Page 16 of Monster's Delight

That caused almost every student to laugh, and several pointed to the top of their heads. His glasses were perched on top of his messy brown hair, sparkling in the sunlight. He retrieved them and waved us off. Our classmates moved off in all directions, some singletons, some in pairs, and a couple small groups.

“Where to first?” Hazel asked eagerly.

“Definitely the enchanted forest,” I replied without hesitation. “If I stay one tree trunk length from the edge, you can go even further in, because we’ll keep in touch, literally.”

“I like it.”

We took a moment to make our baskets out of a fallen leaf that we rolled into a cone, and then I found a loose vine that I lengthened and thickened into rope.

“Ready to go fishing?” I teased.

“Not sure that metaphor works here,” Hazel said, miming gagging. “I really don’t want to get on a boat.”

I winced. “Right, sorry. Hunting then?”

“Better.”

“No, I know! Gardening!”

Hazel burst into giggles. “Gardening in the forest? I don’t think so.”

“How many have you got?” Chuck asked, walking past us. “I’ve already collected ten specimens.”

“Leave us alone,” I replied, rolling my eyes. I finished tying the rope around Hazel’s waist and we headed for the edge of the forest. “Be sure to keep me in sight, okay?”

“I got this.”

We worked methodically, moving from one tree to the next, Hazel walking five paces into the forest, or until she spotted a plant on our list, and bent to collect it. At that point, she’d return to me, where I would label the plant and store it in our baskets.

We had collected quite a few plants that relished the dark, damp climate of the enchanted forest before we moved on to the fields covering the hills on the west of the island. I coiled the rope, in case we had more time to explore the eastern side of the enchanted forest, and we joined several other students collecting the meadow plants that were common to our island.

By the end of class, our cones were stuffed full of a wide variety of plants. Many other students also had gathered a good crop, so it wasn’t immediately clear who had won the extra credit.

“I’ll inform you of who received the bonus mark next class. Thank you all for your help.” The professor led us back into the classroom, where we laid our baskets on our worktops. “See you on day six. Be sure to read chapter three on explosive interactions before then. I don’t want to clean up any messes.”

“I never know if he’s joking or not,” I whispered to Hazel.

“Oh, he’s not joking,” Chuck said, inserting himself into our conversation.

“What do you think is for dinner tonight?” I asked Hazel, ignoring the boy between us. “Personally, I’m hoping for fish and chips.”

“I think it might be a little more sophisticated than that tonight. I heard a rumor that the Culinary Delights class had a test today to cook for the entire school.” Hazel’s eyes sparkled. “And then we can get ready!”

“Ready for what?” Chuck asked. He looked from Hazel to me and back again. “Is there a party tonight?”

I glared at Hazel, who looked sheepish. “It’s a girl’s night,” I finally said to get Chuck off my back. “No boys allowed.” I paused at the top of the staircase leading down to the basement level. “I’m going to work on my Qualitative Spellcraft homework before dinner. We were given an essay on the different branches of magic. Just an overview, but it’s taking me a lot more time than I thought it would.”

“All right.” Hazel flipped her hand in a wave and continued walking toward the stairs heading up. “See you at dinner. Do I need to come get you, or will you manage to extricate yourself from the library on time?”

I laughed. “Maybe you should come get me.”

“Got it.” Hazel grinned at me.

I found a quiet table near the bookcase containing the books I would need. Each book had a history of a branch of magic, some of which were several volumes thick. I didn’t need to summarize the history, thankfully, but I did need to list out the name, how it functioned, and its limitations.

I pulled out my paper, skimming it to remind myself where I was. The back of my neck prickled, and I felt like someone was watching me again. Rather than whipping my head around, I found my place in my essay—destructive magic destroys an object, and is limited by proximity—and got up, heading for the bookshelf. While I skimmed the titles with my fingertips, I glanced to my left, trying to see who was staring at me.

Nobody stood out, although I found my gaze drawn to a rather attractive dark-haired man. I couldn’t call him a boy; the way his shoulders filled out the shirt he was wearing was drool-worthy.

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