Page 249 of Castings & Curses

I hadn’t forgotten the ticking time bomb that was the question of the future of magic hanging over our heads. The six of us were somehow embroiled in a situation much larger than us. We needed to work together and in the spirit of that fellowship, we’d established a truce.

But it was more than that. Some of us already felt it, and for the rest, well, we were on our way to real friendship. Maybe it was my relentless optimism hoping for the impossible, but I didn’t think so. Heck, I saw Tana crack a grin that very morning when Mabe rolled her eyes at whatever gooey babble Maia and Enok had been spouting over muffins and coffee. The two of them were adorably obnoxious.

Of course, that made me think back on Arlo. He had to feel something for me.

Right?

Crap.

Maybe I’d scared him.

“Earth to Jade? Hello?” Mabe had stopped in front of the infirmary. She had a shift today, part of her work-study thing.

“Sorry. You off?”

“Yeah, gotta go punch in. See ya later.”

“Bye,” I murmured.

So lost in my own reflections, I ran right into a solid wall when I turned the corner for myReading the Rocks: A Lesson in Gemologylecture. Big hands clasped my shoulders, and I couldn’t back away fast enough. I really did not like being manhandled.

“Easy there, pigpen,” the stranger sneered, and I looked up into a pair of taunting yellow eyes.

“Don’t call me that,” I replied, moving around the big oaf.

“You know, you elementals think you’re all that, but we all know the truth. Freaks, every last one of you,” snarled the wizard.

“That’s great. Thanks,” I said, trying to move around him.

The student body at Westwood comprised two types of magicals—not wizards and witches, but rather,elementalsand everyone else. I stopped in my tracks since the big jerk blocked my way and looked at him.

Crap.

I knew him.

Jeremy Thrumble.

Total jerk.

He was my very first boyfriend. The one who gave me all my firsts.

First kiss.

First sex.

First heartbreak.

When had he started going to Westwood Academy?

I thought for sure his Daddy had hired him straight from the womb to work in his prestigious firm.

Whatever.

I really did not care one way or other. But the angry look on his face was a bit much, considering we’d never gotten past that terrible first date. He looked me up and down, and I wanted to squirm under his stare. It made me feel dirty, like he could see right through my clothes. Oh, I was totally covered, wearing a modest, mid-length summer dress. The sneer never left his face.

“Still eating too much at dinner, I see.”

“That is really one of your business. Excuse me, I have to go.” I pushed past him, but he grabbed my elbow, forcing me to turn around.

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