Another ten minutes passed. The dew of the early morning chilled the air. I was still in my awful dress and now I was cold and damp. All I wanted to do was go crawl in bed. Mom finally appeared through the orchard trees. She was jogging through the grass as fast as her high-heeled shoes would let her.
“Sophie, dear, I’m so sorry.”
“It’s fine,” I said. It wasn’t. Mom’s makeup was tear streaked. She signed the clipboard the witch held out to her. As soon as she let go of the pen, I took off toward the house. She had to catch up with me.
“Sophie, dear, slow down.” I didn’t. She kept up with me anyway.
“I’m tired, Mom. I want to get out of this ridiculous dress and go to bed.”
“Your dress is not ridiculous. You looked very nice in it tonight.”
“That’s really what you want to focus on right now after leaving me standing in the middle of a field by myself for hours?”
“Sophie, it wasn’t that long. Your father and I are sorry. We forgot. I’m really sorry. This isn’t how your night should have gone.”
“It’s fine, Mom. I’m used to it.” We made it to the house. She didn’t stop me as I cut through the kitchen and went straight up the stairs. I took my shoes off as soon as I got to the top and kicked them over to the side of the hall. Simon’s room was across the hall from mine. His door was shut but I could hear him breathing inside. I raised my hand to knock. My mark caught the light in the hallway and glimmered for a moment. I turned away and went into my room.
The stillness of my room was a welcome reprieve from the chaos of the night. I closed my eyes and leaned back against the door, taking a moment to let the stillness settle into me. I imagined drawing into my skin, calming the roller coaster of emotions inside. When I was done, most of my emotions had fled. I wasn’t excited, or sad, or even angry. I was just exhausted. The dress made a fluffy pink pile on the floor as I slid it off and crawled into bed. The last thing I remembered before falling asleep was sticking my hand underneath a pillow so I couldn’t see my new mark.
A week later I was sitting in the parlor by myself when Simon brought me the mail.
“Looks like you got your paperwork.” He tossed a thick packet of papers on the end table beside me. My name was handwritten in block letters across the front. The Animage Academy logo was in the top left-hand corner. Someone who wasn’t a supernatural wouldn’t know what it was. Everything came into sharp relief as I looked at it. I hadn’t talked much about getting accepted to the academy because I didn’t want to hurt Simon more than he already was. But with my acceptance packet here in my house with my name on it, it was getting real.
“Thanks,” I said. He was already walking down the hallway. We hadn’t talked much since the Revealing Ceremony beyond day-to-day niceties. A wall had appeared overnight between my twin and I, and I had no idea how to break it down.
I pushed aside depressing thoughts and opened my package. Tingly excitement filled me as I flipped through orientation paperwork about the school, stuff I had to fill out, my roommate assignment, and my first semester class schedule.
I threw the paperwork aside and studied my schedule first. All first- and second-year students had a set schedule without any choices. For the first semester I was enrolled in: Basics of Shifting Principles, History of Supernaturals I, Types of Animages and Magic I, Essentials of Defense I, and Supernatural and Human Relations. The bookish part of me was excited to read the descriptions of each class. I noticed the name of the professor of history and human relations classes was Charles Vickers.
Next, I turned my attention to my dorm assignment. The Waterstone Building was listed as the female dorm. The only information I had about my future roommate was her name: Willa Reynolds.
“Sophie, will you come in here for a moment?” My mother’s voice floated to me from the dining room. I debated sneaking out the side door and running away to the stables. The only thing Mom could need me from me this time of morning was chores.
“Sophie, I know you’re in the parlor and I know you can hear me,” she said. I swear sometimes she could read my thoughts. Knowing I was beat, I stacked the papers back into the envelope and made my way to the dining room.
“Surprise!” Mom and Simon were standing behind the dining room table. A huge ‘congratulations’ banner in a rainbow of colors was strung across the ceiling. I was dumbfounded.
“I don’t—what’s going on? What is this for?”
“We never properly congratulated you on getting into Animage Academy.” Simon pushed a cake toward me. He opened the lid of the box. The cake read ‘Happy Birthday, Jackie!’ across it in blue icing.
“Simon, I thought you checked the cake when you picked it up from the bakery?” Mom was whispering. I didn’t bother to tell her I could hear what she was saying.
“The receipt had the right thing on it.” He gave me a wry grin. “I bet it still tastes great, though.” I devolved into a fit of giggles. Tears were leaking out of my eyes and I had to sit down in a chair before I could get control again. Simon and Mom had been similarly overtaken.
“What’s so funny in here?” Dad asked. Simon just pointed to the cake. Dad smiled and waited until we were all back to normal. When we were done, Dad cleared his throat and handed me a
