There are three doors.

Things are fuzzy for a second. I think I'm looking at the alarm clock beside my bed. Then my vision goes dark again.

These three doors are tall...and slender…and closed. They are the same. Or are they?

I see my dark purple bedspread out of the corner of my eye, although it's blurry and unclear. I think I can hear one of my roommates, Virginia, snoring. The sound is low and rumbling. Maybe it's actually thunder? I shut my eyes again for just a little more sleep. Just one more minute to sleep.

The blurs of color rush into focus. Green, like a sour apple. Yellow, like daffodils in a field. Dark purple, suspiciously weaving around the floor like living vines. Calm shades of blue. The colors go on and on, thrown together like they're part of a mosaic. Get up off of the ground and look around! Oh. Nothing but darkness ahead. Darkness, and the three doors. Look back at the colorful ground. The floor is definitely made of glass, crunching like thin ice when walking across it. Carefully, now. Let's see if any of those doors can be opened.

I open one eye in time to see my other roommate sliding into the hallway. That's totally normal, though. Ellen's a really early riser. Probably going to be the first one in the cafeteria for breakfast. Again. My eyes close.

Does the southern door look interesting? It should. Up close, the door is warm to the touch. Is that music far off in the distance, or laughter? Don't panic! That little jolt was just your heartbeat. This seems very welcoming, and the happy greens and yellows dancing enthusiastically around on the floor agree.

I hear a faraway sigh. Was that me? Just a few more minutes of sleep…

The yellow colors turn golden, and begin to fade behind the western door. There are claw marks around the doorknob. Not a good sign. But, the writhing red wisps underneath your feet are mesmerizing. Voices, soft and harsh, are coming from behind the door. What are they talking about? A low, sultry laugh sends a shiver down your spine. Was that trepidation or anticipation? Don't you want to find out?

Look! A bitterly cold breeze is blowing through the northern door as it opens. Approach it. The door shuts with an intimidating thud. The northern door looks formidable up close. Touch it, and feel the fear vanish with the cold. It's much different from the carefree warmth of the southern door. This feeling envelops you, gentle but strong, and you feel the palm of a hand brush against your cheek. The blue glass under your feet turns clear. Although you can see nothing but a yawning abyss below, the glass you are standing on feels much sturdier than the rest of the floor.

"Good morning, sleepyhead."

So, what do you want?

"Hey…hey, get up already!" I feel like I'm being shaken.

There are three doors. Which should you open? The southern door, or-

"Good MORNING, Genie!"

Virginia's excited shouting has the appropriate effect. With a yelp, I jerk into a sitting position in my bed. As if that weren't enough to make sure I was awake, I sneeze so forcefully it feels like my brain just tried to exit through my nose. Greeaat. An instant headache has arrived. Virginia lunges away from the side of my bed.

"Gross!"

"Not as gross as your gym socks." I grumble under my breath. Virginia hears me, but instead of getting angry like she might have at the beginning of the year, she bursts out laughing.

"Well, look who's been walking withershins in her dreams!" A fall back onto my pillow with a thud and stare at the boring plain ceiling.

"Virginia, what does that even mean?" She crosses her arms. Her curls bounce as she nods sagely.

"My mom says it when she wakes me up and I get grumpy. Every witch and wizard worth their magic knows you're supposed to walk deiseal. It's opposite in the southern hemisphere, though."

"And deiseal is…?"

"Hmm? Oh yeah! It's uh…clockwise! That's it! I get the two mixed up sometimes. Walking withershins in the northern hemisphere is supposed to dispel energy. Deiseal is clockwise, and that collects energy. So if you act all worn-out and stuff, they say you've been walking withershins." I'm quiet for a moment as I reach my hands above my head and stretch.

"Huh. That's interesting. Why is it different in the southern hemisphere?"

"I dunno. Never been there."

"Maybe it's not different. But that would be difficult to test…" Ellen has already slipped into our room and is sitting quietly on her own bed with a large library book in her hands. Virginia turns towards her with an eager smile.

"Hey! What's for breakfast?" Ellen shakes her head.

