I was almost shocked it had taken as long as it had for someone to put a sticker on the door of my room at Pixie Tower. It was Thursday morning and I was stepping out of my room to see a strange splash of color.

  The door was still bright pink, so color on its own wasn’t strange. But the fact that the pink wood now had a spot of blue on it was new. I definitely hadn’t put it there.

  It was dark blue, glittery, and I think it was supposed to be some kind of highly stylized monkey. Maybe. Or a very strange-looking koala. Something with fur. It was holding onto a stick and had eyes far too large for its head.

  Should I ask Angelina? I doubted she was uninvolved. But I’d have to be careful with my wording. Let her know I simply curious and not mad at anyone.

  Angelina was waiting by the door of the Tower as perky as ever. Seriously, how was anyone cheery like that so early so consistently?

  “Did you sleep well?”

  “I slept okay.”

  She frowned, “Just okay?”

  “Nothing wrong with okay,” I told her as I walked through the door with her.

  “One of these days you’ll say you slept great. I’ll just have to keep asking.”

  Was this a Pixie thing?

  “But I’m glad to see you finally decorated,” she continued as we headed onwards toward breakfast. Maybe they’d have chocolate muffins today.

  “You mean my door, right?” I asked. “I was a little surprised to see it there. Do you know anything about it?”

  “It wasn’t you?”

  Well there goes that theory. “No, it wasn’t. Hmm. Well that’s weird.”

  “Want me to ask around?”

  “Nah. If they want to take credit or say something they will. But if they want to remain anonymous I’ll let them.”

  “Does anything bother you, ever?”

  “Being called a liar,” I told her. I wasn’t hearing much of it anymore. Hopefully that meant everyone had found better things to do.

  She cringed. Too blunt? “Yikes.”

  “Too much?”

  “I can’t really blame you. That does suck. But it’s better now, right?”

  “Thankfully.”

  (*********)

  Basics in Monsters was covering plants today. At least that was the excuse the professor was using to let us wander the forest around the school with basically no oversight.

  It was a sea of orange beech leaves dotted with green holly trees. Small specks of red from the berries that were just starting to ripen could also be seen.

  I hadn’t seen a holly in person before coming here.

  The leaves crunched under my feet as I approached one tree closely. At the base of the trunk I noticed a fungus that grew in a wide circular shape, about the size of a dinner plate, but thicker than two decks of cards stacked on top of each other. It was a deep purple on top, a gross yellow underneath, and had red spots all over.

  I was pretty sure it was poisonous.

  I kind of wanted to poke it.

  I was going to need a stick.

  Luckily, the ground was littered with them.

  I picked what I was sure was a beech branch. the holly tree’s bark was much darker. The stick had no leaves but a tiny bit of moss grew on the underside. A few random insects crawled away from the sunlight as I lifted it up.

  The tiny beetles were almost cute.

  Almost.

  I lightly tapped the underside of the fungus with the end of the stick. It went right through. I tried to pull it out, but it was stuck. I let go of it and it stayed there, held in place by the fungus.

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  Gross.

  Glad I didn’t use my fingers.

  “What are you playing at Pixie?” a voice I didn’t quite recognize said. I looked around to see a Kelpie, arms crossed and a glaring at me.

  “The professor wants us to find five flora types in the forest? I don’t know what you mean.”

  “I’m talking about Nightcall.”

  I blinked. “What about Fethris?”

  “You should stay in your place. I know you Pixies like to gather in swarms, but someone like that shouldn’t be around someone like you.”

  Ah. Pettiness. “I don’t remember where in the brochures it said you could only be friends with your Tower.”

  “Do you not understand how important who you socialize with here is? Being seen with him won’t do you any favors either.”

  “Oh no, whatever shall I do if I don’t get to be the most popular girl in school? I think that ship sailed for me anyway. You can have it if you want it.”

  There was a deep exhale, and their face went red.

  Too much?

  “You can’t just disrupt the way things are done. There is an order and it must be maintained. Stay in your lane Pixie.”

  They had no idea what lane I even belonged in.

  “No,” I told them.

  “How dare-”

  “Runebringer.” Fethris’ voice was colder than I was used to hearing.

  The Kelpie went stone still. “Nightcall, I was-”

  “I noticed. You and the others can stay out of my business. I will spend my time with whoever I want to.”

  “But she’s-”

  “Do I have to tell Tower Representative Horus that you’re giving Kelpie Tower a bad name?”

  They went pale.

  “Why don’t you go check on the others, then we can all pretend this conversation didn’t happen.”

  They looked between me and Fethris, but then must have thought better of opening their mouth and decided to leave.

  “They really don’t like me, do they?” I asked once they were out of sight.

