I never liked magic—not really, anyway. It scared me how powerful it could be when you weren't in control. That was partially why parents always fought about letting me go to this school.
"It's too dangerous!" My mom would say. "She'll get hurt."
"Magic is who Kiley is," my dad would insist. "She'll be fine."
"Can you believe we're finally going to Wizard City?" Jessica gushed, interrupting my thoughts.
"It's crazy," I replied. I sounded forlorn—even to myself.
Jessica stared at me, her eyes narrowed in slight suspicion. "Are you okay, Kiley? You've been quiet the entire bus ride."
Jessica's family was special like mine was- bringing us even closer together. Both of our families possessed the ability of magic—of which only 1% of humanity had the chance of getting. That's why we're going to this school— we have to take care of this ability, to not let it go out of hand.
I continued to look out the window, trying to avoid all conversation, if possible. Jessica always seemed to want to talk to me.
"I'm fine," I said.
Sometimes I really hated how much Jessica knew me. See, we had grown up together and known each other our entire lives.
"I get it," Jessica snapped. "You don't want to talk to me."
It's not that I didn't want to talk to her; I just had a lot to think about and wasn't up to talking.
"I'm sorry," I sighed, already tiring of her theatrics.
Jessica rolled her eyes. "It's fine. I'm going to take a nap, wake me when we're there. Okay?"
"Okay." I said quietly, looking out the window once more.
I wasn't exactly sure how far away we were from Wizard City, but I could tell we weren't close. It reminded me of when my mom was saying bye to me— she couldn't stop talking about how 'far away her baby was going to be'. I really thought about it, and I already missed her. She was always there for me— she was the best mother anyone could wish for, but now I'm going to be alone. I'll have to do everything on my own.
How do I know? I did lots of research on this place. There are lots of shops you can shop at in the Shopping District, just like a regular town. Grocery stores, clothe stores, restaurants, everything. It's hard to be honest with myself, but I'm scared. What if something happens and I can't take care of myself? You see, my parents have always taken care of me, and if they weren't home, my grandma would come over.
But then, I thought to myself, what if I had a relapse? What if I couldn't control myself and hurt someone?
Suddenly, I felt the bus jerk to a stop. I grabbed onto the seat in front of me to stop myself from falling. Though, Jessica had been sleeping, causing her to lurch forward and fall onto the ground.
"Ow!" She screeched.
"Are you up, Jess?" I joked.
"Don't even." She hissed as she stood up, rubbing her arm.
"Are we at Wizard City?" I asked, looking out the window.
"Alright," the bus driver called. "Everybody off."
Everyone stared at each other, confused, but in the end we complied.
"Why are we getting off the bus?" Jessica asked nervously. "We're in the middle of nowhere."
"Look, you can see the outlines of a portal!" I pointed by a rock fixture, remembering that that's how you get to the school.
"Nerd," Jessica mocked.
"Shut up!" I said, but I was laughing.
As we exited the bus the hot summer air cut into me like a knife. It was impossible, but I seemed to already be sweating. I've always hated the heat.
"Alright, alright," the bus driver snapped. "Stop your yammering and get into the portal. Single file!"
Jessica rolled her eyes. "What a jerk," she muttered under her breath.
I reached the portal before Jessica. I stared into the red hues for a few moments before jumping in. I landed— on my butt—onto rough carpeting.
I stood up onto wobbly knees as I took in my surroundings. I was in a large, stone-looking room that was covered in old books and scrolls. A few of the kids on the bus were observing the scrolls, whereas some were pushing each other and goofing off. Jessica then came through the portal, landing on her stomach. Her face rubbed against the cold stone floor, causing a few cuts to form.
"Portals just can't be gentle," she muttered, rubbing her jaw.
I stifled a laugh. "Are you okay?" I asked.
"No!" She hissed. "Today just isn't my day."
I was about to reply when a polite, but distinctly powerful voice said, "Welcome students!"
My mouth literally fell open as I took in the owner of the voice. A man who looked over a thousand stood there. His entire body was covered in light wrinkles; even his pure white hair seemed wrinkly. He wore these ancient looking robes with strange designs on them. The man wore a single spectacle over his left eye as his right, cobalt blue one observed us all.
"My name is Headmaster Ambrose. I'll be guiding you through your studies," he smiled slightly. "Today you will be taking a test to determine which type of magic you will study."
"What?" Jessica protested loudly. "We didn't get to study!"
Headmaster Ambrose almost glared at her as he said, "Relax, it's only a personality test."
Jessica didn't reply, she simply rolled her eyes. She hated when she was proven wrong.
"If you'll follow me," Headmaster Ambrose said, walking towards two doors and opening them.
As the doors were pushed aside I saw what appeared to be fifty desks lined up perfectly. On every desk sat one piece of paper and one sharp pencil.
As we took our seats, Jess muttered to me, "I'm going to go opposite on my answers."
"Why?" I giggled. "It's a personality test."
She shrugged. "What have I got to lose?"
Everything, I wanted to say. This test would be choosing our lives for us.
I rolled my eyes as I looked down at the questions on the paper. Okay, I said, trying to calm myself inwardly. This will be easy.
"1): What is your favorite animal?
