Page 15 of Monster's Delight

“Siobhan,” I said quickly.

“That was very good deductive work, Siobhan. Have you given thought to your thesis work next year?”

I shook my head, speechless.

“I would very much like you to consider joining my team.” He clapped his hands sharply, making more than just me jump in surprise. “Moving on. I hope you’re all writing this down?”

The sound of a flurry of scratching pencils on paper filled the air.

Chuck dogged my steps on the way to the mess hall. “You know that one of the sexiest things about you is your brain, right?” he said as we lined up for our meals.

“Please don’t take my brain and put it in a jar on your desk,” I retorted. “That’s just creepy.”

“Your body is sexy too,” Chuck said, giving me a leering once over, from the toes of my boots up my body, lingering on how my hips and boobs filled out the form-fitting sweater dress I was wearing today.

My skin prickled uncomfortably. “That isn’t what I meant.” I grabbed the first plate of food my hand came into contact with and scanned the tables for Hazel’s comforting presence. I found her quickly and sighed with relief that there was only one seat available next to her. Without saying goodbye to Chuck, I walked quickly to Hazel’s table and sank into the seat she had saved for me. “I love you.”

Hazel nodded at me around her bite of salad and signed “I love you” back at me.

I felt like someone was staring at me, the little hairs on the back of my neck standing on end, but when I looked around, the only person I could see that was looking at me was Chuck, two tables away.

“Doesn’t he get that I find him stalking me to be creepy?” I complained to Hazel.

She shrugged.

We talked about anything other than him for the rest of lunch. Hazel was especially excited by my recount of Professor Akhtar asking me to join his team for my thesis.

“He rarely asks students to study under him. You must have really impressed him,” she said, brown eyes wider than usual. “This is perfect for you!”

“Yeah, I’m seriously considering it.”

We cleared our seats, carrying our trays to the disposal.

“I’m looking forward to Magical Flora,” I told her. “I like getting to sit next to you for once.”

“Magical Flora?” Chuck’s voice came from behind us. “Why aren’t you calling it Herbology like the rest of us?”

I shrugged. “We’re talking about trees, flowers, spices,andherbs. I feel like my name describes it better. Plus, ‘Herbology’ sounds a bit juvenile, don’t you think?”

“I don’t care what it’s called,” Chuck snarked back. “It’s still teaching us what we need to know.”

We made our way to the classroom, which was half-greenhouse, half-lab benches for us to sit at.

I barely had time to pull my stool out before Professor Calderwood was ushering us to stand at the front of the room.

“I hope you’ve had a chance to finish your field guides for Northumberland Island’s native flora!” he said, rubbing his hands together gleefully. Flakes of old dirt fell from them to the floor at his feet. “We’re going to replenish the storeroom. Both our lab and potions use many of our native plants, so we need fresh stock. Make yourselves baskets. Please take only one of each plant you come across, and label it properly. The student who returns with the widest variety, correctly identified, will earn an extra credit!”

Hazel grabbed my arm. “Team up?” she asked eagerly.

“I’m glad you asked,” I replied with a chuckle. “I’ve completed my field guide, but I’m not sure I’d be able to recognize all of them.”

“Happy to help,” Hazel said, tucking her arm through mine as we left the classroom. “Together, we can tie for the top spot!”

“Not if I can help it!” Chuck said haughtily as he pushed past us. “I’m sure to get that extra credit.”

“Ignore him,” Hazel said, pulling me to the other side of the semi-circle now surrounding our teacher.

“You can search anywhere on the island, but you cannot go further into the enchanted forest than one tree trunk. I will be keeping a sharp eye out. I don’t want anyone getting lostthisyear,” Professor Calderwood said. “Now, where are my glasses?”

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