Things seemed to finally return to normal when Virginia got back to school. She was ready for club signups again, never letting slip that she had probably been seriously ill no more than a few weeks ago. We were all sitting around in our room discussing if we wanted to change the ceiling decoration this year when there was a knock on the door.

"You want to get it?" I ask, looking at Virginia. "Maybe someone here to see you?"

"Probably Donald," Virginia says, winking at Ellen. "Maybe you should get this one."

I raise an eyebrow as Ellen stands obediently to answer the door. Virginia simply shrugs as I slump back on my bed. The last I knew, Virginia was having reservations about Ellen dating her brother, but if they had worked it out, good for them. It was none of my business, anyway.

"Flowers?" We hear Ellen exclaim, and we immediately perk up and crowd around her at the door. Standing in the corridor was a skinny boy with flaming red hair and freckles, grinning up at us.

"Flowers for you lovely ladies," the boy says. "My name's Thomas, but you can call me Tommy if you want. I've been instructed to hand out flowers to each girl's room for the senior prank."

"That doesn't seem like much of a prank," Virginia says with a huff. "Who are they from?"

"I'm not supposed to say," Thomas mutters, seemingly a little embarrassed. He holds the bouquet of multi-colored roses out for Ellen to take, but Virginia slaps her hand away.

"No way! This isn't fun if it's not embarrassing in some way." She thinks for a moment. "I know! Thomas, hand the flowers to whichever one of us you think is the prettiest."

"Virginia," Ellen scolds while I just shake my head. "Sorry, Thomas. This is Virginia. She can be a little weird sometimes."

"It's okay," Thomas shrugs good-naturedly. He reaches past Ellen and holds the bouquet directly in front of me.

"Thank….you…" I murmur awkwardly, the color rising in my cheeks as I accept the roses. Virginia is cackling like mad, but Ellen just looks relieved that it wasn't her.

"Have a lovely day ladies," Thomas says with a wink as he walks off, pulling a cart of flowers behind him.

I blush and toss them down on Virginia's bed. "You didn't have to do that."

"Of course I did," Virginia responds. "And look, now you've got yourself a boyfriend."

"Oh my-" I rub at my temple lazily. "He's a freshman. Seriously, he looks like he's about 12 or something."

"I thought he looked kind of cute," Ellen offers, blushing slightly.

"Uh oh, does this mean I have to tell Donald he's been replaced?" Virginia teases.

"No!" Ellen exclaims. She huffs and crosses her arms over her chest. "Anyway, it's glad to see that the seniors are actually doing nice stuff for people this year."

"Yeah," I shrug absently. I want to say something about the love letter Damien made me write that got me in so much trouble with Grabby last year, but I don't want to think about it. Damien is a repulsive jerk and Grabby is a mean grouch. I'm just glad the whole thing is over with.

I feel like there's something else, something nagging at the corner of my memory, but I brush it aside. "Want to go to the mall on Saturday? I heard they got new stuff in the magic shop this summer."

"Oh really?" Virginia asks. "There's a pair of gold bracelets that I saw in there before I left for the summer. Hopefully they still have them in stock."

"Oh I can't," Ellen says cautiously. "I have a…a…"

"A date?" Virginia asks. "With my brother?"

"A meeting," Ellen responds, but leaves it at that.

"That reminds me," I turn to Virginia. "Aren't sign-ups for class president and treasurer soon?"

"Soon," Virginia shrugs. "I don't know, without William here to help us along, I don't care as much."

"Well, I was just wondering, since I was treasurer last year, is there anything special I'm supposed to do? Like am I supposed to campaign again? Is it expected? Or should…I…not?" A strange look has glazed over both of their faces. "Hello? Earth to Virginia?"

"What?" Virginia slaps my hand away from her face. "I was just thinking. Umm…" She seems unnerved. "Yeah, you're supposed to run again. I think. I don't know, you'd have to talk to Grabby about that. Or Minnie."

"Minnie seems like the safer bet," I say as I sit down on my bed. "Grabby's so temperamental, he almost gave me detention the first week of class for no reason."

"I keep telling you, he's so weird," Virginia shrugs. "Luckily there's a new professor for red magic, Professor Coleman, so I don't need to put up with Grabby anymore."

"Professor Coleman?" I ask, leaning over the side of my bed. "I haven't taken red magic yet. Is he nice?"

"I think you mean, is he hot, to which I will say, very," Virginia says as she winks at me.

Ellen groans. "Is that all that you two think about?"

"Hey, you are the one with a boyfriend," Virginia says, coming over to throw her arm around my shoulder. "Tori and I are both single and very much unattached."

