Chapter 10
Neighbors
The first month of the Autumn term went by quickly. With the exam season in full swing, had been a tough one for everyone, especially for me. I was balancing school and work for the first time. I'd been in and out of the academy all month long, meeting with my production team to talk about new projects in the midst of my show debuting.
The network anticipated that my show would be a hit among my age group, so they wanted to start creating merchandise that potential fans could purchase. Posters, t-shirts, water bottles, stationary sets and other things of the sort. I had meetings with my management and the production staff, picking designs I liked and trademarking my signature to be used on the designs. I had never written my name so many times in my life! My signature didn't even look like mine anymore, it had been heavily stylized for the sake of the merchandise and my management thought it was more "fitting to my image" if it was more glamorous.
I had meetings at the academy as well. Weekly on Fridays, I'd meet with the members of the school board to be updated on whatever was pressing. Meetings were mainly about the upcoming curriculum, but there were times where the board gathered over a disciplinary subject.
In one incident, we had a meeting with a student who had been accused by his professor of cheating on his Autumn term exam. In this meeting, the board served as a judicial system and modeled itself in a court-like manner. We listened to both sides of the argument, asked to be presented with evidence from both parties and as a board, we'd discuss a punishment if we deemed it necessary. Those meetings were my favorites, mainly because my judgement as a student was important to the cases and I was able to speak and do more. They didn't happen often, but I enjoyed when they did.
On a random Thursday afternoon, between a break in my normal classes, I sat in my dorm room with my classmate, Ivan, and we worked on invitations for my upcoming party. It was most definitely still on, and I decided to throw it to clash with Kyle's party after the fight we'd had a couple weeks back. Between classes was the only time I had to confirm plans since I was to serve detention time after hours for the next couple of days. When Kyle found out about my plans, he confronted me in our dorm later in the evening.
"As if anyone would skip my birthday party for yours!" He scoffed at me as we settled in for bed on opposite sides of the room. "I've been at Milkweed longer than you have! I have more friends than you!"
"You've been here longer, but I'm more popular than you are!" I spat back. "And what friends? You hardly speak to anyone. You're always hanging around me and my friends!"
Kyle only laughed and turned his nightlight out, leaving me in the dark to ponder how I'd make sure no one would attend his party. Ivan suggested having the party on the dark side of the moon, something I didn't even know you could do! We promptly spoke about it the following day as we walked to class together.
"Yeah, you could have your party on the moon!" Ivan informed me. "Plenty of folks have had their parties on the moon! It's the best because we all get to wear cool suits to combat the gravity up there, so it's always a hit! You can set up strobe lights and colorful party lights! And a DJ!"
"You're a genius!" I giggled, beaming at Ivan's suggestions. "Ja, the moon! We'll have it on the moon! But...how do we even get there? And when will I have time for all this? I have the relay coming up..."
Yes, the Rune Relay. Even though Kyle and I were currently feuding, we had decided to be on the same team for the aeroportation broom race. We came together for the sake of Milkweed. We'd be practicing in the weeks to follow and I wasn't sure how I'd be able to pull off a party in the mix of the race, my work and the pending Yule ball. Wizarding finals were around the corner too. It was a busy time for everyone. Ivan brushed off my worries.
"Don't worry, Sigmund, I've got you on all the planning!" Ivan assured me. "We'll need permission to leave campus for the moon party, so I'll get the permission and I'll update and hand out the invites as well."
"Ah, you're the best!" I beamed.
We both bolted for the door and before parting, we did our secret handshake, zapping each other with fire from our index fingers and breaking down in laughter. I loved having friends. It was a real highlight of attending Milkweed for me.
—
I was exhausted during this particular trip back from yet another business meeting. In fact, for the the entire duration of the plane ride, I was out cold and I totally regretted throwing the party on the moon the night before. Of course, the last minute affair had been a massive hit. Everyone who was invited showed up and had a great time. I laughed the whole night, knowing that if everyone was at my party then no one could've been at Kyle's. Even when Kyle showed up and crashed my party, I was still able to embarrass him a little and have the last laugh.
