Chapter 2
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The school’s tiny visitor strode along the path. Exotic flowers bloomed over the stones, the delicate perfumes fragrant. Their bursts of color exposed observers to unimaginable tones. But the ethereal atmosphere did nothing to calm the irate youth.
“What an annoyance,” he said. “I want to pound that idiot for forcing me into this. I should never have agreed. My mind has been taking vacations. That needs to stop.”

Everything was gorgeous. But only a fool would assume that was the sole reason for the flowers’ existence. Poisonous-each of them-though not to the touch. Those plants were relegated to a greenhouse. And restricted to the upperclassmen.
He glanced back at the ill-gotten ID and scowled. “What an idiot. Unwilling to listen to reason and focusing on the unimportant details. If she attended, she would have been destroyed. Someone who can’t see outside their fears will never advance.”
His eyebrows raised at the sight of her approaching snake. It slithered over the fallen leaves and through the bushes. Sneering as it rose up to attack, he didn’t even move as it lunged at him. They made for a strange sight: a ten year old staring down at a twig snake.
“No creativity whatsoever,” he criticized. “I’m disappointed.”
Looking through its eyes, he saw Sydney’s widen in disbelief. Shocked that he wouldn’t dodge? He hadn’t even used his magic yet.
Then he watched as the body disintegrated and the head tumbled down. The wind tore the creature into shreds. Only the head remained intact.
With a condescending smile, he stepped on it. That severed the final connection between the magician and snake.
Yet he remained nonplussed when she came barreling through the bushes. Only after she decided to continue attempting to strangle him, did he move away.
“Give me back my ID! You crazy brat. I don’t care if you’re new here. I’m going to report you to the administration.”
He glared at her. Perish the thought that he find himself in the same room as that manipulator. “I was going to turn it over since you’re no longer a student.”
Sydney propelled herself at him. She seemed disappointed that he dodged. As if he would act like a still target and allow himself to be hit.
“Did your brain sacrifice limits for sanity?” he muttered at Sydney.
Then she kicked off a root and reached for a high branch. Her hands clasped it in a vice-grip as she yanked herself up. She used that momentum to swing down a high attack.
The wind shoved him aside, shielding him from her. Leaves rustled unnaturally, and he paused. Why would there be any spies now?
Distracted, his reflexes didn’t react in time for him to escape a third time. They tumbled to the ground from her tackle. Her hands searched his pockets until she pulled out the black case.
“This is tantamount to harassment,” he hissed, seizing her wrist. “I don’t accept this abuse from those I’m close to. You can bet that I won’t tolerate it from a stranger.”
“I just wanted my student card. You can’t run off with it,” she roared right back. She shook him off and flipped it open. After she saw the name, her face tightened. “Skylar? That’s your name?”
Skylar snatched it back before she looked too closely. It wasn’t issued by the school and contained too much information. “Don’t address me.”
“I didn’t mean to grab yours,” she defended. “I just want mine.”
“Students get student IDs. You are not one. Therefore, you do not need it.”
“I am too! I even have the acceptance letter.” She began scrambling through her bag to find it.
Pity broke through his nonchalance. “You didn’t think that they actually accepted 10%? With a 15:1 student teacher ratio? That number is public so that applicants wouldn’t be discouraged. It’s more like 3% after the final exam. Cruel, aren’t they? Sending out that letter to prospective students.”
Sydney started to tremble. Even a fool could tell that Skylar knew more than the general public. “Th-That can’t be right. I am a student,” she said, her voice petering into a whisper. “There’s no final exam.”
The pity vanished. He did not appreciate someone questioning his freely offered information. It was one thing to disagree in a debate but this was not one. “It isn’t given until the entrance ceremony. None of the general staff knows the rules and it changes each year.”
“You’re lying! I would have heard about it. Someone would have said something.”
Skylar fumed. “No one is allowed to discuss it. Not alumni, not those who failed it. Those who break it, get their magic halved. I’m only telling you since you would have found out anyhow, had you been to the ceremony.”
Patience was never one of his virtues. Tossing several coins at her feet, he turned to leave her. The school could collect the ID itself. He did not feel like doing overtime. He wasn’t here for the money, after all.
“What’s this?” she asked. Sydney stared at the coins with confusion.
“Bus money. For wherever you need to return.”
Rage colored her face further. She clutched his shoulders again. If he didn’t ice it within the next hour, yellow bruises would dot his skin. With heightened emotion, Sydney said, “You’re the one that needs to leave. I AM a student. I don’t know what you are.”
He plucked out the leaves from his hair. “Even if you were, you’d be expelled. For an unprovoked attack on a teacher,” Skylar snidely replied.
Hands clapped. Neither Skylar’s nor Sydney’s.