I grin and giggle along with her, but there's something in my gut that just doesn't feel right. I pass it off as a wave of homesickness and excuse myself to go walk around the quad. It's a sunny day outside and there are plenty of people milling about.

"Hey, Minnie!" I spot her across the quad and run over. "How are you doing? How was your summer?"

"Good." She seems a bit unsure of herself, but then again, she always seems that way. I hope that things with Kyo haven't started up again. "How are you doing?"

"Good," I shrug. "Um, listen. I was wondering, are you campaigning for class president again?"

"Of course." This is met with a smile. "I intend to be class president through all four years here."

"Oh, I didn't know that was allowed," I say. "So does this mean I can run for treasurer again too?"

"Oh…you….want to?" She seems honestly taken aback. "I, um, I wasn't sure I…" I frown and wait for her to continue. She seems to make her mind up about something before she speaks again. "I actually was thinking of asking Jacob to run with me for treasurer."

"Are you two dating?" I ask with surprise.

"No," she says, but seems to hesitate. Maybe they're not at that point yet? "Anyway, I mean, you can run, if you want. I won't stop you, but…" She smirks at me. "I guess this means you'll have a little competition."

"I guess," I say good-naturedly, although I'm not really sure how it sounded when I said it. As she walks away, I can't help but feel like there was something else she didn't want to tell me. I haven't seen Kyo yet, but maybe she wants to keep Jacob around to keep him at bay. I'm not sure.

"Hey you." Something breaks me out of my thoughts. I turn around to see Thomas standing behind me.

"Oh hey," I reply. "Finish delivering flowers?"

"Yup," Thomas grins. "Now I'm giving free rides to people to get them where they need to go."

"Rides?" I ask blankly. I glance behind him but I don't see a cart or anything.

"Piggyback rides!" He replies. I try to cover my confusion. Piggyback rides? He is just a little bit shorter than me, and doesn't look very strong… I would hate for him to drop me out in the quad in front of everyone.

"Man, this senior prank thing really got turned on its head," I say, echoing Virginia. "But that's okay, Thomas. I'll walk."

"No, please, I insist," Thomas says and I hesitate. He is standing there with a cocky grin that reminds me of Donald: innocent, but harmless.

"Oh, all right." I give in. He cheers as he comes around from behind me. I squeal as I suddenly feel myself being hoisted into the air as he seats me on his shoulders. I giggle nervously and put one hand on his shoulder to steady myself, wrapping my legs around his arms for support. "How are you doing this?"

"Magic," he says. He must be surprisingly strong and more muscular than he looks under his robes, as I feel extraordinarily stable on his shoulders. "Hold on I'm going to run!"

"Noooo," I squeal as he takes off running, with me struggling to keep a grip on his shoulders. I squeal as we run around the quad and through the trails, where I see other people also being carried along in a similar manner, although none of them seem to have as much fun as we're having.

"Where to next, m'lady?" Thomas shouts up at me.

"Back to my room, I think," I say, pointing dramatically ahead of me. "To the dorms!" He begins to race off at breakneck speeds as I hold on and squeal as the warm air hits my face. As we pass one of the academic buildings, I can see Professor Grabiner glaring at us from beneath the shadows. Oh great, am I going to get detention for being too noisy? Or for having too much fun? I consider sticking my tongue out at him or giving him a friendly wave, but that might earn me more trouble than it's worth. Instead I just pretend that I don't even see him as we ride along past as I whoop and holler the whole way back.

"Thank you," I say as he sets me down gingerly.

"No problem…" he hesitates and I realize he's fishing for my name.

"Tori."

"Tori," he grins. "That's a pretty name."

I just shrug. "It's my name. Well, see you around, Thomas."

"Actually-" he hesitates, and I turn around to face him. "I was wondering, I heard you were really good at blue magic and, I don't know if you know Professor Grabiner, but-"

"Oh, old Grabby pants?" I ask. "Yeah he can be tough to have as a teacher. School's barely started and he already lit someone's notebook on fire last week."

"Yeah, he kind of scares me," Thomas laughs. "But I was wondering if you might consider tutoring me? In blue magic?"

"Um," I hesitate. "I mean, I'm not really an expert. Maybe ask one of the seniors? They would know more than I would."

"Please," Thomas begs. "They're all too busy with their own projects and stuff. The first exam is coming up soon and I'm really, really nervous."

"Oh, the first exam isn't that bad," I say. "But I mean, I guess I could. At least until you guys pick the class president. They usually hold tutoring hours in the library on Saturday's if you're interested in more study."

"Thanks, Tori!" he says. "See you around."