I was here, like I belonged here, like a long-lost family member finally coming home. I had only felt this welcome and at home once before, when Marie and my sisters took me in. This time, though, there was more. I felt a connection to these people, to this place, and as heart-warming as that was, it kind of scared me, too.

So, at first, I could barely speak, and I just tried to go along with whatever was going on as I watched and learned. Of the five dozen or so Fairies that I saw, most seemed to be adult females. I only spotted a grand total of nine males, but that seemed to fit with some of what I had learned from Helsing’s report. It claimed that female Fairies outnumbered males by roughly six to one, and there was a lot of conjecture that the males either had harems or that females would only pair off briefly with a male when they wanted a child.

The mere thought of that had me flushing hotly… from embarrassment, but I guess it would make sense, not that I had any interest in that sort of thing. Fairy children didn’t seem to be common, though. I only saw two; one toddler-aged and the other a girl who seemed to be close to my age, maybe a bit older. The report couldn’t say definitively, though, whether Fairies had difficulty having children or just didn’t feel rushed to do so, since one of the few things I read that was known was that Fairies live practically forever… I would live practically forever.

I tried not to focus on the implications of that and turned my attention to the game I had been dragged into. Fairy games were similar to and yet different from the games I had played as a child. Earlier, we had played a game of hide and seek, but now we were playing tag. See, pretty familiar, right? Only in the version we were playing, the person who was ‘it’ had to seek the others out or, in this case, tag them with their eyes closed. I guess that was a way of refining the air displacement sense of our antennae.

I did not do well whenever I was ‘it’, but I did develop a far greater appreciation of my antennae by the time that I finally tagged someone and could open my eyes again. I was also tired, though, and ready to rest for a bit as the game ended. Unfortunately, it didn’t look like that was going to happen.

We had been playing games for almost an hour, and judging by how high the sun was in the sky, I guessed it was getting close to noon. So, while I was about to gratefully sit down and take a breather, I was once again abducted by Fairies, this time three of them. They were all girl Fairies, like me, and one was the girl who I thought might be around my age. She was the one who was excitedly pulling me along while saying, “Come, Sister, it’s time!”

The Fairy in question, whose name was Rhissara, was very pretty with a cute button nose and full, pouty lips. She had a very nice figure with a somewhat petite chest, much like mine had been before the chocolate incident, enough to see and appreciate it, but not big enough to get in the way. I was getting used to Fairies coming in a variety of different colors, but she was very striking. She had skin that was a sort of medium sapphire blue, hair in a dark violet shade, and her eyes and antennae were both a bright gold hue that paired well with her wings, which were also gold with rose-gold highlights.

My cheeks flushed, and warmth flooded through me as she took my hand and started to pull me along. I kind of wished she would stop calling me sister, though, because what I was feeling whenever she touched me or talked to me were definitely not sisterly feelings. It was extremely distracting.

I hadn’t felt attraction for anyone since back when I was still Aiden. It felt familiar in a way, and yet so very different as well. It wasn’t all just centered in my crotch, for instance. I mean, yeah, things were getting pretty warm and damp down there, which was a strange feeling in itself, but that warmth was also quick to spread to my whole body, almost as if I was fevered, and my poor little heart felt like it was going to explode in my chest.

“Cool your fucking jets, Vanessa,” I chided myself as I was pulled along. “You know nothing about Fairy culture, and she probably isn’t even interested in girls that way. Just because you’re interested in other girls that way doesn’t mean…”

Both my thoughts and my body stopped short, jarred by a sudden realization that shook me to my core, dampened any desire I was currently feeling, and caused a leaden weight to settle in the pit of my stomach. When the hell did I start thinking of myself as a girl? I knew I wasn’t, at least I wasn’t born that way, but I had just been thinking of myself as a girl… and it didn’t feel wrong.

Fuck, it was just one life-altering thing after another today. I couldn’t breathe, I couldn’t move my wings, and for a moment, everything outside of that sudden realization fell away. When awareness returned a moment and an eternity later, I was being gently shaken, and golden eyes set in a sapphire-colored face looked me over, filled with concern. “Are you okay, Sister?”

“I… yeah, I’m fine, Rhissara,” I replied to the pretty Fairy with a shaky smile as I tried to look like someone whose entire world-view hadn’t been completely upended today.

I don’t think she believed me, but she did give me a reassuring smile. “Everything will be okay; you’re here with us now. Come on, we need to get you ready before the sun reaches its peak.”

Unsure of what she was talking about, I let her guide me once again as I tried to process my most recent revelation. She and the others who were pulling me along took me to a place out of sight of the rest of the Fairies and, for some reason that I couldn’t comprehend, started ‘getting me ready,’ I guess. One started to apply brightly colored goop to my face, like war paint or something, while another worked my hair into braids and seemed to be weaving pine needles into them. Rhissara, meanwhile, was gently assuring me, “Don’t worry, this will be easy. You only need to kneel in the center of the circle and do what the elder says.”

“Uh… sure…” I replied, still mostly lost in my thoughts. Honestly, I had no idea what they were even getting me ready for, and I was a bit too distracted and caught up in everything to ask now. Besides, they seemed so happy that I was here, and they were trying to make me feel welcome, so I didn’t want to accidentally do something to offend them.

Once the two other Fairies were finished with whatever they were doing to my hair and face, they joined Rhissara in leading me back to the other Fairies, who were now all seated cross-legged in a circle on the ground, bathed in the midday sunshine. My escorts ushered me to the circle, where a green-haired Fairy with skin as pale and white as my own, who didn’t look much older than Ms. Reilly, waited at the center. Then they encouraged me to go to her before finding their own places to sit at the circle’s edge.