Traveling from the academy to work had become a weekly occurrence for me. Though my management had offered me personal teachers to be schooled on the road or from home, I refused them. I didn't want to go back to home schooling. I was enjoying my time dorming far too much. I was thankful when we had gotten through our wizarding finals as well. The weeks we'd spent studying were grueling, so it made the party I'd had on the moon a highly anticipated celebration.
Over the weekend, Kyle and I would be competing in the Rune Relay and preparing for the Yule. I felt more than ready, but Kyle had definitely been slacking off during our practices. He preferred to use his daily broom for the race, but I refused to let that happen. His broom was in terrible condition and I felt it would make our school look bad if he showed up to the arena with it. He was insistent, even though we'd been provided with higher grade, sporting brooms to use. I wouldn't allow him to embarrass me though.
On the morning of the relay, we'd gotten on buses that would take us to the neighboring school, The Halfmoon Hallows Witching Academy. They'd been the relay winners in the previous year, so they were to host the event this year. After a long ride through the enchanted forest, we'd made it to the arena and made our way towards the entrance. Milkweed Academy gifted its athletes with purple, varsity letterman jackets, sporting caps and numbered vests. It made us more prideful as a coalition more than anything else.
As we entered, I looked to Kyle with a grin.
"Ready?" I asked him. He pushed his hands into the pockets of his jacket and shrugged.
"I don't know about the broom, Sigmund..." He muttered. "I just don't think I can—."
"Now entering in the red corner, Milkweed Academy!"
The sports spectator had interrupted Kyle's thought with an introduction of our school. I was thrilled with the display. The arena was massive and a wave of cheers entered my ears from all directions, surround sound. To my surprise, there were students from our school in the bleachers that had come out of their way to watch the races. I hadn't realized how big of an event this truly was till now. It pumped me up, I was ready to compete!
Once we were settled in our own pulpit, the Rune Relay was in action. They'd gone through the alchemy course, which our school won, elemental kinesis, which Halfmoon dominated and shapeshifting that was won by the University of the Underworld. In the end, it was down to instant teleportation and summoning, which Milkweed and Halfmoon won, respectively. That meant we'd be competing in the finals for the aeroportation broom race. I was thrilled.
"It's up to us!" I spoke to Kyle, grabbing his arm as I looked up at the scoreboard. "We can do it!"
"Sigmund, I don't know..."
Our coach, Sir Chiron, approached us in the pulpit and pointed out the obstacle course that had been prepared. He gave us both a wide smile.
"You guys got this!" He encouraged us. "Give us the win!"
"YEAH! GIVE US THE WIN!" Our team cheered, hooting in hollering in our space. I pulled off my letterman jacket as I stood up and conjured my sporting broom. Kyle did the same, but he didn't seem as enthusiastic as I did. Together, we walked onto the field in the direction of the obstacle course with two other athletes from the opposing school, Halfmoon.
"Flying for Milkweed Academy's School of Witchcraft and Wizardry; Sigmund the Sorcerer and Kyle the Conjurer!" The spectator announced. I was surprised to see my face on a big screen in the arena. The crowd was on the edge of their seats at this point. "And flying for our precious haven of Halfmoon Hallows Witching Academy; Meghan the Malevolent and Erin the Enchantress!"
Meghan and Erin. I remembered my friends bringing them up when we'd seen their names on the flyer in gym class. As Kyle and I stretched at the starting line, I looked up at the big screen and saw her. Erin. A wide brimmed witch hat, voluminous hair and the brightest smile I'd ever seen on anyone besides myself. She blew kisses to the camera and shied away from it afterwards with bold laughter, an action that made my heart jump.
The focus of the camera switched to the starting line, which made me flush when I realized the witches were now stood beside us. Looking over at them, it was Erin who smiled at us whilst Meghan, a green-skinned witch, seemed to snarl.
"Hi! I'm Erin~!" The witch spoke, wiggling her fingers in greeting. Her teammate snickered beside her, covering her mouth to conceal it.
"I-I'm Sigmund."
Her voice hitting my ear for the first time only made me swoon. Being beside her, I could smell some type of perfume as well. It was light, but memorable. I don't know why, but I couldn't take my eyes off her in that moment. My eyes wouldn't focus on anything else. That's when Kyle tugged at me, hard.
