After a bit of looking around, with no help from my so-called professor, I find my way into the girls' dormitories, and finally locate my hall. There are nine doors in this hall, only one of them labeled as the bathroom, and if each of these rooms houses at least two girls in them I hope it's a big bathroom.
My letter from Iris told me that I would have two roommates, but it didn't mention anything about their names or ages. I haven't seen anyone wearing a horse insignia either, isn't this Horse Hall? Well to be fair, I haven't seen anyone since I walked in. The halls are long and plain. Wooden floors and doors with off-white walls, similar to the exterior of the school. Windows dot the walls every ten feet or so, and black, metal lanterns hang from the ceiling.
Here it is! Room 3, I open the door cautiously. I don't want any more mishaps.
Walking inside, I find that the bedroom is perfectly ordinary. The floor is wooden, the walls and ceiling are painted a warm beige. There are three beds, one single bed to the right, and a bunk bed to the left, all with matching, cream-colored, quilted bedspreads. Two, tall wooden dressers stand in the front corners of the room, beside the beds. In the middle of the back wall is a single square window with cream, cross-striped, short curtains. And two, small wooden desks hug the end corners of the room. This would have surprised me if the school didn't already look so modern. Actually I figured as much, we're in New England, America- not Hogwarts.
That doesn't mean I don't expect to see skulls, or drippy candles, or incense and crystals sometime soon. I actually brought a few decorations for my room, I hope my roommates don't mind.
Speaking of them, a girl who had just been sitting at a corner desk looks my way, and stands. She's taller than me, a good four or five inches I surmise. And she's lovely. Milky skin, her cheeks tinted with a slight blush, straight blonde tresses cut above her shoulders in cropped layers, and she's well-endowed. She's a little thick, but I'd like to put emphasis on the word "little". What really caught my eye were her golden ones. Similar to her shiny hair. She has golden eyes!
The girl approaches me. Her voice is incredibly soft. "Um… Hello?"
I glance at her belt, and with triumphant joy I blurt out "You're a Horse!"
The girl pouts and averts her gaze.
"Whoops. Sorry. That didn't mean the way it sounded. Err. Let me start over. Hi. I'm Lumina Nocturne, what's your name?"
The girl gives me a small smile. "I'm one of your roommates, my name is Ellen Middleton."
"It's nice to meet you Ellen, may I ask where you're from?"
Ellen begins playing with her fingers. "Virginia."
I tilt my head. "With all due respect, I don't hear much of a southern accent."
Ellen shoots her eyes down. "It's not that far south, and my family… isn't originally from there."
I sense a touchy subject, so I let it drop. She points to the bed at the right side of the room, the only single bed. "That's Virginia's bed. Virginia-the-girl I mean, she's our other roommate. I've settled into this bed over here. I think she went out for a bit to talk to somebody?" She points at the bunk bed, and to my delight she's situated herself on the bottom bunk.
"What about you?" Ellen inquired.
"I'm from New York."
Ellen's eyes go big. "All the way from the big city? Why did they send you so far away?"
I shrug. "Beats me. I'm not complaining."
I scrutinize the room. "Are all of those books yours Ellen?" I point at the very neat left corner desk, its top shelves are crammed with books, color-coordinated. Standing parallel to that desk is one identical to it, minus the books and lamp. Minus everything really, it's empty.
"Yeah." Ellen sighs. "There aren't any computers here, so I brought my old encyclopedias."
Sheesh, a teenager who owns encyclopedias.
"And those are textbooks from my old school, to cover the classes I would be taking if I hadn't left."
I wrinkle my nose. So they don't let wizards finish high school after all. That's why Papa said I would be starting at fifteen or sixteen. She must've been a sophomore when they pulled her out, the girl probably hasn't gotten past geometry yet.
I gotta give her props for pursuing her education. "You must be a good student."
A worried look crosses Ellen's face. "I probably won't even get to use them. But I didn't know what I'd need. I didn't want to need something and not have it." Ellen walks me over to a collection of fairy tales. "Those books are everything I could find out about magic. Now that I know it's real."
I have a feeling I'm going to like Ellen. She seems studious and quiet. "Yeah. Isn't it great? We're going to be wizards. Do you think it'll be like the books and movies?" I wonder.
Ellen grins. "Oh good. You're wildseed too."
I feel myself frowning. Ellen looks at me quizzically. "Is it a big deal to be wildseed?"
From behind me I hear an unfamiliar voice. It's loud and upbeat. "It means your parents weren't magic so you're like a wildflower."
I turn around. The voice belongs to a slim, tall beauty with fiery eyes and crimson dreadlocks that curl at the end. She has dark skin, like coffee. Another one with a full chest I see. And a derriere! Not as big as Ellen's, but perky, round and inviting. These girls are definitely not flat for being freshman.
She holds out her hand for me to shake. "Me? My family's all magical, scion. So I always knew I'd be a wizard. I'm Virginia Danson."
She has a pretty strong grip. I squeeze and shake back. "Lumina Nocturne. I know what wildseed means but what's a scion?"
"Someone who's full-blood."
"Wildseed is no magickal heritage and scion is full magickal heritage?"
Virginia nods. "Yup! That's the gist of it. Pleasure to meetcha."
"Likewise! Um, you got a name for people in-between?"
"Depends. If you're human we call you a cross-pip, if you're half human and half something else you're a hybrid. But none of that really matters!"
I ask my next question carefully. "Is it a problem being wild? I met a professor that was sort of rude about it."
"A professor? Shaggy black hair? Big nose?"
I snicker at her description. "Yeah. That's the one. I sort of…bumped into him earlier."
She snorts. "Oh no! Now you'll be on Grabby's blacklist."
Ellen squeaks. "The professor grabs girls?!"
"No that's his name. Professor Grabiner."
I ask Virginia. "Is he normally such a cactus?"
Virginia states as-a-matter-of-factly "He hates everybody. Don't think too much into it."
She speaks to the both of us. "Nobody really cares if you're born wild or not. And everybody is scared of Grabby. He's a monster. William warned me about him."
"Who's William?" I ask.
"He's my big brother- bigger brother. I have two. William's a senior. Donald's a sophomore. They're in Wolf Hall." She clears her throat. "But enough about boys! What sports do you girls play? What do you like?"
Ellen and I perk up. She goes first. "I like softball, but I'm better at volleyball."
Virginia nods. "Good, strong arms. Me? I prefer soccer. But I'm into basketball as well. How about you Lumina?"
I think for moment. "I like swimming. And I'm not too shabby at track I guess."
"Are there any magical sports?"
Virginia frowns. "Yeah. Well. Not exactly. Depends on what you consider a sport. There's bounders. But that's not a real sport."
She said the word "bounders" with such distaste.
"But there is a gym! And we can start our very own sports club. Right? Her arms, your legs and my fighting spirit. Go Horses!"
Ellen and I both look at each other.
"Sorry! Sorry! I'm rollin you over aren't I? C'mon Ellen, I'll introduce you to my brothers!"
"Huh? Okay." Ellen mumbles.
She nudges Ellen towards the door.
"I want to meet them too. I can unpack later."
Virginia beams. "I hate unpacking too. I made my mom do it. Of course, you'll no doubt run into them later anyway! Shall we?"