Well, whatever was going on, it would probably be rude to back out now, so I shrugged and stepped into the circle to stand in front of the green-haired elder Fairy. “Kneel, child,” she said, not unkindly.

I took a deep breath and did as she asked, trying to push aside the worries about my self-identity and focus on what was happening now. It wasn’t easy, but I was curious about what exactly was going on here; there was quite a bit of pageantry going on right now. I bowed my head in respect, too, though she hadn’t really asked me to do that.

“A lost sister has been found,” the elder spoke gently, but loud and clear enough to be heard by the circle of Fairies around us and cause a cheer. When the cheering subsided, she asked, “Tell me, lost child, do you feel the will of The Grove? Do you feel its joy at having you here? Can you feel our joy at having a lost sister joining us here?”

“Umm… yes?” I answered uncertainly. I wasn’t an empath like Shannon or anything, but the Fairies did seem very happy to have me here. I certainly did feel the sense of happiness and welcome from The Grove, though, and I had since entering this sacred place.

“Then raise your head, feel the sun on your face, and tell us your name, child. Speak it loud enough for The Grove, the sun above, and everyone gathered here to know and remember it,” she instructed.

Okay, this was starting to make a bit of sense now. At least it explained why nobody had asked my name before and everyone had been calling me ‘Sister’ until now. This was probably some sort of welcoming or coming-of-age ceremony. My identity worries were briefly forgotten as my heart hammered in my chest and I found myself suddenly nervous, trembling even, as I was put on the spot like this.

I had to take a deep and calming breath before I could trust myself to do as she had instructed me. For a moment, my name caught in my throat before I finally yelled as loud as I could, “Vanessa!” I’d said it without thinking, using the girl’s name that I had been given, just as I’d thought of myself as a girl earlier. Was this really who I was now?

I hadn’t realized that I had closed my eyes, but when I opened them again, I saw the elder smiling down at me. “We hear you, Vanessa, and recognize you as one of us. Please extend your right hand.” Once again, I did as I was asked, and the elder’s hand reached out to tightly grasp my right wrist. I felt a brief sense of warmth and magic, but it was gone again almost as quickly as it had appeared. Now, though, the underside of my wrist bore what looked like a tattoo, an unfamiliar sigil that I had noticed on all the Fairies I had met today, save for the toddler. It was even in the same spot.

“Wha…” I started to ask in confusion, suddenly worried that Marie would kill me for getting inked up. I tried to tell myself that she probably would never notice. Not only was it on the underside of my wrist, but I doubted that any human would ever see it unless I deliberately showed them… with a very powerful magnifying glass.

“You may rise now, Vanessa. You are now one of us. Friend, family… I believe that the Queen’s assistant, Fire-Starter, called us a clan. May the bonds we forged today last forever,” she offered with a smile as she helped me to stand.

I might have been just a little stunned as I stumbled to my feet. I was even too shocked in that moment to fully realize that she had just called Becky ‘Fire-Starter’ and how hilarious that was. There was a lot to unpack with that statement, and I was still struggling to cope with other identity issues.

I just joined a clan of Fairies? Appropriate since I was a Fairy, but it was still a little nerve-racking, especially since my Fairy instincts were kinda overwhelming me at the moment as I stared at my new tattoo. I felt more connected to the other Fairies here, even though I knew there was no logical reason to feel that way.

The tattoo wasn’t magic or anything, except for how it was applied, but I could feel that the mark was significant. It made me feel like I belonged here, like I had a home here if I wanted it. The others who bore the mark were family… friends, and my instincts screamed that Fairies greatly value their family and friends and that if I ever betrayed that bond, they would tear that tattoo off me, along with the skin it's attached to.

That was kind of vicious, and a spike of fear and panic drove through me as I thought about it, leaving me momentarily gasping for air. I couldn’t be trusted; I had proven that with Blythe. What if I…

“No,” I told myself sternly, clenching my fists as I forcibly cast those thoughts and doubts aside. I would not allow myself to betray someone I care about again. I had paid the price for that before for what I had done to Blythe, even if it was in a different currency, and I had learned that lesson hard. That was my line in the sand, and I would never cross it again.

“Hey, are you okay, Vanessa?” a familiar voice asked in a concerned tone.

I opened my eyes to see Rhissara’s pretty blue face and golden eyes, framed by violet hair. My heart skipped a beat, but I managed to get control of my breathing and reply, “Yeah, I’m just a bit overwhelmed. I… wasn’t expecting to join a clan of Fairies today.”

Her face brightened slightly with a faint smile. “I understand. I guess you’ve been alone for a long time. What you just went through isn’t very different from the usual Recognition ceremony, and I only had mine a few moons ago, when I got my first moon cycle. Now come on, Vanessa, it’s time to celebrate your Recognition and introduce you to everyone properly!”

So, she was probably close to my age after all, I realized as she started pulling me along toward the stump with all the tables and chairs, where all the other Fairies were now cheerfully gathering, and a party atmosphere was developing. There was plenty of food, and I was offered a clay mug with something to drink that I was told was flower nectar. Proper introductions were made as well, though I was having trouble keeping names straight, save for Rhissara and someone called Rose Blossom.

Rhissara had, of course, been with me for most of my brief time here, but I mostly remembered Rose Blossom because she was different than the other Fairies. She was definitely Fairy-sized, but she used to be an outsider, like me, and I wasn’t sure at first if she was some different type of Fairy or a mutant. Her wings were very different, for one thing, more like silky pink bat-like wings that ran along her spine rather than insect-like wings, and she had pink hair, but no antennae. When Rose Blossom and I were introduced, she was busy building something that looked complicated out of grass, sticks, clay, and tree bark.