  “It’s not you. It’s…” Fethris trailed off. “This is why I did not want to be in Kelpie.”

  “I wish they would move us soon. If they’re going to move us at all.”

  “I am not staying in the swamp for the next five years. I would rather get expelled.”

  What was with my fellow Dragons and wanting to get expelled?

  “But then we definitely won’t get into Dragon Tower.”

  Fethris sighed. “You think they’ll ever actually let us move?”

  “Well…it’s tradition, isn’t it? Rules and stuff. Aren’t they obligated to move us?”

  “Or they’ll decide tradition only matters when it suits them.”

  “If they want my respect they won’t.” But he had a point. Unfortunately.

  He smirked at me. “You guys are going to be the highlights of life here, aren’t you?”

  I shrugged. “I try.”

  (*********)

  During another session in the library with the four of them. I was starting to make actual progress on the paper. I had picked a topic and was on my fourth paragraph.

  “I didn’t think rudeness was a core of Kelpie,” Jarec said.

  “They aren’t giving you shit for hanging out with us, are they?” Russel asked.

  “Kraken’s just as bad. They’re convinced I’m being tricked somehow.” Celica stretched as she spoke. “I think they’re just jealous.”

  “How do they feel about you trying out for the Chaser team?” Fethris asked.

  “I haven’t told them. None of their business. Most of them aren’t going to be there. Which sucks because I wanted to see their faces when I make the team.”

  “You’re very confident,” I observed while not looking up from my paper.

  “Cute energetic girls like confidence.”

  “Someone has a type,” Russel said.

  “I know what I want. What about you?”

  “Tall,” Russel mused, “the taller the better.”

  Jarec snorted. “A few of the Pegasus guys are cute but then they open their mouths and it ruins the whole thing.”

  There was quiet.

  “Fethris, that’s your cue to tell the table what you like,” Jarec teased.

  “Um…Pass?”

  “You and Serafina are no fun,” Celica whined.

  “It’s okay to not be into anything,” I murmured.

  “Maybe I just haven’t met the right person yet. I don’t know,” Fethris scratched the back of his head.

  Celica sighed loudly. “It’s okay. With any luck I’ll find my fill of romantic drama this weekend.”

  “I thought I was supposed to be the gossip.” Jarec started laughing. “It seems we have company.”

  What? I looked up from the paper and noticed a flash of white cloth hide behind a bookcase. Were we being watched?

  “Should we invite them over?” I asked. “If they’re that curious I’d rather them be upfront with us.”

  Russel cleared his throat. “If they want to come talk to us they can come over and introduce themselves properly.” He had purposely raised his voice. It wasn’t a yell, but it was clearly intended to be heard by whoever our audience was.

  (*********)

  The last thing I expected while sitting next to Angelina at the dinner table was for Gregory Set to sit down in front of us.

  “Some of the others are starting to follow your example,” he said.

  “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

  “You shouldn’t joke like that. I don’t know how you’ve managed to convince a Kraken and a Kelpie to spend time with you in public, but I noticed some of the other first-years talking more with Pegasusses. It’s a good thing.”

  I blinked in silence.

  “You have no idea what I’m talking about, do you?”

  “I don’t see the connection,” I told him.

  “First-years usually don’t see much of the other Towers outside of class,” Angelina explained. “But some people see you in the library with your friends and go for it!”

  “I thought Pixies were all about being out-going and social. Pegassuses are similar, right?” I asked.

  “Sure. But that isn’t usually enough to get through the cold shells of Banshees or Kelpies.” Gregory Set was leaning back in his chair casually.

  “I think you’re all missing some information on that front. And people are going to do whatever they want. That doesn’t have anything to do with me.”

  “No need to be defensive. I just wanted to congratulate you on being a trendsetter. Some of us were worried after your…” I raised an eyebrow as he paused between words. “Rocky start.”

  “Maybe because they understand what happened that day,” I told him. Yikes. Hadn’t meant to say that out loud. Not my fault it was true though.

  Angelina flinched next to me. Maybe I could have worded that better.

  He cringed. “Ah. Well… um…”

  “That was harsher than I meant,” I conceded.

  “No. No. Honesty in a core of Pixie Tower. If that’s how we made you feel, then you shouldn’t lie about it.”

  “Doesn’t mean I should be mean about it. I get it. I told a crazy story that no one else saw. Something that by all accounts doesn’t make sense. Not even to me. Of course anyone who wasn’t there wouldn’t get it.”

  “I should have been a bit more sensitive too. Empathy is another one of our cores,” he sighed. “I am sorry if what I said upset you.”

  “If I accept your apology can we stop having this conversation?” I asked.

  He laughed. “We’ll make a Pixie out of you yet.”

  Not in this lifetime.