"Oatmeal or eggs with buttered toast. I put some banana in my oatmeal today. It was a nice change." Virginia is rushing to put her beat-up sneakers on before Ellen finishes her sentence. The door swings open and she strides into the hallway quickly.

"Getting toast. Later."

"Good luck. Bye." Ellen says helpfully to the door, which has already slammed behind Virginia. She turns to me and we smile at each other.

"So, what are you doing today?"

"Hmm. What day is it?" Ellen looks at me for a moment, tilting her head oddly.

"It's only Monday."

"Lovely." I groan and let my head flop forward so I can bury my face in my pillow.

"You seem…"

"Tired?"

"No, more than that. You seem completely out of it." Ellen murmurs in her matter-of-fact tone. I shrug with my face still pressed into my pillow. I straighten up when I hear Ellen's desk chair scrape against the wood floor.

"I guess I am out of it. I must have had one of those restless dreams."

"Which is unusual, because you wake up at the slightest little noise-"

"Or Virginia's snoring." We finish the sentence together and giggle. I'm out of bed and dressed in five minutes. I am standing in front of my desk, searching the two shelves above it for my day planner. There isn't a single open spot on either shelf, and sometimes, in the middle of the night, the creak of the bottom shelf – it supports my grimoire and my library books – will wake me up. Finally I find my little day planner, wedged tightly between the enormous copies of The Tale of Garahel and The First Age: Origins of Red Magic, both of them borrowed from the limited selection available at Iris Academy's library. I have mixed feelings about completing them, since I've finished almost all of the library books I'm interested in. Perhaps the Headmistress can recommend something for me to read over the summer, but I shouldn't worry about that with four months of school left.

I'm flipping through my day planner with a frown when Ellen speaks again.

"So what are you doing today?" I frown harder at my day planner.

"Well, it's Martin Luther King Jr. day. We don't have classes." It's Ellen's turn to frown.

"Genie, our day off was last Monday. We spent the whole day in our room and then all three of us took a red magic class on Tuesday. You're off schedule by a week." Before I think better of it, I blurt out, "I am?" and Ellen gets up and puts a hand on my forehead. Wrinkles appear in her forehead, but she sits back down less concerned than before.

"You really are disoriented. But you don't have a fever, which is good."

"I feel fine, so no problem." I sit down at my desk while Ellen starts scribbling in one of her notebooks. I stare at my day planner and run a hand through my hair. The ends of my hair curl beneath my shoulders, just like it did yesterday. Or last Sunday. Whenever I sigh to myself as I pull my grimoire off the shelf to look for the spells I should have learned in red magic with Ellen and Virginia. Sure enough, there are two new entries near the bottom of the page.

Virginia walks back into our room with a mouthful of toast preventing her from responding to Ellen's greeting. She holds one of the two pieces in her hands out towards me, and I take it with a grateful smile and a rumbling stomach.

"You missed breakfast, Genie. But I snatched some with cinnamon for you."

"Thanks. I'm not a big fan of scrambled eggs or oatmeal."

"Eggs were alright. I gotta get my protein before I head to the gym. So, what're you guys doing today?"

"I signed up for white magic." Ellen replies helpfully. I put my grimoire and both borrowed books in my bag before my roommates turn to me. There's room on my bottom shelf for at least six books now that those three are gone. I say the first magic class that comes to mind.

"Red."

"Again? Well, perhaps that will help jog your memory."

"Yeah, Genie. You look kinda out of it." I just shrug as I munch on my buttered cinnamon toast, and that's how our morning ends.

The first five minutes of class makes it obvious to me that I made a poor choice in attending red magic with Professor Grabiner. He spends the entire class period scowling at us, the few among the freshman class still voluntarily signing up for his classes. He growls through his lecture and occasionally shouts impossibly difficult questions at unsuspecting students. Near the end of class, he catches me staring out of the window, strides up and slams a hand onto my desk.

"Miss Chiesa, when poorly cast but excessively powered, this spell can trigger an earthquake. The name-"

"Shockwave." I respond quickly and hear the two freshmen nearest to me gasp. Great, I've interrupted Grabby in mid-tantrum. Professor Grabiner raises his eyebrows sharply, and I swiftly correct myself.