Apparently, Rose Blossom lived among the Fairies because she felt safe with them since they were of a similar size. I guess the ‘clan’ sensed a kindred spirit in her as well and welcomed her, as they had just welcomed me. They also seemed to like that she made them toys, rides, and all kinds of useful and fun things for Fairy-sized people.

Other than the two of them and a few others, though, I was having trouble keeping names and faces straight at first. That might have had something to do with the flower nectar, though, because I was pretty damn sure that sweet shit was very alcoholic. I passed out at some point, and by the time I woke up (with a headache and hazy memories of many introductions), it looked like it was late afternoon or early evening since the sun was getting low in the sky.

It was Becky’s voice that woke me; she and Ms. Reilly were both calling out for me, and they were being way too loud. I groaned at the massive headache that was pulsing in my head and found myself entangled with Rhissara, who was currently snoozing alongside me with an arm wrapped around me and using one of my oversized tits as a pillow. She wasn’t the only one, either, as one of the younger male Fairies was doing the same from the other side.

I was relatively certain that nothing more than drinking and passing out had happened, though, since we were all still fully clothed. At least I hoped nothing else happened, because I vaguely remembered that guy hugging me pretty intimately, and I hadn’t even clobbered him! I was flushed and turned bright red at the thought of it and my current position.

However, that wasn’t the only thing making me blush as fuzzy flashes of my brief drunken escapades burned through my mind. I might have actually kissed Rhissara at some point, maybe both of them, but it was all kind of fuzzy and mixed up with other strange and hazy memories. From what little I remembered, I was pretty sure that nothing serious happened and that, as drunken hijinks went, it was fairly innocent.

I didn’t remember flashing anyone or doing anything naughty. At least, not anything naughtier than getting drunk in the first place, and honestly, I didn’t know that shit was alcohol when I started drinking it. Unfortunately, that didn’t stop me from freaking out as I sifted through what little I remembered from before passing out much earlier in the afternoon.

Did I really take on a dare to kiss a snail and plummet from a tree branch to see how close I could get to the ground before catching myself with my wings? I also recalled throwing up while Rhissara held my hair and antennae out of the way and then crying my eyes out about being accepted at some point. Fuck, I completely humiliated myself, even if Rhissara didn’t seem bothered by any of it.

Okay, totally not thinking about that anymore, I had more important matters to deal with. For instance, the two Fairies who were currently cuddling with me and snoozing on my tits. Ms. Reilly and Becky were calling for me, and I needed to get out of this compromising situation before they found me. Also, there was something uncomfortable poking me in the back.

As I carefully extracted myself from my precarious position, I found that the object which had been uncomfortably digging into my back was a Fairy-sized wooden spear with a metal spearhead that I vaguely recalled being given as a gift at some point during the celebration to welcome me into the clan. So that was where that went, underneath me. Unfortunately, I hadn’t quite managed to fully free myself before the two Sidhe found the stump with a gaggle of passed-out Fairies, and Becky kneeled to peer down at us.

Too close! My head really did not appreciate getting such a close-up of my friend and tutor’s face right now. “Wow, that’s a lot of passed-out Fairies, I thought they’d be playing tag or something again. Maybe they wore themselves out or something.”

“Or something,” I grouched as I managed to extract myself from the awkward cuddle pile that I was in and rubbed my aching head. “Could you please stop looking so loud?”

“Vanessa, are you drunk?” Becky asked as she unmercifully continued being too loud and too close.

“Nooooo…” I attempted, trying to ignore my pounding head and protesting stomach. It wasn’t a lie because I was no longer drunk; now I was hungover. Fast Fairy metabolism for the win. Seriously, the other Fairies should put a warning label on that flower nectar shit, though.

I was pretty sure that neither she nor Ms. Reilly believed me as the latter came into view and raised an eyebrow. “You drank their special flower nectar, didn’t you?” she asked.

“It was a party, and mistakes were made,” I grumbled in protest.

“Did you learn anything from this mistake?” our advisor pressed with a faint smile on her face.

I nodded my head grimly, and the motion made it feel like someone just jammed an icepick into my head. “Yeah, always ask what’s in the nectar, and I’m not drinking that shit again anytime soon,” I promised.

“Then what happens in The Grove stays in The Grove,” Ms. Reilly responded with a return nod. “Now, let’s get back to campus so you and Becky can get some dinner at Crystal Hall. The Fairies know that you’re a student and won’t be here all the time, and you’ll be able to come back and spend time with them again soon.

I took to the air and was about to land on Becky’s shoulder, but she shook her head, “Nuh-uh, you can fly on your own, Vanessa. I don’t want you throwing up all over my shoulder, and it’ll help sober you up.”

Some friend she was, couldn’t she see that I was suffering here? “Thanks a lot, Fire-Starter,” I grumbled under my breath as my stomach decided to protest the rapid movement of my wings. It was going to be a long trip back to campus.

Laird Hall
Wednesday, November 9^th, 2016 – 7:55 a.m.

I arrived at the changing rooms for Laird Hall, riding on Polly’s shoulder. We had been catching up over breakfast since we hadn’t seen much of one another over the past week and a half, and though I would never admit it, I had missed the company of my friend.

She had been working a lot with her new advisor. Or at least I figured that the Imp was her faculty advisor, just as Ms. Reilly was mine, from things that Polly had said. She had said things like, “The Imp is a lot of fun,” and “The Imp says I have to be responsible with my powers and that I should keep holdouts and some other things in my pocket dimension for emergencies.”