"AH! NO! NO! FOCUS!" He snapped.
"Huh?!"
"She's an enchantress, Sigmund! She's messing with you!"
"W-wait—!" Looking back at Erin, I gasped when she averted her eyes. "Hold on! D-did you just try to enchant me?!"
The laughter Erin and her partner held in finally came out and pretty much answered my question. It was on now.
In the first rotation of the race, Meghan and I were head to head. The obstacles weren't very hard to get around, it was the length of the course that made it a challenge. I had to make sure to keep speed whilst still avoiding any accidents. I was proud of myself for getting through the obstacles, but I hadn't been able to give Kyle much of a margin as I landed back at the line.
"GO KAHL! GO!"
Unbeknownst to me, Kyle hadn't used the sporting broom for his length of the race. I hadn't realized it till I'd spotted the abandoned equipment in the grass. Looking at the big screen, he'd indeed settled with his daily, run-down broom but in the end, we'd won the race and ultimately won the relay's grand prize, The Sapphire Stone!
My first relay had been exceptionally memorable and holding the prize in my hands was the cherry on top! As we departed the arena, Kyle was stopped by the witches from Halfmoon Hallows, Erin more specifically.
"Hey, Freckles!" She called out. Kyle and I paused and looked over our shoulders, spotting her skipping over towards us. I felt a smile creeping up on my face. "I forgot to ask, will you both be at the Yule next week?"
"Ah...I don't know..." Kyle shrugged. I butted into the conversation, throwing my arm over Kyle's shoulders to lean in.
"Of course we'll be there!" I assured Erin with a smile. "We wouldn't miss it!" Erin returned my smile with a warm, yet weary, smile of her own. This smile felt more genuine than the one she'd given me before the race. She nodded.
"Good! See you next week then! And congratulations!"
She turned away with a wave and I watched her go, even after Kyle shoved my arm away. I understood what Ivan and Nicolai had been saying about Halfmoon witches now. They were nothing like the ones from Milkweed, especially not her.
—
Kyle had expressed to me that he didn't have a nice suit for the Yule, so I'd let him have one of many that I owned. Of all the colors and styles in my slowly growing wardrobe, he'd chosen the most mundane of them all, a black morning coat and grey vest. He'd decided on wearing his own bowtie with it, even when I'd offered one of my many cravats. I'd chosen a black, silk blouse with lace at the wrists, an emerald green, embroidered vest and one of my favorite overcoats that I'd been saving for a special occasion.
I didn't always have clothing like this, but after so many fittings during photoshoots for my new show, we'd been left with so many pieces that ended up not being used. With them all being tailored to my measurements specifically, they were customs, so those items and accessories went straight into my wardrobe. The best part of my Yule outfit, besides the coat and cufflinks, was the green boots. I owned so many pairs of boots, but with this deep green being my favorite color, I'd been obsessed with these reptile-skin boots in particular.
I'd forced Kyle to shower and brush his hair when he'd tried to refuse on the evening of the ball and headed out of the academy without him. I'd be traveling with Ivan and Nicolai. Together, we'd manage to borrow a griffin to fly out to the banquet hall. I'd never flown on a griffin before, but Ivan assured me it was one of the hottest modes of travel in the realm. I was glad to have friends that kept me trendy. I really wanted to impress. This was my first Yule, after all.
"Sigmund!" Ivan gasped when we'd met up in the courtyard before take off. "Your outfit is killer!"
"Those boots are insane!" Nicolai added, hyping me up. "Awe man!"
"Heh...danke..." I blushed. "I wasn't sure if I was overdressed..."
"You kidding?!" Ivan laughed. "You're right on code!"
Boarding and flying on the griffin was honestly an evening highlight. We joked and laughed all the way to the banquet hall. Ivan had informed me that the landing strip at the banquet was used as a runway. It was where everyone made their grand entrances and made sure they were seen by neighboring schools and upperclassman. I understood the assignment, completely, and prepared myself accordingly when we landed. We'd be materializing from our griffin to the ground to make more of an impact.