It turned out that their interlude did have a watcher. A graceful, elegant woman approached them. Her lengthy auburn hair fell along the ruffles of her waist apron. She wore a maid uniform and an appeasing smile.
Skylar stared at the person in shock. He rubbed at his eyes to make sure his vision hadn’t decided to start hallucinating. Nope.
The maid continued approaching and spoke, “That’s enough. Now break it up.” Her light voice carried far beyond the spectacle. It echoed deep into the plants, lightly pressing them down.
Sydney stared at her hands like the appendages were foreign and released him. They trembled in dismay. “I-I can’t believe I behaved so-”
Their interloper mussed with Skylar’s loped locks. He blinked up several times, gaping and trying to understand just when reality tilted. But the casualness-the familiarity-of the gesture snapped him right back.
“It’s fine,” the maid reassured Sydney with a ruby-red smile.
“Fine?!” hollered Skylar. He stepped away and tried to fix his hair. At this point, it didn’t seem worth saving. The air stirred with violence as he trembled from hostility. “What part of that fits its definition? She tried kill me. That’s not what I would consider fine.”
“It’ll take more than just that to kill my precious-”
Skylar deadpanned, “I’ll never accept a deviant calling me theirs.”
The perfect grin gained a conniving tint. “Back to the insults are we? You must be feeling more like yourself.” From a tempestuous blast, the wind calmed. “I can guess what happened.”
“There’s no need to guess.” Irritation rested across Skylar’s nose. He snorted, ruining the illusion of a sweet child. “Like a proper pervert, you watched from a distance. I knew someone was spying. Should have figured it was you.”
The maid folded her arms over. Amusement glittered in her azure eyes as she stared at Skylar. “Actually, I was at the ceremony. So I am going to guess what happened. That you somehow prevented this girl from hearing my marvelous speech. Therefore, she missed the final exam. And where is your pin?”
Skylar scoffed, “I am not wearing that monstrosity. Just thinking about that engraving is enough to give me chills.” He shivered. “Not to mention all those hideous, pink hearts.”
“I give you my heart. And this is how you react.”
“You can’t honestly expect a human being to wear that! At least not one with a scrap of dignity.”
The head slowly shook, the devastation turning the smile into a frown. The auburn hair swished in tandem with the motion and Skylar wanted to rip it off. With a dramatic pose, the maid continued, “You didn’t refuse when I first gave it to you. You wait until now to leave behind my heart?”
Looking very much like a petulant child, Skylar stomped his foot. “You handed me a velvet box and told me not to open it until I was home.”
Pride flushed the maid’s dimpled cheeks. “I’m surprised you listened. Nevertheless, we must focus on the current issue.” Turning to Sydney, the reproach in those azure pupils could have convicted a murderer. “I shall apologize for Skylar. But you shouldn’t have reacted so viciously. Imagine if Skylar was merely a foul-mouthed child without a magical background. The results could have been disastrous.”
A tear slid down Sydney’s face. She repeatedly bowed her head. “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.” While she faced the ground, Skylar’s petite shoes entered her vision.
Skylar shuffled his feet out of her sight as a precautionary measure. “I can feel your hatred,” he commented. “Don’t turn them into boulders. I need to remain light-footed to escape this miscreant.”
Sniffling, the maid sighed. “Your words are so devastating. We will need to address that later.” Turning to the sniffling student, she said, “I do hope you learn self-control here, Ms. Histocry.”
Sydney’s head jerked up. The tears in her eyes turned hopeful. “I can stay?” she asked in wonder.
“Are you mad?!” shrieked Skylar. “She actually tried to kill me. What if she does that to another student? You can’t allow such an untamed-”
His words cut off when a pair of fingers descended upon his lips. Bending down, the maid kissed his cheek. The lips remained there even though they continued to move, “If you misbehave, I can do whatever I want, right? You know the rules. You read every document before signing it.”
Skylar backed up, shaking his head. He rubbed his cheek until it matched a tomato, plump and vibrant. “Even you can’t override the rules, either. She hasn’t passed the final exam. You can’t expect me to tolerate this breach.”
“Isn’t it lucky that she passed it?”
“What?! You can’t honestly tell me that the standards have dropped so far that just stepping onto campus counts?”
The gentle smile turned vindictive. A chill went down Skylar’s spine but he couldn’t interrupt the maid. “This year, the requirement was to restrain a monster stronger than themselves. Methodology didn’t matter. It never does.”
As he realized the point, Skylar paled. “No. You can’t possibly mean-”
“My dear Skylar, you certainly qualify as being stronger. So much that it isn’t unreasonable to call you a monster. And though unconventional, she did restrain you. You weren’t at the ceremony, after all.”
Skylar covered eyes as he spoke to both of them. “I hate you.”
“It’s fine. Because I love you enough to overcome it.”

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