It seemed that the rat girl had made great strides with one of her powers recently, and she had been improving even more since the Imp took her under her wing. She was still having trouble with inadvertently shrinking things when she wasn’t paying attention or while she was sleeping, but she had gained much better control over the portals for her extra-dimensional storage ability. She told me that she was no longer spilling the contents whenever her attention slipped, and she was now able to open and close them on command from a distance of forty feet away, if needed.

In turn, I had told her that I’d started working with my faculty advisor recently as well. Not that I could tell her anything more than that since I was sworn to secrecy about The Grove, the World Tree, and all that shit. Not being able to talk to the few friends that I had about this was driving me crazy, since my only friend whom I could talk to about it was Becky. Shannon would have loved all this magic shit too, but I had sworn myself to secrecy, and this was important, so I was doing my best to act as normally as possible and not let any secrets slip.

Which was hard when I now had permission to enter The Grove on my own, and the temptation was always there. Not that I had been back there since Saturday. The Grove might really like me, and it would keep me safe, but there were a couple of things that kept me from going back there on my own.

The first thing was that school had been kind of busy, and Becky was amping up the magic lessons now that I seemed to be getting over my hobgoblin issue. I wasn’t completely over that little problem yet, but since Becky and I had that serious talk a couple of weeks ago, I was no longer having hobgoblins appear every time I tried to use magic that didn’t involve runes. In fact, I seemed to be accidentally summoning them less and less since we had that talk.

The second issue was the Fairies. Don’t get me wrong, I really liked being able to interact with people the same size as me, and the Fairies were so damn welcoming that it was hard not to feel included with them, but I was a little embarrassed about my behavior during my unintentional nectar bender. I was kind of crushing on Rhissara, too, and I hadn’t felt like that about someone since the early days with Blythe. Was she even interested in girl Fairies that way? What if I screwed things up? Could I even be trusted not to screw her over like I did Blythe?

Those questions had been weighing heavily on my mind this week, as had the revelation that I now seemed to think of myself as a girl. There was a lot to mentally unpack there, so I had been spending even more time in my room than usual. I claimed that I needed to study and do homework, but even I knew those were just excuses, and I spent as much time lost in thought as I did on my schoolwork.

I tried to shake off my wandering thoughts as I got changed for BMA. I had just finished doing that when I noticed that Helsing seemed to be having some trouble getting changed. That wasn’t surprising, though, since her left hand was in a cast. She looked frustrated, bordering on anger, so as much as I wanted to ask if she was okay or offer to help, I decided it was best to just give her some space since she was giving off an almost hostile aura, and I wasn’t exactly the sharing and caring kind of girl.

That turned out to be a wise decision since Grande asked what happened before I could, in obvious concern for her friend. If I asked, it would have only been redundant and probably would have made Helsing feel awkward since I wasn’t as close to her as Grande. Helsing answered her friend’s query with gritted teeth, simply stating, “I punched something that deserved it, but probably a bit harder than I should have.”

That was concerning. Helsing usually seemed so in control, and I’d never seen her lose her temper or anything like that before. Well, it probably had nothing to do with me anyway, and it honestly wasn’t my business. With that in mind, I tried to forget about it as I left the changing room.

Outside Crystal Hall
Saturday, November 12^th, 2016 – After Breakfast

Parents’ Day… the day that I had been both dreading and looking forward to had finally arrived. Honestly, I had been looking forward to seeing my adoptive family in person again, rather than through weekly video calls. They were good people, and I’d come to care about them since they had welcomed me into their home.

As an added perk, my weekly appointment with Dr. Bellows was canceled for this, so we wouldn’t both be wasting an hour of our lives staring at one another this morning. Yeah, there were things that I could probably talk to him about, like the whole meeting Fairies thing and the related revelation that I was thinking of myself as a girl now, but there were two very good reasons not to do that. First, it kind of felt like I would just be giving in if I started talking to him about shit now, and I was too stubborn to give him the satisfaction.

Secondly, I wasn’t sure if and how much Dr. Bellows had been read into the World Tree situation, and a lot of that stuff overlapped. I had been sworn to secrecy, and this was important enough that I wanted to keep my word, no matter what. As much as I wanted to tell Shannon, I couldn’t break my promise, and if I couldn’t share this shit with somebody I actually liked and wanted to talk to, then I sure as hell wasn’t about to break my word for some shrink.

As for the reason I had been dreading this day, well, that was also because my adoptive family was coming. They were going to want to know how school was going, if I was doing okay, and all sorts of other stuff that I wasn’t quite sure how to answer right now. They were going to want to meet my friends, too, and I had made precious few of those… at least that I could tell them about. How was I even going to bring up the whole change of my work study, and that I might need to magically travel here on occasion during the summer, if I couldn’t mention the Fairies, The Grove, and the whole World Tree thing?

Shannon seemed equally nervous about today as we left Crystal Hall. “You know, I can still come with you, if you want,” I offered again. “Marie and my sisters won’t mind waiting a few minutes if they know I’m with a friend.”

“No, I appreciate the offer, but you should go be with your family, Vanessa. It’s not like I’ll be doing anything too exciting anyway, just waiting for my mom to show up,” he replied, even though he was practically vibrating with excitement. He’d been like this since we met for breakfast.

I guess I couldn’t blame him for that. From what he had told me about his life since we met, he hadn’t seen his mother since he was, like, eight years old. Since then, he had been bouncing around from shitty foster home to shitty foster home, and I didn’t need to be Dr. Bellows to see that he had serious abandonment issues over it. I really hoped that this first face-to-face meeting in seven years went well, because he had been sneaking peeks at that letter all week like a forlorn puppy looking forward to walkies.