- Dragon
- Polar Bear
- Shark
- Serpent
- Unicorn
- Bat"
What weird answers to choose from, I thought to myself. Why don't they just put normal animals? Like a cat or dog? I decided to circle Polar Bear, but glancing over at Jessica, I could see she chose Unicorn, which probably meant her favorite animal was the bat or something.
"2): What, in your opinion, is more powerful?
- Plague (disease)
- Earthquake
- Tornado
- Hurricane
- Blizzard
- Volcano"
This question was honestly hard. They were all powerful, but in different ways. I decided to go with Hurricane, but I couldn't see what Jessica chose.
"3): What best describes you?
- Creative
- A true friend
- Trust-worthy and works hard
- Smart
- Sportsy
- Bits and pieces of different things"
I wasn't sure how to describe my entire personality in one word, so I just went with smart. Jessica was always calling me a nerd. Looking over at Jessica's paper I saw she had circled trustworthy and works hard. I nearly laughed out loud.
"4): What is your favorite time of day?
- Dawn
- Midday
- Morning
- Night
- Afternoon
- Midnight"
I wasn't exactly a morning person, so I picked the opposite. Night.
"5): What is your favorite season?
- Winter
- Spring
- Summer
- It really doesn't matter to me
- Fall
- I love them all"
I've always loved winter, ever since I was young, so I chose that. I glanced over at Jessica's paper, and she had chosen winter as well. I knew she would choose that since I knew her favorite season was summer.
"6): What is your favorite activity?
- I don't know
- Being outdoors
- Learning new things
- Reading a good book
- My kind of sport
- Having fun with my pets"
My favorite activity? Out of those I guess would be learning new things. I loved being intellectual and hoped one day to know everything.
"7): What is your favorite class in school?
- Sports/Gym
- Reading and writing
- Science and math
- I love all of my classes
- Health
- I don't like any of my classes"
I picked reading and writing because I honestly enjoyed that class more than any other, I felt free in that class, I could write and read whatever I wanted. Whenever my life was hard or my parents were fighting I would read—just for the effect to be in a different place.
"8): What is your favorite gem?
- Sapphire
- Emerald"
There were only two answers, causing my brow to furrow. I wasn't a gem expert, but I knew there were more than just two in existence. As I shrugged off the disappearance of the other gems— I chose Sapphire, because I've always loved blue and purple. I looked over at Jessica, and she had chosen emerald other than the other answer she could've chosen, sapphire.
I circled the last of the questions and sat back in my seat, waiting for someone to collect my test to grade like they did at my old high school. But nothing happened. Confused, I looked back at my test, wondering if I had done something wrong. Instead there was one simple word: Ice. Below, a second word was there, but somewhat smaller: Life. Jessica must have finished just after me because I heard her cuss lowly.
"What's wrong?" I whispered.
"I'm life, Kiley," she moaned. "Life! A healer!"
"That's a good thing," I assured her.
"No it's not!" she grumbled. "I can't believe this."
"You shouldn't have gone opposite on your answers," I scolded.
She rolled her eyes. "Whatever. What magic type are you?"
I stared down at my test; making sure it still said ice and life. It did. How was it even possible to have both types of magic?
"Um," I said, unsure of what to say.
"Well?" Jessica pressed.
"Ice. I think."
"You think?" She laughed. "Can't you see it?" Jessica held up her own test, showing me the green, cursive letters spelling out life. It looked exactly like the life on my paper, except hers was bigger.
"Yeah," I said, although even to myself I sounded doubtful. I held up my own test. "See? It's ice and life."
"What?" Jessica said, her eyes widening. "That's impossible."
"I know."
So why was it there? How could it be there? Was it possible for the test to make mistakes?
"Alright," the Headmasters voice rang throughout the room. "Everyone has finished their test and has gotten their school of magic. Now if you'll follow Mr. Highenbottom, he'll show you to your dorms."
Jessica and I stood up to leave, when Headmaster Ambrose said, "Kiley, can you stay behind for a moment?"
I knew he wasn't asking me to. He was telling me to stay.
"Uh, oh," Jessica whispered with a small smirk. Louder, she said, "I'll be waiting outside for you, Kiley."
"No need," Headmaster Ambrose smiled thinly. "Just stay with the group."
"No," Jess's eyes narrowed. "I'm going to wait for Kiley."
She walked outside before Headmaster Ambrose could protest. "Quite the spitfire," Headmaster Ambrose murmured to himself. I smiled, not sure if I was supposed to respond to that.
The Headmaster shook himself out of his haze, staring at me curiously. "You're special."
"Special? You mean besides being a wizard?"
It was meant to be a joke, but he didn't laugh. Tough crowd.
"You study two types of magic," he told me. "It's very rare, but it happens sometimes."
"What does that mean?" I asked.
"It means you're special."
Annoyed, I snapped, "You already said that!"
He shrugged, "There's nothing else to say about it."
I opened my mouth to protest but he waved my worries away. "Go catch up with the group, Kiley. We'll talk later."
I stared at him, unsure. "Do you promise?"
Headmaster Ambrose's forehead crinkled, causing more wrinkles to form, but still, he said, "I swear."