"The spell is named Shockwave, sir." The other freshman look at each other blankly, having never heard of the spell before. Professor Grabiner sighs irritably and stalks away from my desk, coming to rest in front of Virginia's obnoxious second brother Donald.

"Mr. Danson, when a mage casts the spell Flames in your direction, would you consider Blast as an appropriate defensive tactic? Why or why not?"

I didn't listen to Donald's reply as I drew flowers along the border of my notes. Professor Grabiner did not even bother to indicate whether my answer was correct, but I knew it was. Shockwave generally used a great deal of energy and required a level of skill most freshman didn't have until the end of the year – if they took red magic regularly. It wasn't even in our grimoires yet, and I definitely couldn't cast Shockwave. But, I had the knowledge thanks to Damien.

I often played flowerstones in the hallway with Damien, deliberately not looking when he stretched his wings, trying my best to remember all the stories and lessons he'd shared from his four years at Iris Academy. Now he completely ignores me, all because I wouldn't change my weekend plans at the last minute when he snapped his fingers. I had much more fun at the mall with Donald on Saturday, but Damien's behavior still irked me; it's amazing how quickly one week can change things…

Hey, I remember what I did last week! My eyes widen at the apparent recovery of my memory. Professor Grabiner looks my way, and I quickly lower my eyes to my hands before he calls on me again. I walk out of the professor's classroom beside Donald, who is being his usual high-spirited self.

"You know, you would make a pretty good Horse" I pat the insignia on my robes lightly and he grins.

"Better than you at any rate. Hey, remember that day trip into the dungeons? We should go again sometime, only with a picnic lunch."

"You mean one detention wasn't enough for you? Just turn around and go ask Grabby for one this Saturday. I was really surprised he didn't give you any punishment in class today."

"Why would he?"

"Uh…because it's a tradition?"

"Ha, you got that right! So, no detention. Huh. I just don't know what I'm going to do with myself this weekend."

I laugh as Donald scratches the back of his head, pretending to look lost as his eyes dart around the corridor. Then, an odd little thought passes through my mind. I would be content if this moment just froze. Everything feels so alive, so green and yellow. That little jolt was your heartbeat. The strange déjà vu feeling passes away just as quickly as it washed over me, and Donald is looking over his shoulder as he walks away from me. I feel hairs standing up on the back of my neck, like someone is watching me, and I look around the empty corridor. This is the door you've chosen. Funny, I don't remember choosing a door.

"Yeah, I'm looking at you Genie. Catch up if you can!" Shaking off that sudden paranoia attack, I smile and rush to catch up with Donald.

"Come on! Wait for me!"

"Quit spacing out on me, it makes me think you should have been in Toad Hall. Er, well you'd be a Snake because you're a girl."

"Thank you, Master Obvious-"

"Hey!"

"Anyway, I'm going to head to the library."

"Again?"

"Yeah, but I think this'll be the last time." Donald rolls his eyes dramatically, and I smack him on the arm.

"I'm serious! There's not a lot I'm interested in anymore."

"You know, if you really wanted stuff to read…" He's really piqued my interest this time, and I lean forward eagerly after it becomes obvious he's not going to give me an answer that easily.

"If I really wanted something to read, where would I go? Tell me!" Donald pretends he doesn't hear me, whistling and looking everywhere but directly at me. After I repeat myself a few times, louder than before, and shake his arm he bursts out laughing and hold up his hands.

"Okay, geez. Why don't you just go ask Grabby?" Like Ellen did to me this morning, I feel his forehead and make him laugh even harder.

"Ask Professor Grabiner? That's not funny-"

"No, I really meant it! Think about it. Grabby's always got a book with him, and he's basically a walking encyclopedia. He must have loads on…um, whatever it is you're reading about. The Old Gods and the blighters."

"Not blighters. The Blight." I chuckle quietly, mulling over his suggestion. Even if Professor Grabiner didn't have any material (which was as unlikely as the sun setting in the east) or refused to lend to me, he could at least suggest a title I could look for at the mall this weekend.

"But I have to catch him in a good mood."

