Page 27 of Shattered Illusion

I threw the biggest fit with my parents to keep me home for the day. Of course, they said no and sent me anyway. A few well-placed tears and holding my stomach, feigning sick, got me off the hook, and I spent the entire class period in the Nurse’s office.

My parents yelled at me when report cards were distributed because of my low grade, but hey. I’d rather take the crappy grade than cut open a baby piggy. Dead or not.

All the chatter of other students cuts off as a man breezes into the room in, I shit you not, a three-piece emerald green suit complete with a matching top hat, his black hair sticking out from underneath it. His lips curl into a Cheshire grin as he places his stuff down his desk, highlighting the multitude of piercings on his face. A quick snap of his fingers and the main door into the classroom slams closed, causing me to jolt in my chair.

“Welcome back, everyone, and welcome to our new student.” A few heads turn in my direction, but I ignore them, keeping my focus on the eccentric man before me. “Now that we’re back from our weekend, it’s time to put what you learned last week to use.” Ahh, shit. I can already tell this isn’t going to end well for me. “Please gather your required ingredients from the list on your tablet under today’s classroom assignment. Then, take your seat promptly and get started. You have the entirety of class to finish your potion.”

Thanks, Teach. Super freaking helpful there, I grumble to myself as I bust out my tablet and pull open today’s lesson. Fan-fucking-tastic. Never in my wildest dreams did I think I’d be making a potion to stop warts.

How realistic is it that we’d actually need to use something like this in our lifetime? Where’s the potions for constantly clean hair, or hell, changing your hair to another color?

My audible gulp falls on deaf ears as I scan over the ingredient list. Half of this stuff is a massive question mark in my mind. The other half, though… my gag reflex kicks in, and I drop my tablet, holding my hand over my mouth. Gross, gross, triple freaking gross.

Eye of Newt.

Dragon’s Blood.

Wing of a Pixie.

What the fuck is this? The weird witches guide to all things that make me want to puke?

“Umm.. Professor Hannigan?” a sweet, twinkling voice calls out from next to me. “I think the new girl is gonna hurl.”

Toenails from a dead man?!

Fuck this shit. I’m noping myself right the fuck out of here. I yeet myself out of my chair, knocking my tablet off my table in the process. A loud crack permeates the air, but I pay it no mind as I beat feet toward the main door. I can vaguely hear my name being called from behind me, but I ignore them, hell-bent on getting as far away as possible from the toenails of a dead man.

My groan of dismay echoes in the abandoned hallway, knowing I left all my shit behind, but I absolutelyrefuseto go back and get it. Not now that I know what is hidden in those little unsuspecting jars.

If this is what it means to be playing the part of a witch, I want nothing to do with that title. Species. Whatever the hell you’d call it.

There has to be something else that’s semi-human that I can pass for. Witch can’t be my only option.

Maybe I can convince Thaddeus to give me pointed ears instead, and I’ll play fae for a little while.

Anything to get the heck away from dead men's toenails and other freakishly weird shit.

My stomach grumblesin protest about missing lunch as I head toward my second to last class of the day. But there’s no way I could have looked at food and not thought about the ingredients list from Spells and Potions class. A part of me wonders how people can handle that stuff so damn easily, but I have to remember that a lot of these people grew up in this world. While I didn’t.

The only bright spot in my day is the fact that I’ll have Thaddeus—or should I say, Professor Winterton—as my professor in Portalling. At some point, I’ll have to let him know what happened in my last class and see if there’s any way I can get a replacement tablet. And, well, someone to go get my stuff because I refuse to step foot back in that classroom

People give me a wide berth in the halls, whispering behind their hands as they look me over. A few are even bold, snickering out loud and pointing straight at me. They aren’t overly loud with what they’re saying, but I catch snippets here and there.

“First the flesh, and now potions class. She’s a terrible supe.”

“I’ll bet you ten bucks that she’s dead in a year.”

“I heard she’s human and paid a whole bunch of money to the person who was at the lagoon to say she had magic.”

Well, crap. The rumor mill is in full effect, and I’m the main star.

Go me.

Not where I wanted to be, especially on my first actual day here. But there’s not much I can do about it now. I need to just keep going forward, putting one foot in front of the other, and finish out the rest of my first day strong. Hopefully, it won’t be too hard since all I have left is portalling and transmutation.

Thaddeus is front and center when I walk into his classroom, the room a lot like the man himself. It’s in shades of a cool blue tone, no tables to be seen, just some hooks on the wall where I see others have already placed their things.

With nothing to discard, I head straight to the circle forming around Thaddeus. He throws me his signature lopsided smile, and I swear I hear a few girls swoon over the move.

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