I'm back! I can't believe how long it took me to post this, but I've been very busy with a baby soooo

Chapter 1

A week went by in a flash, and before I knew it, I was packing up to go to the two week summer program in Seattle. I was nervous and excited, and with each day that drew closer to going, the feeling got louder. It was hard not being able to tell anyone about the fact that it was actually a magic school, but I didn't exactly know the rules involved with magic schools. Since they weren't common knowledge, they probably had some sort of rule about discussing them.

Willow was still making fun of me about it because it masqueraded as a history program, and me being a history buff was apparently too far fetched for her, unfortunately for my confidence levels.

Charlie had promised to take me there, probably to make sure I got there safely. At this point, I had packed everything but my laptop, which was too essential to my life to pack until the last minute. I spent a lot of time lying in bed and wondering what it was going to be like.

I hadn't seen Eleanor since I signed up for the course, perhaps her spooky spirit had been appeased. I honestly didn't know what to think of her, but I was starting to think she was an actual person.

I lay on my stomach on my bed, typing questions into google and getting strange, spooky news articles about mystical beings. Warm air blew into the cool house, my translucent curtains billowing with air. The corner of my vision turned dark. My episodes were starting to get more frequent, but I hoped the two week class would help me out.

.

Willow sat in my bedroom with my laptop while chewing on a popsicle stick. I was packing the last of my favourite clothes into my suitcase. The wood floor felt cool against my legs, which felt great because the house felt like it was on fire.

"Find anything interesting? Maybe a good summary site of the book we were supposed to read that I totally read but can't remember a thing about?" I asked, deciding I probably had everything I needed in there, and if not, I would probably be double checking again before I left tomorrow.

"You didn't read Don Quixote? I'm shocked," Willow responded from around the popsicle. She scrolled down on whatever she was reading before pushing up her glasses with a serious expression, "Also, I've been looking for a site like that. I found the book intolerable." I snorted.

"That's surprising. You made it through Wuthering Heights. I'm pretty sure you can now read anything," I responded, and Willow chuckled softly.

"I had more willpower before The Boyfriend, now I have him and all I want to do is hang out with him or you. I never get anything done anymore," Willow sighed, resting her chin in her hand. I smiled at that.

"He sounds very distracting," I commented. Willow looked wistful, "I mean it in a good way." I nodded slightly, plopping myself down on the bed next to her to see what she was looking at. It was an article about colleges in Washington. It rated them from best to worst, but Willow didn't exactly look that interested in it.

"You're already looking at places? I just planned on seeing where I could get full-ride scholarships and choosing from them," I said. Willow made a face.

"You got a 30 on the ACT, pretty much all of them are gonna offer something," she responded, "You gotta do more research on their programs." I shrugged in response.

"I'd rather not play the debt game." Willow nodded sightly, accepting that as a good rebuttal of her point. I wasn't really sweating about my college choices since I found out about the University of Washington having a secret magic school. I would probably just go to that if they offered more magic courses or full degrees. I supposed that would be discussed at the summer program though.

"Most of this is probably just some of the schools' own published propaganda anyway," Willow sighed. I didn't really know what to say in response to that, so I just nodded, and Willow didn't say anything else about it.

We started discussing summer work and copied off of each other's decided upon chapters of the history book that we were supposed to read before school started back up. The book was honestly too boring to read a whole six chapters of, and it was kind of an overview of stuff we had learned a little about before.

When we were finally wrapping things up, Willow turned to me, "Are you gonna see Jacob tonight before you go?" She looked curious as to whether or not we had said our temporary goodbyes. Especially since Jacob didn't have a phone, no need for one when you have magic hearing or something. It was a little annoying because all of our communication was going to likely be through Willow while I was gone.

"Maybe? If he doesn't get caught up in pack stuff, we'll probably see each other... I honestly never know when he's gonna pop in on me anymore," I responded, then after a moment of pause, "but I hope so." Willow smiled slightly.

"I hope you do too," she told me, wrapping me in a hug before stepping out of the house. She waved just before getting into her car and then drove away. I watched her red sedan disappear down the road with a slight frown on my face. What Willow had asked was starting to make me wonder. Would Jacob and I even see each other that much if we went to different colleges or would we just go to the same one? I suddenly felt stressed out about it. The world wavered a bit, and I ducked back inside, the screen door slamming shut behind me.

.

I stared out the window of Charlie's car. Neither of us were really talking, the radio whispered softly with a classic rock station. Charlie's fingers tapped against the wheel to the beat, and I watched the trees woosh by, trying to swallow my anxiety. I had been excited, but now all I could feel was the buzz in my limbs. I didn't know anything about this program, and what if I didn't make any friends? What if I couldn't be fixed? There were too many doubts in my mind all of a sudden.

As Charlie pulled into the campus, I was suddenly overwhelmed by how big it was. How would I ever be able to navigate this gigantic campus? Charlie drove me to a parking lot that was supposed to be near the history building, and there was a small group gathered there of other kids whose eyes seemed to be just as big as mine.

"Looks like we're in the right place," Charlie breathed a sigh of relief. I smiled at him. He would've walked me to the building if he didn't feel like I was safe with my group. That was the feeling I got from that sigh.

"Thanks for driving me," I told him. Charlie smiled back at me.

"Of course, Mads. I'm not driving off until you give me the thumbs up that that is indeed your group though," he responded. I nodded and hopped out of the car to ask as the pamphlet had told me to.

"Is this the history of American cryptids class?" I asked. A guy with white hair and equally pale skin turned and grinned at me.

"You're in the right place," he said and then whispered, "I'm a unicorn. What're you?" I looked at him in shock.

"Really? That's awesome! I don't know what I am," I responded, "I only found out about all of this a couple of weeks ago." He looked pretty amused by that.

"I gotta go get my stuff real quick," I said, pointing my thumb over my shoulder and then walking back to Charlie. I pulled my suitcase out of the cruiser and looked in the window at Charlie.

"I'm in the right place," I affirmed.

"Great. Have fun, kid," he reached out of the window and ruffled my hair. I made a face at him, and Charlie seemed amused. I then walked back to the group. The unicorn guy stuck his hand out to me when I got back, "I'm William. I don't know anyone else here, and it doesn't seem like you do either. Let's be friends." He was so straight forward and confident. I was taken aback a little by it. He was also stunning. His long, full eyelashes and round eyes and flat, long nose were definitely reminiscent of a horse. Every part of his face was so striking, all the way down to his full lips. I had to look super plain next to him.

"I'm Maddie," I responded, taking his hand and shaking it, "I'd love to be friends."

Edit 9/6/21: This used to be the last chapter of Rook, but it is now the first chapter of Queen because I thought it would fit there better. Additionally, because I am adding another chapter to Rook that I recommend going back and reading. It will be added in the next edit note.