"Or what? It's just a question, and you have a healthy cushion of merits as protection. Now if I asked him for a book…" We're laughing again as we continue our walk through the school hallways, never losing that easy lightheartedness. That seems to be Donald's greatest talent, aside from causing trouble and singing Broadway songs at inappropriate times.

"Why do you think the library has such a pitiful collection?"

"I think the collection's alright. You're just an over-demanding nerd."

"I am not."

"You totally are."

"Am not."

"Sure. If you want an honest answer, here's my take: all this stuff you're interested in has to do with the Otherworld. Yeah, witches and wizards live there. But, its history goes back thousands of years, and some of the non-human residents are literally so dangerous kids like us are forbidden from going there. So let's pretend the library did have a collection on white magic and the Otherworld, and some kid checks a book out. Then, they find out about all this cool and radical stuff that they've never seen before in a faraway magical land."

"Well, that's not exactly-"

"All of a sudden, this kid wants to find out more and more."

"I see where this is going, but-"

"One day, it won't be enough to just read about it. That kid is going to want to go to the Otherworld. Odds are, they're not going to be ready when they decide to go."

"Point taken, but-"

"I'm not saying it's inevitable. But, at least if the published information is kept out of public reach, then adult mages can keep an eye on who may or may not be at risk of doing stupid stuff like that. And the people who would do stupid stuff anyway won't even have the spells with which to accomplish said stupid stuff."

"Okay, you made your point." I sigh quietly as I let my backpack thump to the ground. Donald grins sheepishly as I haul the two borrowed books out of my backpack and slide them into the deposit box beside the closed library doors. I turn back to him.

"Well, I won't be doing anything that stupid for a while. But, now that I think about it, asking Professor Grabiner for a book on that topic wouldn't be a smart idea either. He'd probably alert all of the faculty and staff, and they'd be watching me like I'm some dangerous inmate." Donald nods and huffs a laugh as he swings his arm around my shoulder for a quick hug.

"You can't escape the system."

"Come on, Donald. You sound like a conspiracy theorist."

"I'm not a theorist, Genie. I am the conspiracy." I let my head rest on his shoulder for a split second before tugging my hand out of his and walking away.

"Alright, get lost. I'll see you at dinner."

"It's a date."

Our "date", as it turns out, includes sharing a table with the twins Luke and Logan, Ellen and Virginia. Aside from a little bit of sibling squabbling between Virginia and Donald, it's so much fun being together at one table. I would give anything to have dinner like that every evening until the end of school, when I head back to New Hampshire and I eat dinner with either my mom or my dad late at night. My parents work evening shifts, and they trade off each night on who goes to bed early and who stays up to talk with me. It used to be the three of us, together, but something's changed. Maybe if I'd stayed home I would have my finger on the pulse of the problem by now.

A spongy dinner role hits the back of my head, and I crane my neck to see Virginia and Donald's older brother, the dashing senior class president William, nodding his head toward Donald. His eyes meet mine, and William winks. I blush a little and roll my eyes, pick up the dinner roll and throw it back at him. I nudge Donald and tell him William needs a few more dinner rolls, since this is his final year and he's really going to miss eating them. Obligingly, Donald and the twins sacrifice their rolls for the cause, all three hitting William right on the skinny bridge of his nose. Now, I can go back to listening to the conversation and glancing at the winter sunset outside the cafeteria window.

I'm so looking forward to exploring the world outside of Iris Academy. It's like a fever, enveloping every part of my thoughts and all of my dreams. I can't wait to hear those words for the first time, spoken by Professor Potsdam…

Know this: like the permanent presence of the wondrous Veil, Iris Academy has provided you a safe foundation for which to test your skills. It falls to you to continue your journey, in whatever manner and direction you desire, with whomever you choose. May you talented, young and adventurous new mages of our society go out into the many worlds and seek that which is highest in your sights.

It feels like the rest of school flew by that cafeteria window. I don't know whether it was the many happy times I spent with Donald and my roommates, or the earnest wish to hear those words with my own ears. But to my excitement, graduation day arrived and I finally got to hear Professor Potsdam commend the senior class.