“Don’t worry about it,” I told her. “These crab puffs aren’t that great, anyway.”
Gracie laughed. “It’s so nice being in a room with so many supernaturals. With these wings, I don’t get out much. I’ve never seen this many animages in a room together before. Did you see the lady with the unicorn horn?”
“That’s Headmistress Adiana, she’s the first female headmistress of the academy,” I said.
“I bet you know all kinds of animages because of your dad. That’s one reason I’m so excited to head to the academy this fall. If your twin is an animage you’re probably one too, right?”
“I hope so,” I said. “I’ll find out for sure tonight.”
“Oh, that’s great! We will be in the same year. How fun! I can’t wait to get to the academy. How is a school that big in the middle of New York City with no humans noticing? Why is no one allowed to talk about what happens at the academy, anyway? My neighbor is a raccoon animage, and she won’t even tell me what they serve for lunch there. She’s all ‘Gracie, you know discussing Animage Academy with non-students is forbidden.’ It’s all so mysterious. Do you have a guess what your animal will be?” Once again, I was surprised when Gracie stopped talking. I hurried to reply as we finished picking up the last of the crab puffs.
“Oh, I’m not sure. My mom’s a lark, so maybe a bird? I’ve always imagined myself as a big cat, like a panther or tiger.”
Behind Gracie I saw my mother emerge from the crowd and head toward me. Now I was in trouble. Her face looked like a thunder cloud. She pointed at me and then to the kitchen.
“Sorry, but I have to go. It was nice meeting you. Hopefully, we will see each other at the academy soon. Do you need help finding anything?”
“Oh, no thanks,” Gracie said. “Honestly, I’m just wandering around trying to meet people. You’re the only person I’ve been brave enough to speak to yet. And that’s only because I knocked you over. Sorry, again. I hope we see each other next month.”
I waved and carried the trays and ruined crab puffs back to the kitchen. Mom immediately took me off tray duty and stationed me behind a table to serve drinks.
“Just give people water, lemonade, or tea. Even you shouldn’t be able to mess this up,” she said before running off to fix the next hosting crisis.
“I should’ve just worn an apron! It would’ve looked better,” I called after her. She didn’t hear. Or she just ignored me. I kicked the table leg and the pitchers of drinks in front of me wobbled. I grabbed the top of the table to steady it. The last thing I needed was to bring the whole thing down. Bored, I began to concentrate on the groups of people mingling. When I concentrated hard enough, I could hear things almost 50 yards away. It was a handy talent.
“Mark my words, Simon will be the mightiest of the dragons. Watch out for him.” I didn’t need to concentrate too hard to notice my dad’s booming voice talking about Simon to Franco, the vampire who sat on the Council. Franco’s pale skin was almost transparent. He held a glass full of a dark red liquid. I grimaced. That wasn’t lemonade. Simon stood beside my father looking embarrassed. That was typical when Dad was bragging about him. I shook my head and moved on. It was nothing new.
A rainbow of hair colors caught my attention, and I concentrated on a group of faeries in the corner. They all had their insect-like wings pulled flat against their backs as they huddled together.
“You heard correctly, during the break someone broke into the Academy for Elementals. But, it doesn’t look like they took anything.” I wasn’t interested. Just like with humans, there were always a few in the supernatural community who didn’t want to play by the rules. If they didn't steal anything, it was probably just some students playing a prank. I wanted to tell the faeries to quit worrying, the Upholders would get to the bottom of it. They figured out everything.
I was scouting the room for another conversation when someone near me cleared their throat. I brought my attention back to the counter I was supposed to be manning and jumped. There was a lion standing in front of me. No, that wasn’t right. I was looking at a man with a lion’s head. The man cleared his throat again, and I realized I was staring.
“I’m sorry,” I said. “What can I get for you?”
“Just some water, thank you,” the man replied. I couldn’t help but think how odd it was to see a lion’s mouth move in such a human way.
“Right away.” I started to pour the water but most of it ended up on the table. I was staring again. The man noticed and ran a hand through the top of his reddish-brown mane and said, “I know, I can never do anything with this hair.”
I giggled. “It must be a beast to brush.”
“Oh, you have no idea,” he said. I decided I liked this man. “Are you a student at the academy?” he asked.
“My brother and I turn sixteen soon, so I’ll find out tonight. I hope so.” I crossed my fingers behind my back as I talked. I needed all the luck I could muster.
“I’m sure you will be, then. I’m Charles Vickers. If you make it to the school, I’ll be your history teacher.”
“What happened to Mrs. Hazelwood?”
“She retired and moved to California.”
“I’m Sophie Pearson,” I told him. “My twin brother is Simon.”
“Pearson. Of the dragon Pearson’s I assume?” I nodded.
“Well, it was nice to meet you. I will look for both you and your brother next month.” He nodded
