Andrea and Timothy both appeared in the courtyard with the burnt grass, without the hooded figure who had sent them there. Timothy held his belly with both hands. “Ugh, teleportation always makes me feel queasy.”

  He turned his gaze toward Andrea. “Thanks. For what you did back there. You didn’t have to, but I really appreciate it. I owe you one.”

  “Oh, no prob…,” Andrea stopped herself. She began thinking back to what had happened. She had risked a lot for Timothy—putting out the fire that he made. Well, a random student made, but it was caused by one of his devices.

  And her pleading with the Head Mage not to wipe his memories, with the possibility of her sharing the same fate as him.

  “You know what? You do owe me. But not just one—more like a million.”

  Timothy snorted. They both looked at the burnt site in front of them.

  “So, what do we do about this?” Timothy asked.

  “You have already done plenty!” a voice scorned both students. They turned around and found a woman with short blonde hair that had flowers woven into it. She walked toward them and past them.

  She held out her hand, and a green light started to appear. Then the burnt ground began to heal itself, and the grass started to grow back. It was like watching one of those time-lapse videos on the internet about plants growing quickly in a matter of months, but sped up to a few seconds.

  “The two of you may return to your duties, and shame on you both for causing such unnecessary destruction to these poor creatures,” the blonde woman said, giving them both the stink eye.

  But I didn’t do anything, Andrea thought. She didn’t protest out loud. The mage in front of them—not as great as the Head Mage or Caroline—still had enough power to get her to shut up.

  Andrea clenched her fists and gritted her teeth. This fear she felt was a reminder that she was still the same weak, afraid girl she had always been, and she hated it. She hated that people more powerful than her could make her feel this way. Feel so… small.

  I have to get stronger this year or die trying. Andrea stormed off, and Timothy followed her.

  Timothy continued to follow Andrea for a while. She didn’t say anything at first. She figured Timothy was just going somewhere close to her destination, but after she made several turns in the academy, it was obvious that he was following her every move.

  She halted and turned around. “What?” Andrea asked, annoyed.

  “What do you mean, what?” Timothy asked.

  “I mean, why are you following me around like a lost puppy?” Andrea clarified.

  “That’s a trick question, right?” Timothy asked. “We’re not supposed to walk around the academy alone. It’s one of the rules.”

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  “What are you talking about? There’s no stupid rule like that,” Andrea argued.

  “Yes, there is,” Timothy said. “It’s one of the new ones. Don’t you remember? We were all summoned and told this a week ago.”

  Andrea's mind flashed back to a week ago. She didn’t remember much of the announcements. Scratch that—she didn’t remember any of it. Her mind was just focused on how attractive Lucien was and how worthless she felt.

  “Oh… right,” Andrea said, embarrassed. “Wait. If that’s true, shouldn’t you have had someone by you before I came along?”

  “I mean… I did, but they must have ditched when the fire started,” Timothy said, also embarrassed.

  “Smart,” Andrea muttered.

  “What was that?” Timothy asked.

  “Nothing,” Andrea answered quickly. “I wasn’t… completely listening to the announcements. Any other rules I should know about?”

  “Not many. But there is a new curfew. No one is allowed to leave their dorm rooms when it’s seven-thirty p.m.”

  “What!?” Andrea blurted. The reason for Andrea’s shock was simple—it interfered with her training for the upcoming Witch Trials.

  Andrea may have upped her arsenal of spells, but that wouldn’t be enough for her to pass. She needed to train a lot more. There were training rooms for that, but anyone could use them, and most of the time, multiple students would be in there.

  The way Andrea’s grimoire worked was special. She didn’t know how special, but she wanted to keep it hidden for now.

  Her plan was to use the training room late at night when no one would be around, or wander outside the premises of the academy, which was allowed as long as they didn’t go too far. But now, that wouldn’t be possible with this curfew.

  She couldn’t practice during the day because she still had her classes, and with the week she was away, she had a lot to catch up on.

  “Great. Just great,” Andrea thought.

  “Uh, hello?” Timothy said. Andrea had spaced out thinking of her troubles.

  Andrea breathed in. “Okay, so how’s this going to work? I’m a final year. What about you?”

  “I’m a year below you,” Timothy answered.

  “Any specialization?” Andrea asked.

  “Nope,” Timothy said. “What about you?”

  Andrea hesitated, then shook her head. “No. I don’t have one either.”

  “Really? I thought all final years had to pick a specialization,” Timothy said, raising an eyebrow.

  “They’re supposed to,” Andrea admitted, glancing away. “I just… couldn’t find one that felt right. Most of the subjects seemed either too restrictive or too basic. I didn’t want to box myself into one thing, you know?”

  Timothy nodded. “Yeah, exactly! That’s what I kept telling myself too. There’s just so much magic to learn. How do they expect us to pick just one thing to focus on?”

  Andrea’s lips curled into a smile. “It’s nice to hear someone else say that. I thought I was the only one.”

  “Same here,” Timothy said, grinning. “People keep telling me it’s a mistake not to specialize, but I’d rather know a little bit about everything than just a lot about one thing.”

  Andrea chuckled softly. “Yeah. Though for me, it’s not just about wanting to study everything. With the mana I have, it’s hard to keep up with any of the advanced subjects. The general ones give me enough of a challenge.”

  Timothy tilted his head. “I get that. I’ve been told I should narrow down and focus to get stronger, but I just… can’t. It feels like giving up on so much potential, you know?”

  Andrea nodded. “Exactly. It’s like there’s so much to learn, and I don’t want to miss out on any of it.”

  For a moment, neither spoke. They shared a quiet understanding that neither of them had found before.

  “Guess that makes us both weirdos,” Andrea said with a small laugh.

  “Yeah, but at least we’re not alone,” Timothy replied, smiling.

  Andrea smiled back. “You know what? I think we’ll get along just fine.”

  “We’ll meet after our classes are over. How does that sound?” Andrea asked.

  “That sounds good,” Timothy said. “By the way, you don’t have to call me Timothy. Tim is just fine.”

  “All right. How does meeting after classes sound, Tim?” Andrea asked.

  “Perfect… Andrea,” Timothy replied.

  They both walked to their classes, which surprisingly weren’t far from each other. They waved to each other before entering their respective doors.