Page 2 of Monster's Mistake

Someone approaches the bench beside us, and I look up to find Anja’s boyfriend taking his seat. “Afternoon,” Cethin says, wiggling his bat-like ears in Anja’s direction to make her giggle. She seems to find them cute.

“It’s twelve-fifteen,” I point out.

Cethin chuckles and puts an arm around Anja. “That’s afternoon.”

“Where’s your partner in crime?” I ask.

“Afan?” The look on the dark warlock’s face reveals that he knows exactly who I’m asking about, and it’s not Afan.

“Meic,” I correct. “I want to know if I need to prepare myself for the awkward fumbling or the onslaught of jokes about how I don’t even need to look at him in order to turn him rock hard.” The awkward fumbling for words is kind of charming, especially from someone who looks like Meic with his broad shoulders, ink-black skin, and the twin horns that jut proudly out of hisforehead. The terrible dirty puns, not so much. I don’t mind the occasional well-timed one, but that’s not what he ever manages.

Anja chokes on her sandwich, but it might be to cover up her amusement.

To Cethin’s credit, he doesn’t laugh. “Meic got himself into trouble for saying something dumb during Monsters Throughout History.”

I snort. “What a surprise.”

“I hope he’s not in too much trouble,” Anja responds.

“I already took him a smoothie,” Cethin responds. “That way he won’t get too grumpy this afternoon.”

“Because Meic’s problem is clearly that he needs to get more of his five-a-day,” I mutter.

Cethin chuckles. “Yeah, the fruit is just what he needs, not the stuff that will stop him from turning into a mindless ghoul who would go on a rampage through the whole academy in search of human flesh.” He picks up a grilled sandwich and bites into it as if he hasn’t just said what he has.

“Meic’s a ghoul?” I ask, not able to keep the surprise out of my voice. I suppose that makes sense considering the impressive horns he sports, but I’ve always been taught that it’s rude to ask what someone is.

“You didn’t tell her?” Cethin asks Anja.

The banshee shrugs. “It’s not my place to. Though I figured most people knew, it’s not like he does much to hide it.”

I suppose she has a point there. Most people at the academy are fairly obvious about what they are, and I can’t say I’m any different with my nest of snakes for hair. I suppose I could take some kind of potion to cover them up, but I don’t really see the point. It’s not like doing that would change anything about who or what I am. Or the fact that I still wouldn’t be able to ignore the snakes, and I’d look a lot crazier talking to them if no one else can see them.

“I didn’t know,” I say. “But I won’t say anything.”

Cethin shrugs. “I don’t think it’s meant to be kept a secret.”

“Nothing stays secret here for long anyway,” Anja points out. “There’s always something coming out.”

“True,” I say. And if it isn’t about who is what, it’s about who is doing what with who. There’s never a dull moment at Blackthorn Academy.

I pick up one of my sandwiches and take a bite. The bread is a little dry and crumbly, but other than that, it’s fairly decent. Certainly better than suffering for the rest of the day from eating gluten. As if having snakes for hair wasn’t bad enough, I can’t eat a pretty standard food group either.

“What have you got after lunch?” Anja asks me.

“Charms and Potions,” I respond. “You had that this morning, right?”

She nods. “It was a good one, though I’m still not good at potions. Apparently, that’s normal for banshees.”

“Why don’t you drop it?” I ask.

She glances at Cethin. Right, it’s their only class together, no wonder she doesn’t want to stop taking it. “Everyone keeps telling me how useful it is,” she says instead of the real reason.

“Mmhmm.” I give her a look that says I don’t believe her.

“I’m serious,” she says.

“Keep telling yourself that, and at some point, it might even sound true,” I respond.

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