I had a bad feeling about this, but one look in his eyes told me there was no arguing with him about this. He was looking forward to this too much, and his mind was made up. Still, I couldn’t help but fear this might go badly. Did his mom even know about him turning into a girl? How would she even react to having that bomb dropped on her when she came here to visit her ‘son’?

“I… okay. Just call me if you need me or want to meet my family, okay? I’ll catch you later,” I replied reluctantly. I felt terrible about it, like I was being a really shitty friend for not backing him up, but he wanted it this way, and I couldn’t force myself into their meeting without potentially causing issues between us. The decision was made, so while Shannon headed toward the school’s main gate, where his mother’s letter claimed she would meet him, I reluctantly parted ways with him to meet my own family at Drop-Off Site A.

“Vanessa!” the excited squeals from Leanna and Danielle assailed me, only an instant before my sisters’ bodies followed suit. I’m not sure how they spotted me in the crowd of waiting students, with me being so small and all, but I’m going to guess that there were either magic or enhanced senses involved. Probably Danielle’s enhanced senses, since while Leanna did have her well lit, she wasn’t a mutant with the Wizard trait like me, and didn’t have much essence to work with yet, unless Marie let her use the family heirloom.

Regardless, both of my sisters were quick to get their delicate and awkward hugs in. Awkward because I was a tiny Fairy, not for any other reason. Once Marie had joined us and gotten her hug in as well, and everyone got the excitement out of their systems, Marie asked in a tender tone, “So, how are you settling in here, Vanessa? Honestly, please.”

She looked so concerned, and I would have felt terrible trying to lie to her face after all she had done for me, so I let out a little sigh before telling her the truth. “At first, I wasn’t too sure about this place, and I really wasn’t trying to make friends… I might have been doing the opposite, actually. Some people didn’t give up on me, though, like my magic tutor, Becky, and Polly and her twin brother, Peter. I’ve made some friends, and it feels like things aren’t quite so bad now. Peter built me a shrink ray too, and that’s been a huge help for making my life feel almost normal again.”

Things weren’t perfect, of course, but I’d seen how things could be worse when I met some of the other Hawthorne residents. I guess that meeting other Fairies and knowing that I wasn’t alone had helped a bit as well. I probably wasn’t going to stop being a snarky and slightly bitter asshole any time soon, and I still wasn’t sure if I deserved friends or could be trusted to have them, but even I could see that I was starting to get better.

“Are we going to get to meet these friends? And what’s the plan for today?” Danielle asked, though both she and Marie looked somewhat relieved at my admission.

“Oh, and I want to see all the cool things you’ve been telling us about this school, “Leanna added, deftly allowing me to change the topic if I wanted to. I was grateful for that, even if there was really no need for it.

“Well, I think all of them will be running around with their families today as well, but I’ll introduce you if we run across the twins, Becky, or Shannon,” I promised.

Honestly, though, I was a little unsure about introducing them to Shannon and would have to see how things went for him. If things looked like they were going to hell with him and his mom, I was kind of torn about whether I should interfere or not. I didn’t really want to rub my supportive family in his face if things with his mom were going to shit, but I also kind of wanted to let him know that I was there in his corner.

I did kind of want to introduce my family to my friends, though, and not just so they would know that I wasn’t lying my tiny Fairy ass off. I knew they were just worried about me being lonely and about how I was adjusting here, and I wanted to show them that I was doing okay. With that in mind, I tried to be as positive as I could as Leanna prodded excitedly, “Let’s go, Vanessa! You promised us a tour, and my high school isn’t nearly as cool as this one!”

I spent almost the entire morning showing my adoptive mother and sisters around the campus. They were all very impressed with the facilities, at least the parts that I figured I was allowed to show them, and while we didn’t run into Shannon and his mother, we did meet up with both Becky and the twins. The latter pair were showing their parents around the school as well, while Becky was just relaxing and taking in the day’s entertainment.

Honestly, I really didn’t like the twins’ parents, especially since Polly looked ashamed and nervous the entire time, and Peter looked like he was just done spending time with his parents, period. Those shit bags could barely stand to look at their own kids, and since they avoided looking at me and Danielle, too, I had a feeling that the twins’ GSD was at least part of the issue. I was a Fairy, of course, and there was no way they could miss that, while Danielle wasn’t wearing her makeup or contacts, leaving her snow-white skin with black freckles and catlike amber eyes on full display. Sure, she wasn’t in her full-on anthropomorphic snow leopardess form, but her differences were still very noticeable without her usual efforts to blend in.

I almost called them on it, but I didn’t have the time to do so since our meeting barely lasted past the introductions before Mr. and Mrs. Colby were rushing them away to ‘finish the tour’. I was fucking fuming as they all walked away, and Polly sent me an apologetic glance over her shoulder. How dare they treat their kids that way! Marie and Danielle had to talk me down, and I had to cool off before we could continue our tour.

My family really seemed to like Becky. I was a little disappointed I didn’t get to meet her adoptive parents, though, since from the way she talked about them, it was obvious they cared a lot about her, were very supportive, and were proud of her. Introducing Becky to my family was nice for the most part, though, and earned me some serious social cred when she enthusiastically told Marie and my sisters about the Elemental Dance Club, and how I had agreed to consider joining next term.

