I raised my hand.

 

"The equation isn't balanced properly," I said. "There is one extra oxygen atom and it's missing one potassium atom."

 

"Very good," Professor Laverne said. He smiled and was about to say something else when the bell rang. "Well, that's all for today. We'll continue tomorrow." I packed my bag and walked out of the room.

 

"Hey, Olivia," Kiku's sister Ara said to me, coming up to me. "How are you?"

 

"I'm good," I said. "How've you been?"

 

"Great," Ara said. "So, kitsune, huh?"

 

"Yep," I said, swishing my tails. "It happened, like, two days ago."

 

"Cool," Ara said. "And, did you hear? All of us here at school are going to take an Aptitude Test tomorrow."

 

"Really?" I asked. "Neat."

 

"Maybe you'll finally get to join your sister, huh," Ara said.

 

"There's no way I'm going to get to Kaya's level," I said. "I mean, she's the Third Division General."

 

"I still think you have a chance," Ara said as the two of us exited the chemistry building. "Finally," She said, shifting into her normal form. Her human legs were replaced with the legs and abdomen of a spider. "I feel all cramped if I'm not like this. Well, I'll see you later. Bye!"

 

I waved to her as she walked toward her dorm. I headed back to mine.

 

 

That morning, I woke up in my fox form. Kiku was holding onto me like a stuffed animal. I slipped out of her grasp and she made a soft noise of disappointment.

 

I transformed into human form and gently shook her awake.

 

"Wuh. . ?" She said sleepily.

 

"Wake up," I said. "We need to get ready for the Aptitude Test." Her eyes slowly opened and she sat up. With the help of some coffee, the two of us fully woke up. We were both eating breakfast when Violet stumbled out of the room she shared with Lauren, still a small bit asleep.

 

"Morning," I said, chewing on a piece of bacon.

 

"Mm," She said in response. She went to the fridge and grabbed two raw eggs from it. She popped one into her mouth and crunched down on it before swallowing.

 

Then Cinder came in from the front door.

 

"Good morning," She said.

 

"Morning," Violet said. "I'm still tired, and I just woke up."

 

"I'm guessing you had a night with Lauren," Cinder said. Violet's cheeks colored slightly and she nodded.

 

"Sometimes I forget that you two're both with her," Kiku said. "Does that ever get awkward?"

 

"It's only awkward if we make it awkward," Cinder said, sitting down on the couch.

 

"I'm going to pack my bag," Kiku said, standing up from the table. The rest of us finished our breakfast and did the same before heading toward the school.

 

 

"All students, please go to the MPR," The intercom told us the next school morning.

 

"We get to take an Aptitude Test," Kiku said excitedly. "Finally!"

 

"You're very excited about this," I said.

 

"Well, yeah," Kiku said. "I wanna know what my Magfire Affinity is."

 

"Same," Lauren said.

 

"Come on, let's go," I said. The five of us went toward the MPR. We waited in a very long line for a very long time. Cinder was finally up. After a minute, Lauren was called into the testing room. After her was Violet, then Kiku. Finally, it was my turn.

 

I entered the testing room.

 

"Place your hands on this panel," A teacher instructed me, indicating a flat panel on a device. I did so and felt a strange electrical pulse go through me. My fur stood up on end.

 

The device beeped. The teacher tapped out a few things on a computer. It then printed out a piece of paper. She folded it in half and slid it into an envelope, which she handed to me.

 

"Go through that door," She said, pointing at a door on the other side of the room. I did and walked down a hallway to a large room where everyone who had already taken the test was waiting.

 

"How'd it go?" Kiku asked, running up to me.

 

I opened up the envelope and looked inside.

 

 

I showed it to Kiku. "Pretty good."

 

"Cool!" She said. "Here's mine."

 

 

"Cool," I said.

 

"Hey Olivia," Lauren said. She, Violet, and Cinder walked out. "What'd you get?" I showed the three my paper.

 

"Cool," Violet said. "Here's mine."

 

 

"Wow, neat," I said. I looked at Lauren's and Cinder's.

 

 

 

"Awesome," I said. "When do you think we'll start practicing?"

 

"Tomorrow or the day after that," Cinder said. "That's what my sister said, anyway."

 

"Right, your sister went here too," Lauren said. "Wait, Olivia, didn't your sister go here too?"

 

"Yeah," I said. "But I don't really keep in touch with her anymore."

 

"Why not?" Lauren asked.

 

"It's because she's too busy," Violet answered for me. "Her sister is Kaya Aronte."

 

"Ohhhhhhhhhh. . ." Lauren said. "That is so cool!"

 

"Not really. . ." I said.

 

"Come on, she's epic," Cinder said. "The second most powerful in the whole world."

 

"I've grown up with her being a star," I said. "It just isn't that amazing to me now."

 

"Oh," Lauren said.

 

"Well, we have the rest of the day off," Kiku said. "What should we do?"

 

"Let's go to Starbucks," Violet said. "I need another coffee."

 

"Hah," Lauren said. "Yeah, let's do that." We all set out for the cafe that was closest to our school.