Page 27 of The Holy Academy of Witches

Now that had my attention. I closed the piano lid and picked up my phone, taking it off speaker I held it to my ear, “where are you?”

Dorcas cackled, “Ha! I told you she’d want to know Gemma.”

“I didn’t say she wouldn’t want to know, I said that you shouldn’t tell her because she’ll be pissed off,” I heard Gemma hiss in the background.

“Why are you at the boys’ Academy?” I said quietly, my voice dropping lower as I began to lose my patience.

“We’re not… Exactly. We’re at the lake and some of the boys are rowing. Looks as though they’re helping the Headmaster set up something for The Run.”

“Okay… and I need to know this why?” Chances are she’ll be right. She knew what set me off more than the others did… Either that or they just didn’t care.

“Don’t!” Gemma warned before Dorcas made a shushing sound. I closed the music room door as I began walking to the Lakeside entrance because this was obviously the way this conversation would send me.

“Marsha and Silva are here,” Dorcas rushed out smugly while fighting off Gemma. I paused in my tracks, a wave of annoyance rolling over me.

“I’m on my way.”

“Aw shit!” Dorcas was positively gleeful as she ended the call. She loved to start drama, she lived for it. Usually I didn’t like to indulge her but I could never resist getting one up on Silva and Marsha.

As I neared the lake, I could see exactly why Dorcas had called, she would have moved at the speed of light to alert me of this shameful display. Dorcas, Gemma and Lillian were sitting mid-picnic on the field sloping towards our side of the lake but even closer sat Marsha and Silva. The former wearing the skimpiest dress I’d ever seen outside of porn.

“Good morning!” I called out to them as I reached my room mates’ blanket. Marsha and Silva turned to look towards my voice, Silva’s face morphing into a grimace. Ha.

“Why are you getting their attention?” Gemma whispered.

“Because Gemma,” I said, unbuttoning my black fur coat, “I’ll be damned if I let Marsha-fucking-Cock-Gobbler ogle and carelessly distract Cillian.”

“Yesss!” Dorcas said, rubbing her hands together.

“For crying out loud. I told you not to call her,” Gemma shoved Dorcas as I handed Lillian my coat.

“Don’t let that touch the ground, it’s dry-clean only,” I instructed her before looking at Gemma, “Is my makeup okay?”

“Obviously. It’s perfect.” Dorcas replied at the same time Gemma said: “What are you going to do?”

“I’m not going to do anything. I don’t need to.”

I opened my bag, pulling out a small black pouch. Reaching inside, I rummaged around till my fingers found the blunt edges of the minute chair. Something which would be found in an ornate dolls house. I retrieved it and sat it down in the grass, adjusting the angle so that it had a good view of both the lake and the wooden jetty occupied by dumb and dumber. No, that was inaccurately cruel, they weren’t dumb, just nauseatingly arrogant and self-absorbed.

When the chair was in the perfect position, I placed my bag on the picnic blanket and waved a hand over the prop in a clockwise motion, whispering the desired spell under my breath. With a rush of magic the chair grew to the size of a regular armchair. Lillian gave me a brilliant smile and looked back across the lake, a hand over her eyes to shield them from the autumn sun.

“They are quite dreamy. That new one is delicious,” Lillian commented.

“I would have thought you’d be drooling over Marcus,” Gemma said.

“Oh she’s over him now she’s slept with him.” Dorcas replied.

“What?! You didn’t tell me that!” Gemma slapped Lillian on the leg.

I nestled down in the arm chair and looked across the lake, pointedly ignoring Silva’s sneer. When a flash of blonde hair bobbed out of the water, I sat up straighter… The new one? A muscular body followed as he heaved himself out of the water and onto the platform, which sat floating in the centre of the lake. He turned to shout something to the teacher and my heart jumped into my throat. It was the same student that caught me running on their campus. He looked like something out of an aftershave commercial. His hair wet and dripping onto… That body.

My eyes snapped to Marsha and Silva who were too busy watching Cillian, who had stood up in the row boat. He too was just wearing a pair of black swimming trunks. Good Lord. If he wasn’t so damn picky he could choose most of the girls at the Academy. My mind went back to seeing him meet Sage yesterday, not far from this very spot. I still hadn’t spoken to him about that. I had intended to observe Sage a little closer, try and work out how on earth she had come to know any of the boys, especially Cillian. But when I saw her with the directory in the library all of that was forgotten.

“Do you think turning up here and lounging around on your magic chair is supposed to impress the boys or something Adeline? …Pathetic.” Silva called out from her own ‘magic chair’. A phrase involving a pot and a kettle came to mind.

“Yeah, everyone knows he’s already mine!” Marsha said with a delusional smile. Dorcas laughed loudly but Marsha let it roll over her.

“I wonder…” I said, inspecting my perfectly manicured nails, “have you made any more voodoo dolls recently Marsha?” Her smile faltered, eyes darting to Silva.

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