Unfortunately, she hadn’t quite gotten to the part where I would only be playing instruments when Leanna jumped in with, “You have to send us videos of all your performances, L’il Sis! You’d look so cute dancing through the air from flower to flower or something, like a sugarplum fairy!”

Danielle, ever the tomboy, snorted in playful amusement as she agreed, “Yeah, this I have to see.”

Oh no, Leanna had just given Becky ideas, I could see it written all over the Sidhe’s joyful face. Now I had an uneasy feeling that I wouldn’t only be playing instruments when I joined the club next term. On one hand, that was probably going to suck for future me, but on the other hand, at least my sisters and Marie knew that I wasn’t lying when I told them I was socializing more.

I kind of owed Becky one after that meeting, anyway. She really talked me up to Marie and my sisters, telling them that I was starting to come out of my shell and make friends. She also enthused about how my magic was coming along now that I was starting to get over my hobgoblin issues. She was probably a better friend than I deserved, trying to make me look good in front of my family like that when we both knew that she was exaggerating.

There was an incident I felt bad about that happened when we were approaching Hawthorne Cottage, so I could show them all where I was living, though. Marie was looking toward the woods that held The Grove in obvious interest and murmured something about nature magic and essence before asking me, “Do you know what’s out there, Vanessa?”

Unfortunately, I had to reply with, “I… uhh… can’t say that I do. That area is off limits to students.” It wasn’t quite a lie since I truly couldn’t say, in fact, I had promised to keep it a secret, and The Grove really was off limits to students as well, unless there were special circumstances and permission, like in my case.

Still, I did feel bad about the partial fib. I probably should have expected to be asked about it, too. After all, I had sensed something coming from the direction of The Grove when I first arrived, so why wouldn’t an experienced magic user like Baby’s Breath be able to do the same? I was still feeling guilty about stretching the truth to Marie as we finished the tour, and I led the way to Crystal Hall for lunch.

“Mmmm God, I wish the cafeteria at my school had food this good,” Leanna practically moaned between bites of her grilled roast beef and Swiss sandwich.

I was only a tiny bit jealous of her delicious-looking meal as I ate my share of the small vegetarian pizza and salad I was sharing with Becky, who had come to join us for our meal and chat a bit more. My sisters and Marie obviously liked my jovial magic tutor, and the feeling seemed to be mutual. “Yeah, I’m going to miss the food here when I graduate,” the Sidhe agreed. “There are a lot of good options for vegetarians here.”

She wasn’t the only guest that we had during our time in Crystal Hall. Not long after we sat down, a familiar face came by to say hi to not only me, but Marie as well. I probably shouldn’t have been surprised that Emiko recognized my adoptive mother, since she had mentioned that she had learned magic from Baby’s Breath. I just hadn’t thought that she would trust the Buddhist nun enough to do that teaching out of costume.

Not that Emiko didn’t seem trustworthy, quite the opposite, in fact. It was just that she and Danielle both seemed to guard their civilian identities very closely when doing anything related to hero work. Regardless, Emiko seemed very happy to see Marie again and was a little surprised that she was here, at least until she was told that I was Marie’s adoptive daughter.

It was too bad they didn’t have much time to catch up before Emiko had to return to her family, who were waiting for her. They looked like a nice family, though Emiko’s older sister stood out a bit among them. She didn’t dress nearly as modestly as Emiko and their mother; she was showing quite a bit of cleavage, and I had to guess from her clothes and attitude that she had no interest in becoming a Buddhist nun. There was some tension there, too, and she didn’t look happy to be here visiting her sister.

“None of my business,” I had chided myself when Emiko sat back down with her family. I had enough family drama of my own to deal with, namely, my sisters' plotting my eventual humiliation with Becky. Their sudden interest in the Elemental Dance Club did not bode well for me, and my Sidhe friend was giddily taking advantage of it.

That wasn’t the only topic of conversation, either. Marie and Leanna were both enjoying talking magic with Becky as well, but I guess it wasn’t very often that they could talk shop with someone outside of the family who actually knew what they were talking about. Lunch was well over, and poor Danielle, who never had much interest in magic, was looking very bored of the topic when I felt a familiar and powerful presence approaching us. I wasn’t the only one to notice Ms. Reilly’s presence, as both Leanna's and Marie’s eyes snapped toward our approaching visitor. Even Danielle seemed to sense something about her as her eyes suddenly darted in the Sidhe woman’s direction.

I had a feeling that this meeting was no accident as Becky slid easily into the introductions, “Ms. Reilly, this is Vanessa’s adoptive mother, Marie Gordon, and her daughters, Danielle and Leanna. Ladies, this is our faculty advisor and mentor, Ms. Reilly.”

“It’s nice to meet you all,” Ms. Reilly offered with a smile. “Becky believes that Vanessa has a lot of potential, and I’ve recently seen that for myself as well. I’m looking forward to mentoring her more closely from now on.”

Once again, I found myself wondering why someone as powerful as Ms. Reilly was interested in me. There were probably other magic users at the school who were more powerful than I was, and more experienced, too. Becky said that it wasn’t all about magical power, though; that was only part of the equation. She needed someone who could sense and understand the gravity of the task of tending to the World Tree, and someone that The Grove would welcome, or at least not be hostile toward.

Was there more to it as well? Ms. Reilly didn’t have to introduce me to the Fairies in The Grove, at least not as far as my usefulness to her went. No, she did that for my sake, not hers. She seemed to take this mentoring thing very seriously, but maybe that was why she didn’t take on many students, because she wanted to do right by them as well as get the assistant that she needed. The thought reassured me and made me a little nervous at the same time.

