Page 9 of Monster's Delight

There was no curtain rod over the archway, so I took the needle I had brought from home, threaded it through the thick fabric for the “door”, and then enlarged it. Once the needle was long enough, I improved the structure of the archway to hold the edges, and then grew the fabric until it touched the floor.

“I love the pattern in this,” Hazel said, running her fingers down the silvery streaks in the navy material. “It looks like shooting stars!”

“It’s exactly the effect I was hoping for when I found the fabric swatch in the store. I forgot to test it out, but it really is perfect.”

We worked at making our little dorm into our home for the next eight months until my stomach rumbled. “I need to eat something,” I announced, putting my miniature wardrobe aside. My winter clothing was tucked away in a tiny box on top of my summer clothes. I was hanging my fall clothes on doll-sized hangers. It was much more convenient, space-wise, to keep our clothes small until we wanted to wear them. It was easier to wash them when they were tiny as well.

“You go ahead. I’m almost done here,” Hazel said, absentmindedly hunched over her own wardrobe.

I pushed up from my desk chair, brought from home of course, and was about to walk out of the room when a puff of air across my face heralded the appearance of a message from the school. I held out my hands and a piece of paper with my name on it dropped into my palms. Curious, I slit open the school’s seal with my thumbnail and scanned the words inside. I sighed. “I’ll have to go to the office after lunch,” I told Hazel. “Seems like the Mathemagic class has been canceled due to lack of enrollment.”

That got Hazel’s attention. She sat up abruptly. “Gee, I wonder why nobody wants to takethat?”

“Excuse you, Mathemagic is fascinating. The math behind magic?” I tried to present my case.

“Maybe for you, but it’s deathly boring to me. What are they putting you in instead?”

“That’s why I have to go see the academic advisor, I guess. There must be several options.” I shrugged. “Hopefully, I’ll be able to take Mathemagic next year. I’ll try to take a third year course now to make room for it.”

“Nerd,” Hazel coughed.

“I think you might be coming down with something. You should get the school nurse to check you out,” I teased, turning on my heel and calling out over my shoulder. “See you later, weirdo!”

I navigated my way through the ever more crowded hall until the stairs. They were wide enough for students to travel in either direction, fortunately, and I put my hand on the railing before taking the first step.

“Hello kitten,” a loud voice said near my ear.

One I knew all too well and had been avoiding. I almost fell down the stairs, I was so startled. “Chuck!” I exclaimed.

He grabbed my waist to steady me, smiling down at me. My skin crawled.

As soon as I regained my balance, I brushed his hands away. Just because I couldn’t stand the witch didn’t mean I didn’t appreciate his help. I didn’t want to visit the nurse before school had even started.

Chuck looked the same as ever, dark hair swished up in the latest style, strong jawline, straight nose, good teeth. My eyes skittered down from his smirk to see that he was a little different; he was filling out his shirt quite nicely.

My heart sped up a little and I chastised myself.

Calm down. He’s an asshole and you know it.

At the beginning of first year, I had been caught unaware by his charms, good looks, and mastery of spellcasting. But he had shown his true colors not long after our first date, with his snide comments about how Blackthorn should only accept witches, not “every sort of rabble with a magical aptitude”.

Needless to say, my crush on the good-looking witch had beenquitebrief.

“What do you want, Chuck,” I demanded. “I’ve got places to be.”

“Places like my bed?” he asked, leering at me. “That can be arranged. Just say the word.”

I felt my face screw up in disgust before I could hide it. “I refuse to entertain the idea of being together in any way with aracist.”

I must have imagined the hurt that flickered across his face. It was gone in a flash. “Come on, Siobhan, my beautiful little chipmunk. I’ve changed. Let me prove it to you.”

Chipmunk?

What the fuck?

“Prove it first, and then Imightconsider accepting a date with you.Might!” I re-emphasized to be clear. “I’ll be watching you.”

“Of course you will. I saw you checking me out, cheeky little squirrel.” He flexed like a Greek God, and this time I couldn’t control my eye roll.

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