Page 47 of Magical Academy for Delinquents
“Why do they have something like that at a school!” Emelia said, retracting her hand and pawing nervously at her bright red hair. “That should be illegal. What if they got burned?”
I shook my head. So far, Metamorphose didn’t follow any of the rules that my previous academies had. As far as I could tell, these professors couldn’t be bought, and they seemed to get a twisted sort of pleasure out of punishment. I glanced down at the gym floor. Huchmala was smiling up at the circle, where the competitors were now punching each other even though they were sideways. Professor Barron looked like she was hot and bothered by the two males pummeling each other. Only Professor Ho looked bored, probably because he was mentally critiquing every move they made.
The flames dimmed and students around us yelled, “Boo!” but only seconds later, a blue light flashed directly under the competitors’ feet. One guy—Chris—saw it. Julian didn’t. The first guy sprinted up the side of the bubble until he was hanging upside down like a bat. His feet were firmly planted on the top of the bubble, but his long hair floated up around him.
Next to me Emelia gave a little squeak. “The gravity must be inverted. Instead of pulling in, it pulls out to each of the edges.”
I started to ask what that meant but the blue light flashed and suddenly half the dome was covered in ice. Julian slid, arms pinwheeling. That’s when Chris leapt down, jumping onto Julian’s back. I expected him to pummel the other guy into submission, but Julian flipped their bodies so that he was on the bottom, sliding on his back along the ice. And then he tossed Chris into the air—as if the two-hundred-pound dude weighed nothing.
I hunched my shoulders and squinted, waiting for the moment that Julian would roll to the side and Chris would fall back down, landing smack on his back. But Chris didn’t fall. He just floated, suspended, unable to move in the center of the sphere.
The whistle sounded again. And the screaming cheers started. “Fuck yeah! Julian!!!”
Zavier goaded the group near him into pounding their feet and chanting “Juli-an! Juli-an!”
The ice disappeared from the sphere, and I watched Professor Ho wave his hands. Chris was slowly lowered to the bottom of the sphere. When Chris stood up, the trapdoor opened, and the contestants descended.
Emelia turned to me. "Well, that was terrifying. So, what did you do this afternoon?"
"Stupid counselor appointment."
"Yeah? Is it because of your dad?" She asked.
My sense of indignation flared. I turned to stare at her. "Excuse me?"
"I mean, his death was kind of a big deal in the news. I don't know." Emelia played with her lip ring. "Never mind. Sorry."
I sighed and leaned back against the empty bleacher seats behind me, propping my elbows up on them. "Yeah. I guess it kinda is because of him." I didn’t mention Matthew.
"Your mom remarried, right?"
"Stalk me much?"
If Emelia's cheeks had gotten any redder, I could have stuck her in an apple orchard and called her a tree. "Sorry. I looked you up this afternoon."
"Don't do that." I scolded. The idea of someone prying into my life gave me the creeps. I did it myself all the damn time. But that was different. That wasn't for stalker reasons. Then again, Emelia was only here for a week. It's not like she had to take the threats about going camping out in the wilderness of campus (Metamorphose's version of in-school suspension) seriously. What the hell else was she supposed to do with a relatively free Sunday afternoon?
I looked over and realized she was studying my face. So, I shot her an answer. "Yeah, my mom remarried. And I hate the guy."
"My parents are divorced. Dad remarried," Emelia admitted. "But I kind of like her. She's less crazy than my Puritanical mother."
"You're lucky. Claudia's the worst." Even the thought of him made me suppress a shudder. I almost moved to touch the wound that was still healing on my stomach. But I resisted. No one needed to know about that.
"Your mom married a girl?" Emelia looked very confused.
"Nah. I call him that to piss him off," I explained as two new competitors started to climb the silver ladders.
"I like Laurie so much I call her mom most of the time. I try and stay over there as much as possible."
I cringed. "I'll never call the Clod that. I keep waiting for the day my mom sees sense and divorces him." I said that out loud, but I didn’t really believe it. Mom was too broken to love herself anymore. Too broken to love me. I doubted she’d ever leave Claude. I stared glumly up at the two new competitors as they were sealed into the fighting bubble.
"What if she doesn't?"
I didn't want to think about Claude the asswipe-cheater any longer. I didn't want to deal with it. So, I asked, "What exactly got you sent here?"
Emelia blinked hard for a second before she lowered her voice and said. "My mom found out I had two boyfriends."
"You were dating around? So?"