Since Marie and Leanna were still a little awed by the sheer amount of magical power wafting from my mentor, it was Danielle who was the first to speak. She looked a little suspicious as she said, “Vanessa hasn’t really mentioned you before.”

“That’s probably because we only met officially a week ago,” Ms. Reilly said with a disarming smile. “I’ve been fairly busy since Vanessa arrived at the school, so I had Becky mentor her in my place until I could free up some time. Don’t worry, I’ve been fully briefed on Vanessa’s ‘origin’ and it was one of the reasons I chose to mentor her. We actually have a lot in common. Last weekend, Becky and I took Vanessa on a bit of a nature walk so I could get to know her better and gauge her potential. I took the opportunity to introduce her to some of the other Fairies that live in the area as well, since I thought it might help her to realize she’s not as alone as she seems to think.”

She managed to tell her some of the important parts, at least in relation to me, without giving away anything about The Grove, what was growing within, or our involvement. My family wasn’t made up of baselines with no idea about magic, though, and her words caught Marie’s attention as she shook off her awe of my mentor to speak up. “Does this have anything to do with that area that’s off limits to students?” Damn, it looked like she put two and two together.

Ms. Reilly appeared unbothered by the question and almost playful as she responded, “There are several areas on and around the campus that are off limits to students, Mrs. Gordon. Some of those places are extremely dangerous, some are private areas, and some host either eldritch horrors or mischievous Fairies that enjoy playing pranks on students. Some are all of the above. I’m sure, as both a parent and someone with a background in magic, you can understand the importance of prioritizing the safety of our students. If you have concerns, we could go to my office to discuss them privately. There’s an opportunity for Vanessa that I’d like to talk about with you anyway.”

I wasn’t quite sure if it was the sheer magical power radiating from Ms. Reilly, the fact that she was obviously some sort of Fae, or a mix of the two, but Marie’s expression was wary. Still, she didn’t hesitate for more than a brief instant before nodding. “By all means, let’s go then. I would like to get to know the person who has taken such an interest in my daughter.”

Oh damn, Marie was going all mama bear. Ms. Reilly didn’t seem at all intimidated, though. She just smiled, gave an understanding nod, and said, “Please, call me Nikki.” A moment later, she was leading Marie to her office for a private talk while my sisters and I watched them go.

That, of course, was when Becky decided to get our minds off whatever that impending discussion might entail. With a very subtle wink at me, the Sidhe asked, “So, who’s up for dessert while we wait for them to come back? We can talk about ideas for Vanessa’s dance costumes.” Just like that, she once again had my sisters’ attention, and I was dreading what horrible ideas the three might come up with if left unchecked. I needed to pay attention too, if only for the sake of damage control.

Marie was off talking with Ms. Reilly longer than I expected. They didn’t return to where I was watching the impending train wreck of ideas put forth by my sisters and Becky until it was almost time for the buses to leave. I couldn’t be sure what, or how much, Ms. Reilly had told my adoptive mother about the stuff I’d been sworn to secrecy on, but it was obvious from the slightly stunned expression on Marie’s face that she had told her something.

Whatever it was that my mentor told her, it was enough to get Marie to agree to me becoming Ms. Reilly’s TA starting next term. We didn’t really have time to discuss it at length, though, since Marie and my sisters needed to hurry to Pick-Up Site A to board their bus, the first leg of a long trip back to Calgary. We got to the pick-up site as the buses were boarding, and Leanna clutched my tiny form to her chest in a hug.

Damn, it was a good thing I had a PK shell and was mega durable, because she wasn’t really controlling her strength as she started to get teary and emotional. “It was good seeing you again, L’il Sis. You’re coming home for Christmas, right?”

“Yeah,” I promised her. “And hopefully, I’ll know enough about magic by then to show you a cool new spell or two. You need to practice too, so we can trade pointers.”

I couldn’t see what she was doing, but I heard her sniffle a bit and say, “You got it,” before I was passed off to Danielle for her turn to crush me in a hug.

“I’m glad you’re making friends here, Vanessa,” my eldest sister offered. “I think today was the first time I’ve seen you smile. It looks good on you, Sis. Keep it up. Keep your friends close and get stronger. I guarantee that if you see that bitch Blythe again, your happiness is going to hurt her more than any ass-kicking you could give her. But just in case… be ready to kick her ass too.”

I felt myself smile at that. I should have expected something like that from Danielle. “Well, I guess I can always get behind a good ass-kicking for someone who deserves it, and Blythe definitely has it coming,” I agreed as she let me go. “I’ll see you at Christmas, Dani.”

Danielle nodded and went to board the bus, ushering Leanna along with her as they both waved goodbye. Marie’s hug was a little less exuberant and more tender and motherly as she held me. “This was an experience I’ll not soon forget, Vanessa. Learn from your new mentor, learn everything you can, because it sounds like you have a lot of work ahead of you. Good work, though, and I’m proud of you. You’ve come a long way since I put you on that train.”

What the hell did Ms. Reilly tell her during their talk?! Unfortunately, I didn’t get the chance to ask before she released me and went to board the bus. I didn’t get the opportunity to do much more than frantically wave and call out, “I’ll see you at Christmas!” Of course, I’d probably talk to her and my sisters next week for our regular video call, but I wasn’t thinking about that, just that I was saying goodbye to my family.

It had been a good day, and it was nice to see them and spend time with them again. They were more of a family to me than those assholes I used to call parents ever were, that was for sure, even if my sisters were plotting my eventual humiliation with Becky. I guess sisters can be annoying like that, though, and I knew that they both cared about me.