With a ferocious squawk of the griffin, we did just that, landing on the strip in a hail of sparkles. I was thankful neither of them had mucked up the trick. The students from other schools couldn't get their eyes off of us. I chuckled to myself when I'd spotted Kyle at the entrance who looked anything but impressed.
"We've arrived~!" I grinned as my friends and I made our way inside. "Now the party is allowed to start!" I was shocked to hear cheers behind me when I'd announced myself. It actually made my friends and I laugh. We'd clearly managed to make a grand entrance and a good impression on our peers.
In the hall, we checked in and pressed on into the reception hall together for their elixir hour. Being an event where the other schools attended, I was able to meet so many students who had somehow heard about me. Besides winning the relay, they knew about me being scouted for a new show and even knew I was Milkweed's newest board member. It was overwhelming at first, being in the presence of so many people, but it quickly turned enjoyable for me when I realized they were truly being friendly and not patronizing. I didn't want to toot my own horn, but I was definitely a popular face in the room.
To be honest, I'd been looking for a familiar face in the room myself and I hadn't spotted it yet, but I managed to spot someone else. Meghan, from the aero race. If Meghan was around, Erin couldn't be too far away. I excused myself from a conversation with an Underworld student and quickly approached the green-skinned witch.
"Hallo!"
"Hm? Oh, its you..." Meghan groaned, rather unfriendly. "What's your name again?"
"Sigmund."
"Oh, right. Hey. Listen, I'm not a talker, okay?"
"O-oh, okay..."
"I'm just looking for something to drink right now. I'm parched and everyone's in the way."
Being taller than a couple of the students around me, I was able to see through the groups of occult kids and spotted what looked to be a zombie, holding a platter of colorful, glowing glasses. From the platter, I saw a familiar hand reaching for a drink. Kyle! I took Meghan's hand and pulled her over before she could peel her hand away from me. And before she could complain, I handed her an elixir. Kyle looked surprised to run into me and I noticed he was alone.
"Why aren't you mingling?" I asked him.
"Mingling?!" He seemed to cringe. I pushed them to talk to one another anyhow, but it didn't exactly work out. In fact, we happened to have a good laugh together at Meghan's expense after recalling how upset she'd been about losing the race.
Dinner was soon announced and we were moved from the reception hall to the main room. Ivan had told me that the academy splashed out major funds for this event, but just saying it was nothing in comparison to seeing it. The display was like nothing I'd ever seen before. Pure luxury and grandeur. There was an orchestra playing, sparkling lights draping from the ceiling and tall pine trees that filled the air with a comforting holiday fragrance. I wanted to be at the front of it all to take it all in.
I made sure to grab a seat at the table nearest to the orchestra and my friends, along with Kyle, followed suit. With Kyle to one side of me and my friends to the other, I was filled with joy. My ears perked up at the sound of a familiar voice.
"Isn't this incredible?"
Though she hadn't been speaking to me, my head turned in her direction anyhow. Erin had sat beside Kyle and the two had started a light chatter. Although I was sat beside my friends, I'd been in search of Erin since I'd landed at the hall. I wasn't sure what it was, but I'd been somewhat...intrigued by her.
Since the race, I'd asked Ivan more about the witches at Halfmoon and without me having to say much, he'd known exactly who I was speaking about when I inquired.
"Lemme guess, you like Erin?" He smirked, knowingly at me when we'd been discussing our travel plans for the ball. She'd come up in conversation. I shrugged, even though I wanted to say yes. He'd caught on anyhow. "Everyone likes Erin. She's a really smart witch. She's an enchantress, but she's found her way around other classes and she's really good in a lot of subjects. She's like, top three in her school's rank right now."
Erin looked beautiful in a red dress and matching tiara. Her light laughter during the small talk made me smile. I wanted to switch seats with Kyle to speak with her. When their conversation had seemed to pause, I tapped him on the shoulder and leaned into his ear to whisper.
"Switch seats with me~!"
"What for?!" He actually whispered back. I rolled my eyes.
"So I can speak with Erin!"
"Do you not see us having a conversation of our own? Or are you truly not at all self aware?"
"As if she wants to speak with you all night long! Switch NOW!"
