Page 34 of Faerie Gift

Passing through the auditorium door, I surveyed the rest of the first-year students who’d gathered. Much fewer than when we’d originally arrived. And there would be fewer still after today.

Since my power was relatively rare, there were only three other students who shared it with me. Not as rare as I’d thought at first, obviously, and I didn’t know them too well, but seeing us all gathered together drove the point home.Theywere my biggest competition, not the other boys and girls in the assembly. Those three students—Cassady, Ryan, and Tyler—would be the ones to beat to keep my place here at the school.

If I could manifest my power better than they did, not only pass this test but ace it, then it would go a long way toward soothing my mind.

I wasn’t too worried, though. I’d gotten top spot last semester for a reason, although I hadn’t thought so at the time. I worked hard and I practiced. Yet there wasn’t any room to leave to chance, or to get cocky. That’s when mistakes were made. If my Uncle Will taught me anything in life, it was to be prepared no matter the cost.

Preparation was the only way to control the outcome.

The first-year class huddled together in the front rows of the auditorium, ready to be called when our power came up for testing. Alphabetically. The four of us waited only a short time before we were called into a small room down the hallway in front of a panel of teachers.

I tried not to fiddle with my hair—kept in place with a braid—or my skirt. Or my shoes. Or anything my hands could reach.

“Don’t be nervous,” Cassady told me. Short and adorable, she had a wide smile showing a gap in her front teeth.

“Thank you.” I tried to shoot her a grin of equal caliber and failed. I didn’t know Cassady on a personal level but she’d always been kind to me. It mattered. “Same to you.”

She shrugged. “I’ve been practicing on my own. I’m not the best, of course, but I’m happy to have this power.”

“You’re actually happy about it?” I asked.

“Why wouldn’t I be? It’s a rare gift, which will make anyone who asks about me sit up and listen, and it could come in handy with any future jobs.” The smile was back in place, the gap in her teeth quite distracting.

Jobs? I hadn’t really thought about working. I was stuck on the actualgettingto Faerie and hadn’t a clue what I would do when I actually got there.

IfI got there.

Thoughts for another day when I had cleared some of the debris from my mind. At the moment, navigating in there was like trying to traverse a packed minefield. In a Jeep. Without a windshield.

The boys stuck together behind us and didn’t seem too interested in conversation. Fine, because I wasn’t either. I knew I should have been more appreciative for Cassady’s attempt at being friendly but the nerves battling each other in my stomach left me little room for gratitude.

“I mean, I heard from my mentor, Pepper, how the teacher panel for the initial test will generally go easy on us during this round,” Cassady continued. She took a step closer to me and spoke in a hush. As though we were sharing covert information, too sensitive for anyone else’s ears. “She said not to think about a thing because the more you think about failing, the worse it will be. She said she started to imagine how badly they were judging her and nearly choked. You have to keep your mind clear.”

It seemed pretty generic advice but I nodded anyway. More for Cassady’s benefit than out of any real understanding. “How have you been doing with your magic?” I wanted to know.

We stood outside the room waiting to be called inside. A little procession of terrified ducklings in matching jackets. “I try. It’s a slow process. I just tell myself there’s time to learn and no one expects me to be perfect right away. It’s why we’re here at the school. Right? To learn.”

Pretty much the same thing I’d told Mike. “Good advice.”

Afterwards, our chatter pretty much stopped, the four of us shuffling our feet as our anxiety grew with every passing second. I wasn’t sure if it would be a one on one test or if the three behind me would have to watch as I fumbled my way through.

Either way, I didn’t like it. Nausea tore at me in a way it hadn’t since the last lottery. I placed a hand against my belly to keep it from speaking up and saying something stupid. This wasn’t the time.Rarelywas it the time to say something stupid and still I couldn’t help myself in most circumstances.

Finally, the door opened and we whipped around in unison toward the professor standing there, the same one in charge of charms. Professor Nitliffe.

She beckoned for us to come forward. “Come on in, all of you.”

Okay, as a group, then. I’d have an audience. Sweat began to drip from my hairline and I stowed my clammy palms in my pockets.

Three additional teachers sat behind a long low table with their hands folded in front of them. One I recognized and the others I didn’t. They must be upper-class professors, ones I hadn’t had a chance to meet yet. At least they would be impartial. And have a better idea of what to look for in terms of a manifestation of power.

Nitliffe pointed to a spot on the floor and we all stopped there. The desks in the classroom had been pushed to the outside walls to make a large open space in the center of the room. I wondered how the other students were faring today in their own gatherings.

“Alderidge, Tavi,” she said, reading from a sheet.

Great, alphabetically I was first again.

Those butterflies went on attack mode and shredded their wayoutof my stomach. Not literally, but I was pretty sure I went green around the gills. None of the teachers made any comment about it. Surely they were used to looking at terrified students.

---