As I watched the bus leave with a few of the other students who had hung around to do the same, I realized something. For once, I didn’t feel like some sick parody of Blythe or some demented Devisor science project; I felt different. I guess if I had to put words to it, I felt almost normal. I was just Vanessa Gordon, and sure, I might be a Fairy, have mutant powers, and be in on some pretty huge secrets, but that was just part of who I was now. I felt good.

I flew around Crystal Hall, my gaze sweeping over the students waiting in line for food or joining their friends at tables. He wasn’t here. I hadn’t seen Shannon since we parted ways after breakfast, and with every moment that confirmed his absence, the knot in my stomach tied itself ever tighter.

“Stupid!” I mentally chastised myself. “Fucking stupid girl! You just had to let yourself be happy and believe you were normal. Didn’t give one fucking thought to your friend and what he might be going through!”

In my heart, I knew it wasn’t that simple. I had wanted to be there for Shannon. I offered to go with him, but he told me to spend the time with my family because he was hoping to do the same. I had even kept an eye out for him while we were doing our tour and eating lunch at Crystal Hall, but that didn’t help me stop feeling terrible about enjoying myself all day while Shannon was nowhere to be found.

Had I failed him, just like I had Blythe? No, I needed to think this through, follow the trail. Maybe if I started at the beginning, I could find out where he was now. Maybe he really did just spend the whole day with his mom, and everything was okay. They were going to meet at the main gate, so I decided to start there.

I zipped across campus toward my new destination as fast as I could. I had come to Crystal Hall hoping to eat dinner with Shannon and talk about how our parental visits had gone, but the tightness in my chest insisted that I wait until I found him. I could eat later; what was important right now was finding Shannon. That was all that I could focus on. If he was off catching up with his mom somewhere, then fine, I’d leave them be and slip away quietly, but…

I didn’t want to finish that thought. Shannon had been looking forward to today and reconnecting with his mother all week, and I didn’t even want to consider how this might affect him if something bad happened. Something like her reacting badly to having a son who was turning into a daughter.

I poured on the speed and arrived at the main gate. Nobody was there, at least not that I could see at first glance from above. So, I moved closer to ground level, searching for anything or anyone that might hint at where Shannon and his mother might have gone. And then I saw it… a violently crumpled piece of paper that had fallen short of landing in a garbage can and was wobbling on the ground from the light breeze.

I flitted over and used my PK to uncrumple it, hoping that I was wrong about what it was. I wasn’t. It was a letter, addressed to Shannon from his mother, saying she was coming to Whateley to visit him on Parents’ Day. It promised that she would meet him at the main gate in the morning. Shannon had been clutching this damn letter like a life jacket in turbulent waters all week. Why would he crumple it up and toss it aside?

And then it hit me. Something bad hadn’t happened between Shannon and his mom; the worst thing possible had happened. “That fucking cunt! Fucking bitch stood him up!” I screamed, using my PK to tear at the paper until it was nothing more than a fine mist of confetti. Shannon had wanted this so bad, he probably waited here all fucking day for her, and that deadbeat bitch didn’t bother to show!

I needed to find him. He needed to know that someone gave a shit about him. I was an asshole and a shit friend who probably didn’t deserve him for not coming here sooner, but I did give a shit, and I had a pretty good idea of where he would go. Probably to his dorm room to get lost in a book. Because when the real world sucked ass, Shannon tried to immerse himself in a world that wouldn’t hurt so much or so personally.

I didn’t bother with my wings. I launched myself into the air with my PK like I’d been shot out of a cannon, flying over the buildings so I wouldn’t have to worry about obstacles as I made my way to Emerson Cottage. I only slowed enough to control my descent and stop myself before I could plow right through the door.

Fortunately, someone was leaving by that very door, so I zipped inside as it was closing behind him, intent on making my way to Shannon’s room, and God help anyone who tried to get in my way. At least, that was the plan until I saw something in the foyer that made me stop short. Shannon was there, and he looked pissed.

There was a chilling smile on his face as he looked intently across the room, where Weaponeer and his buddy Photech stood. Neither was wearing their usual ‘I’m better than you’ sneer. Photech looked like he was straight-up starting to panic as Weaponeer clutched at his throat, unable to breathe, and his eyes were bulging. Was Shannon fucking Force-choking him?!

As cool as that might be under other circumstances, this wasn’t good. The air felt suddenly heavy, and I was worried that Shannon might be about to do something he would regret later as he spoke. “Not today, you little shit; I am in no mood. I am Twilight mother fuckin' Sparkle, and you will get out of my way.”

For a second, I froze. Should I stop him? Could I? He was hurting, and he had every reason to feel that way, but I couldn’t let him do something that he might regret later.

It was over before I could act on the impulse. Weaponeer collapsed, gasping desperately to fill his lungs with air now that he could breathe again. Shannon just walked past him and Photech like he had no fucks left to give. Honestly, I couldn’t give a fuck about those two idiots either; it was Shannon that I was worried about.

I flew after him, catching up to him at the base of the stairs to cling tightly to the side of his face. He twitched ever so slightly, probably startled from me glomping his face, then there was a breath, and then… “What are you doing, Vanessa?”

I just kept clinging to him, tears filling my eyes and an uncomfortable tightness in my chest and throat. I felt like complete shit for not being there for him when he really needed me, but I could damn well be here for him now. "I'm… I’m giving you a fucking hug, because… you look like you could use one. I'm your fucking friend, and I fucking care about you, so I'm gonna do shit like that when you need it. Now let's get the hell outta here and get something to eat before that asshole calls security on you or something. Knowing you, you probably haven’t eaten since breakfast."

 

To be continued…