Page 9 of Validus Vale Academy 1
Her thoughts make me wince. Uh-huh,” she replies aloud. “Good for you.”
“Right, um, anyway, thanks so much.”
It gets depressing, hearing what everyone thinks of you. Though the more powerful a witch is, the less they broadcast to my brain, like that professor who picked me up from the airport in Havengard City.
Even though I often wish away my telepathy, occasionally I feel like I’m telepathic for a reason; like I'm supposed to hear something specific. I just haven't figured out what that thing is yet. Surely it’s not just other people's opinions of me?
Returning to the gloom of the Defectivum entry hall, I come across my first fellow remedial student. He’s carrying a laptop under his arm. The boy is small and dark and wears the brown Defectivum House uniform uncomfortably; his blazer and pants are both too big. But his face is kind and brightens when he sees me.
“Hey. New girl?”
I nod in reply.
The boy grins widely. “Finally, I’m not going to be the shortest person on campus. Yes!”
“Happy to be of service,” I smile back. “I’m Theo.” I put the plastic tote on the ground and extend my hand. The boy’s brain bounces around like he’s thinking a million different thoughts at once.
—New girl here/I’m hungry/did I leave my phone upstairs/oh, I’ve got gum on my shoe/what is spilled down her front/funny sweater—
“Hello, Theo. I’m Duncan,” he replies, wrestling his computer under the opposite arm, then shaking my hand enthusiastically.“Duncan Links. So happy to have another dud in the house. Most of the others hide away like scared little mice, not that I blame them. It’s only bravado that keeps me from doing the same, eh?”
The ‘eh’ at the end makes me think Duncan might be Canadian. I pick up the laundry again and hold it on one hip. “Then I shall happily join you in fronting. Seems like that’s a talent a scholarship kid should have.”
“Scholarship?” Duncan’s eyes grow wide. “The Guggenheimer Scholarship?”
I nod.
“Wow, they must think your potential is huge.”
“That’s what she said,” another voice chimes in. A medium-height curvy girl with sandy hair, rosy cheeks, and a genuine smile comes in through the front entrance.
Duncan spins around. “Willow, come here, we’ve another dud,” he yells happily. “And she seems reasonably cool, too.”
The girl called Willow is wearing baggy dishwater-brown sweatpants and a tan sweatshirt. The ugly uniform must be the Defectivum House gym clothes. “Tactlessness much?” she grimaces, but I just grin.
“I’m Theo,” I tell her. “Just arrived.”
“Willow Bloomhower,” she smiles back. “Did you say you have the Guggenheimer Scholarship? Congrats. You must have a crazy-powerful lineage,” she continues. “Is your family famous?”
“Very much not,” I laugh, trying to keep the heap of linens from toppling out of the tote. “No clue why I’m here.”
“I’m sure it’ll become obvious soon,” Willow smiles kindly. “Do you need help moving in?” —Poor thing, she looks wrecked/what's on her sweater?—
Before I answer her spoken question, she grabs the blankets from me. “Come on, lead the way, we’ll help you settle in.”
As I take them to the basement stairs, Duncan frowns. “You’re in the basement? Come on, that’s a joke, eh? You can’t honestly be rooming down here. Though if you think about it, it’s not even rooming, it’s basementing.”
“I got changed to Defectivum at the last minute, so this is the only place left.”
Duncan and Willow follow me down the rickety steps, and as I flick on the overhead strip light, Willow lets out a shriek. “Absolutely not!” She turns three-sixty, a wild look in her eye, then shudders dramatically. “Defectivum is a shitty house, but not this shitty.”
“I don’t know,” Duncan says with a shrug. “Honestly, it’s kinda cool to get a whole floor to yourself. I’ve got nine siblings and never get alone time.”
“Nine? I’m half jealous, honestly. I’d have loved a brother or sister.”
“You’re welcome to any of mine,” Duncan grumbles.
“Never mind that now,” Willow wrinkles her nose. “This place smells of cleaning fluid and exhaust fumes; you’ll be poisoned. Is there even a CO2 monitor down here? Seriously, this is not acceptable.”
