Page 16 of Spirit Witch

“You’re turning pink,” Judge observed.

With a name like that, I’d have expected him to be critical, but he wasn’t.Just observant.And that was enough to rattle my nerves and make me wish I was anywhere else.Worse, I wished the floor would just open up and swallow me already.

“So, tell me about the prophecy you shared with your friends,” he said, and I was confused for a moment.

“Oh, you mean the one about Tana and Brandon?”

“Yes,” Judge said, holding his own mug of tea with both hands as he took a seat on the rug in front of me.

“Oh,” I murmured, my instinct to scramble back, but something in his dancing eyes made me stand my ground.

It’s not that I thought he was laughing at me.But he was definitely testing me.The others sort of faded into the background as I stared back into his eyes.Nervous and anxious, wondering which one of us would bring up our dream conversations and, of course, the thing that was most on my mind.

Our almost kiss.

“Oh, I have that saved on my tablet,” Jade called out, thrusting the tablet in front of Judge’s face.He looked at it and nodded politely.

“Thank you, but I am not concerned with the prophecy.I am more interested in how she came to receive this message.”

“What do you mean?”I asked.

“What part of your magic did you tap into and how did you know to tap into it?”

“But I didn’t.I just, well, I don’t know.”

“That is a lazy answer, Nizhoni.It’s unworthy of you.”

“Hey,” Tana started, but I raised my hand to hold her off.

“It’s okay, Tana.So, how do I get un-lazy?”I asked, directing the question to dream boy, er, Judge.

“Is that what you want?To get un-lazy?”

Judge cocked his head to the side, watching me intently.I’d never been stared at like that before, and it made something tighten in my gut, causing my heart to beat a little faster.He was incredibly good looking, but I couldn’t get a read on him.Like, not at all.

As inexperienced as I was, I knew when guys liked me.I might not believe what Tana said about me being the prettiest of my roommates, but I just didn’t see what they saw.I felt like something was off or missing.Like the person I was in my dream was closer to my truth than the skin I wore just then.

“What I want is to understand what I am and to use my powers to help my friends figure out what is going on with magic.”

“Then let’s do that.We start tomorrow.”

CHAPTER7

The first thingI saw the next day on my tablet was a message from Headmistress Armstrong asking me to come to her office for tea and a chat.Typically, I only went to see her once a month, and this was sooner than expected, but whatever.

I did not think too much about it.Just replied I was busy with another appointment but would try to make it sometime later in the week.After I hit send, I realized that might not be possible with it being so close to the holidays.

Technically, Westwood Academy had a few weeks off for a winter break between semesters.Many members of the faculty, staff, and students traveled home to celebrate whatever it was they celebrated over December.

I had no religious affiliation to speak of, but I remembered Christmas trees and Menorahs in some of the houses I was fostered in.Everything was always a bit fuzzy when I tried to recall things like that.As if the memory was buried beneath a hundred sheets of vellum paper.Seasons didn’t behave at the academy the same way they did in the human world, but time marched on as always.

Arriving at the school had brought many things to my attention I never knew existed.Among them, various holidays and celestial events that were to be observed and treated with respect.I’d heard lots of witches and wizards speak of Winter Solstice celebrations, and even Brandon, Tana’s mate, talked about special Yule parties his family was hosting.Tana was nervous about meeting them, but she was going to win their hearts over.No doubt about it, in my mind.

My tablet pinged again, signaling another message, but I ignored it as I headed to the clearing inside the Winter Forest where I had agreed to meet up with Judge.Armstrong was going to have to wait.If anything, Mabe could always tell her aunt I was busy.After all, we’d been brought together by the headmistress to try to find a way to save magic.She would likely be happy to know I was finally working on my part in all of this.

Anxiety filled me for a split second, and I was back to doubting myself.It was like Mabe said when I confessed last night how little I felt I brought to our group.

“You only feel that way, Enid, because you haven’t unlocked your potential.You got this.”

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