Kyle was frustrating me and I wasn't going to have a back and forth with him all evening about this, especially with Erin's focus being away from us. I switched our seats myself, with magic, and grinned as our dinner was bought out. Kyle blinked in shock, but he didn't fight me for his seat back. Seeing us switch seats, I heard Ivan and Nicolai snickering with one another, clearly knowing my intentions. Erin had suddenly leaned closer to me to say something as she looked into the distance at an approaching server.
"Look, they're bringing out the food! It smells so delightful!"
"Ja, I think it's supposed to be a real holiday treat this year!"
"O-oh!" She gasped in surprise. She turned quickly in my direction and set a hand over her chest. Another light chuckle escaped her in realization. "I-I'm sorry...I thought I was talking to Freckles..."
"I did you a favor and took his spot. Trust me, he's not very entertaining.."
"Oh?" Erin pouted. "Says who?"
"Considering the amount of students that just spoke to me during elixir hour versus the amount that spoke to him, I would think everyone says so."
I conjured a rose for Erin and offered it to her, an action that I realized caught the attention of other students in the room. I hadn't noticed I was being actively watched till I noticed glances and heard joint gasps. To the shock of my life, as well as others in the banquet hall, Erin had flat out rejected my offering and another wave of gasps washed over the room. The rejection didn't end there.
Erin had rejected me when I offered her a bite of my dinner, rejected me when I offered to help her make a wish at the holiday tree display and even rejected a dance with me till Kyle had persuaded her on my behalf. Even during our waltz, Erin had been completely dejected and seemed like she was waiting for it to just be over with. When we departed from the ball at the end of it all, Erin seemed to be more interested in Kyle than me. To pour salt over the wound, she'd even given him a parting kiss on the cheek before she left for the evening. Let's just say, the night was rough and I was totally over it and more than ready to go back to Milkweed myself after being teased by my friends the whole time.
Being back in our dorm, I was annoyed. Beyond annoyed actually. Mainly with Kyle. I wasn't sure if he'd been entertaining Erin on purpose as revenge for switching seats, but I felt betrayed after allowing him to borrow my suit. I was even angrier when I found out she'd sent him a secret letter to our dorm via messenger owl when it landed at our window.
There was back and forth for sure between Kyle and I, but he assured me that he hadn't been purposefully trying to ruin my night. He even allowed me to send Erin a letter back along side his, which he claimed to only be doing to send her a Christmas card over break. I took her information down so I could send her a card of my own, and turned to my desk to write out my letter.
Looking over my performance over the course of the evening, I realized Erin might've been turned off after I'd switched seats with Kyle. I wasn't exactly charming when I'd spoken down about him. And maybe, I'd been a tad overbearing as the evening progressed. I'd been trying so hard to impress, that I'd ended up making a fool of myself. I'd been flashy, like a peacock in a chicken coop, especially after winning the relay and being congratulated and swarmed by other students. The praise went straight to my head.
In writing the letter to her, I realized I'd actually been more fond of Erin than I originally thought considering how awful I felt. I apologized for my behavior and extended an olive branch to her in the hopes that she'd give me another chance. Kyle and I set our letters out together with the owl and turned away from one another to pack for the holiday break, which the end of Yule marked. Kyle spoke to me suddenly.
"Are you going to tell me what you wrote?"
"Hm?"
"You looked awfully focused on that paper you sent out. Are you going to tell me, or are you going to keep acting strangely?" I hesitated to tell Kyle the truth, but there was just something about him that made me feel as though I could trust him with my new secret. We weren't exactly friends, but we were roommates. That had to count for something, right?
"...I wrote an apology letter to her. You know, for tonight. I felt like I was bothering her."
"Oh." Kyle responded, rather shocked. I nodded.
"Ja. I didn't want to bother her, I just wanted to impress her because...well...I...I have a crush on her."
"Oh!"
"Is that all you can say? Oh, oh, oh?"
"Sorry! I just wasn't expecting that level of honesty, is all!"
Thankfully, when the letters returned, Erin had actually written back to me. I'd expected a negative response, but she'd taken to my confession very well. In fact, she wanted to talk to me again soon! It was exactly what I'd been hoping for and it was the best news to bring in the holiday with.